Juventus And Bologna Lose In The Champions League, Capello Says There's A Problem In Italian Serie A

Juventus against Stuttgart in the Champions League. (X/@juventusfc)

JAKARTA - Juventus and Bologna lost in the Champions League. The failure was in the spotlight of coach Fabio Capello who had successfully handled AC Milan, Juve, and Real Madrid.

Not all Serie A teams lost. Milan finally won their first win after beating Club Brugge 3-1.

However, Juve had to admit the VfB Stuttgart lead 0-1. While Bologna failed to stem Aston Villa and lost 0-2. The win brought Villa to the top of the Champions League standings.

According to Capello, Serie A clubs face problems in terms of intensity and are considered too slow so they experience difficulties when facing teams in European competitions.

In fact, Capello has no advantage of a superior team in possession but no good finish in the game.

"This is a matter of intensity," Capello said as quoted by Football Italia.

"Italia football is too slow. This is what makes it difficult for the team to face opponents who run more and put pressure on them," he said.

Capello, who once interpreted the England national team, said further, "High possession of the ball is actually of no benefit. I have done an analysis of Italian football which makes me think about European competition. We have to do even better," said the coach who led Milan to win the Champions League and the European Super Cup or UEFA Super Cup and four league titles.

"We suffered two defeats (in the Champions League match). If Bologna's defeat is predictable. It's just that they are a bit beyond their expectations of not being able to create opportunities against Villa at all. Likewise Juve was unable to create opportunities," Capello said.

"They played too passively. Juve seemed to have difficulty dealing with the strength of the German team," he said again.

However, Capello's analysis was denied by Juve coach, Thiago Motta. According to him, the team did not play slowly. However, Juve had a bit of difficulty dealing with Stuttgart's rhythm and style of play.

"I'm not sure the Italian team played slowly. Especially in this match, we really had a hard time facing the rhythm of their game," said Motta.

"In my opinion, there are too many analyzes of Italian football and how it is in European competitions. However, I agree that we have to attack more in order to compete with teams like Suttgart."

"It's just that, in that match (against Stuttgart), we really have to have a better defense. The team must defend well and when they have the ball, they must be able to maximize it well," said Motta.

The defeat against Stuttgart made Juve stuck in 11th place with six points. While Bologna, who have never won, ranked 28th. Milan, who won the first victory after defeating Brugge, were in 21st position.