Why underdog label doesn't fit Juventus for Champions League final
In a little over three weeks, Barcelona and Juventus will become just the fourth and fifth clubs to play in a UEFA Champions League final for an eighth time. The former will be considered the regal champions-elect before the game is even played, while the latter will be written off as the plucky Cinderella story whose luck will finally run out.
[FC Yahoo: Juventus vs. Barcelona in Champions League final – Who'll win?]
These are the perceptions now, of high-flying Spanish soccer on the one hand – or at least the transcendence of its two or three best teams – and the decay of the Italian league on the other. Both are probably exaggerated. But soccer – or any sport – isn't the best arena for nuance and context.
It is, however, telling that Real Madrid were considered the prohibitive favorites in their semifinal with Juventus. And even if it was the more dangerous team in both games, Juve, which won 3-2 on aggregate, looked fairly comfortable throughout the two ties. Still this was called a stunning upset.
When you consider that Juventus grosses about half in revenue of what Real does, according to the latest Deloitte Football Money League, that assertion earns some credence. But it's still weird that one of Europe's most storied clubs – even if it lost five of its seven European Cup/Champions League finals – is considered a sort of aberration to have made it this far.
If nothing else, this reflects how the game's runaway economics have distorted our view of it. Take another look at that Football Money League and you realize that only the top five teams are considered serious and consistent contenders for the European crown – minus Manchester United and plus Chelsea, perhaps, on the strength of the last season.
Ultimately, we assume that the money will win out. Never mind that a lot of these clubs transfer expenditures – which represent the bulk of their outlay, along with commensurate payrolls – go to bloated fees, driven up to a premium by hype and the sudden "necessity" to buy a certain player.
There are 54 member countries in UEFA, almost all of whom have several dozen fully professional clubs. Yet only a handful of them are considered capable of winning the Champions League, even though 11 different teams have reached the final in the last decade. Those clubs are thought to be the one percent of the one percent.
And Juventus, following the Calciopoli scandal which saw it relegated to Serie B in 2006, is no longer considered to be in this elite. This is largely ascribed to the Serie A's slow tumble from relevance. From 1983 through 2010, there were 17 Italian finalists in this tournament. But there had been none since. None had reached the semifinals, either.
With attendance declining noticeably, stadiums decaying and the value of television rights failing to keep up with those from other major soccer leagues – all conspiring to form an exodus of premier talent out of Serie A – Italian soccer was supposed to be doomed. And maybe it was – or is. But Juve has always evaded that trend.
The Italian champions became the first Italian club to build their own stadium in 2011 – fittingly named Juventus Stadium. With new revenue streams available to rebuild its team into a juggernaut, Juve has reeled off four straight league titles. It now actually sits in 10th place in this year's FML; down from ninth-place last year.
Certainly, the Italian champions don't have the kind of purchasing power of Barca or Real, but Juventus now sits comfortably in the second tier of buyers on the player market. Over the past four summers, the club has spent some $250 million on new players. It's just that it only once spent over $17 million on a player, and never more than $22 million (on Alvaro Morata, incidentally, who shot Juve into the final against his former club Real on Wednesday). They relied on smart buys at reasonable fees – Arturo Vidal, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Kwadwo Asamoah, Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo (both on a free transfer!), Carlos Tevez – which just didn't catch the eye like the mega-million sums paid in Spain.
Barcelona certainly boasts more talent than Juventus does up front. But painting Juve's run to the final as some kind of modern soccer miracle, while perhaps a convenient narrative to some, is deceiving.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
