Juventus still see themselves a rung below Europe’s elite

Juventus, traditionally one of Europe’s biggest clubs, are back in the last eight of the Champions League but coach Antonio Conte does not want them seen in the same light as Barcelona or Bayern Munich.

Conte has recognised that the 28-times Italian champions and twice European champions cannot compete financially with clubs from Spain, Italy or England, even if results on the field have been just as good, if not better.

Having bounced back after the Caliopoli match-fixing scandal, which saw them stripped of their 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles and demoted to the second tier, Juventus now face a different reality on their return to the quarter-finals following a seven-year wait.

Twice European champions, five-times runners-up, Cup Winners Cup winners on one occasion and UEFA Cup champions three times, they no longer find themselves 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 told reporters after Juve 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.

“At the end, it’s about two teams with 11 players, a pitch and a referee.”

Juventus are not Europe’s most stylish team but Conte, still in only his second season in charge, has turned them into a formidable outfit, who hassle the opposition incessantly in midfield and break forward at breakneck speed when they win possession.

POGBA PROMISE

Conte habitually fields a three-man defence 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.

Fleet-footed teenager Paul Pogba, who played alongside Pirlo on Wednesday, is showing every sign that he can eventually replace the 33-year-old.

Juventus are at their most dangerous when they break forward with raking diagonal passes from their midfield for any one of their speedy forwards to chase.

Combative Chilean Arturo Vidal is another key figure on the right of the midfield.

Conte always fields a two-man front line, rotating between any two of Fabio Quagliarella, Sebastian Giovinco, Alessandro Matri and Mirko Vucinic.

With the talismanic Gianluigi Buffon in goal, their three-man defence has not conceded a goal in their last five European games and they have not been beaten in Europe in their last 18 outings.

“They have a great work ethic about them,” said admiring Celtic manager Neil Lennon.

“They don’t have the flamboyance of Barcelona but they work very for each other, they have great balance and they are always a threat going forward.

“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.”

Cash-strapped Valencia have little time to waste wallowing in self-pity after Wednesday’s Champions League elimination at Paris St Germain and must focus on qualifying for next season’s edition of Europe’s lucrative elite club competition.

Ernesto Valverde’s side made a valiant effort to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg, taking a 55th-minute lead against the wealthy Qatar-backed French club through Jonas.

PSG struck back 11 minutes later when a mistake in midfield led to Ezequiel Lavezzi’s leveller and Valencia were unable to breach the home side’s defences again and exited 3-2 on aggregate.

“We hope the fans will get behind us between now and the end of the season so we can return to the Champions League,” added the Brazilian forward.

Valencia are fifth in La Liga with 12 matches of the season remaining, a point behind Malaga who occupy Spain’s fourth and final Champions League berth.

Getting back into the competition next term is particularly important for the club, one of many in La Liga struggling to stay afloat after years of financial struggles.

Rather than splurging hundreds of millions of euros on top players like PSG, Valencia have been forced to offload key performers like David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata.

They are now effectively owned by the regional government after the club’s foundation was unable to keep up with payments on a bank loan guaranteed by the Valencia administration that was used to buy a stake in the club.

In the 2010-11 season, Valencia had debts of almost 400 million euros (346 million pounds), according to a recent study by an accounting professor at the University of Barcelona, while a new stadium under construction has been left half built.

Valencia visit Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday (11:00 a.m British time) and will need to show more punch in attack against the Basques than they managed in Paris on Wednesday.

“We were lacking in clarity in the final part of the pitch, in electricity and speed,” Valverde said.

“We are a bit down but we know that the team played well and we are leaving with heads held high despite the elimination.”

Reuters