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Galatasaray 1 - Juventus 0: Initial reaction, random observations, and necessary rants

By Danny Penza
Claudio Villa

Even before the snow arrived in Istanbul, Juventus' had made its bed. One win in five Group B games before the trip Turkey was the reality that Juventus was facing. Was it fully deserved? For the most part, yeah. You don't get six points out of five games and think to yourself "Aw shucks! Everything is going against us!"

But when you put yourselves in a position to be possibly knocked out on the final day of the group stage, and then you play on a field that is a complete disgrace, you never know what might happened.

What finally did happen after the hail and snow put things off for a day was Juventus' Champions League run didn't even make it out of the group stages. Europa League ahoy, ladies and gentlemen. Maybe they'll have something else to possibly celebrate come the month of May at Juventus Stadium.

But for right now, Juventus are thinking about what could have — and probably should have — been in the Champions League and everything that comes along with it.

There was one result Antonio Conte and his squad had to avoid. And as it turned out, the 1-0 Galatasaray win was the one that saw Juventus book their ticket to that other European competition, not the one they were hoping to play in when the calendar flipped over to 2014.

The facts are facts. Conte knows it just like all of us do. Juventus had business to take care of in Istanbul and, even with all the extra drama added, didn't get the job done. It's as simple as that.

Random thoughts and observations

  • I'm not going to solely blame the simply awful field conditions for why Juventus lost on Wednesday. Juve didn't deserve to win the way they played — and the result is a spot in the Europa League, not the Champions League knockout stages. With that being said, though, you look at the field 24 or so hours ago compared to the condition it was in when the game was restarted and just ask yourself one question: How the hell did they think this would be a good idea?

    It's just mind boggling how UEFA would rather play on a terrible field with snow still falling down the day after rather than just keep things going on Tuesday night. Was either one the right, 100 percent correct decision? I don't know, maybe I'm just not making any sense after such a disappointing exit. It just doesn't make much sense how playing on that field with the way it looked was thought of to be the better option of the two. But they've definitely got some explaining to do. We deserve to know why things were they way they ended up being.


  • One win in six group stage games. That should have never happened. Plain and simple.

  • Carlos Tevez: Six Champions League starts, zero goals scored. I know it wasn't for a good number of Juve players during the course of this European campaign, but Tevez was the guy who was brought in to score the goals on the big stage. And when people look at the final numbers, one of the first things they'll point to is Tevez's lack of goals in the Champions League.

  • Somebody want to explain to me how Felipe Melo finished this game without a yellow card? No, really. I'm scratching my head as to how this is possible.

  • I really hope that Juventus take the Europa League seriously. And with Conte in charge, I have a good feeling they will because he wants to win every trophy possible. The final being at Juventus Stadium is just an added bonus. It won't be a total consolation for dropping out of the Champions League, but it won't be a total failure to go far in the Europa League, either.

  • I know it doesn't mean much at this point, but how good was that save by Gigi Buffon? Crucial.

  • No more Champions League anthem at Juventus Stadium this season. What a shame.

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