FRANCESCA MICHIELIN’S DREAM JUVENTUS XI ✨ | BUFFON, DEL PIERO… AND WHO ELSE?

Juventus

Francesca Michielin picks her dream Juventus XI

On Juventus' Small Talk, Francesca Michielin and the host go through her all-time Juventus XI one position at a time, settling on a three-man defence. Her final XI is Buffon; Zambrotta, Chiellini and Barzagli; Camoranesi, Pjanic, Conte and Pirlo; Baggio, Nedved and Trezeguet, with Allegri as coach. Her picks are shaped by her childhood memories and years of watching the club, and she acknowledges that choices such as Allegri may divide opinion.

Francesca Michielin builds her all-time Juventus XI. From club legends and iconic names to some tough choices, discover who makes her dream Bianconeri line-up — and who misses out. Subscribe to Juventus: https://juve.it/Subscribe 🏃‍♂️ 📲 Follow us for more cool content 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juventus/ 👾TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@juventus 📱 Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VajJHr796H4Kvog1cH3i 🐤 X: https://twitter.com/juventusfcen 💻 Web: https://www.juventus.com/en 🧢 MERCH: https://store.juventus.com/en/ 👕 Juventus Juve football interview francescamichielin

Transcript

Put Trezeguet. No Del Piero? - No, you said we're not using Del Piero. - Okay, fine. - No, Del Piero for me... Come on... - Of course. Let's take our folder, as regular Small Talk viewers know, because it's time for your Best XI. We're talking about footballers. Your Best XI. I'm ready for this. We mentioned Ale Del Piero. I have some really tough choices. Yes, but you have to make them. This is the marker for the message which we'll see later. For now I'll just use a normal pen. We mentioned Alessandro Del Piero. Yes, he's the absolute ultimate. Since you mentioned Sanremo, before getting into your Best XI, was it the same Sanremo when you were injured that you said, "Sorry but I'm watching Inter v Juve"? Or was it Pirlo's shirt? Which Sanremo was it? - Both. - The same one? No, I was asked if I'd rather win Sanremo or win Inter v Juve. Or maybe it was the Champions League. I've written it down. Hang on, I'll read it to you. That was the week of Inter v Juve. You didn't want to comment as you were too busy with the game? They kept asking me: "Would you rather win Sanremo or see Juventus win the league? Or the Champions League. I don't remember. I've got it here. "I don't have time to thank everyone. I'm too focused on Inter v Juve." Ah yes, that was the time when I went home and the game as on. That week I was asked if I'd prefer to win Sanremo or that Juve could win whatever. I said: "Juve to win, any day of the week!" So they came back: "No, you can't say that!" I was like: "Clearly!" Those are the standings we're really interested in. I filled the Verona Arena even without winning Sanremo. And without crutches too! I made it, yeah. Ok, so let's hear your all-time best XI. We have Alessandro Del Piero. We know that when you finished 21st you posted Pirlo's No.21 shirt. So two names... I might have a Zidane 21 at home too. Yes, definitely. With long sleeves. We have plenty of quality. Let's start with the goalkeeper. You spoke about Lehmann. Who are we picking? - Buffon! - Buffon. I think he's... Can we say he's one of the best three goalkeepers of all time? Of course. We can certainly say that. Do you want three or four at the back? What do you prefer? A five-man defence? I don't think so. No. No, let's go three-man. Three it is. So who are your three starters at the back? Well... BBC? Buffon fits! On the left, can I put Zambrotta? Of course. He doesn't get mentioned a lot. Zambrotta on the left is a good idea I have this image of Zambrotta. He was an amazing player. I really liked him. He went through that spell when his legs... He's an athlete who had to manage physical problems after his retirement and they were big problems. Zambrotta it is. Centre-back? Chiellini. We'll put Chiellini in the middle. We're playing with three and we've moved Zambrotta to centre left. Who's the third member of our back three? Gosh. Well I'd say Barzagli. Barzagli is good. - I don't want to say... - Barzagli is a great choice. I don't want to say something stupid now but is it possible that Barzagli was there in 2006 but didn't play? He was there in the squad. He didn't play much but he's a World Cup winner. I remember as a little girl I bought one of those little books with all the teams. I remember it clearly. And I remember seeing Barzagli and thinking, "Who is that?" Then he became one of my favourite Juve players. When he joined Juventus he got a call... The plug call he received, the player who convinced him to join was Del Piero. Del Piero called him up and said, "We need you here." Then of course he went on to make history with this club. An incredible defender. And a wonderful guy. Sadly I've never met him. I have. He's a wonderful person. So he deserves his place in the team. Let's move on to midfield. I don't know how many forwards you want to play, if you want to pick Baggio, Del Piero and so on. Do you want four in midfield? I'll go with Camoranesi. Camoranesi. Excellent. But we don't have full-backs. - We took that out. - Yeah because we changed to three. I wrote right-back