It always ends this way. As the 75th minute arrived, Juventus fans began pouring onto the pitch, mobbing their idols and making off with as many mementoes as possible. Some players left the field without shirts, shorts, socks or boots, happily handing them over to supporters who had flocked to the small Alpine hamlet of Villar Perosa.
Known as “the family match,” the game between the Bianconeri first team and the club’s youth sector is an annual tradition, held near the Agnelli family home just before the start of a new season.
The village is located about 25 miles southwest of Turin and has been home to the owners of Juventus for generations. Since 1955, the team has travelled there each year for this clash, first heading to the Agnelli estate where they are addressed by the head of the family. This time it was both Juve President Andrea Agnelli and his cousin John Elkann, the chairman of FIAT who spoke to the club website shortly after the final whistle.
“This is a one-off moment, unique to Juventus, when all those who love the Bianconeri colours come together as a family,” Elkann said. “We meet here once again, with the younger fans that much older. It's moments like this when you see how much love there is for Juventus across Italy. I’ve met fans from Sicily and Sardinia. The affection for the team is truly wonderful.”
It was slightly different this time of course, the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo — in Juve colours for the first time — ensuring that the numbers of spectators and media members was far higher than usual. It took him just over seven minutes to find the back of the net for his maiden goal and only a few more to add a second, although a deflection of the goalkeeper ensured he did not receive full credit for that.
By the time the Bianconeri faithful flooded onto the field to maintain the practice of the game being called off early, Max Allegri’s men had taken a 5-0 lead, with the Portuguese megastar withdrawn after 46 minutes. But the Coach — fully aware that much sterner tests than an in-house practice match await — also knows that the signing of Ronaldo only increases the level expectation upon his side.
“It’s clear that there is excitement in the air with so many champions in the team,” Allegri told reporters after the match. “But it is fundamental that we find balance and chemistry, because the only thing that matters is we go out on the field and perform. Our Champions League objective is an incentive for everyone, even for the youngest players, to do even better, but it should not distort Juventus' characteristics, which are to achieve results through commitment, work and sacrifice, just like all the teams that win in Europe.
“The ambition is obviously to go as far as possible in the Champions League,” he continued. “But as always, the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto are also essential to us, because nobody gives out trophies until you earn them on the field.” Juve have won seven Serie A titles in a row and completed a league-and-cup double in each of the last four seasons, but the Coach’s words add further weight to the belief that the club has made Champions League glory their prime objective this term.
Allegri and his players will almost certainly begin downplay those ambitions in the weeks and months to come, but they have been loud and clear all summer for anyone paying attention. Acquiring Ronaldo has been a huge boost but, at 33 years old, his time as the best player in the world cannot last too much longer. Re-signing Leonardo Bonucci (31) only serves to reinforce that feeling, particularly when sacrificing Mattia Caldara (24) in order to do so.
While too much significance should not be placed on a friendly match — particularly one as uncompetitive as this — it was noticeable that Allegri allowed his side much more freedom to attack. His conservatism has been heavily criticised in the past and, particularly in UEFA’s elite competition, has been found wanting when it mattered most. Perhaps just as the huge financial outlay required to sign Ronaldo (and pay his extravagant salary) was a major shift for a usually frugal club, Allegri has decided to change tack and opt for a more expansive attacking approach.
If he has, it will be important to remember where it all began because now, with his squad finally reunited after a disjointed and uncharacteristic summer, it was here that the 2018/19 Juventus became whole and took the first steps their latest adventure together.
At the foot of the Alps with the Agnellis looking on and with a pitch invasion ensuring the match was called off before 90 minutes were played, the club might be more different than it has ever been, but the traditions of Villar Perosa continue. The game ended as it always has, but in doing so it ensured that this next chapter of Juventus history began exactly the same was as every one of those that have already been written.
