Juventus and Benfica will face each other tonight in Lisbon in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final. The two European powerhouses meet in what in any other year would have had the makings of a classic Champions League clash. On Sunday the Portuguese side were crowned champions of the Primeira Liga for the 33rd time thanks to a 2-0 win against Olhanense.


The Bianconeri are also on their way to win their domestic title, the third in a row, leading the Serie A standings with an eight-point advantage over Roma with four games remaining. Both teams are the only two sides remaining undefeated in the Europa League, which they joined after dropping out of the Champions League at the group stages. Benfica’s recent history in the competition is particularly impressive, with the Águias losing last season’s final to Chelsea, reaching semi-finals in 2011 and being involved in the quarter-finals the year before. But la Vecchia Signora is not going to be discouraged by these numbers and is extra motivated ahead of the two-legged clash driven by several motivations which make the success in the competition necessary.


End European drought - Recent years have been a nightmare for Juventus in European competitions. After 2003, when the team reached and lost the Champions League final to Milan on penalties, the Italian giants have lived some of the darkest moments of their history. Being relegated to the second division due to the Calciopoli scandal in 2006, the crawl back to the Continental elite has been long and arduous. The Bianconeri last won continental silverware in 1996 (if we don’t consider the 1999 Intertoto Cup), when they lifted the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. They last won the Europa League (then called Uefa Cup) in 1993 with current coach Antonio Conte being part of that team.


Enriching players’ and coach’s CVs - Since his arrival at Juventus, Antonio Conte has beaten one after the other several records in the Serie A. He managed to build an incredibly solid team, capable of winning against any Italian side and performing the best football that had been seen in the league in a few years. However, they still haven’t managed to perform with the same level of quality in Europe. And despite adding two Scudettos and two Italian Super Cups to the club’s trophy room and to their personal palmarès, many of the players and the coach himself have never won a title in Europe.

Get back into European elite - Lifting the Cup would certainly project Juventus again into the European elite. And it could also give the players the right confidence to achieve better results in the next edition of the Champions League, where the Bianconeri strive to return to the prominence. Having already won in 1976-77, 1989-90 and 1992-93, winning the competition would also make Juventus the club with most Uefa Cup/Europa League successes, four, overtaking Inter and Liverpool. The Turin side would also join Barcelona as third most titled club in Europe (12), leaving the Reds in fourth position.


Final at home - Only opened in 2011, the Juventus Stadium will host this year’s Europa League final. Conte’s side will have as extra motivation the chance to win the trophy at home, in front of their own crowd.

Finance - Despite not being the equivalent of Champions League prize money, succeeding in the second European competition would still add extra cash flow to the club, which could be invested to upgrade the squad in order to compete in and vie for the more prestigious trophy.


UEFA Ranking - Last but not least, Juventus’ success would help the entire nation. In fact, winning against Benfica and eventually lifting the trophy at the Juventus Stadium would do wonders for Italy’s falling coefficient. The once glorious country currently sits fourth in the Uefa ranking, well behind leaders Spain, England and Germany, but only just ahead of Portugal. The coefficient determines the seedings and amount of European places allocated to a country.


Losing another position would be a disaster for the already decreasing Italian football system. It’s fair to say that Juventus’ motto perfectly fits the club’s moment in the competition: “Vincere non è importante, è l’unica cosa che conta (Winning is not important, it’s the only thing that matters)”.

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