Juventus is traditionally the most loved and most hated club in Italy. However, The Old Lady is a legendary stronghold and Turin is a real football city, where you can find a historical story on every corner.
The sun always shines after the rain. Certainly for Juventus, who after the infamous match-fixing scandal and the following relegation came back stronger than ever. In the last decade, the league title was a sure thing for Juve, until former Juventino Antonio Conte, of all people, ended the streak as Inter Milan's manager. Still, Juventus is in everything the biggest club in Italy.
How did Juventus rise from the ashes? Because, unlike most Italian clubs, they dared to replace their old stadium with a new one. Not such a hard decision, the Stadio delle Alpi, built for the 1990 World Cup, was more expensive than the current Juventus Stadium. The giant concrete colossus with the running track cost the club a massive 200 million euros. The Allianz Stadium was 45 million euros cheaper, more compact and modern, with 41.000 seats. This upgraded the ambience and made sure that the stadium regularly sold out, which was a rarity in the old stadium that had 67.000 seats.
In the Allianz Stadium, you can find the club's museum which has some unique pieces. For example, the Ballon d'Ors of Pavel Nedved and Omar Sivori, the World Cup Medal of Alessandro del Piero and even the bench that Juventus was founded on back in 1897. The museum is behind the Tribuna Est and is also open on match days.
In walking distance of the Allianz Stadium, you'll find at the Via Traves the J-Hotel of Juventus, the hotel of the club. This is where the players of The Old Lady stay prior to home games. You can stay there as well, but it's a little bit distant from the lovely city centre.
The Piazza San Carlo is the central square of Turin and has been the place where Juventus have celebrated its titles for decades. A beloved spot for Juventini, although the square turned into a disaster in 2017, when during a public viewing of the Champions League Final panic erupted among the thousands of fans, with three fatalities and thousands injured.
The stadium at Via Filadelfia is now known as the home of city rivals Torino, but for over 60 years Juventus played its home matches here as well. In 2006, it was used as the Olympic Stadium for the Winter Games and Juventus returned for a couple of years as well, awaiting the construction of the Juventus Stadium.
There is no other restaurant in Turin that is through and through Juventus like Ristorante da Angelino at Corso Moncalieri 59, in a quiet part of the city east of the Po River. It has basically become a museum filled with photos of legendary players who had dinner here. They are most proud of their friendship with Zinédine Zidane, who in his time at Juventus ate here so regularly that they even created his own dish on the menu: the rigatoni alla Zidane.
There are two things you can always chat about in Italy: football and food. Several players even combine these two things. In 2021, Leonardo Bonucci opened the fancy Levè at Corso Galileo Ferraris 45. And Cira Ferrara, another former player, brought a piece of his home town Naples to the north of Italy. At Corso Vinzaglio 17 he owns Ristorante da Ciro, a typical Neapolitan pizzeria.
Directly opposite Bonucci's restaurant is a villa. An infamous place, because Corso Galileo Ferraris 32 used to be the headquarter of Juve. This is where the giant Calciopoli match-fixing scandal unfolded. Juventus' director Luciano Moggi 'arranged' the league titles of 2005 and 2006 by fixing who was the referee for Juve's matches. When phone taps leaked, they finally got in trouble. It's also the place where former left-back and then Juventus team manager Gianluca Pessotto, who was suffering from mental health problems, jumped off the roof. He miraculously survived and remarkably continued his job as a team manager again shortly after.
On Via Cremona 2, you'll find La Bottega del Tifoso, a proper Juventus restaurant. Everything is striped in black and white, from the couches to the floor and the walls. It almost gives you a headache, but the food is good and affordable.
Just before kick-off, a sea of black and white led by a lead singer, sing the club's anthem ‘Storia Di Un Grande Amore’.
Want to experience this? You can order tickets for the home games of Juventus on the club's official website. Ordering is easy, although a visit to Juventus is not particularly cheap.
The Allianz Stadium is in the northern part of Turin and is well accessible by car via the A55. You can park your car at one of the giant parking lots around the stadium, where you can reserve your spot in advance on the official site.
By public transport, you take Metro 1 to station Bernini: from here, you take a shuttle bus to the stadium. Tram stop Pervinche is a ten minute walk from the Allianz Stadium, which tramline 3 can take you to from the city centre in 30 minutes.
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