Is Italian football back? AC Milan, Inter & Napoli flying flag for Serie A in the Champions League
Three Serie A sides are in the last eight and two now look likely to meet in the semi-finals
The owner of the tabaccheria is excited but nervous. He’s an AC Milan fan and despite his team’s first-leg win in the quarter-finals, he knows the second match in Naples will be difficult. Back in the centre of town, there are Napoli flags on the walls of a small pizzeria. “They still have to come to the [Stadio] Diego Maradona,” one of the guys says defiantly. “The atmosphere will be intense.” And just outside the centro storico, the proprietor of a bar with Internazionale stickers in the window is content with his club’s progress. “We’re the last Italian winners of the Champions League,” he says. “And we’re going to the semi-finals.”
Serie A is back on the map in the Champions League and the fans are enjoying it. For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, theirs had been Europe’s stongest league. There was an Italian finalist in every European Cup final between 1992 and 1998, with winners of the competition in 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2003, 2007 and 2010. But since then, it has been much more difficult for Serie A sides in Europe.
In that time, Italy’s top flight was overtaken by the Premier League, by La Liga and even by the Bundesliga on occasions. In the past 12 editions of the Champions League, only Juventus have made it to the final, losing to Barcelona in 2015 and Real Madrid in 2017.
In the last two seasons, there have been no Italian teams even in the last eight of the Champions League. But this term, Serie A has fared much better. AC Milan, Inter and Napoli are all in the quarter-finals this time around and the three teams are in the same side of the draw. After the first-leg matches this week, it seems likely that one will be in the final in Istanbul in June.
Inter were paired with Benfica and that looked like a tough tie for the Nerazzurri given their recent poor form in Serie A, but Tuesday night’s excellent 2-0 win in Lisbon means Simone Inzaghi’s side are now big favourites to advance to the semi-finals. And if they do, they will face either AC Milan or Napoli.
AC Milan edged out Napoli, missing injured striker Victor Osimhen at San Siro, to seal a 1-0 win over the Serie A leaders. That result leaves the tie in the balance, and although Napoli are more than capable of overturning the deficit in front of their own fans, Luciano Spalletti’s side recently lost 4-0 at home to Milan. And the Rossoneri have pedigree in this competition.
Whatever happens in next week’s second-leg matches, an all-Italian semi-final seems likely. If it does occur, there will be a representative from Serie A in the Champions League final for the first time since 2017. And for the first time since 2010, it would be a team other than Juventus.
So what is behind the Italian improvement in Europe? I spoke to my friend, former colleague, Serie A expert and one half of the Italian Football Podcast, Carlo Garganese, for a closer look at the league’s upturn in fortunes on the European stage…
Napoli are special… enjoy them while it lasts
Napoli are 16 points clear at the top of Serie A and on course for a first league title since the days of Diego Maradona. Their remarkable rise this season has been somewhat surprising but incredibly impressive and barring a disaster of epic proportions, it will be rewarded with the Scudetto next month. They are also playing some of the most exciting football in Europe.
Unfortunately, Premier League clubs are already eyeing their best players and the financial disparity between Serie A and English sides means Napoli are unlikely to be able to hang on to their stars this summer.
“Napoli is a little bit different to the others in that they’ve just created this super team with an amazing project, fantastic scouting and transfer policy, which has created this team through great ideas and great work, and picking up these players that weren’t so well known and developing them, and [Luciano] Spalletti being able to develop them,” Carlo told me.
“And they’ve got two world-class attackers in [Khvicha] Kvaratskhelia and [Victor] Osimhen, who would get into almost any team in Europe, they’re that good. So I think Napoli have done amazingly to create this great team who unfortunately are going to be broken apart. So it’s going to be great while it lasts…”
With that in mind, they will want to make the most of this opportunity in the Champions League as well. If they can get past AC Milan, Napoli will meet Inter or Benfica in the last four for a place in the final. It’s a wonderful chance, perhaps the only one this team will have as we know it considering the inevitable summer sales.
