The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. Ernest Hemingway
We will never forget what has happened in this season. We will never forget it.
They were days of throttled celebrations, of tears and joys, of engines (never) switched-off and of a great desire to return to rejoice. And to embrace each other.
And now we are here, on a day in late July, celebrating something that we are sweetly used to winning: our Scudetto, number 38.
We are used to winning it, it’s true, but not like this.
Not after a season like this.
Resilience. A female noun indicating the ability of a material to absorb a shock without breaking. In a broad sense, the ability to face a difficulty and overcome it. To bend, without breaking.
To be stron9er.
The novel for each season, for eight years now, has had the same ending, comprising of hugs, smiles, applause. Always and only in black and white.
It’s logical, therefore, that the first thing we had to be stron9er than this year, was the competition. Never so fierce, never so determined to change that ending.
But this story has been different, from the start: a beginning characterised by change. Deep, radical, courageous: the change of the coach, after years of unforgettable success.
So, here’s another appeal to be stron9er: than the curiosity of those who were waiting for us, once again, at the gate, of those who had doubts about our hunger and our desire to repeat ourselves once again.
The numbers, as always, have spoken.
Each storyline has ups and downs. The complicated ones, where the machine doesn't seem to work properly. For us, it was the winter between 2019 and 2020: some difficulties, some uncertainties, such as in Riad, in Naples and in Lyon.
危机
Being stron9er is exactly this: living danger as an opportunity for growth, as the Chinese diagram Weiji teaches us, which indicates the word "crisis" and which is composed of two characters: precisely, danger and opportunity.
So, even in this case, Juve responded in the only way they know how: on the pitch. After the Coppa Italia, and the desire to smile choked in our throats by the penalties in Rome. We struck a series of victories and scored an incredible amount of goals, with determination and pride, with strength and celebrations, and with sweat and rediscovered smiles.
But let's stop for a moment, we've gone too far. Because between those winter matches and this crazy summer there is something we can’t not talk about.
The sanitary emergency that hit the world, Europe and Italy, as you know, also affected us. They were surreal days, of a forced break, of a desire to see each other and an impossibility to do so, with restrained hugs and virtual closeness.
They were days of medical bulletins, of positivity or negativity to the virus, that overwhelmingly jumped to the top of any news for weeks. And of course, there were days of a desire to return.
But returning is not easy, in a season first gutted and then recomposed, in places, days and times never seen before. Even in this case, we were strong: we continued to be together, we allowed you to enter our house and we entered yours, we continued to keep you company, and we stayed close to you. Us, with you, and you always present.
Distant, but united.
And then the ball started to roll again, and in a way, it's like it never stopped.
Living one step ahead, Live Ahead.
It also means this: restarting, after something unprecedented, and having the ability to return to being a leader.
Unsurprisingly, immediately after the restart, we created an advantage, between us and our opponents, that has brought us here today.
And now we are here, at the end of this unprecedented story. But with an ending that, once again, is similar to previous years; similar, but not the same. Because a fundamental part is missing.
The applause of the Allianz Stadium has been missed, the joyful roar of our fans, the suspended breath before a penalty or the tears from an unforgettable day. Our thoughts are already running ahead, to the new challenges that await us, starting in a few days, in Europe.
We know, however, that sooner or later, all this will return, that you will return.
And this is why our Ninth Symphony is for you.
Because you, with us, have been STRON9ER than everything.
STRON9ER. Happy celebrations, Champions of Italy!
Let’s celebrate a 9th consecutive league title victory by purchasing the STRON9ER Celebratory T-shirt that pays tribute to the strength which keeps us united on and off the field.
The print on the front, with an infinite repetition of the word STRON9ER, reminds us of the importance of courage and perseverance – essential qualities of a true champion.
Buy the STRON9ER Celebratory T-shirt on the Official Online Store, click here.