Juventus are out of the Europa League. They’ve now been eliminated from both European competitions this year. To make things worse, Portugal will overtake Italy in the UEFA co-efficient rankings now, largely on the back of Benfica’s strong Europa League run this year and last year.
Worst of all, Juve’s loss opens up a Pandora’s box of armchair analysts and a small but vocal subset of Juve fans who have an odd hatred for a coach who is about to win them a third consecutive Scudetto.
We’ll ignore Juve’s three consecutive Scudetti, as we will ignore their consecutive seventh place finishes in the years preceding Conte. I’m not going to craft a defense of Conte’s tenure at Juve, those who cannot appreciate what he has done for the club are either willfully ignorant, or just ignorant. But let’s talk about Juve’s struggles in Europe this year.
Now, if you judge Juve’s European run by social media, you “know” two things: this year has been the first, last, and, only time that the Champions League has ever been held and secondly, they really blew it in the Champions League group stage. One doesn’t even need to get angry about the pitch in the last Galatasaray game, as Juventus got eliminated far earlier, when they drew FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray 1-1 and 2-2, respectively.
To be fair, Juventus played very well against Champions League finalists Real Madrid in two matches. That’s where things get interesting. One wonders how Juve can compete so well against a great team like Read, only to struggle against the minnows in the group.
Lately I cannot help but think this is related to the quality of Juventus and the quality of Serie A. Juventus has plenty of fantastic players, and I still think they have a fine coach. Of course, form plays a part in this, so keep in mind that even good players can be in bad form at times, and vice versa. They have depth, too. However this season has shown us that Juve’s depth isn’t necessarily quality. Certain players, like Martin Caceres, have shown that they can provide depth and quality. Others, like Simone Padoin or Federico Peluso, provide little more than extra bodies.
Now here is where the quality of Serie A comes into play. Guys like Padoin or Peluso can be started in Serie A and Juve can still win with ease. Juve’s dominance in the weakened Serie A leads to a weird contrast with their performance in Europe – but the lack of strength in Serie A arguably makes them look much better than they are, at least relative to other European clubs.
Yes, sides like Roma, Napoli, heck even Fiorentina, these sides are good and getting better. But when you look at the provincial sides, as long as you have striker like Carlos Tevez and half decent defense, you can win. So this expectation of dominance carries over to Europe. Juve can smash Catania, but yet they struggle to a 1-1 draw with FC Copenhagen – though they did beat them in the second match – and lose to Galatasaray.
Playing weakened Italian teams every week – and perhaps this would be different if Juve played Roma every week – does nothing to further Juve’s chances in Europe. Or the chances of any Italian team, for that matter. Juve’s status as top dogs cannot translate even versus a Champions League minnow. Yet, when they go in as underdogs, as they did versus Real Madrid, you see a much stronger team.
Juventus seemed to be on the right track in the Europa League. Trabzonspor was dispatched with ease, Fiorentina gave them a scare but ultimately failed, and Lyon were only dangerous for parts of their tie. Full credit to Benfica, who are a very tough side and refused to accept defeat even when down to nine men. It’s not a coincidence that they are going to their second consecutive Europa League final. We see, once again, a more experienced continental side taking down Juve.
To be fair, this season’s Juventus were still developing by October, that plays a part in the 2-2 draw vs Galatasaray and the 1-1 draw vs FCK, for sure. As does Conte’s relative inexperience in Champions League, it takes coaches a while to learn to compete at the highest level. Even Carlo Ancelotti needed a few years before he was a Champions League legend. I don’t blame Conte, but I see his inexperience as a factor.
Add all these things together, and you have my thoughts on why Juve failed to make a big impact in Europe this season. Luckily, contrary to my sarcasm earlier, Champions League is in fact held every year. In a little over than four months, Juventus will be trying once again for European glory. In the meantime, enjoy the Scudetto.
