Juventus boss Luigi Del Neri feels it would be wrong to draw wider
conclusions about Italian football on the strength of Serie A teams'
poor performances in the Europa League.
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The Bianconeri head into the match against Group A leaders Manchester
City already with no chance of qualifying, as they are three points
adrift of second-placed Lech Poznan with an inferior head-to-head
record.
It is a situation mirrored elsewhere in the tournament with Palermo and
Sampdoria also eliminated and only Napoli still alive going into the
final round of group games.
Asked about the implications for Italian football, Del Neri said: "Our
soccer is growing up. I look at Juventus and we are out of it, but not
put back in our rightful place.
"We have lost, but we made a good impression in Manchester, or in
Poland, where we tried to win despite hazardous weather conditions.
"I think my team played a more than respectable Europa League, besides facing many matches in a time of rebuilding."
With nothing to play for and an eye on Sunday's Serie A game at Chievo, Del Neri will field an under-strength line-up.
However, he insisted on www.juventus.com: "It's not true we'll play only
young players. Obviously, at this moment, the match in Chievo is more
important to us, but we'll try to play our part anyway, because we have
the strength and the quality to achieve a good result and we'd like to
win a match in this round."
Juve have drawn all five of their matches to date.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has left both Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli at home.
Mancini has chosen to rest a number of senior players with qualification
assured and an important Barclays Premier League match against Everton
to come on Monday.
Jo is the only senior striker in the group as Emmanuel Adebayor is still
carrying a knock and Roque Santa Cruz is not on their squad list.
Source: DSG