Juventus: Champions League Underdogs

I remember the good old times when Juventus’ qualification to the Champions League was a given, and the group stages more like a formality. The Bianconeri’s bare win over Zenit St. Petersburg and the close draw against BATE (so humiliating) leaves much to be desired.

Two down to newcomers BATE with only 25 minutes into the game? Not acceptable. With all due respect to BATE I felt physically sick as the Madristas (my so-called friends who also happens to be Interisti) gleeful faces were directed towards me.

Thank God for Giovinco, who served Iaquinta twice from his new right midfield position. The pint-sized playmaker was the only bright spot in an otherwise dull and disjointed Juventus—as Real Madrid took over as lone group leaders.

The less than impressive start to Serie A is a workable situation, with almost the entire season ahead of us as all of the “Scudetto candidates” have had to struggle in one way or the other.

The prospect of playing the Champions League was what drove the Bianconeri players in their Serie B spell. Now that they’re finally here I can’t see any traces of the determination and the sheer will to prove themselves that brought them here in the first place.

Complacency? There is no room for such errors!

BATE are in peak-shape with only the final month of their domestic league remaining. Zenit is a hard-working unit and a never-ending machinery who—despite their disappointing domestic season—has been very impressive in Europe. There is really no need to get into the threat that Real Madrid imposes with their back-to-back league titles.

The dismal performances from Juventus combined with the strong competition leaves me wondering of how big the chances of going through to the knock-out stages really are.

But then again, the season is still young. Maybe the wave of success is in the horizon? The players know that their performances have been well below par. Combining several tournaments is never an easy task but the team has to step up and become a functioning unit again if they wish to remain in this tournament.

However, there are some major differences for Juventus this time around. The squad for one has very few players with experience in this tournament, due to the club’s two-year absence. On top of that Trezeguet (included in one of the few players mentioned above) is out for the next five months. How wrong I was in thinking that we could do without him?

In about three weeks time I will be watching the game in very hostile surroundings (why am I even friends with these people?) hoping that Juventus will positively crush Real, or at the very least manage a respectable win.

In spite of Real Madrid's previous difficulties with the Turin outfit the Spaniards will go into the game as “favorites”, whereas Juventus has been relabeled to “underdogs”. The beauty of the game though is that labels and statistics mean absolutely nothing.

Anything is possible in this tournament, just ask Cluj or lean back and reminisce about the miracle in Istanbul. Didn’t they fight back from underdog positions? If they can, then so can we!

Forza Juventus