After 12 years as the Juventus chairman, Andrea Agnelli‘s time at La Vecchia Signora has drawn to a close after he and the rest of the Bianconeri board resigned on November 28. With investigations hanging over the club, his position became untenable and a chapter that has brought great on-field success has come to a close.
Despite the accusations of allegedly inflating players between 2018 and 2020 as well as deferring payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, Agnelli did many things to improve the club off the pitch, especially when it came to investing in new infrastructure.
Agnelli legacy off the pitch
One of the greatest accomplishments that was achieved in the Andrea Agnelli era at Juventus was the opening of the Juventus Stadium – also known as the Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons – in September 2011.
However, the groundwork was done before he became Bianconeri president in May 2010. Although the concept originated back in the mid-1990s, it was Agnelli‘s predecessor Jean-Claude Blanc that got the required approvals for construction to commence in 2009. With a capacity of approximately 41,500, it is one of the very few stadiums in Italy that is multipurpose and owned by a Serie A club.
There are many facilities surrounding the Allianz Stadium that were constructed while Agnelli was at the helm. Although the agreement for the land on the site of the old Stadio delle Alpi was signed in 2002, the construction of Continassa took place from 2012 to 2016.
Continassa is a futuristic citadel that consists of Juventus‘ training facilities and the J Museum, where fans can learn about the history of the club, while the Bianconeri headquarters were also relocated to the citadel in 2017.
The J Medical, which an advanced medical centre, was opened in 2016, and a luxury hotel called the J Hotel was opened in November 2019.
In a country like Italy where bureaucratic issues are problematic to say the least, it is remarkable that Juventus were able to construct these facilities under Agnelli.
The Agnelli legacy on the field
Juventus witnessed a golden era in their history under the presidency of Andrea Agnelli. Thanks to the help of directors like Giuseppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici, and coaches like Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri, the Bianconeri experienced an era of unprecedented domestic dominance.
La Vecchia Signora won a record nine consecutive Serie A titles from 2012 until 2020 including four domestic doubles under Allegri from 2015 to 2018. Maurizio Sarri lead Juve to their last scudetto in 2019/20 while Andrea Pirlo lead the team to Coppa Italia victory in 2020/21.
Many excellent players contributed to this period of success such as Gianluigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, the aforementioned Pirlo, Miralem Pjanic, Carlos Tevez, Mario Mandzukic, Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, European success was elusive during this period. Juventus reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2013/14 while they lost the 2015 and 2017 Champions League Finals to Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