and left-back assuming we'd have a back four. - Then you switched formation, as coaches do... - I did. so we're playing with three instead. So, Camoranesi... When I was young I liked Camoranesi because he was a bass player Oh, he plays the bass too! So obviously being a bass player... Not many footballers play instruments. And not just any instrument: the bass. Which is your instrument. That and the piano are my favourite instruments. Camoranesi, a great player. In midfield I'll surprise you with Pjanic. Great: The Pianist. You just said piano is your instrument so Pjanic The Pianist.. He was part of that incredibly successful Juve spell in recent years. Incredibly talented and skilful, a superb free-kick taker. He was. So we have The Pianist orchestrating in midfield. Who are we putting alongside him? Can we pick Conte? Of course we can. I love him. I don't know if I can say that! Of course we can. He's one of my favourite coaches. I met Conte and he gave me this joie di vivre. With his grit. Where did you meet him exactly? It was a gala evening. He asked me for a photo and I started laughing. Spalletti asked you too! Every Juventus coach wants your picture. Fine. Why not? I mean, it's nice. But I really liked Conte. When he gave interviews he would say such crazy stuff! He doesn't hold back. I like people like that. If I have a regret... I'd have loved to see a player like Gattuso playing for Juve. You like strong characters. I'd have loved to see Gattuso at Juve for five years because players like that... Dogged. Conte was a dogged player too so he's a good fit. He is. Let's put him in. Pjanic and Conte form an excellent midfield. Who's the final piece in the middle? In our midfield. I can't put Baggio there, can I? Maybe he's better up front. Earlier you mentioned... We could have a really skilful midfield with Pirlo if you want. You said no Pirlo. No, we just mentioned him before. Then put Pirlo in. Obviously. Pirlo, Pjanic, Conte, Camoranesi. No shortage of skill. They'll find a way to fit on the pitch and take up the space. Moving onto the attack then... Left forward, let's put Baggio, even though... No, put him on the right. We'll put him in the front three. Put Nedved. Nedved? As a forward. Put him here. I'm a super fan and not many people know this. You'll remember 'Il giornalino'. 'Il giornalino'? It was a magazine for kids that was popular when I was in primary school. - I had a subscription. - Never heard of it. Yeah, I had a subscription because you'd get posters with it. So you had a poster of Pavel Nedved in your room. At home, I had one like this. Amazing. I don't know where it is now but... But you had it. I had it stuck to... I stuck it to the furniture and my dad was a carpenter so he got angry because I'd stuck Del Piero's goal when they used to sell the stickers. He was like "What have you done?" You ruined the wood. - I remember having one of Nedved too. - Brilliant. At this point, the last one is obvious. No? Put Trezeguet. No Del Piero? - No, you said we're not using Del Piero. - Okay, fine. - No, Del Piero for me... Come on... - Of course. Let's put... I was writing... Ale Trezeguet! Trezeguet. A great striker. He wraps it up nicely and would score a ton of goals. If we'd played with one more here, I would've put Thuram I think. Lilian Thuram in defence. I think we've got a good line-up but we're missing the coach so who are we going to put? Allegri. Don't hold it against me. Everyone has their opinions. This is Francesca Michielin's Best XI. You can do what you want. But guys, Allegri... Juve's Champions League nights. Of course. I'd say Capello but I didn't watch him as much as Allegri. The interesting thing about doing these Best XIs, because throughout these Small Talk episodes we've done it a lot, you realise the relationship you have with the club matures when you're in that age range of Becoming Her, When you're little, like five or six, then when your memory is a bit more developed as a teenager. And then you head straight to those times to give your best XI despite your passion for the current squad. Thinking chronologically, I've got some of the same people as you. I remember the BBBC more than BBC. The fact that I saw this crazy Juve defence and to see it at the stadium. Actually living it. The same with Pjanic, seeing him play... When I was a girl I saw Vicenza when they were in Serie A and Juve came to their stadium and then when they went back to Serie B. You remember when you were three and you went to a game and became a Juve fan. I met Baggio on a plane. It was amazing. You meet so many people at the airport! I know! But you'd never think you'd meet him on a flight. Baggio is just insane. I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of people but there's obviously someone I don't want to meet. I got dissed for this. Who don't you want to meet? Obviously they'll use what I say as a headline but I said I don't want to meet Alessandro Del Piero but not because... - Because you don't want to meet... God. - Exactly! With all respect. With all respect to religion but that was what I meant. If there is someone that's inspired me to be Francesca, it's Alessandro Del Piero. I've taken so much from him. You might say, "But you're a singer!"