During his playing career, Allegri played in the Serie A as amidfielder withPisa,Pescara,Cagliari,Perugia andNapoli. In 2002, he won theSerie D title withAglianese, with whom he retired as a player. During his time inLivorno, due to his lean body and quickness, he was referred to as "Acciughina" (Little Anchovy), a nickname the Italian press still uses to address him.[6][7][8]
After beginning his managerial career in 2003 with several smaller Italian sides, Allegri helped Sassuolo gain promotion to the Serie B for the first time in their history, winning theSerie C1 championship andSuper Cup in the same year. From 2008 to 2010, he coachedCagliari in Serie A, leading them to their best Serie A finish in almost 15 years. His performances as head coach of Cagliari earned him a move toAC Milan in 2010, where he remained until January 2014; he won aScudetto in2010–11, Milan's first since 2004, and aSupercoppa Italiana title in2011. Between 2014 and 2019, Allegri was in charge of Juventus, with whom he won eleven trophies: five consecutive league titles (from 2015 to 2019), fourCoppa Italia titles in a row (from 2015 to 2018) and two Supercoppa Italiana titles (2015 and 2018); he also reached twoUEFA Champions League finals (2015 and2017). He returned to Juventus in 2021, following two years away from management. In his second period at the club, he won another Coppa Italia in2024, but was sacked only a couple days later, largely due to his behaviour during and after the final, which the club deemed incompatible with its values.[9] He returned as manager of AC Milan in May 2025.
Individually, Allegri won thePanchina d'Oro (Golden Bench) four times (2009, 2015, 2017 and 2018) and was four timesSerie A Coach of the Year (2011, 2015, 2016 and 2018), as well as being awarded theEnzo Bearzot Award (2015) and inducted into theItalian Football Hall of Fame (2018). He is also the only coach inItalian football history to have won fiveScudetti and four Coppa Italia titles consecutively, and the only one in Europe's top five leagues to have won adomestic double for four consecutive seasons.
After spending the earlier part of his career in the lower leagues, including his hometown clubLivorno, Allegri joinedPescara in 1991. A talented and creative player, he established himself in midfield asGiovanni Galeone's side won promotion toSerie A in 1992. Allegri was an outstanding performer for Pescara in Serie A. Despite the side's relegation in last place, there was no shortage of goals and Allegri scored an impressive 12 goals from midfield. He moved on toCagliari and thenPerugia andNapoli before returning to Pescara. Brief spells atPistoiese andAglianese followed before his retirement from active football in 2003.[10]
Allegri started his managerial career in 2004, serving as the manager ofSerie C2 teamAglianese, the club where he spent his two final years as a player. Following an impressive season with them, Allegri was called to headGrosseto, then inSerie C1, but his experience with thebiancorossi proved not to be as successful as with Aglianese and he was ultimately sacked shortly after the beginning of the 2006–07 Serie C1 season. Shortly after being sacked by Grosseto, Allegri agreed to rejoin his mentorGiovanni Galeone atUdinese, becoming part of his coaching staff.[14] However, this practice proved to be forbidden by the Italian football laws because he was still contracted with the Tuscan club, which caused Allegri to be disqualified for three months in early 2008.[15]
In August 2007, Allegri became head coach of ambitiousSerie C1 teamSassuolo, who Allegri managed to lead quickly into the top league spots. On 27 April 2008, Sassuolo mathematically ensured the 2007–08 Serie C1/A league title, thus winning a historical first promotion toSerie B for theneroverdi.[16]
On 29 May 2008, Allegri was announced as new head coach ofCagliari in theSerie A, replacingDavide Ballardini.[17] Despite a disappointing start, with five losses in the first five league matches, Allegri was confirmed by club chairmanMassimo Cellino and later went on to bring his team up to a mid-table placement in December.[18] On 9 December, following a 1–0 home win toPalermo, Cagliari announced they had agreed a two-year contract extension with Allegri, with a new contract that was set to expire on 1 June 2011. The contract was then revealed to have been signed in October, in the midst of therossoblu's early crisis.[19]
He completed the2008–09 season in an impressive ninth place, their best result in Serie A in almost fifteen years, which was hailed as a huge result in light of the limited resources, the lack of top-class players, and the high quality of Cagliari's attacking football style, which led theSardinians not far fromUEFA Europa League qualification.[18] Such results led him to be awarded thePanchina d'Oro(Golden bench), a prize awarded to the best Serie A football manager according to other managers' votes, ahead of Serie A winning coachJosé Mourinho.[18] In the2009–10 season, he managed to confirm Cagliari's high footballing levels despite the loss of regular strikerRobert Acquafresca, leading an impressive number of three players from his side—namelyDavide Biondini,Federico Marchetti, andAndrea Cossu—to receiveItaly national team call-ups during his reign at the club.
