Juventus great Alex del Piero says they must take the Europa League seriously.

Juve meet Nantes tonight knowing the Europa League is their one chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Del Piero said: "Juventus are facing off-field challenges which could unfortunately aggravate their position even further in terms of the final standings. So I believe that Allegri also took a cue from it to give a strong meaning to this cup.

"I'm not saying justify, but say 'ok, we had a bad time in the Champions League, we were disastrous. But now that we've sorted things out, we we are very strong". So it is also a way for the team to say that this is a cup that can be worth much more.

"It is already important, but it can be worth much more. I think it is also a message in this sense. So to all players and the environment, because it could really represent, in such a difficult season, an important light for the future."