Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci reveals the ‘clear differences’ between Max Allegri and Maurizio Sarri and that ‘I’d have loved to play with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’.
Allegri led Juve to four straight Scudetti and two Champions League Finals, but he made way for Sarri, a former rival with Napoli, before the start of 2019-20.
“The differences are clear,” Bonucci told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Allegri’s very good at managing the dressing room, the most difficult moments of a season and at game management.
Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci reveals the ‘clear differences’ between Max Allegri and Maurizio Sarri and that ‘I’d have loved to play with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’.
Allegri led Juve to four straight Scudetti and two Champions League Finals, but he made way for Sarri, a former rival with Napoli, before the start of 2019-20.
“The differences are clear,” Bonucci told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Allegri’s very good at managing the dressing room, the most difficult moments of a season and at game management.
“He, in his five years here, was a master in each of these things. Sarri’s a meticulous, passionate tactician, who likes his teams to play good football.
“He’s also learned what it means to be Bianconero, in the sense that no prisoners are taken here.
“Since he has been with us, I’ve seen him make significant growth. He has a great wealth of football knowledge, but he also knows how to question himself.
“He had the humility to understand the dynamics of this collective. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by him, really.
“We keep in touch every day and we have moments of deep discussion. He’s someone who wants to improve, just like how I want to improve by understanding his football, which is original and different to the ones I already knew.”
The Italy defender was asked about his best and worst games of his career, including an interesting take on why one lost Champions League Final was harder to swallow than the other.
“The game that gave me the most satisfaction is the one in Trieste against Cagliari, when we won, with Conte, the first title of this historical sequence. The Scudetto of Juve’s rebirth in the Agnelli decade.
“The worst? The Final in 2015, more than that of 2017. In Berlin, we were very strong and really close to winning.
“In the second half, we had the feeling that we could but maybe this mindset sapped our energy.
“In Cardiff, in the second half, we were at Real’s mercy instead. But it didn’t end there. I hope to be able to tell you, in a future interview, that my best match is a Champions League Final we’ve won.”
The 33-year-old then explained why Duvan Zapata was his most ‘annoying’ opponent, before confessing his admiration for Ibrahimovic.
“Don’t be surprised if I say it’s Zapata. He’s big and rangy, he’s strong, quick. When I face him, I have one more thought in my mind.
“Great players hurt you as soon as you lose focus. I also have that thought in training with Ronaldo, Dybala, Higuain, Douglas Costa. As soon as you’re not at 100 percent, they zap you.
“I’d have loved to play with Ibrahimovic. He’s a leader, he has character and he’s strong. It would’ve been nice to face him in training.
“He comes across as a tough guy, but he’s a good person On the field, the players who have character, who are always motivated by the desire to win give you unique stimuli.
“And that’s what I’m always looking for, stimuli to improve.”