There were expectations that Italy’s European Championship title would translate to success for the country’s clubs in continental competition.
The dazzling, quick-passing play of Roberto Mancini’s national team that gained admirers worldwide in June and July was nowhere to be seen, though, when Juventus was eliminated by Villarreal in the Champions League — leaving Italy without a representative in the quarterfinals of the elite competition for the second consecutive season.
“Italian soccer achieved a real miracle by winning the Euros, also because the success came via innovative and courageous play,” former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi said in the Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday. “But the club teams, apart from some ‘smaller clubs’ that have gotten the message (see Atalanta and Sassuolo), still think the old-fashioned way: ‘First, let’s not concede and then we’ll see what happens.’”
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It’s worth noting that Juventus did take the initiative in the first half on Wednesday, producing four shots on goal to Villarreal’s none, including one effort off the crossbar from Dušan Vlahović. In the second half, when Villarreal sat back and defended with the aggregate score 1-1, Juventus grew frustrated and opened itself up to counterattacks.
Villarreal then scored three goals in succession and won 3-0 to advance on 4-1 aggregate.
It marked the third consecutive season that Juventus was eliminated at home in the round of 16, and it’s the fourth straight time that the Bianconeri have been knocked out after a home second-leg match, including a quarterfinal loss to Ajax in 2019.
“I don’t think there is an explanation,” Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado said. “That’s soccer.”
