GdS: ‘The best’ – why Allegri vs. Conte will be a ‘duel of champions’ in Milan-Napoli

The most fascinating duel of all on Sunday night in AC Milan’s game against Napoli might just take place in the dugouts.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, the two active coaches with the most Scudetti won face each other, 12 years since the last time. That was on 6 October 2013, when Juventus beat Milan 3-2 at the Allianz Stadium.

The battle between Allegri and Conte will be a spectacle within a spectacle, a tasty appetiser for a Milan-Napoli match that could also be decided by the intuition of the two coaches. Both have made winning moves at decisive times in their careers, allowing them to rack up silverware.

Max arrived at Juventus after Antonio and made use of his work, adding much of his own, to continue the Bianconeri’s winning streak. Allegri could have succeeded Conte at Inter in both the summer of 2020 and the summer of 2021.

Sunday’s match could have been played with the roles swapped, but instead Max returned (very happy with his choice) to Milanello. Conte, fresh from the title, remained under Vesuvius with the aim of further embedding himself in Azzurri history by celebrating a second Scudetto for the first time.

Photos by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images

Scudetto kings 

Allegri has six league titles (one with Milan, five in a row with Juventus), while Conte has five with three teams: Juventus (three), Inter (one) and Napoli (one). This is all excluding the Premier League title he won with Chelsea.

Between them, two have 11 titles. How many have the other 18 Serie A managers to their name? Just two: Sarri’s with Juventus in 2019-20 and Pioli’s with Milan in 2021-22. In terms of experience in a potential head-to-head at the top of the table at the end of the season, they have a significant advantage over their competition.

They know how to handle the pressure of the final few games, how to ‘shield’ the team, how to keep the fans’ expectations in check while simultaneously maintaining high motivation within the dressing room.

The desire to win more

Allegri and Conte are two coaches with a winning project. It’s no coincidence that the Rossoneri, looking to rebound after last year’s disastrous season, wisely chose to focus on Max. The CEO Furlani and sporting director Tare avoided leaps into the unknown and instead chose the best coach.

So far, their decision has paid off. Twelve months earlier, De Laurentiis had taken the same path when the Azzurri president aimed to forget Spalletti’s unfortunate post-Scudetto management and a 2023-24 season that saw them finish 10th in the league.

Mission accomplished with Conte, who revitalised the team and the atmosphere, achieving the most difficult objective at the first attempt. Just as he had done at Juventus and Chelsea, but also at Siena (promotion to Serie A).

Allegri also hit the mark at the first attempt, winning the title with Milan and Juventus and promoting to Serie B with Sassuolo. They are two of five coaches to have won more than five Scudetti: Max could join Trapattoni this year, who leads the league with seven, while Antonio could even things at six.

Uncrossed paths

Despite being two serial winners, they have rarely fought for the same goal on the pitch. The last time was in the 2013-14 season, when Allegri was fired in January and Conte celebrated his third consecutive Scudetto.

From then on, they unwittingly dribbled past each other, and while Allegri won five consecutive titles with Juventus from 2014 to 2019, Conte spent two years with the national team (2014-16), had a stint at Chelsea (2016-18), and then took a sabbatical to recharge.

In 2019-20, they didn’t cross paths because the Salento native returned to Inter, while the Livorno native remained on the sidelines after his first dismissal with Juventus. The same was true the following season.

When Max returned to the fray in 2021 in Turin, Antonio left Inter and said yes to Tottenham before the end of the year. The former bid farewell to the Old Lady, ending his second Turin stint, in May 2024, after lifting the Coppa Italia and being without a bench in 2024-25, while the latter got back into the game last season and did what he does best: winning the league.

Now they will finally be adversaries again, like in 2011-12 when Conte’s Juventus edged Allegri’s Milan in the title race, thanks in part to Muntari’s famous ghost goal in the six-pointer at the Meazza. A lot of time has passed since then, and those two have racked up a slew of titles.