Gianluca Pessotto (; born 11 August 1970) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. A former Italy international, he spent the majority of his club career with Juventus, where he won several domestic and international trophies, and is now head of its youth system. He represented his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and at UEFA Euro 2000, reaching the final of the latter tournament.
After his retirement in 2006, Pessotto remained at Juventus as a member of the coaching staff. He is currently the Sporting Director (Direttore Sportivo) of the club's youth academy.
Pessotto was given the nickname Il Professorino ("The Little Professor") by the fans, due to his glasses, his interest in philosophy and literature, and as he was able to obtain a law degree during his career. His stamina and ability to run very quickly – indeed he was often described as almost "flying" on field in the media – also earned him the nickname "Passerotto" ("Little Sparrow").
Club career
Milan
Born in Latisana, in the province of Udine, Pessotto started his career in the A.C. Milan youth system. However, he was instantly sold to A.S. Varese 1910 in 1989. He never made a professional appearance for Milan.
Varese
After joining Varese in 1989, Pessotto officially began his professional career. In two full seasons with the club, he tallied an impressive 64 appearances, also finding the back of the net on a solo occasion.
Massese
In August 1991, Pessotto transferred to U.S. Massese 1919, although he only remained at the club for one season. In his lone season, he appeared 23 times in the league, netting one goal.
Bologna
Following impressive spells with both A.S. Varese 1910 and U.S. Massese 1919 he transferred to then-Serie B club Bologna F.C. 1909 in the summer of 1992. Despite being a highly anticipated transfer, Pessotto made just 21 league appearances and was sold at the conclusion of the season. He also scored one goal for the Bolognese club.
Verona
After a season with Bologna in Serie B, Pessotto transferred to fellow Serie B club Hellas Verona F.C. in 1993. Pessotto was an undisputed starter for much of the season, impressing greatly. He made 34 league appearances with a seasonal career high of 3 goals.
Torino
After impressing in the second division of Italian football, Pessotto transferred to Torino F.C. in 1994. In his first season in Serie A, Pessotto racked up a starting position along with 32 league appearances and his first Serie A goal. After greatly impressing in his debut Serie A season, Pessotto moved to city rivals and European giants Juventus, in 1995, in what was a very highly regarded transfer.
Juventus
After joining Juventus in 1995, Pessotto instantly became a key part of the first team and helped Juventus form what was considered to be one of the best defences in the world at this time. Teams strongly regretted ever going down a goal to the club as they knew how hard it would be to score one back for themselves. Pessotto formed impressive defensive partnerships with the likes of Ciro Ferrara, Moreno Torricelli, Paolo Montero, Mark Iuliano, Lilian Thuram, Alessandro Birindelli, Igor Tudor, Gianluca Zambrotta, Nicola Legrottaglie, Fabio Cannavaro, Jonathan Zebina, and Giorgio Chiellini during his 12-year tenure with the club. He was one of many experienced players who had been at Juventus for a lengthy period of time. Injuries and other issues in the closing stages of his career limited his first-team opportunities to mainly being used as a substitute to Jonathan Zebina or Lilian Thuram. Pessotto retired at the end of the 2005–2006 Serie A season, after back to back Scudetti. With Juventus he managed well over 250 total appearances scoring 2 league goals in the process. Among his achievements as a Juventus player, Pessotto won the UEFA Champions League in 1996 (scoring a penalty in Juventus's shoot-out victory over Ajax), playing in 4 Champions League Finals, the UEFA Super Cup in 1996, the Intercontinental Cup in 1996, a UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2000, four Scudetti (1997, 1998, 2002, 2003), four Supercoppa Italiana titles (1997, 1998, 2002, 2003) and a Coppa Italia in 1995.