Team Focus: Can Torino Right Past Wrongs to Return from Russia with Love?

The tracksuit bottom-wearing Dinamo Moscow keeper Valeri Kleimenov had his goal well-seasoned, for Torino had peppered it at the Delle Alpi. Standing in his dugout, Emiliano Mondonico let out a sigh. His team were heading down the tunnel at the interval a goal behind. On the stroke of half-time, young Luca Marchegiani had spilled a volley at the feet of Vali Gasimov, an Azeri forward, the Caspian Sea Gerd Muller. He’d finish the chance and the campaign as the top scorer in Russia with 16 goals in 17 games before heading to Spain and its warmer climes.

Enzo Scifo, the Belgian midfield schemer and their No.10, got the Granata back into the tie after the break, rising at the far post to nod in a free-kick that Sergei Timofeev chested into his own net. Alas, not a quarter of an hour later, Torino were sucker punched again. An innocuous cross came in, Raffaele Sergio inexplicably skipped over it, and Igor Simutenkov cocked his right foot as if it were a Makarov, pulling the trigger and firing it into the roof of the goal.

A 2-1 defeat compromised the Toro’s hopes of going deep in the UEFA Cup again. They had reached the final the previous season in 1992 only to be beaten on away goals by Louis van Gaal’s Ajax. Mondonico had lifted his chair into the air at the old Olympisch stadion in Amsterdam in an iconic protest at a penalty the referee refused to grant captain Roberto Cravero. The injustice this time was the state of the pitch in the second leg, thawed out and cut up in wintry Moscow. Incapable of breaking the ice, Torino were held to a stalemate and eliminated. It was the last time, until this season, that they competed in Europe proper.

The draw for the last 16 for the Europa League presented an opportunity for revenge. Both clubs had made it through to this stage and were in the UEFA tombola. Destiny however did not deign for their paths to cross. Not yet anyway. Napoli were instead paired with the Moscow’s old police team while Torino got their compatriots from St.Petersburg, the leaders of the Russian Premier League, Zenit.  A familiar face will haunt them from the bench at the Petrovsky though. Simutenkov, who later played for Reggiana and Bologna, is now one of Andre Villas-Boas’ assistants.

AVB was in the stands at the Friuli on Sunday to scout Torino in person as they played Udinese in Serie A. Fabio Quagliarella put the Granata in front from the penalty spot, choosing not to celebrate against his former club, who turned things around and came back to win 3-2. It was their first loss in the league since the Derby della Mole on November 30 and that ‘Keep calm and pass it to Pirlo moment’ when the hirsute maestro clinched all the points for the champions with an injury time screamer. That was 13 games ago in Serie A and no one, apart from crosstown rivals Juventus, had started 2015 with a better record.

Beginning to show signs of tiredness, the team’s display didn’t concern Giampiero Ventura too much. “I told my lads to confuse [AVB] a bit,” he joked. “He’ll now be full of doubts on the plane back to St. Petersburg.” The width of the post is all that stood between Quagliarella and another goal. The 31-year-old now has 14 for the season and memorably knocked Zenit out in the past. They were the holders at the time. This was six years ago when he was partnering Toto Di Natale up front for the Zebrette. Alexis Sanchez, then in his early 20s, was their reserve. Both Neapolitans scored late in a 2-0 win at the Friuli and then, with the helping hands of former goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, held Dick Advocaat’s Zenit to a goalless draw back at their place.

Quagliarella’s new partner, January signing Maxi Lopez has struck four times since joining from Chievo. Three came in the Round of 32 against Athletic, which culminated in Torino becoming the first Italian team ever to leave San Mames as victors. Even with the Incredible Hulk in his ranks, a player who cost Zenit double what Toro owner Urbano Cairo invested in his squad last summer - in fact Zenit's [€183.6m] expected starting XI cost €168.77m more than Torino's [€14.83m] - AVB is fearful of the threat they pose. “Maxi is dangerous and hasn’t gone long without a goal,” he explained to La Stampa, “But Quagliarella is in great form. He scored a goal and did something exceptional when he hit the post. We’ll have to be careful also because Ventura might play Josef Martinez, who’s quick.”

And were he to do so, the bars of Caracas would be full, their TVs and radios tuned to this game, because there’s a Venezuelan prize fight in prospect with compatriot Jose Rondon, the top scorer in Russia with 10 goals in 16 games for Zenit. AVB mustn’t, however, let his focus concentrate solely on Torino’s forward players. If they have closed the gap left by capocannoniere Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci, who combined for 78% of their goals last season, it’s because they have become less dependent on their strikers, spreading the scoring burden throughout the team.

Defence has actually been Torino’s best form of attack. Ten of their goals have come from the rearguard. Only Fiorentina [11] have amassed more from their backline in Serie A. Kamil Glik, Torino’s captain and centre-back, is the highest scoring defender in Europe’s top five leagues. Five of his six goals have been headers. The deliveries put in, either by Marco Benassi or by Torino’s wing-backs Bruno Peres and particularly Matteo Darmian, who was such a thorn in England’s side at the World Cup, will be of concern to Ezequiel Garay and Nicolas Lombaerts, both from open play and corner-kicks. Again, only Fiorentina and Empoli [9] have scored more from those situations than the Granata [7].

Once Torino get in front, don’t count on them allowing you back in the game either. Before doing just that in Udine at the weekend, they had thrown away only five points from winning positions, the fewest in Serie A. They had also recovered 10 after going behind. “Irrespective of the result I got confirmation that Torino have personality,” AVB said. This team has heart and with it the love and affection of their supporters. Hundreds of them gave the team a heroes welcome upon their return from Bilbao a fortnight ago. Will a similar one await them when they get back from St. Petersburg in the early hours of Friday morning?

Can Torino upset the odds to topple Zenit in the Europa League? Let us know in the comments below