Humble Juve back in quarters after 7 years
Source: Agencies |
March 8, 2013, Friday
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JUVENTUS, traditionally one of Europe's biggest clubs, is back in the last eight of the Champions League but coach Antonio Conte does not want it seen in the same light as Barcelona or Bayern Munich.
Conte has recognized that the 28-time Italian champion cannot compete financially with clubs from Spain, Italy or England, even if results on the field have been just as good, if not better.
Conte himself won a Champions League medal with Juventus during his 13-year playing career in Turin, and it also finished as runner-up three times while he was at the club.
Having bounced back after the Caliopoli match-fixing scandal, which saw it stripped of its 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles and demoted to the second tier, Juventus now faces a different reality on its return to the quarterfinals following a seven-year wait. Twice European champion, five-time runner-up, Cup Winners Cup winner on one occasion and UEFA Cup champion three times, it no longer finds itself mentioned in the same breath as Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern.
"When I played, there were not so many well-structured clubs, and there were more opportunities for Italian teams to be successful," Conte said after Juventus beat Celtic 2-0 on Wednesday to complete a 5-0 aggregate win in the last 16 tie.
"Now, for a variety of reasons, mainly financial, teams such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich are stronger. We must be humble, be aware that we can no longer bridge that economic gap. We are three of four steps below them but it doesn't mean we can't compete with them."
Juventus is not Europe's most stylish team but Conte, still in only his second season in charge, has turned it into a formidable outfit, which hassles the opposition incessantly in midfield and breaks forward fast when it wins possession.
Conte habitually fields a three-man defense and a five-man midfield where the majestic Andrea Pirlo, whose role as a deep-lying playmaker makes him a rarity in modern football, pulls the strings.
With the talismanic Gianluigi Buffon in goal, the defense has not conceded a goal in five European games and it has not been beaten in Europe in its last 18 outings.
"They have a great work ethic about them," said an admiring Celtic manager Neil Lennon. "I don't see why Juventus can't win it. They have been fantastically consistent, and at home here in Turin, it's a fortress."
Conte has recognized that the 28-time Italian champion cannot compete financially with clubs from Spain, Italy or England, even if results on the field have been just as good, if not better.
Conte himself won a Champions League medal with Juventus during his 13-year playing career in Turin, and it also finished as runner-up three times while he was at the club.
Having bounced back after the Caliopoli match-fixing scandal, which saw it stripped of its 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles and demoted to the second tier, Juventus now faces a different reality on its return to the quarterfinals following a seven-year wait. Twice European champion, five-time runner-up, Cup Winners Cup winner on one occasion and UEFA Cup champion three times, it no longer finds itself mentioned in the same breath as Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern.
"When I played, there were not so many well-structured clubs, and there were more opportunities for Italian teams to be successful," Conte said after Juventus beat Celtic 2-0 on Wednesday to complete a 5-0 aggregate win in the last 16 tie.
"Now, for a variety of reasons, mainly financial, teams such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich are stronger. We must be humble, be aware that we can no longer bridge that economic gap. We are three of four steps below them but it doesn't mean we can't compete with them."
Juventus is not Europe's most stylish team but Conte, still in only his second season in charge, has turned it into a formidable outfit, which hassles the opposition incessantly in midfield and breaks forward fast when it wins possession.
Conte habitually fields a three-man defense and a five-man midfield where the majestic Andrea Pirlo, whose role as a deep-lying playmaker makes him a rarity in modern football, pulls the strings.
With the talismanic Gianluigi Buffon in goal, the defense has not conceded a goal in five European games and it has not been beaten in Europe in its last 18 outings.
"They have a great work ethic about them," said an admiring Celtic manager Neil Lennon. "I don't see why Juventus can't win it. They have been fantastically consistent, and at home here in Turin, it's a fortress."
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