Empoli and Juventus are recurring themes throughout Rugani's career. The defender spent his youth years at Empoli and then played for the top youth teams of Juventus and Empoli before his definitive breakthrough in professional football. That breakthrough came with his youth club in the 2013/2014 season. With Rugani starting almost every game, Empoli was promoted to Serie A in 2014. The following season, the defender didn't miss a single minute at the highest level of Italian football. After that, he moved to Juventus.
He made his debut for the Italian top club in 2015. He remained in Turin continuously until 2020 before being loaned out to Stade Rennes and Cagliari. Since the summer of 2021, he has been playing his matches for Juventus again. Rugani wore the "Old Lady's" shirt in nearly 150 matches and scored eleven goals.
Against Ajax
Rugani started twice in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals against Ajax in 2019. He played the entire match on behalf of Juventus both in Amsterdam (1-1) and in Turin (1-2 win for Ajax) and was eliminated by Erik ten Hag's team. In 2017, he also played in Amsterdam, this time with Italy against the Dutch national team: 1-2 for the Italians.
If we zoom in on his last year in Serie A with Juventus, we see that Rugani played seventeen matches for the Italians. On average, the defender played over 75% of the minutes that season. In those seventeen matches, the Italian can boast a 91% pass completion rate. More than half of those (58%) were forward passes, and nearly ninety per cent reached their target. In the final third, the pass completion rate is 84%.
In his last season with Juventus, Rugani scored three times: in the league against Cagliari and Frosinone, and in the Coppa Italia against Salernitana. The defender also progressed through all the youth teams of the national team and has so far made seven appearances for Italy.
Second Italian player
With Rugani, the number of Italians who have ever played for Ajax has doubled. After Lorenzo Lucca, the defender becomes the second Italian player to join the Amsterdam-based team. At the current Ajax, he will find two compatriots in the technical staff: coach Francesco Farioli and assistant coach Daniele Cavalletto.
