It was a big day for Juventus. For the first time since it became the Europa League, Juventus are in the semi-finals. In fact it’s the farthest they have gone in European competition since the 2002-2003 Champions League, where they lost to AC Milan in the final.
Judging from the European successes of the two most recent Europa League champions – Chelsea and Atletico Madrid – this could be a big stepping stone for Juve, allowing them to finally push forward in the Champions League next season.
But that’s next season, let’s worry about that later. As of now, Juventus are in pole position to win the Europa League. The draw for the semi-final has not yet occurred. Valencia, Sevilla, Benfica, and, Juventus are the teams that have made it to the semi-final.
Juventus are the strongest team left in the Europa League. I see Benfica as the biggest threat to Juve remaining. In the Liga ZON Sagres, Benfica have an almost identical record to that of Juve in Serie A. Sevilla are in fine league form, but they are in a dog fight for Europa League qualification with Real Sociedad and Villarreal. Meanwhile Valencia is in poor form and they still need to beat Basel.
Both games against Lyon displayed Juve’s ability to pull out a positive result. A late Leo Bonucci goal in the first secured the win and an away goal, while a late Claudio Marchiso goal – via a deflection – saw Juventus take a 2-1 lead today. Andrea Pirlo scored first off of a free kick to give Juve a 1-0 lead.
Juventus have become very good at withstanding an opponent’s pressure and then taking advantage of the opponents’ fatigue to score late in the game. This may be harder to do against say, Benfica, but Juve have vanquished sides in Serie A that are stronger than Benfica.
We also saw a change in Antonio Conte’s rotation policy. He started some players, such as Pirlo, who had just started on Monday versus Livorno. Serie A is winding down and with six games left Juventus are eight points over Roma. It seems that finally Conte is prioritising Europa League success over Serie A, which is basically wrapped up.
Juventus’ remaining opponents in Serie A are as follows: Udinese, Bologna, Sassuolo, Atalanta, Roma, and, Cagliari. Two of those teams – Sassuolo and Bologna – are relegation candidates. Atalanta are a very good side at home, but the match takes place at Juventus Stadium.
Meanwhile, Roma are obviously a threat but it’s highly unlikely that there will be anything aside from pride at stake in that match. I can easily see Roma beating Juve’s B side, especially if Juventus are still in the Europa League. This is, coincidentally, what happened in the Coppa Italia.
So it’s mostly a bland fixture list for the rest of Juve’s season. Clearly the Europa League is the priority now. However Juventus will need to step things up slightly in the semi-finals. Perhaps Carlos Tevez will finally score that European goal, the one has has been waiting to score for five years.
If not, Juve will have to continue winning without goals from their top scorer. They’ve been doing so far, and it’s quite the achievement. Let’s hope that keeps up, or Tevez starts scoring.
