Exclusive: Pavel Nedved on Juventus' Champions League pursuit, Cristiano Ronaldo's influence and offers to join Manchester United

Former Juventus player Pavel Nedved
Nedved, now vice-president at the Serie A club, says European success is 'exactly what I am trying to search for' Credit:  Getty Images

Pavel Nedved has a heartfelt way of describing what it would mean if, finally, Juventus won the Champions League again. “Then,” he says. “Then I could rest in peace.”

It is said with a smile but Nedved is serious. Juventus is his second home and his second family - although he reveals in this exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport that he intends to return to the Czech Republic to hopefully revive the fortunes of the national team when his work is done.

There is a word that peppers his conversation as Nedved discusses his illustrious, iconic career and his role now as vice-president of the Italian giants, working closely with president Andrea Agnelli. That word is responsabilita – which needs little translation from Italian.

“The responsibility not to let anyone down, not to disappointment anyone,” Nedved explains, through an interpreter at Juventus’ training complex ahead of their last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid. Nedved felt it when he played, when he pulled on the famous black and white jersey and still feels it.

“There is no difference,” he adds. “I have always felt like this, to be honest. Because I have always felt privileged. I have been able to do what I love, I have always been treated well, I have always been paid well so that’s why. I feel that I owe something; that I need to return something. It’s always been a great pleasure but nevertheless I do feel this responsibility.

“I can say in the past, when I was a player, it was less heavy because I could just focus on my performance and concentrate on myself. But even now, even if my role has changed, I don’t want to let anyone down.”

Pavel Nedved during the press conference at the end of the Juventus shareholders meeting at Allianz Stadium on October 25, 2018 in Turin, Italy
Nedved was one of the few players who stayed when Juventus were relegated to Serie B in 2006, saying he felt responsibility for the club's future Credit: Getty Images

Nedved has a special bond with the Bianconeri. He also has a special role. There are not many vice-presidents of clubs with the stature of the Italian giants who were former players, and not just former players, but one who was signed in 2001 from Lazio for €41million – to replace Real Madrid-bound Zinedine Zidane – and enjoyed such success and status.

Nedved has remained to this day and there are two episodes in Juventus’ history that reinforce the bond. The first is the way he inspired the club to the 2003 Champions League Final, only to be suspended after being cautioned in the semi-final win over Real Madrid for a foul on Steve McManaman. Juventus lost to AC Milan on penalties and, even now, it is something Nedved really does not want to talk about. “It was extremely disappointing,” he says, not wanting to expand on a campaign which nevertheless ended with him winning the Ballon D’Or.

After that Nedved stayed when Juventus were relegated to Serie B in 2006 following the Calciopoli scandal. He was one of only five players, and the only non-Italian, who did. “I have always been asked this question – whether it was difficult or not to stay in that critical moment,” Nedved says. “And my answer has always been no. It was actually easy to stay. The other players who made the same decision thought the same – that is: what would have happened if we had all left the club? We decided to stay because we felt the responsibility (that word again) to return to the club exactly what we had received. The club believed in us so it was the right time to give back. That’s why it was easy.”

Nedved could have left – and left for the Premier League and to one club, in particular. “I’ve always appreciated English football and the Premier League, I’ve always liked it,” he says. “My agent received some offers and I have always been a great supporter of Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson, specifically, at that time. They were certainly one of our greatest opponents and also a great source of inspiration and drive and desire. He (Ferguson) achieved great things, unprecedented things and I don’t know if anyone else in the future will be able to achieve what he did.”

Nedved’s all-action, hustling, fully committed style was unmistakeable with his mop of blond hair flowing as he ran; the midfielder had a powerful shot of either foot and was a fierce tackler with a fine range of passing. Little wonder he was known as the “Czech Fury”. Little wonder Nedved, now 46 but who has changed little, physically, was so popular.

Juventus' David Trezeguet of France, right, celebrates with his teammate Pavel Nedved of the Czech Republic after scoring against Bayern Munich during their Champions League
Pavel Nedved won two Serie A titles and the Ballon d'Or Credit: AP

“I honestly cannot explain why my relationship with fans is so strong but, possibly, it’s due to the way I see football,” Nedved says. “I have always seen it as the result of great sacrifice, sacrifices you make every day for the victories, and hard work. That is what this club is based on: that hard work, that great effort, that sacrifice. In my opinion work is like Juventus. And there are not many clubs like this one – there is Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich because of the backgrounds they have, because of their stories.

“I have always had this kind of mentality. I learnt since I was a child growing up in a small village in the Czech Republic that I had to be like that to compete, to be the best and then to compete against the best. There has not been a second, a minute, an hour, a day that I have missed because I always wanted to improve. I didn’t waste any time at all and I have no regrets. It was worth doing it.”

Nedved arrived in Italy after his brilliant performances in driving the Czech Republic to the final of Euro 96 in England and retired in 2009, aged 36. “It has been an incredible journey, it went beyond my expectations. I could never dream of being where I am right now and I am still living this dream - the fact that I am here, doing this job. Football is my greatest love,” Nedved says.

It was Agnelli’s father, Umberto, who took Nedved to Juventus in the first place and Andrea asked him to stay. “I didn’t really want to get involved in the football world again straight away but when I received the proposal I love Mr Agnelli and all his family so I could not say no,” Nedved says.

His role includes advising on transfers, talking to players, explaining what it means to play for Juventus. “I am a quite peculiar vice-president compared to others in that part of my role is to be in daily contact with the technical staff, the coach and the players,” Nedved says and he is surprised that other clubs do not have former players in similar roles. It is alien in England, for example.

“I think it’s strange,” Nedved says. “Those that follow this type of career and can do a good job are the ones who had a direct experience on the pitch and know what happens on the pitch. If people like that are given the opportunities they can do very well but obviously it’s not like you should stop playing, take your boots off and put your smart shoes on and become a director straight away.”

Juventus' Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Frosinone on February 15, 2019
On Ronaldo, Nedved says: 'He is much more than a player' Credit: Getty Images

With Juventus heading for an eighth successive Italian league title and having lost two more finals (in 2015 and 2017) since 2003 the Champions League is the target, the almost obsession.

Nedved believes the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo last summer from Madrid has made a significant difference to their prospects. “With Cristiano Ronaldo joining it has improved the mentality,” he says. “There always was a strong, winning mentality but there is something that he has brought which has influenced the rest of the team, that has affected them and has made them even more confident.”

Has Ronaldo been what Nedved expected?

“No, he’s even more than that,” he says of the 34-year-old. “We knew him as a player but now we know him as a person and we’ve all been really impressed by his personality, his character. He is much more than a player. The way I describe Juventus is that it exactly matches with him. Ronaldo is a Juventus player. It’s a perfect fit and it is the perfect mentality.”

Overcoming Atleti, led by Nedved’s former Lazio team-mate Diego Simeone, will be tough. “It was not a surprise to me that he became a coach,” Nedved says. “He was always a very serious person, a serious player and one who was confident. It was always very difficult to beat him; he was always very determined. Atletico Madrid certainly reflects his personality and his character.”

It is the most difficult of the last-16 ties. “This is exactly what I am trying to search for, what I am trying to achieve,” Nedved says of the prospect of winning the Champions League. “It would certainly make me extremely happy. I wanted to win it but couldn’t win it as a player but if we managed to win it while I am part of the club that would be absolutely wonderful, it would be a remarkable achievement. And so then, then I could rest in peace.”

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