Juve's Conte the new maestro

PICTURE: REUTERS

This year's Uefa manager of the year should not just simply be the coach of whichever club that win Champions League.

It should go to a manager whose team didn’t even play in a Uefa competition this season.

Following in the great tradition of Italian master tacticians, Juventus manager Antonio Conte (above) has been a revelation since his move from Siena in the summer.

He has taken the Old Lady of Turin from the virtual oblivion of consecutive seventh-place finishes under Alberto Zaccheroni, then Luigi Del Neri, to the verge of an astonishing 28th league crown this campaign.