Juventus Next Gen

Juventus Next Gen (Italian pronunciation: [juˈvɛntus nɛkst dʒɛn]), also known as Juve Next Gen or Juve NG (pronounced [ˈjuːve ˈɛn ˈdʒiː]), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, which acts as the reserve team of Serie A club Juventus. They compete in Serie C Group C, and play their home games at the Stadio La Marmora-Pozzo in Biella.

Juventus Next Gen

Full name	Juventus Next Gen[1]
Short name	Juve Next Gen Juve NG
Founded	3 August 2018; 6 years ago (2018-08-03) as Juventus U23
Ground	Stadio La Marmora-Pozzo
Capacity	5,827[2]
Chairman	Gianluca Ferrero
League	Serie C Group C
2023–24	Serie C Group A, 7th of 20
Website	https://www.juventus.com/en/teams/next-gen
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Following the reintroduction of reserve teams in Italy, Juventus U23 was formed in 2018 and was registered to Serie C, the third level of the Italian league system. In the first years, the team reached the promotion play-off stages of Serie C, without gaining promotion. In the 2019–20 season, under coach Fabio Pecchia, Juventus U23 won the Coppa Italia Serie C after defeating Ternana in the final. The club changed its name to Juventus Next Gen in 2022. Juventus Next Gen remained the sole Italian reserve team until August 2023 when Atalanta founded its own.^[3]

Due to the nature of the club as a reserve team, Juventus Next Gen needs to comply to certain regulations, such as being eligible for promotion to Serie A and competing in the Coppa Italia, the major national cup. The club, and in general FIGC's reserve-team project, has faced a lot of criticism, especially from fans of other Serie C teams due to their perceived lack of history.

History

Predecessors (1904–1976)

1905 Seconda Categoria winning team

Reserve teams were introduced in Italy in the early 20th century, and played in the Seconda Categoria [it].^[a][4] On 17 April 1904, the second team of Juventus lost the final 4–0 to Genoa II at the Ponte Carrega field.^[4] On 2 April 1905, after a 3–0 away win to AC Milan II, Juventus II obtained the mathematical certainty of first place at the final three-team group stage to win their only Seconda Categoria trophy.^[5]

Juventus II also took part in the Campionato De Martino [it], another league dedicated to reserve teams, until the competition ceased in 1976; they won the 1959–60 edition.^[6]

Juventus even had a third team who played friendly matches against local teams,^{[7][8][9][10]} and competed in the Terza Categoria [it] in the early 20th century.^[b][11]

Juventus U23 (2018–2022)

Nocchi

Alcibiade (c)

Coccolo

Di Pardo

Frabotta

Touré

Fagioli

Rafia

Del Sole

Marchi

Brunori

2020 Coppa Italia Serie C final starting lineup

Juventus U23 were founded on 3 August 2018,^[12] following the reintroduction of professional reserve teams in Italian football after over 40 years, and was officially admitted to the Serie C championship.^[13]

On 21 August, Luca Zanimacchia became the first scorer of the team's history after scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win over Cuneo in the group stage of the Coppa Italia Serie C.^[14] Juventus U23's first game in Serie C was a 2–1 away defeat to Alessandria, with Claudio Zappa scoring the team's first league goal.^[15] Juventus U23 ended their first season in 12th place with 42 points in 37 games,^[16] and were eliminated in the group stage of the Coppa Italia Serie C.^[17]

In the 2019–20 season, coached by Fabio Pecchia, Juventus U23 won the Coppa Italia Serie C after beating Ternana 2–1 in the final on 27 June 2020. The club won its first trophy in their second year as a professional club.^[18][19] In August, U19 coach Lamberto Zauli was promoted to U23 level, replacing Andrea Pirlo (who became first-team coach), who had in turn taken Pecchia's place.^[20] Zauli coached for the following two seasons; in the last one, his Juventus U23 made their best-ever regular-season score with 54 points.^[21]

Juventus Next Gen (2022–present)

On 28 June 2022, Massimo Brambilla was appointed as Juventus U23's coach.^[22] On 26 August, the club changed its name to Juventus Next Gen.^[23] In his first season, Brambilla's Juventus Next Gen reached the final of the Coppa Italia Serie C, lost 5–3 on aggregate to Vicenza,^[24] but they failed to qualify for the promotion play-offs, having finished the league at the thirteenth place with 49 points.^[25] However, in the following season, they obtained the seventh place in the regular season, their best-ever-regular-season placement.^[26]

