During his 17 years at Juventus, legendary captain Giorgio Chiellini witnessed the greatest of heights and the lowest of lows.
The 39-year-old was part of the impenetrable BBC defensive trio alongside his compatriots Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli.
This formidable defensive unit played a pivotal part in launching the nine-year winning dynasty under Antonio Conte’s watch.
The former Italy captain can see some similarities between the 2011/12 side that stunned Calcio by clinching the Scudetto trophy and the current Juventus team.
“In the first year with Conte, Juventus was experiencing a situation similar to that of today, it was a period of full reconstruction,” explained Chiellini in his interview with RadioBianconera via JuveNews.
“With Conte, we started to believe we could win during the season, but initially, we drew many matches.
“We were still struggling in January and February, then the others gave us hope and we found a solution.
“I remember that we almost always played after the others in the weekend. We entered important matches even at -7 from Milan. In that situation, a team that wasn’t mentally strong would have suffered a collapse.”
Despite his encouraging comparison, the legendary defender still recognizes Inter as the Scudetto favorites.
“I have always been a realist, I prefer to take small steps. This year Inter are the favorites by far.
“Juventus must continue like this. They only had one misstep, but 17 points in 8 games isn’t that bad anyway. They have to remain neat the top, then we’ll see.”
Despite closing in on the age of 40, Chiellini remains active in Major League Soccer. He won the MLS Trophy last year with LAFC and is looking to defend the title this season.