On 13 April 2010, Cagliari surprisingly removed Allegri from his managerial duties despite a solid 12th place with 40 points, and youth coach Giorgio Melis—withGianluca Festa as his assistant—was appointed as his replacement.[20][21]
Allegri was released from his contract by Cagliari on 17 June 2010, under request of Serie A giantsAC Milan, who were interested in appointing him as their new manager.[22] On 25 June, Allegri was officially appointed as the new manager of Milan. In his first season in charge, Allegri led Milan to their first championship title since2004,[23] beating title incumbents andcross-city rivalsInter Milan in both league fixtures;[24] at the time, onlyRoberto Mancini had achieved that feat at a younger age.[18] Allegri's Milan side, however, failed to make it past thesemi-finals of the Coppa Italia, losing toPalermo 4–3 on aggregate. The team also competed in the knockout stage of theUEFA Champions League, where they were eliminated byTottenham Hotspur.
Success continued in his second season at the club. He led Milan to their sixthSupercoppa Italiana title on 6 August2011, by coming from behind in a 2–1 win over city rivals Inter in a game played at theBeijing National Stadium.[25] That was as far as his success went for that season, however. A semi-finalCoppa Italia knockout at the hands ofJuventus followed by a quarter-finalUEFA Champions League knockout at the hands ofBarcelona left Milan fighting on only one front towards the end of the season—theScudetto. Even that was to be lost, however, with theRossoneri finishing in second place to Juventus and therefore qualifying fornext season's Champions League group stage. The season was also marked with controversy however, as in the second half of the season, Milan had a goal bySulley Muntari disallowed in a key match against title rivals Juventus at theSan Siro, after they had already been leading 1–0; the match eventually ended in a 1–1 draw.[18] Along withAdriano Galliani, Allegri drew criticism for his decision to sell veteran deep-lying playmaker Andrea Pirlo to Juventus, after excluding him from the starting eleven the previous season, and deeming him to be a surplus due to his age; Pirlo went on to play a key role in Juventus' victorious Serie A title.[18]
On 13 January 2012, Allegri agreed to extend his contract with Milan to the end of 2013–14 season. With the departure and retirement of several of the club's key players, Milan struggled at the beginning of the 2012–13 season, and had only collected 8 points from their first 7 games, putting Allegri in danger of getting fired early on.[18] Despite all the criticism from the critics, Milan stuck with Allegri and he managed to get the best out of some younger players includingStephan El Shaarawy, Milan's home-grown playerMattia De Sciglio and later onMario Balotelli. Allegri managed to steer the Rossoneri from 16th place to a 3rd-place finish at the end of the season, with an epic 2–1 comeback victory away toSiena. The result gave Milan a spot in the playoff round for the2013–14 Champions League campaign.[18]
On 1 June 2013, club presidentSilvio Berlusconi confirmed Allegri to remain as the manager of Milan, despite numerous speculations that he would be given the sack. On 31 December 2013, Allegri confirmed he would leave the club at the end of the season, tellingGazzetta dello Sport: "Of course this is my last Christmas at AC Milan". However, Milan reported that Allegri and his staff were relieved of their duties with immediate effect on 13 January 2014.[26]
On 16 July 2014, Allegri was appointed as the new head coach ofJuventus, replacingAntonio Conte who had resigned the day before.[27] Although the decision to hire Allegri was initially met with ambivalence,[18] on 2 May 2015, he guided Juventus to their fourth consecutiveSerie A title, as the club defeatedSampdoria 1–0 at theStadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa; this was only the second time Juventus had won four consecutiveScudetto titles (the last time being from 1931 to 1935, when they won five Scudetto titles in a row). Having previously won the title withAC Milan in 2011, it also marked his second Scudetto title as a manager inSerie A.[28] On 13 May 2015, Allegri guided Juventus to theChampions League final by defeating defending championsReal Madrid in the semifinals, 3–2 on aggregate;[29] it had been twelve years since the Bianconeri had last appeared in the final, eventually losing to Milan 3–2 on penalties in2003.[30] A week later, on 20 May 2015, Allegri guided Juventus to a domesticdouble by helping the club win their record tenthCoppa Italia, defeatingLazio 2–1 inextra time. The Old Lady last won the trophy in 1995, breaking their twenty-year drought of having not won the competition, and making them the first team in Italy to win the trophy ten times.[31] On 6 June 2015, Juventus were defeated byBarcelona, 3–1, in the 2015UEFA Champions Leaguefinal.[32]