Brambilla left Juventus Next Gen at the end of the season^[27] and was substituted by former U19 coach and former first-team defender Paolo Montero in mid 2024.^[28] Montero was sacked in the November of the same year, with the team trailing at the penultimate place in relegation zone and with them obtaining one only victory in 14 league matches.^[29][30] Brambilla returned to Juventus Next Gen on a contract until June 2025.^[31]

Stadium

The Stadio Giuseppe Moccagatta, Juventus Next Gen's home ground from 2018 to 2024

Juventus Next Gen does not possess their own stadium. From 2018 to 2024, it shared the Stadio Giuseppe Moccagatta with Alessandria as their home stadium.^[32] Although there had been an agreement among the two parts shortly after Juventus's reserve team's foundation, Alessandria's fans protested to not share their stadium.^[32] According to the agreement, Juventus Next Gen fans can sit only in the guests sector.^[32] Their players train at the Juventus Training Center in Vinovo.^[32]

On 27 November 2022, Juventus Next Gen played exceptionally a match against Mantova at the Juventus Stadium, the first team home ground, in which tickets were free.^[33] The match was drawn 2–2, with Simone Iocolano scoring a brace for Juventus Next Gen^[34] and was seen by 28,572 fans present at the stadium.^[35] On 3 March 2023, the Juventus Stadium also hosted the first leg of the 2022–23 Coppa Italia Serie C final between Juventus Next Gen and Vicenza with an attendance of 21,572 spectators and with Juventus Next Gen losing 2–1.^[36][37]

Since 2024, Juventus Next Gen, alongside Juventus women's team, have been using the Stadio La Marmora-Pozzo in Biella.^[38]

Regulations

Juventus Next Gen play in the same professional league system as their senior team, rather than a separate league dedicated for youth teams. However, the reserve team may not play in the same division or higher as their senior team, nor in the Coppa Italia, making Juventus Next Gen ineligible for promotion to the Serie A.^[39] Should both Juventus and Juventus Next Gen qualify in the same league, the reserve team must play in the league immediately below.^[40] Juventus must pay an annual extraordinary fee of €1.2 million to have the reserve team registered to Serie C.^[41] In addition, Juventus may not take part to Lega Pro assemblies.^[40]

They may insert a maximum of 23 players in their team sheets.^[42] Only four players aged more than 23 when the season started may be inserted in the team sheets.^[42] Up to a maximum of seven players who had been registered to a FIGC-affiliated club for less than seven sporting seasons may be included in the match list.^[42]

In order to be eligible to play for Juventus Next Gen, players must have not been registered to the 25-man list of Serie A players and must have played at most 50 Serie A matches.^[42] Instead, to be eligible to play in promotion play-offs and in relegation play-outs, players must have not played over 25 first-team league matches of at least 30 minutes.^[42] If a player is suspended, he is unusable in both the first and reserve teams.^[42] Suspensions must be served in the team with whom he committed the infraction.^[42]

Reception

Juventus's reserve team and the second-team project itself led by FIGC have faced a lot of criticism. On 28 July 2018, before the team's official foundation, Sicula Leonzio president Giuseppe Leonardo criticised Juventus's choice to form their reserve team by saying: "Reserve teams are a flop, an experiment that does not lead to anywhere. Juventus B are going to be harmful and will distort the championship: they are not a newly promoted team but they are certainly going to be strong, we have seen this in women's football that the Bianconeri don't make a bad impression wherever they put their effort".^[43] In August 2018, Sportitalia director Michele Criscitellio criticised the second-team project by stating: "The mission of Juve[ntus] B was to get their youngsters to play and not to take away a place from the Serie C clubs to reach the Serie B. The buying power is so different that there would be no competition. It is pointless to make investments for whoever Juventus will end up in the group".^[44]

