Juventus FC
Opened: 2011
Capacity: 41,475
Club establishment: 1897
Turin-based Juventus F.C., the most successful Italian football club in history, has had several home grounds since its foundation back in 1897. The newly-built Juventus Stadium, as of July 2017 known under its sponsor name the Allianz Stadium, became its most recent home in 2011.
It is important to note that it is still the most modern stadium in Italy. Prior to the 1990 World Cup held on the Italian Peninsula, many new stadiums had been built and many older ones renovated, but since then, football stadiums in Italy almost haven’t been touched. The exceptions are Juventus and also Udinese, whose stadium underwent complete reconstruction in 2015.
The new home ground of Juventus was built on the site of its predecessor, Stadio delle Alpi, where Juventus had played from 1990 to its demolition in 2006. The original idea was to reconstruct the delle Alpi, preserving the roof and removing the athletic track, which would move the stands directly next to the pitch. In the end, however, basically, the whole stadium was demolished and a brand new one began to be built. What remained from the delle Alpi are two historical A-shaped columns, the symbol of the stadium, modernized and in national colors.
The Juventus Stadium was opened at the beginning of September 2011 by a friendly match between Juve and Notts County from England, the oldest professional football club in the world (1–1). The first official match of Serie A was held at the stadium on the 11th of September against Parma. The home fans were not disappointed – Juve received three points after a convincing 4–1 win.
The most significant match held at the Allianz Stadium so far was the 2014 Europa League Final in which Spanish side Sevilla defeated Portuguese side Benfica 4–2 on penalties when the match finished 0–0 after extra time.
Fans appreciate that the distance from the pitch is much friendlier in comparison to the original stadium with an athletic track. Seats on the steep stands behind the goals depict three stars that symbolize reaching 30 titles in the top Italian football league. As Juventus was not entitled to the third star at the time of the stadium opening, only two stars were originally installed on the stands. The third star was added after the 2013/14 season, in which Juventus won their 30th title.
The Juventus Stadium is definitely not one of the largest stadiums in Italy. Considering that Juventus is often counted among the best teams in the world, the capacity of over 41,000 appears to be rather low. It may be sufficient for league matches, which are not as highly attended as in England, Spain, and especially Germany, but it is definitely insufficient during Champions League matches. In this respect, Juventus should have been more thorough and should have built a stadium with a capacity of at least 50,000.
After the demolition of the old stadium in 2006 and before the completion of the new one in 2011, the Old Lady played their home matches at the 25,000 Olympic Stadium, sharing it with their city rival from Torino F.C. This very stadium, previously known as Stadio Comunale, had been the home of Juventus for 57 years before they moved to Stadio delle Alpi in 1990. The stadium was then reconstructed for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin and serves to this day as the home ground for Torino F.C.
Pavel Nedvěd (August 30, 1972) - former Czech football player and national team member
