Defense wins Champions League semifinal spot for Juventus in 0-0 draw

There's good news and bad news for soccer fans.

The good: Juventus, one of Europe's most majestic and decorated clubs, is back after reaching the UEFA Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2003. And continental soccer is better for it because the Italian league's backslide – no Italian team had been to the final four since 2010 – has robbed the game of a lot of great rivalries, color and texture.

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The bad: The way the Old Lady, as the club is nicknamed, won its quarterfinals series over Monaco was hard to watch. On Wednesday, having previously taken the first leg 1-0, it was satisfied to sit in its own half, consolidate its lines and let the Monte Carlo club come at it. Juve rode out those final 90 minutes with nary an ambition to play soccer, taking a 0-0 result.

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It left the neutral viewer with a frightful question to ponder: Could it be that Catenaccio isn't entirely dead yet?

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So defensive and effective was Juve's setup that, even though it gave away most of the possession, it surrendered just one shot on goal. That's as many as the Italians got as well, making for a rather drab affair.

Save for a Carlos Tevez breakaway late in the first half, when he put his shot just wide, the only other moments of note were Juve goalie Gigi Buffon's failure to get to a ball he charged for – which was cleared off the line by Patrice Evra instead – and an Andrea Pirlo free kick that came sort of close to goal. That was it.

Catenaccio, a defensive ploy perfected by the Italians in the 1960s that allowed its teams to be successful for decades, basically entailed that they suffocated games with negative tactics in hopes of stealing a single goal – and thus a narrow result. It seemed to have died out. Perhaps it hasn't.

Certainly, Juventus won its round of 16 tie with Borussia Dortmund 5-1. But it scored just seven goals in the group stage. The three other semifinalists – Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – had 16, 16 and 15, respectively. This Juve side is capable of playing attractive soccer and has often done so in its dominant run of soon-to-be four straight Serie A titles, but it clearly won't hesitate to shut a game down when the result is imperative.

Seeing as they will be underdogs against whatever team they draw for the semifinals, we might see more of that defensiveness yet. So, if you're an attacking soccer purist, Juve's semifinals might not be for you.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.