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Juventus Says Massimiliano Allegri Won't Be Coach Next Season

Juventus Says Massimiliano Allegri Won't Be Coach Next Season

(Bloomberg) -- Juventus Football Club SpA says Massimiliano Allegri won’t be coach next season after failing to win the UEFA Champions League tournament.

In a short statement on Friday, the club said Allegri "won’t be on the bench" next season and will speak at a news conference on Saturday. No further details were given.

Last month the Italian team was knocked out of Europe’s elite club competition by the Dutch outsiders AFC Ajax NV. Allegri, 51, joined Juventus in 2014 and won five consecutive top soccer championships in Italy. Allegri still has a contract with Juventus that runs until June 2020.

Failing again in winning Europe’s top soccer award was a setback for the team backed by the billionaire Agnelli family, whose purchase of 34-year-old, five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo last year was seen in part as driven by a desire to win Europe’s most prestigious club competition. Under Allegri’s leadership, Juventus reached the Champions League’s final twice.

Juventus share rose 2.2% in Milan trading, giving the company a market value of 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniele Lepido in Milan at dlepido1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Tommaso Ebhardt, Dan Liefgreen

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