It was a real footballing lesson from the Granata on Thursday night, and perhaps one Italian football would best heed when it comes to the Europa League.
“Dragostea Din Tei” (aka “Numa Numa“) was but a one-hit-wonder but the song turned out a resounding success throughout Europe; and even if Torino’s European exploit turn out just as much of a one-shot, Serie A can only hope for its effect to perdure as long as O-Zone’s single.
Torino beat Athletic Club 3–2 in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League clash on Thursday night, qualifying for the Round of 16 via their 5–4 aggregate win.
Torino could very well have become trailblazers for Italian football and possibly written more than just a page in the club’s history, as coach Giampiero Ventura suggested, by changing the way Serie A might now apprehend the Europa League.
The Europa League has often been disparaged as a secondary tournament to the UEFA Champions League. Serie A has often turned its nose up at the Europa League — in spite of prior successes in the UEFA Cup — decrying the inconveniences of its schedule and poor financial renumeration.
On Thursday night, Serie A qualified five clubs (Fiorentina, Inter, Torino, Roma, Napoli) with none more commendable than Il Toro. Ventura’s men completed their qualification away from home, and became the first Italian team to win at San Mames.
It was Torino’s attitude in the tie which was most rousing. Ventura set up his side to play from the front-foot and qualified by out-scoring the Basque side as opposed to result management.
After weathering an early storm in the second leg, Fabio Quagliarella opened the scoring from the spot. From then, Torino immediately went on the offensive looking for another goal. Even after taking the lead for the second time, Torino did not wait for extra-time to decide things and instead pushed for the winner.
Over the course of both legs and their 5–4 aggregate victory, Torino took the lead three times until Matteo Darmian’s goal secured qualification. Their attacking panache translated the proactive stance Ventura took, culminating in a deserved qualification.
One can only hope now that the emotions and efforts of Torino can buoy the club to further progression in the Europa League. More importantly however, it would be great if it convinced the rest of Serie A to take the competition more seriously.
The Europa League may not be as financially rewarding as the Champions League, but there are indirect ways from which to make money.
Deep runs in the competition add value to players. Porto sold Radamel Falcao for €50 million after he won them the 2010-11 Europa League, breaking Jurgen Klinsmann’s goal-scoring record in the process. Last season, Sevilla won the Europa League, which put Ivan Rakitic on Barcelona’s radar and catalysed his €20 million switch to the Spanish giants.
More Serie A clubs in the Europa League will only be an extra boost to Italy’s UEFA coefficient. Reconquering the fourth Champions League qualifying spot should be a priority, and the Europa League presents just as good a route for it.
Serie A has shown not to be as competitive anymore in the Champions League in recent season, and thus prioritizing the Europa League objective would be more productive.
Torino fell a point short of Europa League qualification last season, only qualifying due to Parma being banned for not paying taxes. Torino have accepted this gift and gleefully unwrapped it, showing their intent to do something in the competition.
After all, in the 1991-92 UEFA Cup, Torino defeated Real Madrid to reach the final against Ajax. Il Toro ultimately lost and had to settle for a runners-up medal.
But if 1992 could not be the year of Gianluigi Lentini, Enzo Scifo, Walter Casagrande, Martin Vazquez and Giorgio Bresciani; then maybe 2015 can be the year of Maxi Lopez, Josef Martinez, Omar El Kaddouri, Amauri and Quagliarella.
As I mentioned elsewhere the other day, of all the results, this is the one that impressed me most. Yes Fiorentina’s play has been solid but we shouldn’t be too surprised with their progression. But it’s different for Torino.
Not only for having beaten a Spanish side but in the manner to which Torino did it. It’s rare you see Italian teams attack like the way they did. Having watched both games, I did not expect this result and was pleasantly surprised.
And the draws for Italian clubs for the R16 were favorable as well. It’s been a long time since they’ve got a break or two. Let’s see if they can make deep runs to improve the league’s coefficient.