Italy remains in Europe, but this is not a political notion, let alone an economic one. To remain anchored to the last shreds of continental glory is the Italy of football, whose last outpost is Antonio Conte's Juventus, who beat Lyon 2 to 1 and landed in the semifinals of the Europa League, 6 years after the last Italian team , the Fiorentina of the current coach Cesare Prandelli, to succeed.
So the Europa League. She is not the big-eared cup, the iconic and dreamed-of and rich one, but her poor sister, the cadet daughter of a noble family. But it is still a semifinal, which is good for the coffers and morale. Above all, it is good for the infamous Uefa Ranking (the one in which Italy proceeds like a shrimp): if they do better than Benfica, Juventus will avoid (or perhaps simply postpone) the Portuguese overtaking of Italy.
And who knows if this semi-final could represent that European baptism that Conte's Juventus (absolute ruler of the last Italian seasons) has perhaps never managed to have. The viaticum for a new and more complete dimension.
To get there, Juve got rid of a strong-willed, but frankly poor in talent, Lyon at the end of a non-exciting match. After the 1-0 in the first leg in the French home, the initial advantage signed by the magician Pirlo from a free kick seemed to sap Juventus' energies rather than quenching Lyonnais ambitions.
Juve, which perhaps hasn't yet learned to march well even with low revs, after showing the disarming ease with which they could take possession of the match, started to let it get out of hand. As the minutes went by, Lyon took the field and took courage, until Briand equalized in the 18th minute.
From then on, however, the French were no longer able to make themselves dangerous, except with a shot from outside Gonalons, and after a second half in control, Juve ended the match and match with a goal, indeed lucky, signed by Marchisio on 22' of the second half.
The pairings for the semi-finals will be announced today at the polls in Nyon. On the way home, the one that leads to the final at the Juventus Stadium, the bianconeri will find Sevilla, Valencia or Benfica.