“AC Milan avanti, but Napoli [are] still in play,” La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote in a headline on Thursday. And Corriere dello Sport said simply: “The [Stadio Diego] Maradona will decide.” Tuesday night’s match will be huge.
AC Milan back in the big time
AC Milan are Italy’s most successful side in the European Cup, with seven titles overall. Only Real Madrid have more. But the Rossoneri have gone through a lean period off the pitch and are finally on the way back up.
Last season’s Serie A title was their first trophy in more than a decade, since their Scudetto success in 2010-11. Stefano Pioli is an excellent coach who has brought back stability and built a strong side following a difficult spell under the club’s controversial Chinese owners and further investment should follow after RedBird Capital Partners agreed to acquire Milan for €1.2 billion last year.
“I think Milan are similar to Napoli in that they’ve realised they can’t spend like they used to and they’ve built a sustainable project around young talents, scouring, another great scouting network at Milan, finding these youngsters, developing them, which Pioli, like Spalletti, has done really well,” Carlo said.
“Also like Napoli, they are playing a modern [style of] football, and that has paid dividends. They’ve done really well and they’re in a good position to go through to the semis, against Napoli as well.
“That’s the project they have put in since the Chinese basically ran the club into the ground, that’s been the project the previous owners put in place, that has paid dividends for Milan: young players they have built up in the last few years who have developed into top players. Mike Maignan has developed into one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Theo Hernández who is one of the best left-backs, Rafa Leão is great on his day, Sandro Tonali is a great young talent. So Italian teams are starting to be a bit smarter now… Napoli and Milan are two examples of that.”
Inter have one foot in the last four
Inter have dropped from second to fifth in Serie A over the past few weeks after picking up just one point from their last four in the league, but the Nerazzurri are closer to the Champions League semi-finals than either AC Milan or Napoli at this stage after beating Benfica 2-0 in Lisbon this week.
It is not job done yet for Simone Inzaghi’s side, but they will be expected to advance to the last four now, having only been beaten by Bayern Munich in European competition this season and advanced in their group ahead of Barcelona.
Star striker Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Marcelo Brozovic have been injured for much of the season and both have been badly missed. The Croatian impressed against Benfica on Wednesday, while the Belgian came off the bench to score from the penalty spot.
“Inter have got quite an old team, but they have done really well this season. They are the last Italian team to win the Champions League and they are in a great position to go through again,” Carlo said.
La Gazzetta dello Sport noted on Thursday that Inter seem to concentrate much more in the Champions League. “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” they said of Inzaghi and the difference between the team’s form at home and in Europe. “Watch out for Inter,” they added in another headline.
Indeed. The Nerazzurri are now on the verge of securing a semi-final spot, while they are also still in the Coppa Italia and are just a point off the top four in Serie A. It could still be a special season for Inter.
It’s not just the Champions League
While three Italian teams are flying the flag for Serie A in the Champions League, there are also three more still in European competition this season: Roma and Juventus in the Europa League; Fiorentina in the UEFA Conference League.
Roma were beaten 1-0 by Feyenoord in the first leg of their quarter-final on Thursday night, while Juventus defeated Sporting CP by the same scoreline in Turin. Both still have a great chance of progressing. And in the Conference League, Fiorentina were 4-1 winners at Lech Poznan in the first match of the teams’ last-eight tie.
“It’s not just the Champions League,” Carlo said. “Juventus and Roma are in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and I think they should both go through, and Fiorentina in the Conference League, I think they will get to the final.
“They are obviously doing something right. I think they have realised they can’t spend like they used to and they are building sustainable projects around buying young players, developing them through the coaching, also having a scouting network to find these players.”
Juventus decline has made Serie A more competitive
Juventus won Serie A for nine seasons in a row between 2012 and 2020, but the Bianconeri have fallen on harder times in recent years and are outside the top four this season following a points deduction for financial irregularities in their transfer business.