On 6 July 2015, almost a year after signing with Juventus, Allegri signed a one-year extension to his current contract keeping him at the club until the end of the 2016–17 season. On 8 August 2015, Allegri led Juventus to a 2–0 victory over Lazio in theSupercoppa Italiana, with new signingsMario Mandžukić andPaulo Dybala scoring the goals.[33] Allegri was included in the 10-man shortlist of nominees for the2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year Award,[34] but was later not included among the three finalists, despite almost completing a treble in his first season as Juventus' coach.[35] However, on 14 December 2015, Allegri won theSerie A Coach of the Year award;[36] and later on 7 March 2016, his second everPanchina d'Oro for his success with Juventus during the 2014–15 season.[37] On 25 April, Juventus were crowned2015–16 Serie A champions; after initially struggling during the first ten league matches of the season, Juventus went on an unbeaten streak and won 24 of their next 25 league games to come back from 12th place to defend the title.[38] The team's unbeaten streak ended after 26 matches, and was broken following a 2–1 away loss toVerona on 8 May.[39] On 6 May, Allegri extended his contract as Juventus manager to 2018.[40] On 21 May, he led Juventus to the domestic double once again after a 1–0 victory over Milan in the2016 Coppa Italia Final, the first team in Italy to win back-to-back doubles.[41]
On 17 May 2017, Allegri led Juventus to their12th Coppa Italia title in a 2–0 win over Lazio, becoming the first team to win three consecutive championships.[42] Four days later on 21 May, following a 3–0 win over Crotone, Juventus secured their sixth consecutive Serie A title, establishing an all-time record of successive triumphs in the competition.[43][44][45] On 3 June 2017, Allegri entered hissecond Champions League Final in three years with Juventus, but suffered a 4–1 defeat to defending champions Real Madrid.[46] On 7 June, Allegri renewed his contract with Juventus until 2020.[47] Allegri took charge of his 200th game with Juventus on 9 February 2018, a 2–0 away win overFiorentina.[48][49] On 9 May 2018, Allegri won hisfourth consecutive Coppa Italia title, in a 4–0 win over Milan.[50] Four days later on 13 May, following a 0–0 draw with Roma, Allegri secured his fourth consecutive Serie A title, becoming the first manager inEurope's top five leagues to win four consecutive doubles.[51] On 17 May 2019, after Juventus had already secured its fifth straight Scudetto under Allegri on 20 April, Juventus announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season.[52][53] Allegri left Juventus in 2019 with a win percentage of 70.48%, the highest in the history of Juventus to date.[54]
On 28 May 2021, Juventus announced Allegri's return to the club as manager after two years away from management, replacing the sackedAndrea Pirlo on a four-year contract.[55] Allegri's first match since his return came on 22 August, in a 2–2 away draw againstUdinese.[56] On 23 November, Juventus lost 4–0 toChelsea atStamford Bridge; the team had not lost with such disadvantage since February 2004.[57] On 15 January 2022, Allegri reached his 300th bench with Juventus, in the league return match to Udinese.[58] On 16 March, Juventus were eliminated from the2021–22 UEFA Champions League after a 3–0 home defeat toVillarreal.[59] On 11 May, following to theBianconeri's 4–2 loss after extra time toInter in the Coppa Italia final, the2021–22 season ended up trophyless, for the first time since2010–11, underLuigi Delneri's guide.[60]
On 2 November, he featured in his100th Champions League match in a 2–1 home defeat againstParis Saint-Germain.[61] The match against PSG was Juventus' last Champions League match of the season; the team made their worst-ever Champions League campaign, having won only three points, from a victory and five defeats, with 13 goals conceded during the group stage.[62] For the first time since2013–14, Juventus placed third in the group stage, because of a better goal difference with Israeli teamMaccabi Haifa, obtaining access to theUEFA Europa League.[62] In the same month, Allegri won the Serie A Coach of the Month award, following to three league victories to Inter,Hellas Verona andLazio.[63]
