03 December 2018
Juventus dominates the Great Soccer Gala AIC 2018 once more, as for the seventh consecutive time, the Bianconeri are voted 'Team of the Year'.
Vice President, Pavel Nedved was handed the award that crowned Juve as the best team for last season at the eigth edition of the awards of the Italian Association of Footballers, held at Megawatt Court in Milan.
The jury, composed of coaches, referees, journalists, the Italian national team manager and former Azzurri managers, as well as Serie A players have selected five Juventus players for last season's 'Top 11': Joao Cancelo (last year with Inter), Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro, Miralem Pjanic and Paulo Dybala.
In addition, Massimiliano Allegri was named 'Best Coach', picking up the award for the fourth time since his first win in 2011 whilst at the helm of Milan, along with his trophies from 2015 and 2016.
Juventus were represented at the event not only by Pavel Nedved and the winners, but also by Chief Football Officer, Fabio Paratici. Whilst the other special guests in attendance this evening at the Gala were President of the AIC, Damiano Tommasi, President of FIGC, Gabriele Gravina, league representatives, Gaetano Miccichè, Mauro Balata and Antonio Ghirelli, referee representatives, Marcello Nicchi. Italian national team manager, Roberto Mancini, Italy Under-21 manager, Luigi Di Biagio, Italy Women's manager, Milena Bertolini, alongside many others, including former Bianconero, Andrea Pirlo who, together with Francesco Totti received the 'Lifetime Career Award'.
For the winners the evening was an opportunity to not only express their satisfaction with the awards, but also to reflect upon the season so far. Here are their words:
PAVEL NEDVED
"It is a matter of pride to be at the Gran Galà of football and everyone at Juventus must be proud of what we achieved last season. The first part of the current one is going well, and we know this because we are breaking record after record. They are pleasing to achieve but they are not important, what matters is to raise the trophies at the end of the season. Juve-Inter already decisive cannnot be a decisive match on the 15th matchday, but it is an important fixture and we want to be ready. The season won't be over for a while yet because there is still a long way to go."
GIORGIO CHIELLINI
"We have done well these last few years and this evening we celebrate the past season. We have won our seventh Scudetto in a row and the fourth consecutive Coppa Italia and we enjoy it, but we are focused on the present and the coming month. It will be an intense December and we've started it in the right way, but there are still lots of matches and we'll start to evaluate things at the half way point of the season. Now Inter is waiting for us, it will be a difficult match, a match against one of the Scudetto contenders and we will have to be careful because they have great players."
ALEX SANDRO
"I'm very happy to be here tonight and I thank my teammates and my family. We are doing well this season, but we have to continue like this, be humble and improve, because what matters is how it ends. This month we will be involved in many difficult games, we won against Fiorentina and we will have to do the same in the next matches. Now we have Inter, a strong team, against which we will need to play a great game. Since I arrived in Italy I think the league has improved and this year it is more competitive, just look at Napoli, Inter and Milan."
MIRALEM PJANIC
"It was a great year, winning both the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia. I am very happy to be here for the third time and I thank my teammates, the club and the staff, this prize must be shared with them. What matters however, is the future. We are doing very well and on Friday we will face a good team, they are well coached, and are contenders for the Scudetto. We have to give it our all to win, it won't be easy, but we want to make our fans happy."
PAULO DYBALA
"It has been a great year, even if we would have liked to get further in the Champions League and we would have deserved it, so it's good to be rewarded today. Congratulations to everyone. My role this year has been to move, occupy spaces and help the team. We have created a great understanding with Ronaldo, we know how he moves, we try to give him options and he does the same for us."
