Is it really not taken that seriously?
Last year Genoa gave their best, but both Valencia and Lille were stronger in the groups. Lazio gave their best, but Villarreal were better and took the 2nd place. I don't think Juve let Fulham beat them, nor did Roma let Panathinaikos beat them.
There were times where the Italian teams were indeed not taking the competition seriously, but it's not been the case in the last 2 years and the serie A teams still failed.
Last year Genoa gave their best, but both Valencia and Lille were stronger in the groups. Lazio gave their best, but Villarreal were better and took the 2nd place. I don't think Juve let Fulham beat them, nor did Roma let Panathinaikos beat them.
There were times where the Italian teams were indeed not taking the competition seriously, but it's not been the case in the last 2 years and the serie A teams still failed.
Genoa were weaker than Lille and Valencia, that is true and hardly surprising with their amateurish playing mentality. I know in the final game Lazio fielded a virtual youth team, they also fielded a weakened team (call it rotational or whatever) against Salzburg at home at the start of the competition, which they lost. As for Juve we all know what happened. Roma were a joke against Panathinaikos, and that was not at all typical of them. They generally played Mexes in that competition and also a fair few fringe players. So I don't agree if you are saying that Italian teams put just as much into it as they do in the league. All the teams from lesser leagues seem to treat it very highly, also several Spanish teams, but in England and Italy no.
