UEFA’s Secondary Competition Could Be Max Allegri’s Juventus Salvation

The spectre of the Europa League has taken on more importance for Max Allegri than perhaps he even realised several weeks ago.

Juventus go into the semi final second leg against Sevilla, the winners of this competition every season seemingly, with the sword of Damocles hanging over the club.

The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw in which Juve were turgid for the majority of the contest and were only bailed out by a late, very late, goal from defender Federico Gatti in the seventh minute of injury time. Sevilla, themselves in dire form in La Liga, dominated the game and should’ve won comfortably.

They didn’t, and so Juve venture to the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium for only the third time in modern history with a realistic chance of advancing to their first Europa League final since it was called the UEFA
EFA
Cup in 1995.

Allegri has endured nothing like the success he delivered in his first stint at Juve. His first season saw the club verge on completing a treble; his second saw the club win the domestic double, sweeping all before them.

The equivalent seasons this time around have been nothing like those in 2014/15 and 2015/16. Then, Allegri was joining a well-oiled machine with all boats rowing in the same direction. Now, he’s at a club in a constant state of flux, a club rowing seemingly to nowhere, or perhaps towards domestic and European sanctions.

Having lost and then subsequently won back 15 points in Serie A due to the supposed ‘over inflation’ of transfer fees in order to balance the books, Juve is still facing another round of potential sanctions, and these ones may very well stick. Should the more serious accusation of paying players under the table during the onset of the pandemic and therefore lying to the Italian stock exchange be proven, then the club will face more punishment, and another points deduction likely.

Moreover, UEFA has opened up their investigation into Juve’s financial dealings, and a possible exclusion from Europe is a distinct possibility. The domestic verdict is due next week, and this could outline Juve’s future plans.

Yet Allegri has always maintained that his players can only influence things on the pitch, and it was their duty to go out and win games. Mostly, this has been the case. Second in Serie A, should a similar 15-point deduction be handed down a second time, Juve would drop to eighth in the table, and missing out on European football completely.

And this is why the Europa League now takes on the utmost importance. Winning the competition, something Juve hasn’t done since the days of Roberto Baggio, Dino Baggio, Andreas Moeller and David Platt, would mean automatic entry into the Champions League and the riches that come with it.

If Juve are to be docked points by the FIGC, then winning the Europa League would provide a Champions League security blanket should they tumble down the league. Moreover, it would be Allegri’s first piece of silverware in his second stint having lost the Coppa Italia final to Inter last season.

With club debt standing at around €223m ($241m), qualifying for the Champions League next season is imperative for Juve’s summer budget, with Europe’s elite competition worth around €80m ($86m) to the club.

Furthermore, winning the competition may just keep Allegri in the job, with his spell falling way short of the standard he set in his first reign. Allegri’s ultra pragmatic brand of play has drawn criticism from all quarters, with Juve conceding possession even against lower-ranked sides in Serie A in favour of hitting on the counter attack, while looking at Juventus results over the last few months can often resemble binary code.

Yet this style of play is only tolerated should trophies arrive, and the pressure is on the Tuscan to bring something back to Turin by season’s end.

And as Sevilla showed against Manchester United in the quarter final, at home they are a different proposition. The Spanish side drew 2-2 with United at Old Trafford, only to obliterate Erik Ten Hag’s side in Seville a week later (albeit, with the help of some dreadful defensive mistakes).

By this stage of a season during his first reign, Allegri would’ve already had at least one trophy in the bag, but now the Europa League represents a salvation of sorts, not just for the short-term, but also the long.