Massimiliano Allegri and Stefano Pioli have many things in common. For example, both men won a Scudetto title while in charge of Milan. And while the latter played for the Bianconeri, the former is currently in his second spell as coach in Turin.
Furthermore, the two coaches earned their coaching badges during the same period before starting their respective managerial careers.
Although Allegri has so far collected more trophies than his counterpart, Romeo Benetti insists that Pioli was easily the better student between the two.
The 76-year-old was coaching teacher at Coverciano when the two famous coaches were taking their studies, and he gave an insight into their early days as coaches ahead of their anticipated meeting on Saturday.
Benetti was obviously a big fan of the younger version of Pioli, but he was much less impressed by young Max, who seemed to be distracted.
“Stefano was very attentive to the courses, he never missed a lesson, he followed everything,” said the former Milan, Juventus and Roma midfielder in an interview with La Gazzetta dello sport via ilBianconero.
“When he spoke, the others shut up and listened to him, because he never said banalities.
“He has always been good and above all he has had the patience to wait for his moment to come, because he would have deserved to win a Scudetto earlier.
“Allegri was very different. I would say less attentive. He seemed to have less skills than Pioli.
“I thought that everything was easy, perhaps because as a player I didn’t suffer from great difficulties, but football is more complex than it seems because it is made up of many nuances.
“Max was luckier than Pioli, especially early in his career. I remember that in Cagliari it started very badly, but the president was absent. As soon as he came back, Allegri won his first match and that’s how he was saved”.
