Captain Giorgio Chiellini stressed the Juventus players ‘did our best’ to perform under Maurizio Sarri and doesn’t think it’s right to compare Andrea Pirlo to the former coach.
Sarri lost his job after the Old Lady were eliminated from the Champions League this month and Juve have since appointed an inexperienced Pirlo as the new head coach at the Allianz Stadium.
However, the Bianconeri picked up their ninths consecutive Scudetto and Chiellini said he has ‘a lot of respect’ for Sarri, who ‘is a real person’.
Captain Giorgio Chiellini stressed the Juventus players ‘did our best’ to perform under Maurizio Sarri and doesn’t think it’s right to compare Andrea Pirlo to the former coach.
Sarri lost his job after the Old Lady were eliminated from the Champions League this month and Juve have since appointed an inexperienced Pirlo as the new head coach at the Allianz Stadium.
However, the Bianconeri picked up their ninths consecutive Scudetto and Chiellini said he has ‘a lot of respect’ for Sarri, who ‘is a real person’.
“Everyone hoped to have a different type of championship and growth but I’m sure and convinced we did our best,” Chiellini said at a press conference.
“Sarri is a real person, all sorts of things have come out in recent weeks but on my part there’s great respect for him.
“And I will not add anything else, also because at this moment he can’t speak. I can only say that I have a lot of respect for him.”
Chiellini’s former teammate Pirlo has returned to coach Juventus and the defender said their relationship has therefore changed for now.
“For us he’s the coach. If until a few weeks ago, Andrea was Andrea, that’s different. Now, he’s the coach. It’s right to have hierarchies.
“Because of the different paths and age, it’s not right to compare him to Sarri. If I were to become Juventus coach tomorrow, I wouldn’t know all the basics.
“But I’ll know all the people I have around me and so does Pirlo. The situations can’t be compared.”