Serie A is not to blame for Juventus’ European Failure

Article by e-Football Correspondent Brian McLaughlin

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JUVENTUS sealed their third successive Serie A title at the weekend after Roma suffered a shock defeat to lowly Catania.

Antonio Conte’s side were already assured of the title before their home game against Atalanta, but the Champions did not relent with yet another 1-0 home win taking them to 96 points for the campaign. The Juve’ juggernaut can still smash the 100 point barrier for the season, again underlining their dominance of Italian Football.

However, the Bianconeri have not managed to transfer their domestic dominance to the European stage. Last week’s stalemate at home to Benfica meant they crashed out of the Europa League at the semi-final stage. In the Champions League they were knocked out in the Group Stages after a disappointing campaign, but UEFA’s secondary competition was a chance for redemption with the chance of winning the trophy in their own stadium. Yet again Conte’s men failed to turn up.

Their shortcomings have led some critics to argue that they are hindered by what they view as the poor standard of Serie A.

But it is a sweeping generalisation to blame Italy’s top-flight for Juve’s poor European form.

Firstly, if Serie A hinders Juventus then surely it must hinder all Italian clubs? Why then did Milan- a club who are a staggering 42 points behind the Champions- make the Champions League knockout rounds and not Juventus?

In addition, Juventus are not the only club to dominate domestically and flatter to deceive on the European stage: Ajax have won four consecutive titles in Holland but Frank De Boer’s side have struggled to make an impact in Europe; and even closer to home Manchester City and their expensive squad of top class players have not even mustered a quarter-finals in Europe’s elite competition.

Does that mean that the Eredivisie and the Premier League are hindering Ajax and City? Of course not, it is simply the case that certain clubs have a way of playing domestically that is not as adaptable to European competition.

Perhaps what is most disappointing about Juve’s European woe is that the continent has not been able to see the best of Antonio Conte as a top class manager. The Italian has transformed Juventus domestically and has worked wonders in the transfer market: the Chilean Arturo Vidal was snapped up for just £12million, whilst the likes of Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo were lured to Turin for absolutely nothing.

Conte is a shrewd operator and has developed a style of play for Juventus that has proved successful in Italy, but he must now find a way of adapting his style for European fixtures. In Italy he tends to favour a 3-5-2 system, but this can prove naive in Europe, it is a system that places too much responsibility on two players. The wide players must track back and provide cover for the defence- acting almost like full-backs- and they must also support the attack in wider areas. Italian Football is more laboured in its intensity and the speed of the game is not as demanding as in the Champions League, it is perhaps this difference which affects Juventus. Even against Benfica there did not seem to be an urgency about Juventus, the approach still seemed very laboured and the attacks simply were not quick enough; most of the play was in front of Benfica and the Portuguese side seemed very comfortable throughout the evening. Conte needs to adapt his style for the Champions League if Juventus are ever to become a credible force as Juventus’ shortcomings are to do with their own problems, it is and never has been the fault of Serie A.

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