Serie A struggles mirror Italy’s crisis: worrying numbers and calls for change
Serie A struggles mirror Italy’s crisis: worrying numbers and calls for change The crisis of the Italian national team is mirrored by the poor results of Serie A clubs in European competitions this season, with no representative in the semifinals of the Champions League, Europa League, or Conference League. The Italian football crisis equally involves the national team and Serie A sides, as confirmed by recent results in European club competitions. {rsn-smspc-splitter} Bologna and Fiorentina were eliminated from the Europa League and the Conference League quarter-finals, respectively, leaving Serie A with no representative in the semifinals of any of the three European club competitions.
This season’s Champions League campaign has been particularly depressing for Serie A fans, who saw Napoli eliminated after the group stage, Inter and Juventus unable to get past the knockout play-offs, and Atalanta reach the Round of 16, where they were knocked out by Bayern Munich. Today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport sums up pretty well the worrying numbers behind the Italian football crisis in Europe, which clearly doesn’t involve only the national team. The worrying numbers of Serie A clubs in Europe Since Juventus’ Champions League victory in 1996, 30 years ago, Serie A clubs have won the Champions League only three times, Milan in 2003 and 2007 and Inter in 2010.
José Mourinho’s Inter was the last Italian team to lift the coveted cup in 2009-10, marking a 16-year drought since, something that had only happened once before, between Milan’s 1969 triumph and Juventus’ victory in 1985. In four of the last six Champions League campaigns, Serie A clubs have gone out in the round of 16. In the previous ten years, aside from Juventus’ two finals, only Roma reached the semis in 2018.
epa12147516 UEFA Champions League trophy on display at the Allianz Arena before the UEFA Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale Milano in Munich, Germany 31 May 2025. EPA-EFE/RONALD WITTEK Things are even worse in the Europa League, formerly UEFA Cup, with 25 years between Parma’s victory in 1999 and Atalanta’s in 2024. In between, Inter and Roma each reached the Final once but lost it in 2020 and 2023, respectively.
Roma won the Conference League in 2022, Fiorentina reached the Final in 2023 and 2024. To sum it up, in the last 30 years, Italian football has won the Champions League four times, three Europa Leagues (formerly UEFA Cup), one Cup Winners’ Cup, and one Conference League. Serie A and Italy national team issues Italy somehow managed to earn an extra Champions League spot for 2024-25, which, based on recent results, seems now more than ever ‘just a coincidence,’ wrote Gazzetta.
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