In Champions League midweek, Roma obtained a positive draw whilst Juventus disappointingly lost, in two games that meant more than the single point Serie A collected from match day two. Although it was only in the group stages, Roma drawing Manchester City and Juventus losing to Atletico Madrid represented important early tests for Serie A in Europe.
Both Serie A teams traveled away from home, Roma to the English Premier League champions and Juventus to the Spanish La Liga champions. Over the last years, Juventus have dominated Serie A, winning three Scudetti on the trot. Roma were Serie A runners-up last season, emerging as the only candidate able to rival the Bianconeri.
This season again, both Juventus and Roma have asserted their dominance over the rest of Serie A. Both teams are unbeaten in the league and have registered perfect starts. Juventus did one better than Roma by having not only won all their games but not conceding a single goal either.
This duopoly on the homefront has yet to be consecrated on the European stage however. Serie A has really struggled in Europe recently, with Juventus and AC Milan having reached the farthest since Inter won the Champions League in the 2009/10 season.
It was Antonio Conte’s Juventus which reached a Champions League quarterfinal in the 2012/13 season, when they were thoroughly outclassed by Bayern Munich. Even AC Milan — for so long Serie A’s flag-bearers when it came to the Champions League — only once reached the quarterfinals since they last won it in 2006/07. Last season, the Rossoneri were unceremoniously ousted by Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16, 5–1 on aggregate.
Besides the result itself, the performance of Roma in midweek showed that they might just have a bigger say than expected this year. Juventus, on the other hand, controlled most of the game against Atletico Madrid but ultimately failed to do enough to get a result.
Despite winning three Scudetti, Serie A still required the kind of test Juventus failed to pass on Wednesday night to reassure itself that it still belonged at this level. Same went for Roma, who went toe-to-toe with Juventus last season but without playing in the Champions League. Again, their performance against Manchester City served as a validation that Serie A can still compete against Europe’s bigger hitters. Juventus will need to keep working on and improve their poor Champions League form however.
It is early days of course, with only a third of the group stages having been played so far. In fact, it is only the group stages and the bigger and more telling tests will come at the Round of 16. However, both Roma will feel a bit more assured of their respective strengths for the remainder of the competition whilst Juventus might worry a bit more.
For now, Serie A observers will breath a sigh of relief that two of their representatives were not as severely overturned in the manner of previous seasons, when Serie A clubs had looked well out their depth. Moreover, for Serie A as a league, it is important to link Juventus and Roma’s potential successes in Europe with the fact that both clubs represent the peninsula’s two most coherent sporting projects.
Juventus are the only Serie A team to own its stadium and Giuseppe Marotta has done well to build a team and bring on Conte to help re-launch the Bianconeri giant. As for Roma, the new ownership under James Palotta, shrewd transfer dealings of Walter Sabatini and coaching of Rudi Garcia have all reinvigorated the stuttering Giallorossi.
Roma and Juventus’ performances in the Champions League will be important barometers for Serie A, as the league strives to regain its role as a competitor in Europe. Serie A can no longer rest on its laurels and live off of its past glory; Serie A must approach the Champions League with the swagger and ambition that once characterized it as one of the competition’s main protagonists.
Follow Ogo Sylla on Twitter at: @RossonerOgo_3