In December 2018, Pisa's fans attacked Juventus U23 by stating, in an official statement: "B teams are an insult to the dignity of those who consider the Lega Pro their own Serie A", further noting that Pisa should not act as a "sparring partner" for "youngsters without a stadium and history". The fans also defected the two league matches against Juventus U23 in the 2018–19 Serie C.^[45] In September 2019, Arezzo's fans flew a banner in front of their bus saying "No to B teams".^[46] They too defected the match against them as they had done in April.^[47]

In November 2021, Padova's fans considered Juventus U23 a "Super League franchise" and defected the two league matches against them.^[48] In July 2022, Lega Serie B president Mauro Balata expressed dissent towards reserve teams playing in Serie B, saying: "Our league embraces big and important cities. If another league wants to continue with this second-team project they can do so, but without affecting our rights and our history. It is not fair".^[49]

Players

Current squad

As of 4 September 2024^[50][51]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SVK Jakub Vinarcik 3 FW  GHA Felix Afena-Gyan (on loan from Cremonese) 4 DF  BRA Pedro Felipe (on loan from Palmeiras) 5 MF  ITA Federico Macca 6 MF  CUW Livano Comenencia 7 DF  ITA Gabriele Mulazzi 9 FW  ITA Tommaso Mancini 10 FW  ITA Lorenzo Anghelè 11 MF  ITA Nicolò Cudrig 13 DF  ITA Fabrizio Poli (captain) 15 DF  ITA Federico Savio 16 MF  ITA Luca Amaradio 17 FW  ITA Simone Guerra 18 MF  ITA Nicolò Ledonne

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  ITA Marco Da Graca 21 MF  NOR Martin Palumbo 23 DF  ITA Filippo Scaglia 24 DF  ITA Alessandro Citi 25 GK  ITA Simone Scaglia 28 MF  ITA Augusto Owusu 30 GK  ITA Giovanni Daffara 31 DF  AUT David Puczka 32 DF  ITA Riccardo Stivanello (on loan from Bologna) 33 MF  ITA Clemente Perotti 42 MF  BEL Daouda Peeters 73 MF  ITA Giacomo Faticanti (on loan from Lecce) 74 MF  GRE Christos Papadopoulos (on loan from Genoa) 79 FW  POR Luis Semedo (on loan from Sunderland)

Youth sector

Main article: Juventus F.C. Youth Sector

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Notable players

As of 18 May 2024^[52]

This list includes players that have appeared in at least one first-team game.

• Giacomo Vrioni
• Enzo Barrenechea
• Matías Soulé
• Koni De Winter
• Joseph Nonge
• Daouda Peeters
• David Wesley
• Kaio Jorge
• Grigoris Kastanos
• Samuel Iling-Junior
• Stephy Mavididi
• Marley Aké
• Tommaso Barbieri
• Leonardo Cerri
• Marco Da Graca
• Alessandro Di Pardo
• Nicolò Fagioli
• Gianluca Frabotta
• Paolo Gozzi
• Fabio Miretti
• Simone Muratore
• Hans Nicolussi
• Marco Olivieri
• Manolo Portanova
• Nikola Sekulov
• Luca Zanimacchia
• Dean Huijsen
• Martin Palumbo
• Félix Correia
• Matheus Pereira
• Radu Drăgușin
• Hamza Rafia
• Kenan Yıldız
• Franco Israel

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Massimo Brambilla
Assistant coach	Christian Terni
Athletic coaches	Alberto Pasini
Goalkeeper coach	Daniele Borri
Technical collaborator	Francesco Spanò
Match analyst	Matteo Poletti
Team manager	Marco Lombardo

Last updated: 12 November 2024
Source: Juventus.com

Managerial history

Below is a list of Juventus Next Gen managers from 2018 until the present day.^[53]

Name	Nationality	Years
Mauro Zironelli		2018–2019
Fabio Pecchia		2019–2020
Andrea Pirlo[c]		2020
Lamberto Zauli		2020–2022
Massimo Brambilla		2022–2024
Paolo Montero		2024
Massimo Brambilla		2024–

Season to season

Season	League			Coppa Italia Serie C[56]
	Tier	Division	Position[57]
2018–19 [it]	3	Serie C	12th of 20	Group stage
2019–20	3	Serie C	10th of 20	Champions
2020–21	3	Serie C	10th of 20	Cancelled[58]
2021–22	3	Serie C	8th of 20	Round of 16
2022–23	3	Serie C	13th of 20	Runners-up
2023–24	3	Serie C	7th of 20	Round of 16
2024–25	3	Serie C	TBD	First round
Champions    Runners-up    Third place/semi-finalists