On 13 January 2023, Juventus ended an eight-game winning streak in Serie A with no goals conceded following by a 5–1 loss to Napoli;[64] Juventus had not conceded so many goals sincePescara–Juventus 5–1 (30 May 1993), in which Allegri himself scored the first goal the match while playing for Pescara.[65] Allegri's second season upon his return ended up trophy less again after a 2–1 loss toSevilla after extra-time in the Europa League semi-finals.[66] The last manager not to win any trophy in two seasons wasRino Marchesi, who coached Juventus from 1986 to 1988.[67]
On 15 May 2024, Allegri was sent off in Juventus's 1–0 victory over Atalanta in the2024 Coppa Italia final; with the victory, he became the first manager to win the title five times. Following the game, he was also reported to have angrily attacked the referees, threatened a journalist and waved off sporting directorCristiano Giuntoli during the post-match celebrations.[68][69] He was sacked just two days later on 17 May,[70] reportedly in large part due to the incident.[68][71][72]
On 30 May 2025, he was appointed as the new AC Milan manager replacingSérgio Conceição, returning to the club 11 years after his first tenure ended.[73]
Allegri has been praised for his tactical intelligence and his ability to build effectively uponAntonio Conte's successful tactics and winning mentality as Juventus' manager, albeit in a less rigorous manner. He initially continued to use Conte's trademark3–5–2 formation, but later switched to a four-man back-line, in particular in the UEFA Champions League. Under Allegri, Juventus became slightly less aggressive and intense in their pressing off the ball while their playing style became more patient and focused on keeping possession and gaining territorial advantage in order to conserve energy, tactics which he had previously used while at Milan. Although Allegri's team was still effective at winning the ball in midfield and scoring from counter-attacks, the club's attacking play on the ball usually involved a slower build-up, which mainly consisted of short passes, and fewer long balls fromPirlo andBonucci.[74][75][76][77] GoalkeeperBuffon also continued to primarily play the ball out from the back with short ground passes to the defenders, but he also began to use deeper goal kicks out to the wings.[78][79][80] Allegri has also been lauded for his versatility, which he demonstrated by adopting and switching between several different formations during his first season with Juventus, including the4–3–1–2, the4–4–2 and the4–3–3 formations,[75][81] which he had also previously adopted while at Milan[82] in order to find the most suitable system for his players.[83] The fluidity of Juventus' formations under Allegri allowed talented players more freedom and creative licence[74][75] and enabled the midfielders to make attacking runs into the area.[83][84] Despite implementing several changes, Allegri still managed to preserve Juventus' defensive organisation and strength—this was further demonstrated by his tendency to switch to the 3–5–2 in the final 20 minutes of closely contested matches in order to hold on to the result[80][83] as well as by his tendency to play behind the ball with two deep, tight defensive lines when facing teams that dominated possession, preferring instead to focus on breaking up play and adopting a counter-attacking style of play similar to that which he had previously also used with Milan.[85][86][87]
Pirlo praised Allegri's seemingly more relaxed attitude to coaching stating that he "brought a sense of calm" to the team and that he aided in endowing the players with a sense of confidence.[83] Regarding Juventus' fluidity under Allegri, Italian football analyst Antonio Gagliardi tweeted: "Juventus defend low with a5–4–1, they press with a 4–4–2 and they attack with a4–2–3–1. Systems in the future will become ever more fluid".[88] In his second season with the club, Allegri was praised for rebuilding the team following the departure of several key players, such as Pirlo,Vidal andTevez; and for his role in inspiring Juventus to a comeback to defend the league title, which included a 15-match winning streak after a negative start.[77][89][90] Although a 1–0 defeat to Sassuolo on 28 October 2015 left them in 12th place, 11 points from the top of the table after their first 10 league matches, Juventus went unbeaten in their next 25 fixtures, winning 24 of them and finished the season as 2015–16 Serie A champions with three games to spare—this was the club's record fifth consecutive league title since the 2011–12 season.[38][87][89][91]
