2023-04-22 12:32:30
Italian football is celebrating after a long journey through the desert. For the first time in history, five teams from the A league They will meet in the semifinals of the main international European competitions: AC Milan and Inter Milan in the Champions League, Juventus and Roma in the Europa League and Fiorentina in the Conference League.
In recent times, Italian football had suffered a sharp depreciation after many years of wine and roses. The end of the 90s and the early 2000s placed Serie A as the reference league with historic teams in the front line that are still remembered by heart. But in the last decade the path has been very different.. The only Italian team capable of staying in the elite for longer in the second half of the decade was Juventus, which reached two Champions League finals (2015 and 2017). Beyond that the last Champions League semifinal to date for Serie A teams dated from 2018when Roma reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League after a historic comeback at the Olímpico against FC Barcelona and the last title was also won by the Romanists.
In this context, Serie A became a devalued product that, in the first place, was classified as a place of retirement for veterans and years later a league that only attracted elite footballers more for its tax benefits than for its capacity. of purely sporting attraction. But this season, Italian football is back, something that is undoubtedly celebrated by the most purist lovers of the most nostalgic football who wanted to see many historic players in those privileged places again. Inter Milan or AC Milan will have a guaranteed place in the Istanbul final on June 10.‘Derby della Madonnina’ in semifinals
Stefano Pioli’s Milan reached the semi-finals for the first time since 2007 when they were champions with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm. The ‘rossoneri’ beat Tottenham in the round of 16 and a Napoli that arrived as a fashionable team lead Serie A with an iron fist with 14 points ahead of Lazio and in a duel in which names like Brahim Diaz or Rafael Leao they prevailed when all eyes were on Victor Osimhen or Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter beat Benfica for their part and is also three games away from repeating a success that they have only achieved twice (with Helenio Herrera in the 1964-65 season and Mourinho’s in 2010). It will be the first ‘Derby della Madonnina’ in the Champions League since 2003. On that occasion, the victory went to a Milan who ended up winning on penalties against Juventus adding their sixth European Cup. Furthermore, it is the first time in history that AC Milan and Inter will face each other five times in the same season. (between Serie A, Supercoppa Italiana and these semifinals)
In the Europa League, Serie A has also managed to ‘sneak in’ two representatives: Mourinho’s Roma (current Conference League champion) and Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus will face Bayer Leverkusen and Sevilla, respectively. The Roman team achieved its first European title last season since the fairs cup from 1961, which makes the Romanists dream of continuing to make it big in Europe at the hands of the Portuguese and a Dybala who seems to have been reborn.
Juventus for their part, after recovering the 15 points that they withdrew for the ‘Case Plusvalías’, add their twenty-second European semifinal. Allegri’s team has established itself as the Italian team that has reached the European final rounds the most times. Solo Real Madrid (37), Bayern Munich (28) and Barcelona (26) they outnumber the people of Turin in this type of appointment.
Italy wants to dominate the Conference
Serie A also wants to become strong in this new UEFA competition, that this season celebrates its second year of life. After Roma’s triumph last season, this year it is Fiorentina who wants to follow in his footsteps. Vincenzo Italiano’s team, after a tough tie against Polish Lech Poznan, will face Basel in the semifinals.
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A great success for the Florence team, who becomes the fourth Italian team to have played in a European semi-final the most times (8) only behind Inter, Juventus and Milan. All this in a turbulent season in Serie A, where they are ninth to nine points in European positions.
In addition, it should be noted that four of the five European semifinalist teams have an Italian coach (except Mourinho). Undoubtedly, this season represents a total vindication for a soccer Italian at all levels that recalls better times and excites lovers of classic football.
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