Walter Mazzarri and Massimiliano Allegri will meet for the 16th time in their careers at tonight’s Juventus–Napoli, adding a new chapter to their rivalry.
Allegri and Mazzarri are long-time rivals and often argued before and after their past meetings in Serie A.
Friday’s match in Turin will be the first time they meet in Juventus-Napoli. Their first clash occurred 15 years ago when Allegri’s Cagliari beat Mazzarri’s Sampdoria 1-0.
Both coaches are from Tuscany, but Allegri is from Livorno, while Mazzarri comes from San Vincenzo, a village with barely 7,000 citizens, just 60 km away from Livorno. This is why meetings between those two coaches have always been seen as derbies.
As explained by Gazzetta, Allegri and Mazzarri have opposite personalities.
“We don’t hang out together and I am not interested in doing so,” Mazzarri once said, speaking about Allegri.
The Livorno-born tactician didn’t seem bothered, but a few years later, he said Mazzarri was a “fake” Livorno citizen.
Allegri and Mazzarri met several times in Milan‘s Derby della Madonnina over ten years ago.
“Mazzarri coached Livorno and I live there,” Allegri once said.
“We are very different, but we are both passionate and express our feelings differently. I feel that one doesn’t always need to raise his voice to be authoritative.”
A few years later, Mazzarri, who was in charge of Inter, said he wouldn’t accept comparisons between his team and Milan, so Max replied: “It’s fine by me, but in Europe, we represent the city of Milan. We must give prestige to the city because Inter are out [of European competitions].”
Before a meeting between Allegri’s Milan and Mazzarri’s Napoli, the Partenopei boss complained about the referee appointed for the game, so Allegri hit back again: “He [Mazzarri] could have chosen the referee, it would have been quicker.”
Mazzarri replied: “Allegri speaks about the referee, but I’ve always said a simple thing. Any official must work to avoid any subjection and apply the rules. If this means creating controversy, somebody wants to add fuel to the flames.”
Despite their rivalry, Allegri was the first person to call Mazzarri in 2018, when the 62-year-old was rushed to hospital with a sudden illness. A few days later, Mazzarri publicly thanked Max.
Allegri has won seven games against Mazzarri, the last time was in April 2022 when his Juventus side beat Cagliari 2-1 thanks to goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Dusan Vlahovic, who replied to Joao Pedro.
Mazzarri beat Allegri twice, the last time was exactly ten years ago, in December 2013, when his Inter side secured a 1-0 victory over Milan with a late goal from Rodrigo Palacio. Six of the previous meetings between Mazzarri and Allegri ended in draws.