Aurelio De Laurentiis is having an exceptionally good time. “We have about 50 games a year and are experiencing them intensely right now,” enthused the SSC Napoli club boss.
“It’s like making love 50 times with the most beautiful woman in the world. Not bad, is it?” What the Italian Serie A delivered in the Champions League was unusually bad for many years. No premier class victory since 2010 and no finalist since 2017. In the Europa League, Italy has not had a title since its premiere in 2010 and only had one finalist in Inter Milan 2020.
But now everything is different. “Forza, folks, Europe is waiting for us. Let’s conquer it,” was the headline in the “Gazzetta dello Sport” at the start of the quarter-finals on Tuesday and was particularly looking forward to “a Champions League that speaks Italian. We’re even better than them Englishman. Raise your hand if that’s what you envisioned at the start of the season.”
Trio in the premier class quarterfinals
Surely nobody would. For the first time in 17 years, an Italian trio is among the top eight. In the past two years, the Serie A clubs were all out in this phase. Now the sovereign leader of the table Naples and the Milan clubs Inter and AC are there alongside five last year’s quarter-finalists. Milan for the first time in eleven years, Inter for the first time in twelve and Napoli for the first time ever.
And since the draw, “which gave us a smile and ushered in an electrifying sprint”, as the “Gazzetta” writes, a semi-finalist is certain. There are also three other quarter-finalists in the Europa League and the Conference League.
Italy have only provided six clubs twice this season, most recently in 1999. Italy’s chest swelled when UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin recently asked, in his speech at the UEFA Congress: “Which league has the most representatives in the Champions League quarter-finals? Italy! Which league has the most representatives in the Europa League quarter-finals? Italy!”
The clubs are not only on their own mission, but more than ever as representatives of Italian football and its league. “It’s time we broke the stereotype of bad Italian football,” said Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti. And Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti said: “Having three Italian teams here is very important for our football. Let’s hope one makes it to the final.”
polish reputation
Polishing up the reputation is also important because Calcio continues to be accompanied by racism and fundamental violence problems, as the riots surrounding the round of 16 in Naples against Eintracht Frankfurt recently showed. Also, many are not sure if this season’s success is not a coincidence. With Frankfurt, FC Porto and Tottenham Hotspur, the trio’s round of 16 opponents were not in Europe’s top division. On the other hand, it was impressive that the Italians didn’t concede a goal in six games.
For Anna Guarnerio, the flight comes at the best time. “I was definitely lucky with the timing,” said Serie A’s new director of international media rights to Goal and Spox. “Of course, that helps the international perception of Calcio. Especially at this point in time, when we are trying to change the image of Serie A abroad before a new TV rights allocation cycle.”
National coach Roberto Mancini is still following the performance of the clubs with caution after the European Championship title in 2021 and the missed World Cup in 2022. “I wouldn’t call it a rebirth of Italian football,” he said. “If Milan, Napoli and Inter played with 33 Italians, you could say that. But it’s not even half.”
