Juventus might miss out on the 2021/2022 Champions League campaign. If this happens, it would be the first time in 18 years that Cristiano Ronaldo would not be playing in the prestigious league.
The team had since the start of this season, struggled to keep up with its top performance. However, it wasn't until recently that it became apparent that the club might miss out on the champions. This became apparent after Juventus suffered a loss at home in the Serie A competition to AC Milan. After losing 3-0, the team dropped out of the first four positions in the Italian league. The team might have to play by regulation at the Europa League and not the Champions League if they cannot get back to the 4th position before the league ends. With only a few matches left, this article explores how Juventus got themselves here.
First, let us consider the difference between the Champions League and the Europa League.
Champions League vs. Europa League
The UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa league are two big football competitions hosted by UEFA. UEFA is an acronym that stands for Union of European Football Association.The champions league started in 1955 and was called the European Cup at the time. Later on, UEFA had the name changed to the champions league. This was to reflect what it truly is; the most elite club football competition in the world.
At the moment, to play in the UEFA champions league, a team must play in one of the major football leagues in Europe. That is, the Serie A, the English Premier League, the Laliga and Bundesliga, etc. Additionally, such a team must finish the preceding season in the first four positions in their league. Although there is more to it than that, that is a simple explanation of how things work at the UEFA champions league.
The Europa League started in 1971, and like the champions league, it was called the UEFA Cup. It was in 2001 that the game got its present name. The Europa League is the second tier to the champions league in European football.
Unlike the champions league, the teams representing their leagues in the Europa League finished in the 5th and 6th positions.
Being an elite football league, the champions league welcomes only 32 teams annually. On the other hand, the Europa league welcomes as many as 48 teams.
The final difference between the two leagues is the outcome of the competitions. The winner of the Champions League gets a whooping sum of 19 million euros. The winner also automatically represents the whole of England in the FIFA world club football in December that year. Also, the winner gets a chance to play against the winner of the Europa league in a one-match tournament called the Super Cup.
However, winners of the Europa Cup only get 8.5 million euros for winning the league as of the 2020/2021 season. The winner also gets an automatic spot at the UEFA champions league for the next season if they do not end as top 4 in their league.
Now that you know what is at stake, how did Juventus get here?
A struggling season for Juventus
The 2020/2021 season has been one to worry about for fans of the Juventus club. Even with the scoring Legend Ronaldo on the team, it is surprising to see the team crawl up towards the top of the table.Surprisingly, Ronaldo has been doing well in terms of goal this season. Despite the team's poor performance in general, Ronaldo has 36 goals to his name this season alone. Before now, Juventus had been on a winning streak in the Serie A championship, winning the competition nine times consecutively. Unfortunately, all that might end now as the team struggles to finish fourth on the table so they can play in next season's champions league.
If this happens, this would be the first since 2012 that the club would be missing out on the UEFA champions league. The situation carries even more worries for Ronaldo since this would be his first time playing at the second-tier competition since 2002.
Ronaldo's fantastic record at the Champions League
Ronaldo is one of the best players to have played in the UEFA champions league. He has, since his first appearance, sustained an incredible goals record in the league. Ronaldo has appeared in the competition 176 times, scoring 134 goals in total. He has also lifted a total of five trophies in the competition.His first victory came when he was at Manchester United in 2008. There, he led the team to victory before heading to Real Madrid, where he won four other trophies in the competition. Unfortunately, Ronaldo could not pull this same feat with Juventus.
Furthermore, a failure to qualify for the champions league could mean more for Ronaldo and sport's fans across the world. For many years now, there have football fans have been divided into two categories; Messi fans and Ronaldo fans. Earlier this season, fans had the opportunity of seeing these two big superstars show their prowess on the field of play. All over the world, especially in the gambling world, there was tension everywhere as people anticipated who would win. People placed their bets with licensed casinos and Casino Utan Svensk licens, expecting big wins. In the end, both teams won one match each.
With no qualification in view for Juventus, there is a possibility that the lifelong rivalry might come to an end soon.
Pressure for Pirlo
Andrea Pirlo, the manager of Juventus, is under severe pressure to ensure that the club finishes in the top-four position in Serie A. As Ronaldo continues to score for the club, it seems the problem might be the coach. However, despite the mounting pressure, Pirlo has continued to insist he will not resign.After suffering a terrible defeat at the hands of AC Millan, the manager told Sky Sport in an interview that he would not step down any time soon.
He stated that despite the challenges, he was prepared to move on. He said that as long as he is allowed to manage the team, he will remain the club's manager.