Honours

• Coppa Italia Serie C^[59]
  • Winners (1): 2019–20
  • Runners-up (1): 2022–23^[60]

See also

• Juventus F.C. Youth Sector

Notes

1. Not to be confused with the current Seconda Categoria, the eighth level of the Italian football league system
2. Not to be confused with the current Terza Categoria, the ninth level of the Italian football league system
3. Pirlo had been appointed to coach Juventus U23 on 30 July but was promoted as first-team manager on 8 August.^[54][55]

References

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2. Molinaro, John (20 January 2016). "Alessandria turning heads in Italy with Cup run". Sportsnet. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
3. "Atalanta Under 23 in Serie C: dopo la Juve, altra seconda squadra tra i professionisti | Goal.com Italia". www.goal.com (in Italian). 4 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
4. "Il campionato delle seconde squadre". La Stampa. 18 April 1904. p. 2.
5. "Un nuovo trionfo dei torinesi a Milano". La Stampa. 3 April 1905. p. 2.
6. "Quando dal Bacigalupo passava la "miglior gioventù" - IVG.it". Il Vostro Giornale (in Italian). 30 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
7. ""Match" di "foot-ball" a Vercelli". La Stampa. 17 April 1905. p. 3.
8. "Gli ultimi grandi "matches" della stagione". La Stampa. 15 April 1905. p. 3.
9. "Le gare di foot-ball in Italia". La Stampa. 26 November 1905. p. 3.
10. "Il "match" di domani a Torino". La Stampa. 28 December 1912. p. 5.
11. "Juventus batte Carignano (5-1)". La Stampa. 10 January 1921. p. 4.
12. "La seconda squadra bianconera è realtà!" (in Italian). Juventus FC. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
13. "Comunicato Ufficiale n. 40" (PDF) (in Italian). FIGC. 3 August 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
14. Lamorte, Vito (21 August 2018). "Coppa Italia Serie C, Zanimacchia lancia la Juve B: Cuneo battuto 1–0". Fanpage.it (in Italian). Retrieved 22 July 2022.
15. "Juventus II vs. Alessandria". Soccerway. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
16. "2018/2019 Serie C – Girone A". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
17. "Under23 ancora imbattuta ma non basta". Juventus FC. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
18. "Ternana–Juventus U23 1–2: bianconeri nella storia, è trionfo in Coppa Italia!". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
19. "Serie C, Coppa Italia: trionfa la Juventus Under 23, Ternana battuta 2–1" (in Italian). la Repubblica. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
20. Sport, Sky (25 August 2020). "Juventus U23, ufficiale il nuovo allenatore". Sky Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 10 May 2023.
21. "Juve Under 23, ufficiale: Zauli lascia la panchina". Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 13 June 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
22. JuventusNews24, Redazione (28 June 2022). "Brambilla nuovo allenatore della Juventus U23: è UFFICIALE! Il comunicato del club". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 5 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
23. "From Under 23 to Next Gen – a new identity at Juventus". Juventus FC. 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
24. "Il Vicenza vince la Coppa Italia di Lega Pro: 3-2 alla Juve Next Gen". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 11 April 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
25. "Juventus Next Gen senza playoff, come proseguirà la stagione dei giovani bianconeri?". La Casa di C (in Italian). 29 April 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
26. "Grazie di tutto, mister Brambilla!". Juventus FC (in Italian). Retrieved 26 June 2024.
27. "Brambilla-Juve Next Gen, addio ufficiale: ecco dove allenerà". tuttosport.com (in Italian). 21 June 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
28. "Montero è il nuovo allenatore della Juve Next Gen, ufficiale: "È un orgoglio"". tuttosport.com (in Italian). 4 July 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
29. "Montero verso l'esonero: Juve Next Gen, chi è il possibile nuovo allenatore". tuttosport.com (in Italian). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
30. JuventusNews24, Redazione (12 November 2024). "Esonero Montero, adesso è ufficiale: il comunicato" (in Italian). Retrieved 12 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
31. JuventusNews24, Redazione (12 November 2024). "Brambilla Juve, ufficiale il ritorno alla Next Gen" (in Italian). Retrieved 12 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