Despite being deducted 15 points, Juventus are not doing too badly. They have enjoyed an upturn in form in Serie A and could yet qualify for Europe, while they are also in contention for both the Coppa Italia and the Europa League this season.
Nevertheless, their decline has given others an opportunity to shine and this season, Serie A is likely to be won by a fourth different team in as many seasons, with Napoli set to follow Juve, Inter and AC Milan in claiming the Scudetto since 2020.
“Certainly in Serie A it has made the league much more competitive,” Carlo said. “We’re going to have a fourth winner in four years, and the race for the top four is amazing. I guess that’s what happens: it levels the playing field for everything.”
Other leagues are weaker
There are, of course, other factors in the Italian improvement in Europe this season. Apart from Real Madrid, Spanish sides have been desperately disappointing in the Champions League this term, with Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Sevilla all out in the group stages. Previously, those teams have been tough opponents for Serie A sides.
“Without wishing to take anything away from the Italian teams, I think we also need to look at the teams from the other leagues, like the decline of the Spanish teams,” Carlo said. “Real Madrid aside, there definitely has been a marked decline in Spanish teams: Barcelona we’ve seen two years in a row without getting out of the group stages, but also Atlético Madrid are not what they were, Sevilla have struggled, Real Soeciedad too.
“Spanish football is in a crisis economically as well. In the past years, Italian teams not only would they have to play the heavyweights of English football, which are richer and have been better, they have also had to play against the Spanish teams. Two leagues that have had their number.”
Meanwhile, a number of Premier League teams have found life difficult this term after successful seasons in 2021-22. “When you take the English league, which financially is ahead of everyone else, three of the teams that have been in the Champions League this season have been in absolute crisis: Tottenham; Chelsea, despite their spending have been a total shambles; and Liverpool,” Carlo said.
So is Italian football back?
It is probably too early to make such a conclusion. While this season has clearly been a success for Serie A sides in Europe, it will be some time before we can conclude that the improvement is a trend and not just an anomaly.
“There’s no renaissance in Italian football,” Carlo said. “There’s still a financial crisis, there’s a crisis with the stadiums, racism, commercially the overseas TV revenue is at a record low, the national team… Italy didn’t qualify for the World Cup again.
“I know they won the Euros which was great, and they still have some great players, but [coach Roberto] Mancini been very critical that only 27, 28% of the league are Italian. That’s a huge, huge issue. Look at them: they’re having to go abroad to find Italian players, they’ve just taken Mateo Retegui from Argentina and they’re looking at other players as well. That tells its own story about the production of players, even in the youth academies in Italy it’s not good enough. There’s lots of talent but there’s lots and lots of problems.
“If they can maintain what they’ve done in Europe this season over two or three seasons, I might be ready to say ‘yes, Serie A is back’ but honestly I just see it more as: they’ve had an amazing season, they should be applauded for it, they’ve done fantastically, but at the end of the day, the Premier League is in a league of its own unfortunately and in time, that will tell on the pitch.”
It is a step in the right direction, though, and Italian clubs have clearly been forced to focus more on scouting and developing players than the huge transfer fees shelled out in the competition’s glory years. It is not ideal, but it has helped Serie A to grow again and their return to form in Europe is great news for all admirers of Italian football.
In Italy, the fans are definitely proud to see their teams as protagonists again. “This is where we belong,” a milanista told me while I was away in Sicily this week. “Italian involvement make the Champions League better. Let’s hope it continues.” Magari.
Always looking forward to reading your articles, English premier league enjoys wider out reach in other parts of the world, TV rights should be evenly shared in Laliga and Serie A so that other small clubs can buy average players and retain them for a longer period of time.
Other wise EPL will always be a step ahead of other Leagues in Europe and attract the best players from any part of the world.
Great piece. Agree with Carlo in his view that, Italian football still has a load of issues to contend with, but it’s so refreshing to see Serie A sides making an impact in Europe for the first time in a while