Inter Milan at Benfica on Tuesday and a 100% Serie A duel, AC Milan – Naples on Wednesday. With three qualified clubs, Italy is the country most represented in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. We have to go back to the 2005-2006 season to find such an Italian presence at this level with Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan. In other European competitions, Italy is also well represented with Juventus and Roma (winner of the Europa League Conference in 2022) in the Europa League, and Fiorentina in the Europa League Conference.
The days of the 90s when Serie A was the best championship in the world with clubs at the top like Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, AS Roma or Parma nevertheless seem very far away. Compared to England or Germany, Calcio has weakened economically and can no longer fight during transfer windows. In January, Serie A only spent 31 million euros, much less than the Premier League (830 M€), Ligue 1 (127 M€), the Bundesliga (68 M€) or La Liga ( €32 million).
The stadiums are often dilapidated with an average age of 64 in series A. The championship is also marked by business like that which affects Juventus. The Old Lady was pinned for accounting fraud during player transfers between 2018 and 2021 and received 15 penalty points. Incidents in the stands are also frequent, such as the racist demonstrations against Romelu Lukaku during a semi-final of the Italian Cup between Juventus and Inter Milan last week.
“Naples has renewed the Italian game”
In the Italian championship, nothing has really changed. But this season, he is being pulled up by a Napoli team that walks on water thanks to an attacking game with his trio Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Matteo Politano Victor Osimhen and judicious choices in terms of recruitment. With a 16-point lead in Series A, Luciano Spalletti’s team has already crushed the competition. The question remains whether that will be enough to go to the end in the Champions League against the regulars of the event (Bayern, Real, Chelsea, Manchester City). In Italy, the wait is starting to get long.
Since Mourinho’s Inter in 2010, no Italian club has won the trophy. Juventus have failed twice in the final (2015 and 2017). A few days ago, Arrigo Sacchi, the former coach of the heyday of AC Milan, said: “I see a revival of Italian football. Three teams in the quarters is an excellent result. We can compete with everyone, especially Napoli and AC Milan. »
An opinion that is not shared by everyone in Italy. “There is no revival of Italian football strictly speaking, believes Marco Giordano, sports journalist at Radio Napoli. The real renaissance is Naples, which has a structured, thought-out and much more vertical game. It’s shiny and beautiful. This team really renews the Italian game. This is not the case of the two Milan. At Inter, Simone Inzaghi is not an innovative coach. It is based on the classics of Italian football, an old-fashioned physical impact. As for AC Milan, their experience of the European Cup allows them to survive. »
In the round of 16, Inter and AC Milan had also qualified in pain, respectively against Tottenham and Porto. They will necessarily have to show more even if Inter have drawn the least formidable opponent on paper with Benfica. “For me, the presence of Inter and AC Milan in the quarterfinals is a bit of a coincidence, continues Marco Giordano. They have not been brilliant and are not necessarily in good shape. That’s why it’s a bit complicated to draw too hasty conclusions. »