Italian clubs were off to a tough start in Euro club competitions this season.
Sampdoria were knocked out of the Europa League by Serbians Vojvodina and Lazio got eliminated from the Champions League by a superior Bayer Leverkusen side in the play-offs.
To make matters worse, Juventus and Roma will be facing an arduous task to make the knock-out stages of the Champions League this year after being pitted in tough-looking groups last week.
Juventus, who lost a crunch Serie A clash against Roma on Sunday, face a tall order as they take on Manchester City, Sevilla and Borussia Moenchengladbach in Group D.
There is no weak side in this group and all four teams can make it to the top two positions even if many have labelled Manchester City and Juventus favourites.
Incidentally, Juve will play their first match away against City on September 15, in what promises to be a thrilling encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
In season 2010/11, Juventus and City played out two 1-1 draws in the group stages of the Europa League. Eventually, the Citizens qualified as group winners whereas Juve were knocked out after finishing in a disappointing third place.
Juve’s next outing will be a must-win game at home to Sevilla.
The double-header against Unai Emery’s Europa League winners will be particularly emotional for two former Juventus players – Ciro Immobile and Fernando Llorente.
Llorente joined the Andalusian side after scoring 23 Serie A goals to help Juventus win the last two league titles.
Juve’s third game is also at home – against Borussia Moenchen-gladbach.
It is crucial for the Italy champions to win back-to-back ties in Turin. Failure to do so would dent their last 16 chances by no small way.
Compared to Napoli’s group, Lazio seem to have a stiffer challenge ahead of them
Roma, too, have a daunting task ahead of them as they were pitted in Group E along with defending European champions Barcelona, Bate Borisov and Bayer Lever-kusen – the executors of Roma’s city neighbours Lazio last week.
Rudi Garcia’s team could not have aspired for a more difficult start as they host Barcelona, led by former Roma coach Luis Enrique.
They then travel to Belarus to take on Bate Borisov for the first ever encounter between these two sides.
Roma’s third game will also be away against Leverkusen.
The Giallorossi stand to qualify from this group if they collect all points at stake against Bate Borisov and snatch a win or a draw at Leverkusen. Against Barca, it’s almost mission impossible for most teams so any points collected against the Catalans will be considered a bonus in the race for second place.
In the Europa League, Napoli, Fiorentina and Lazio were drawn in more favourable groups.
Napoli are with Bruges, Legia Warsaw and Midtjylland in Group D. This section is clearly within Napoli’s reach even though one has to keep in mind that coach Maurizio Sarri is a novice to Euro club competitions.
Bruges were no match for Manchester United in the Champions League play-offs whereas Danish champions Midtjylland were good enough to oust Premier League side Southampton 2-1 on aggregate in the previous round.
Lazio hope to bounce back after failing to reach the Champions League proper.
Stefano Pioli’s side will clash against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Saint-Etienne and Rosenborg in Group G. Compared to Napoli’s group, Lazio seem to have a stiffer challenge ahead of them... Dnipro are last season’s Europa League beaten finalists.
Fiorentina face Basel, Lech Poznan and Belenenses in what promises to be a fairly-balanced Group I.
Basel have a huge incentive to advance in this competition be-cause they are hosting the May 18, 2016 final at their own St Jakob-Park Stadium.
Only last season, newly-appointed Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa led Basel to victory in the Swiss Super League.
Italian clubs have no other way but to make inroads in this season European club competitions to prove that the Serie A is back in serious business.
Juve and Roma have anything but a straightforward qualifying group and in the Europa League, it is only in latter stages of the competition that we will be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Italian teams... if they’re still around.