In the 2015 Champions League final, Max Allegri had four of the finest players to choose from in the middle of the park, the Juventus boss eventually finding a way to field Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba and Claudio Marchisio at the same time. A 3-1 loss to Barcelona signalled the end of an era, and one-by-one three of that quartet decided that it was time to move on to new adventures and challenges.
Pirlo headed to MLS with New York City FC, while Pogba took his rapidly changing haircuts and love of the dab back to Manchester United, the Bianconeri pocketing a world record transfer fee for their troubles. Meanwhile, Vidal decided that in order to win UEFA’s elite competition, he needed to join one of the continents truly giant clubs and signed for Bayern Munich in the weeks following Juve’s defeat.
However, after helping the Bavarian side eliminate his former club last term, Vidal’s new side were knocked out in the semi-finals and then only reached the quarterfinals this season, while it is the Old Lady who will once again have a chance to lift that most prestigious of trophies later this month. Turin native Marchisio will perhaps enjoy that thought more than most.
In order to do so, the Serie A giants reinvested the huge profit they made from the sales of Vidal, Pogba and Kingsley Coman, breaking their own club record by paying €90 million to bring Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus Stadium. They also had to rebuild that midfield of course, signing Sami Khedira after his contract with Real Madrid expired and making a smart acquisition as they added Venezuela international Tomás Rincón.
However, the biggest arrival in that department has undoubtedly been Miralem Pjanić. He had arguably been the most influential player for Juve’s closest domestic rival, but AS Roma made a serious error with his contract. The Giallorossi naively allowed his initial deal to run dangerously close to the end, allowing the Bosnian’s agents to insist on a low buyout clause if they were to renew.
Tired of watching the Bianconeri dominate, Pjanić decided that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” was solid career advice and moved north this past summer, Juventus paying just €32 million to secure a player who appeared a perfect fit for the void left by those aforementioned departures.
However, the early part of 2016/17 was not smooth sailing for Allegri, the coach struggling to maximise the effectiveness of his new arrivals. As a result, Pjanić bounced around a variety of positions including trequartista, deep-lying playmaker and on the left of a three-man midfield, never looking truly comfortable.
The same was true for the whole team, a loss to Fiorentina in January eventually prompting a drastic change from Allegri, who immediately began using a 4-2-3-1 formation. Juventus never looked back and have lost just one game since, defeated by Napoli in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final clash but advancing on aggregate.
Now part of the double-pivot so crucial to making that framework a success, Pjanić has been hugely important over those past few months and never more so than in the tie where Juve’s planning and preparation paid off in most spectacular fashion.
As the Bianconeri dismantled Barcelona in Turin, Pjanić helped pick apart the Catalan midfield, exploiting space, connecting with 24 of his 28 pass attempts and laying on Giorgio Chiellini’s goal in the 3-0 victory. He was arguably even better in the goalless return clash at Camp Nou, creating three scoring chances but ensuring Barca were shut out as he made eight tackles, five interceptions and three clearances.
It was the kind of display that highlights just what a special player he is, one who combines skill and vision with admirable work rate, a tactically astute midfielder capable of serving up deadly accurate set pieces whenever the opportunity arises.
This weekend sees the Bianconeri head to the Stadio Olimpico to take on his former club, and they will arrive knowing just a single point is all they need to secure a record-breaking sixth-consecutive Serie A title. Then they take on Lazio in the Coppa Italia final before attention turns to Cardiff, Real Madrid and another crack at the Champions League crown they so sorely covet.
It seems as though the 27-year-old has been fully vindicated by his decision to swap sides, and the bad news for Juve’s rivals is that Allegri believes there is much more to come. “He can become one of the three best midfielders in the world,” the coach said after the recent win over AS Monaco. "He needs to stay calm and relax, because his potential is only partially expressed.”
Given that Miralem Pjanić has already helped Juventus fans forget about losing his predecessors and helped them to the brink of an historic treble, that is a mouthwatering prospect indeed.