During the 2016–17 season, Allegri drew further praise in the media for his decision to occasionally depart from the team's trademark 3–5–2 formation and instead adopt a new 4–2–3–1 formation, in particular for European matches, a system which better suited the characteristics of the club's new signings—the tactical switch most notably sawGonzalo Higuaín fielded as the team's main striker while Dybala was used in a more creative role as number 10, backed by two central box-to-box midfielders (usually the more defensive-mindedSami Khedira alongside eitherMiralem Pjanić orClaudio Marchisio in a deeper playmaking role) and flanked byJuan Cuadrado on the right wing. The switch to a four-man back-line also allowed Allegri to rotate several players, such as centre-backsGiorgio Chiellini,Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci as well as right-backsDani Alves andStephan Lichtsteiner, while centre-forward Mario Mandžukić was deployed in a deeper, wider role as awinger or attacking midfielder on the left flank—this new position utilised the Croatian's work-rate, intelligence, hold-up play and ability to cover for teammates making overlapping runs, in particular those of left-backAlex Sandro while Mandžukić's height and ability in the air also enabled him to function essentially as a "target man" in wider areas.
Juventus' tactical versatility was demonstrated by their ability to switch between the 3–5–2 and 4–2–3–1 formations during matches; this trait was particularly evident in the team's first leg fixture of the Champions League semi-final againstMonaco. Ahead of the match, Allegri fielded Dani Alves as a right-sided wing-back in a 3–5–2 formation in lieu of Cuadrado and reverted to the team's trademark back-three composed of Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini. When in possession, Juventus kept the ball and played it out from the back and usually attacked with a3–2–4–1,3–4–3 or 4–2–3–1 formation as Dani Alves often made offensive overlapping runs behind the opposition's defence, essentially acting as a winger, which created difficulties for Monaco's back-line while Barzagli moved out wide to cover for the Brazilian, functioning as a makeshift right-back. When defending behind the ball, the team reverted to an organised 3–5–2 or5–3–2 formation, which was difficult for Monaco to break down, courtesy of the strength of Juventus' defensive trio, who were dubbed "theBBC" in the media, a reference to the defenders' initials—Juventus' defensive solidity ensured that the club only conceded three goals en route to the 2017 Champions League final and also allowed the Turin side to create goalscoring opportunities from swift, sudden and efficient counter-attacks after winning back possession. Juventus ended the season by capturing their third consecutive domestic double, which included an unprecedented Italian record sixth consecutive league title; and also reached the Champions League final for the second time in three years, losing out 4–1 to defending champions Real Madrid.[92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107]
During the 2017–18 season, Allegri deployed holding midfielderBlaise Matuidi in a new position, playing him out wide, rather than in the centre, as a left-sided defensivewinger orattacking midfielder in a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Matuidi often tucking into the centre off the ball, in order to help support the midfield defensively. This role was similar to that which he occupied with theFrance national football team under managerDidier Deschamps, in particular during the team's victorious2018 FIFA World Cup campaign.[108][109][110]
In 2024, Brazilian defender and JuventuscaptainDanilo praised Allegri for his intelligence and ability to manage his teams' players off the pitch.[111] Allegri described football as being "simple" that same year.[112] However, while he has been lauded in the media for his player-management skills,[113] he has also earned both praise and criticism by pundits over his rigid, pragmatic style and defensive tactics, in particular during his second stint at Juventus, where the team's lacklustre game-play and his conservative and perceived "old-fashioned" style were thought to have stifled several of the team's talented younger players, despite being effective.[114][115][116]
Allegri was born inLivorno to a father who worked at theport of Livorno and a mother who was a nurse, and grew up inCoteto.[117] In 1992, when he was 24, he called off his wedding with his fiancée Erika two days before the ceremony.[118] In 1994, Allegri married model Gloria Patrizi, fathering a child Valentina a year later; he later fathered another child, Giorgio, in 2011 with another woman, Claudia.[119] From 2017, Allegri was in a relationship with actressAmbra Angiolini;[120] the couple broke up in 2021.[121]