Written by Matteo Ciaramella
As I watch Italian teams in Europe (apart from Napoli and Inter), I cannot help but wonder what is going on with a former juggernaut of the sport. It would be an understatement to say that Italy’s flag, image, and reputation are being tarnished by the day, courtesy of abysmal performances.
Juventus are by far the most disappointing bunch. They have lost all but one game and are looking faceless, anonymous – the team has no identity. In their game against Benfica, the players showed a clear lack of defensive effort, with lazy tackling and positioning. They made stupid, tiny mistakes that Benfica exploited to ultimately win 2-1. However, the 2-0 loss vs Maccabi Haifa is where the biggest flaws in this Juventus squad were exposed. The team took an entirely “laissez-faire” approach and let Maccabi Haifa do whatever they pleased, whenever, wherever. I saw a very passive Juventus, in simple words. And not only that, the Bianconeri also looked extremely divided. Whether they had the ball or were chasing after it, there were gaps – big gaps – between each line. I felt a strong disconnection between the midfielders and attackers, midfielders and defenders. And while I may be reading between the lines a lot, these gaps or divides may also display a grave lack of chemistry. It is up to Massimilano Allegri to fix this. After all, he is the man in charge of the squad, and the relationships that his players have on the field with each other. He is a decorated, well-respected coach, and it’s time to show his skills in these desperate times.
AC Milan are also suffering in the Champions League, though not as much as Juventus. The focus of Milan’s continental failures is all concentrated on one team: Chelsea FC. Over the course of two group stage matches, the Blues beat the Rossoneri 5-0 on aggregate. Shocking. Aside from questionable refereeing and important absences in the squad, it looked like Milan was almost scared of Chelsea. They never attempted to take control of the game and always let Chelsea play their football, undisturbed. As a result, complete humiliation.
As for Roma, the 2-1 loss against Ludogorets brought out how wasteful this side can be. So many chances, yet only one was converted. Same goes for Fiorentina, who dominated in their game against RSF Riga and still failed to grab the 3 points. This is what happens in football, especially on the European stage. Teams want to prove themselves and they are hungry – hungry for points, hungry for pride, hungry for recognition. If you cannot convert your chances, you will be punished. In Fiorentina’s other disappointing Conference League performance – the 3-0 loss to Basaksehir – Fiorentina was incredibly generous with the space and time they gave their opponents on the ball. It seemed to me that they almost didn’t want to win it back, and the same goes for Roma in the game against Ludogorets. Opponents were allowed to dictate the game and as a result were able to win.
Lazio is also deserving of criticism. The Biancocelesti got humiliated by Midtjylland with a 5-1 score a few weeks back. Aside from the gentle approach to the game, I noticed the incredible ease with which the Lazio players were beaten in 1v1s, or simply how little it took to fool the Lazio defense, not to mention the two very avoidable fouls in the penalty box. Nothing really created on the offensive front, and a lot to review for the defenders.
So what is the common theme here? You may have noticed how in many cases, I had to get creative with my language in order to avoid repeating the same word, because there is only one, main problem with all Italian teams in Europe: lack of heart and tenacity. From Juventus to Fiorentina, their games were all characterized by a casual, nonchalant approach that is quite frankly, disgraceful. It’s really a shame because Italian players are known to be passionate about the game, yet this passion is in no way whatsoever reflected in current continental performances.
Apart from Milan, all of these teams played very inferior opponents on paper, yet failed to capitalize on the obvious technical advantage. I theorize that this is because Italian football lives off of its glory days and stellar reputation that it has built over the years. When players travel to Bulgaria or Latvia for a game, they feel as if the 3 points are already secured. But that is absolutely not the way to prepare yourself for any game, let alone a European one. As mentioned before, these underdog teams live to beat big clubs, and want to show the world that the most important things in football are, more often than not, willpower and desire to win. This can happen to anyone, not just Italian clubs. Everyone remembers the shocking loss that Real Madrid suffered at the hands of Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol in the 2021/22 Champions league group stage. However, what is scary to me, is how many times this has happened in just one season. Italian clubs are quickly losing their prominent position in the European football hierarchy, and if they keep these performances up, we’ll become the laughing stock of Europe’s Big 5 and go another 12 years without winning a European trophy.
Determination, aggressiveness, hunger, never being satisfied, and always wanting to prove yourself are the key attributes to get back on track. Let’s hope we can see some changes.
References
https://www.ultimouomo.com/juventus-maccabi-allegri-agnelli-non-e-una-squadra/: European embarrassmentshttps://www.repubblica.it/sport/calcio/champions/2022/10/05/news/chelsea_milan_risultato-368744200/
https://www.romatoday.it/sport/calcio/ludogorets-roma-europa-league-8-settembre-cronaca-pagelle.html
https://www.rainews.it/articoli/2022/09/midtjylland-lazio-886e2735-f0ce-4be5-81be-d6831bbb2652.html
https://www.lanazione.it/firenze/fiorentina/fiorentina-conference-league-diretta-live-1.8079963