Champions League Preview for Italy's Three Representatives

The UEFA Champions League is set to kick off this week and the Italian Serie A features three participants in the 2017-18 version of the tournament. Those teams are Juventus, Roma, and Napoli. Below I will preview the group stage for each team.

Juventus

Juventus again earned automatic qualification to the Champions League by winning their sixth consecutive Serie A title last season. The Bianconeri had a superb run in the 2016-17 version of the tournament making it all the way to the final where they fell to Real Madrid. Juve was able to win their group which featured Sevilla, Lyon, and Dynamo Zagreb with 14 points and no loses. The Bianconeri continued their undefeated run into the knockout phase where they knocked off Porto, Barcelona, and Monaco. They didn't lose a game until falling to Real in the final.

Juventus will be expected to have a another strong campaign after achieving so much success last season both in Serie A and the Champions League. This season Juventus was drawn into Group D which features Barcelona, Olympiacos, and Sporting Club de Portugal. Barcelona is certainly better than any that Juventus had to face in last season's group stage but overall the group should be very manageable for them. 

Juve start the group with their toughest task; going into the Camp Nou to face Barcelona on the road. This will be a big measuring stick game for Allegri's men early in the season. If Juve can manage a draw or better it would go a long way in setting the tone for the rest of the group stage. However, losing at Barcelona would be far from the end of the world. If Juve can afford to lose any game in the group stage this would be the one. 

After the titanic match up at Barcelona, Juve host Olympiacos and Sporting in the next two rounds. Juventus is nearly unbeatable at home and I fully expect them to handle their business in these two games. I would also expect Juve to get results in rounds 4 and 6 at Sporting and Olympiacos. Meanwhile, the return match up against Barcelona at Juventus Stadium should go a long way in determining who wins Group D. If Juve can get the home win then they should have a fairly good chance of winning the group. 

In the end I fully expect Juve to advance out of Group D with relative ease as I don't foresee either Sporting or Olimpiacos to give them much trouble. The interesting thing will be to see if their success against Barcelona in last season's quarterfinals continues into this year's group stage and allows to them to advance as Group D winner rather than runner up.

Napoli

Napoli qualified for this year's group stage by finishing third in Serie A last season and then winning a home-and-home playoff against French side Nice at the end of August. Napoli cruised past Nice with impressive identical 2-0 results. Nice were a solid team in France last season and these two wins should supply Napoli with plenty of confidence heading into the group stage. 

Last, season Napoli also participated in the Champions League and like Juventus won their group which featured Benfica, Besiktas, and Dynamo Kiev. After winning the group the Partenopei then crashed out in the Round of 16 against eventual champions Real Madrid in ugly fashion, losing both games 3-1.

This year Napoli were drawn into Group F which features Shaktar Donetsk, Feyernoord, and heavyweights Manchester City. This a group that Napoli certainly won't be favored in, that'll be Man City, but it is a group that I believe they can advance out of. However, Napoli need to be careful because there are some potential stumbling blocks in this group.

Napoli open the group stages in eastern Europe as they travel to Shaktar Donetsk. The Partenopei need to be careful not to take this game lightly. Traveling to eastern Europe is always tricky and Shaktar have surprised big clubs in previous versions of the Champions League. It's imperative that Napoli come out confidently and get the group stage going on the right foot. 

Feyenoord visit the Stadio San Paolo in week 2 and are another team that Napoli can't take lightly. Feyenoord won the Dutch Eredivisie last season while topping the table every week of the season. Napoli will have to use their home field advantage and likely huge crowd to come out firing and dispatch of the Dutch side. If Napoli can't win their home games versus Feyenoord or Shaktar (week 5) it will become a bit more difficult for them to advance out of the group. 

Napoli will have their toughest task of the group stage in week 3 when they travel to England to face Man City. This is why it's imperative that they start the group with at least 4 points. It's unlikely but not impossible that Napoli can steal a point in Manchester. 

Napoli will have to look for positive results and a minimum of 4 points against Shatkar and Feyenoord in their reverse fixtures as well. I believe that if they can manage 8-10 points out of the four games versus Shaktar and Feyernoord then they shouldn't have an issue advancing from the group even if they potentially drop both games against City. I think that Napoli will finish second in this group and advance to the Round of 16 like last season. 

Roma

From the look of things on paper Roma will have the toughest time advancing out of their group this season. Roma qualified this is year automatically by finishing second in Serie A behind Juve and just ahead of Napoli. Roma were drawn into a tough group with Premier League Champions Chelsea, perennial La Liga contender Atletico Madrid and Champions League newcomer Qarabag from Azerbijan. 

Roma start with a difficult home encounter with Atletico Madrid but they need to find a way to get the group stages started with a positive result if they expect to have a chance of advancing from this difficult group. Roma will have to come out strong, taking advantage of the home crowd and fresh legs (this weekend's game was postponed due to poor weather in Genoa). If they can get a win at home it'll go a long way in both the standings and in building the team's confidence going forward. 

Roma then travels to Azerbijan to face Qarabag, who almost nobody had heard of prior to their Champions League qualification. Road game or not this is a must win for Roma. If they can't win this game and their home fixture vs Qarabag in week 6 then they will have close to no chance of advancing from this group. 

In weeks 3 and 4 Roma have a home-and-home with Chelsea. The first of these two games will be in London with the second fixture will be in Rome. Roma will have their hands full with Chelsea in London but a draw would go a long way in helping them achieve qualification. In the return fixture Roma need to look achieve a positive result, preferably a win to boost their hopes of advancing.

The key to Roma advancing in my opinion is beating either beating Atletico or Chelsea at the Stadio Olimpico and then at minimum drawing the other. If they can take 4 points from these two games and win both against Qarabag then Roma would have 10 points which is usually enough to advance out of a Champions League group. However, as optimistic as I want to be as a Roma fan, I'm going to temper my expectations with realism and say the most likely result will probably be a third place finish and a Europa League spot. That being said Roma does have the potential to beat out one of the big boys and possibly steal a second place finish. 

Wrapping Up

I think Italy should get a minimum of two of their three representatives through to the Round of 16 with the potential to have all three advance if Roma can pull an upset or two. This week's first round should give us a good idea of what we can expect out of these three teams. 

What are your thoughts? How many of these teams do you see advancing?

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