Juventus Are Giants in Italy but Must Stop Shrinking on Champions League Stage

Juventus began their UEFA Champions League campaign on Wednesday evening, taking on a familiar opponent in Sevilla, who were paired with the Turin giants in the group stage last term.

While a pre-match storm passed over Juventus Stadium before kick-off, the performance was still something of a damp squib from the Bianconeri, unable to reproduce their sparkling domestic form in continental competition.

Despite the home side dominating for large portions of the match, it ended 0-0 on a frustrating evening for supporters of the Old Lady. Indeed, WhoScored.com statistics show she enjoyed 55.7 per cent of possession and took 16 shots to Sevilla’s total of three over the 90 minutes.

It was a jarring display from a Juventus team that has brushed aside Fiorentina (2-1), Lazio (1-0) and Sassuolo (3-1) to start the Serie A campaign. However, they did create numerous chances against their Andalucian visitors.

After getting the better of the early exchanges, some wonderful play from Leonardo Bonucci and Paulo Dybala released Sami Khedira, but the German—who has already scored twice this term—could only hit a tame effort at goalkeeper Sergio Rico.

That excellent piece of play deserved better, but it was a standout moment in a game that was largely dull overall, as both teams struggled to create many clear-cut scoring opportunities.

It was clearly part of Sevilla’s game plan, coach Jorge Sampaoli setting his team up to frustrate the Bianconeri. It worked, as Juve’s attacks were continually rebuffed by a well-drilled wall of yellow shirts.

However, coach Massimiliano Allegri’s men got the better of the Rojiblancos defence just before the hour mark, a superb cross from Dani Alves picking out Gonzalo Higuain. The striker dispatched his header toward goal, only to see it rebound off the crossbar with Rico beaten.

The Spain international may have been fortunate there, but he turned in an otherwise excellent display. “He really did well tonight," Sampaoli said of his goalkeeper at his post-match press conference.

As the clock ticked past the 90th minute, another cross from Alves was met by Alex Sandro, the latter doing everything right as he nodded the ball powerfully downward and on target, only to see the Sevilla stopper make a fantastic diving effort to palm it wide.

“Thank God I was able to help the team by making that late save,” Rico told beIN Sports (h/t Football Italia) as he left the stadium, but Juventus could rightly believe the match should have been won long before the 23-year-old's great save.

From the outset, it was destined a game that would be remembered for some strange choices from Allegri, the Juve boss opting to start Kwadwo Asamoah and Patrice Evra while dropping Sandro and Miralem Pjanic to the bench.

The two surprise choices delivered fairly average performances here, but the duo they replaced had previously been excellent. Sandro has played 90 minutes in all three Serie A fixtures to date, giving the side width, pace and a useful attacking outlet on the left flank.

Against the best opposition, Evra—while still defensively solid and a reliable veteran—is no longer able to deliver at both ends of the pitch, meaning the Bianconeri lose a valuable weapon when he is selected over the Brazil international.

However, perhaps the omission of Pjanic was the most baffling, the former AS Roma star having made an excellent debut in the victory over Sassuolo on Saturday. That performance was discussed in a previous post, but there is little doubt the team sorely missed his incisive passing and creativity against Sevilla.

Allegri explained his decision, telling Mediaset Premium (h/t Football Italia) that he felt “Asamoah gave us something more when defending." But that mindset clearly hurt the Bianconeri here.

Yes, the side was once again solid, with ESPN FC showing that goalkeeper Gigi Buffon made just one save, continuing what has been a superb effort from the Juve defence to protect their captain.

According to Fox Soccer, the 38-year-old has made just three stops so far this term while facing just six shots across 270 minutes of action. But it is in attack where the side appears lacking, particularly during Champions League outings against opponents who appear content to play for a draw.

GIUSEPPE CACACE/Getty Images

This was far from a one-off display from the Bianconeri, who have been held to a string of disappointing results at home since returning to the Champions League in 2012/13. The likes of Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray and Borussia Monchengladbach have all escaped Turin with a share of the points.

Those matches were much more difficult than they should have been and are not in keeping with a team touted as potential winners of the competition this season along with traditional giants such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

“Tonight we must prove that we’re good with facts and not the many compliments we’ve received,” director general Beppe Marotta told Mediaset Premium (h/t Football Italia). But the result did no such thing.

Elsewhere in Europe, their rivals were laying down markers of intent. Bayern Munich hammered FC Rostov 5-0, Barcelona knocked seven unanswered goals past Celtic, Borussia Dortmund won 6-0 away to Legia Warsaw and Manchester City emerged 4-0 victors against Gladbach.

“Juve you deserved more,” stated the front page of Thursday’s Corriere dello Sport (see tweet above), but the simple truth is they did not. The result against Sevilla, while frustrating and disappointing, was merely a reflection of the overcautious and negative mindset Allegri and his players must shed if they are to succeed in their quest for Champions League glory.

It must be noted that Sevilla, having won the Europa League in each of the last three seasons, are no minnows on this stage. Yet this summer, they endured the exit of coach Unai Emery and a number of key players, the new-look side clearly beatable on the form displayed on Wednesday in Turin.

For too long, the Bianconeri have sat and watched Europe’s other elite sides demolish such opponents while they have laboured in many games they should have comfortably won.

Even during their run to the 2015 final, they struggled to see off Malmo FF in two hard-fought encounters, lost to Olympiakos and managed just one goal in two legs against AS Monaco in the quarter-finals.

Aside from eliminating Real Madrid in the semi-final, perhaps only the 3-0 away triumph against Borussia Dortmund stood out that season, a wonderful display of counter-attacking football that saw Allegri make some bold decisions.

Often in that season, the coach ditched the 3-5-2 formation that looks ineffective in Europe, benching Andrea Barzagli in order to play a 4-3-1-2 system that would also suit his current squad.

Alessandro Di Marco/Associated Press

However, the tactics are far more important than the numbers used to annotate the lineup. What Juventus need is to begin to play in the proactive, aggressive manner they so often do in Serie A on the European stage.

The Champions League anthem brings the best from supporters, who pack the stadium and showcase some excellent choreography, but recently, it has seemed to weigh heavily on the players, who shy away from the spotlight rather than rising to the occasion.

Juventus are the champions of Italy. It is high time they showed the rest of Europe why.