THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

With a spot in the UEFA Champions League semis secured, the Juventus players took Thursday off to rest and recover from the post-match fatigue. Then, when Friday morning arrived, they all picked up their boots and headed to the Vinovo to commence preparations for their next games.

They were about to begin a busy schedule of four fixtures. They would first play Torino away from home on Sunday, April 26th. Then, they would face off against Fiorentina at home on Wednesday, April 29th. Lastly, they would battle Sampdoria on Saturday, May 2nd, before hosting Borussia Dortmund the following Tuesday, May 5th, for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

Bearing all that in mind, a spirited Coach Allegri, who couldn't hide his smile after beating Real Madrid, summoned the players into the tactics room before the training commenced on Friday morning. He called them for a crucial strategy meeting to talk about how they could handle the next three fixtures of the Serie A while also prepping for the Champions League semi-final against Borussia Dortmund.

"Good morning, guys," he said with a smile after the players had taken their seats around the tactics room. "I expect you all had a wonderful time relaxing yesterday. And I do hope that you didn't spend too much time getting intimate with your other halves or going out to party with an excuse of celebrating our win against Real Madrid last night. Right?"

The players laughed at that, with some whistling and throwing in a few jokes.

Coach Max Allegri grinned. "I had a relaxing day, myself. Thank you all for not asking. Now, back to business. You all know that we have a busy ten-day fixed schedule ahead of us. We'll play Serie A matches (both away and at home) against Torino, Fiorentina, and Sampdoria in a seven-day window. Then, after that, we'll welcome Borussia Dortmund to Turin for the first leg of our UEFA Champions League semi-final battle."

"These are four matches in ten days, with short windows of two or three days between them. Our first team can't handle them all, as that would increase our cumulative fatigue and eventually lower our performance levels. We might even risk putting up a terrible performance in the UEFA Champions League semis if we only use our first-team players for all the fixtures."

The coach glanced around and continued, "Here is what we'll do to overcome this tricky situation. We'll separate the team into two units. The first unit will include eleven of our best players at the moment. They will not participate in the tiring drills to prepare for our next three Serie A matches."

"Instead, they will train at another ground solely to prepare for the first leg of our UEFA Champions League semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund. Of course, they'll still have to participate in our tactical meetings for the Serie A matches since I plan to use them as substitutes in all the games."

"Moving on. The second unit will include the rest of you who won't make the first eleven. You'll undergo the training drills to refine our tactics for our Serie A matches. You'll then get opportunities to serve during our matches against Torino, Fiorentina, and Sampdoria. At that point, you must do your best to perform so we can continue winning and maintaining our unbeaten run."

The coach swept his scorching gaze across some players before saying solemnly, "I know some of you might be thinking that we're already this season's Serie A champions, and it wouldn't matter even if we lost the next three games. You better discard such notions out of your heads. You better correct your attitudes, as we need to continue winning. I especially don't want us to suffer any losses. I want us to continue our unbeaten run for as long as possible."

"Moreover, if some of you from the second unit perform well, I can decide to promote you to the first unit. Then, you will play our upcoming Champions League fixtures. So, don't lose hope even if you're not mentioned in the first unit today. Just continue doing your best on and off the pitch, and I will surely give you an opportunity. Understood?"

"Yes, coach," the players replied.

"Good," Coach Max Allegri said with a nod. "Now, let me read the eleven players in the first unit. We have Buffon, Patrice Evra, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, Zachary Bemba, Álvaro Morata, and Carlos Tevez. You eleven will train on the second pitch solely to prepare for our Champions League semis, and I'll supervise most of your training myself. Do your best, as you risk facing relegation to the second unit if you perform below par during our training sessions."

"As for those I haven't named in the first eleven, they will all stay on the first pitch and train with Coach Trombetta. But don't relax. Even while focusing on the other unit, I will still make time to monitor you to ensure you don't embarrass us when you play our next three Serie A games. Understood?"

"Yes, coach," the players not mentioned in the eleven of the first unit replied with vigor. They were right to do so as they would get more match time, with the best eleven out of the way.

Coach Allegri glanced at them and nodded. He then made a few concluding remarks before sending the two groups of players to their respective training grounds.

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Zachary was not too happy with the coach's arrangement. In fact, he wasn't alone with regard to the matter. The other Juventus players also had downcast looks as they headed to the second training ground to commence their preparations for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semis.

"I feel like committing a few mistakes during the upcoming drills," Arturo Vidal was the first to break the silence on the subject. "Maybe the coach will relegate me to the second unit, and I'll be able to play our next three games."

A few others laughed at that but silently agreed with Vidal.

All footballers who could rise to the top had a few traits in common. They were hungry to perform, and they relished competition. They would always do their best to get into the starting eleven for every game that came their team's way, with some even risking to hide injuries to achieve the goal. Such was the nature of professional athletes.

So, you could imagine their feelings when they heard the coach's announcement of the training plan. Some of them were even regretting why they had been too impressive over the past few weeks. They were not too happy with joining the first unit, which would be sitting out their following three Serie A fixtures.

"You guys shouldn't feel down," Buffon, the captain, suddenly said as their group of eleven approached the second training ground. "The coach is doing this for the good of the team. Since we're already champions, he doesn't want to waste most of our energy on the remaining Serie A games."

"Moreover, there's something else I'm sure about. The coach will not dare to rest all of us for all three games. He will rotate and give each of us some match time during the ten days so we can maintain our sharpness and individual playing rhythms while heading into the fixture against Borussia Dortmund."

"I think what the captain says is true," Zachary, who had remained silent, said. "The coach will use us as substitutes or allow us to start one or two of the three games."

As a footballer, he understood he could lose some of his sharpness if he went ten days without playing top-level football. The experienced Allegri was even more aware of this. As such, the coach would have to give his starting eleven some playing time during the ten days before the game against Borussia Dortmund.

As the players whined among themselves, they finally reached the second training ground. Coach Allegri arrived soon afterward, and the training commenced immediately.

They started the session by going through the warm-up exercises. Then, after achieving a good workout rhythm, they went into the agility and stamina drills before eventually delving into the routines targeted toward the actual tactics of the Champions League semi-final.

They practiced various transitions of play that they could execute against Borussia Dortmund for about two hours before the coach sent them back to the resting room.

Zachary followed after the rest of his teammates to the locker room. He then headed to the bathroom and showered before going to the canteen. He grabbed some snacks of bread, bananas, and milk from the counter and then settled down on one of the tables to enjoy the food.

It was at that point that his phone started vibrating. He fished it of out his pocket and glanced at the screen.

A few doubts flashed within his mind when he noticed the call was from Kristin Stein, his publicity secretary. He was confused as she had long cultivated the habit of never calling when he was training with the team. Nevertheless, he pressed the accept button and held the phone against his ear.