32. "Juventus U23 ad Alessandria: i tifosi non vogliono condividere il "Moccagatta"". Goal. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
33. JuventusNews24, Redazione (15 November 2022). "Biglietti Juventus Next Gen Mantova: come assistere al match dello Stadium". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 21 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
34. JuventusNews24, Redazione (27 November 2022). "Doppietta Iocolano, tiro e deviazione: la Juventus Next Gen pareggia". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 27 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
35. JuventusNews24, Redazione (27 November 2022). "Spettatori Juventus Next Gen-Mantova: il dato ufficiale sul pubblico dello Stadium". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 27 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
36. JuventusNews24, Redazione (2 March 2023). "Spettatori Juventus Next Gen-Vicenza: in più di 20 mila allo Stadium". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 4 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
37. Baridon, Marco (2 March 2023). "Juventus Next Gen Vicenza 1-2: ai veneti il primo atto, Iling non basta". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 4 March 2023.
38. "Next Gen, il nuovo stadio è il "Pozzo-La Marmora" di Biella". Juventus FC (in Italian). 16 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
39. Marrone, Claudia (21 July 2020). "Serie C, determinato il regolamento per l'iscrizione della Juventus U23 al torneo 2020–21". TUTTO Mercato Web (in Italian). Retrieved 29 September 2020.
40. Gravina & Brunelli 2020, p. 3.
41. Gravina & Brunelli 2020, p. 2.
42. Sacchi, Marco (15 November 2022). "Giocatori della Juve in campo con la Next Gen? Cosa dice il regolamento". Calcio e Finanza (in Italian). Retrieved 18 November 2022.
43. Parisi, Roberto (29 July 2018). "Serie C, il presidente della Sicula Leonzio: "La Juventus B falserà il campionato"". Stadionews24 (in Italian). Retrieved 21 November 2022.
44. "Bordata di Criscitiello contro la Juve: 'Così s'ammazza il calcio di provincia'". Il BiancoNero (in Italian). Retrieved 5 December 2022.
45. "Pisa - Juventus Under 23 senza la Curva Nord: "Non legittimiamo un'invenzione dei padroni del calcio"". PisaToday (in Italian). Retrieved 21 November 2022.
46. "La protesta contro le squadre B finisce sul pullman della Juventus U23". ArezzoNotizie (in Italian). Retrieved 21 November 2022.
47. Nazione, La. "La protesta del tifo amaranto: "Contro la Juve non entriamo" - Calcio - lanazione.it". La Nazione (in Italian). Retrieved 21 November 2022.
48. "Padova, gli ultras non "riconoscono" la Juve Under 23: diserteranno all'andata e al ritorno". Padova Sport (in Italian). 14 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
49. "Balata: "No alla promozione delle seconde squadre in Serie B"". La Casa di C (in Italian). 27 July 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
50. "Roster Juventus Next Gen". Juventus FC. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
51. "Juventus Next Gen". Global Sports Archive. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
52. "Juventus, dalla Next Gen alla prima squadra: Allegri ne ha lanciati 19". Sky Sport (in Italian). 18 May 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
53. "Elenco allenatori". MyJuve. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
54. "Andrea Pirlo is the new Under 23 Coach!". Juventus FC. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
55. Juventus.com. "Andrea Pirlo is the new coach of the First Team". Juventus FC. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
56. "Italian Cup Serie C". MyJuve. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
57. For the source, click "Archivio" first and then click the season in question at "Girone A | LEGA PRO" (in Italian). Retrieved 22 December 2022.
58. "Coppa Italia Serie C, cancellata l'edizione della stagione 2020/2021". Goal. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
59. "Albo d'Oro". MyJuve. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
60. Baridon, Marco (11 April 2023). "Vicenza Juventus Next Gen 3-2: bianconeri sconfitti in finale, vincono i veneti!". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 29 May 2023.

Sources

Gravina, Gabriele; Brunelli, Marco (2020). "Comunicato Ufficiale N.24/A" (PDF). FIGC. Retrieved 19 November 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Juventus Next Gen at Soccerway