Five reasons why Juventus should take the Europa League seriously

A very bleak night for Juventini

Having been knocked out of the Champions League group stage for the second time in four years,  La Vecchia Signora find themselves relegated to UEFA’s much maligned 2^nd tier competition once again. In the 2009/10 edition, Juve beat Ajax in the round of 32, and then we all know what happened next.  Fulham unceremoniously dumped them out of the tournament in the last 16 after an embarrassing second leg in which they were 1 – 4 up on aggregate and somehow contrived to lose 5-4 after a stunning comeback from the southwest London side.  The side of 2009/10 was not a particularly vintage Juventus side and so expectations were not high on winning the tournament, this time however it’s quite different.

The tournament doesn't have
many admirers

The current squad is more than good enough to go on to win the competition, it all comes down to just how much of a priority Antonio Conte gives it. I have compiled five reasons why I think the club should give it the upmost importance.

Success breeds success - Once you get into the habit of winning, you want to win more, the club has won two Scudetti and two Italian Super cups under Conte’s tutelage, winning the Europa League would be another positive step in the right direction and bring back another tint of prestige to the club following the dark and painful years of the Secco era.  If successful in May, the club would become the sole record holder in terms of UEFA Cup/Europa League wins with four trophies, they currently hold the record with Liverpool and Inter.

Juve's last UEFA Cup
triumph was in 1993

Tactical experimentation – Conte’s favoured 3-5-2 formation is fine in Italy, he has employed the formation for two years now without many hiccups, but in Europe the system simply does not work, the majority of Europe’s elite teams use a 4-3-2-1/4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 system, when Juve encounter teams with wingers, as showcased in the crushing defeat to Bayern last season, the team struggles. Why? Because in Serie A not many teams use a system that incorporates wingers, they are a dying breed of player in Calcio and therefore Conte’s boys have little experience in dealing with these formations (Rafa Benitez employs a 4-2-3-1 at Napoli, but he is alone in using this system). 

It was no surprise to any Juventus fan to see how much better the team played in a different system in the games against Real Madrid, which was something of a 4-5-1/4-3-3 hybrid. Conte should use the Europa League to experiment with different systems to get the right formula ahead of next seasons Champions League.

UEFA Coefficient – Juve currently has 11.0666 points for the 2013/14 season, mainly due to winning only one game from six in the group stage and sit in 27^th position overall.  Conte should look to Chelsea’s Europa League win last season for inspiration, coincidentally Juve knocked them into the the competition, they picked themselves up, dusted themselves down and went on to win the tournament.  Collecting 30.2856 in the process, while the Bianconeri got 25.8832 points for getting to the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League.  As things stand Juve would be in pot 3 for next seasons Champions League, possibly meaning a tougher group than this seasons and potentially another early exit.  UEFA inexplicably give the same points for a win in the Europa League as they do the Champions League (presumably to try and convince teams to take it seriously), so a deep run into the Europa League would do wonders for the club coefficient points in regards to the 2014/15 season.

Juve below European heavyweights such as Rubin Kazan and Olympiakos

More European experience – Carlos Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Gigi Buffon aside, this current Juventus team hasn’t a great deal of European experience at club level. Giorgio Chiellini’s idiotic display against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu ultimately cost his side the game.  You can get away with manhandling tactics in Serie A, were the referees allow more rough and tumble at set pieces, but in Europe the officials aren’t as lenient and will blow for penalties and bookings.  The ironic thing is that Juve’s no.3 has more experience in Europe than most of his colleagues, yet his display was that of a player who had never played in Europe before.

Conte will learn from his failings

You would have to include Conte in that. He was outfoxed by Roberto Mancini in the crunch Champions League game against Galatasaray in Istanbul, when only needing a draw to qualify he made the mistake of ordering his side to go in search of the winner in horrendous conditions.  It also has to be said that he didn’t employ the correct tactics in the opener vs Copenhagen either, were he instructed the team to bombard the Copenhagen penalty box with crosses to the 5ft 8in Carlos Tevez, the 5ft 11in Fabio Quagliarella and later on the even smaller 5ft 5in Sebastian Giovinco, hardly the tallest of players.  A run deep in the tournament would give him ample opportunity to further cut his teeth on the European stage, gain more experience in knockout rounds and prepare himself for a deep run in the latter stages of next seasons Champions League.  Lets hope the lessons of this seasons Champions League have been learned from both the manager and the players.

The final is on Juve’s doorstep – Is there any greater incentive to take a competition seriously when you already know where the final is being played?  With the final being played at the Juventus Stadium in May, Conte and co should (theoretically at least) be doing everything necessary to make sure his team is one of the two sides that will walk out to the pitch on the evening of Wednesday May 14^th.

Michel Platini awarded the Juventus Stadium the final in March 2012