Adriano Galliani has shared some of his thoughts regarding the decline of Italian football, also aiming a jab at Inter over Calciopoli.
While talk continues to swirl about a possible return to Milan ahead of next season, Galliani still very much keeps on top of matters connected to Serie A, the field where he has spent almost all of his professional life.
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Indeed, the man nicknamed ‘Il Condor’ is no stranger to winning, having overseen an era under Silvio Berlusconi in which the Rossoneri scooped 29 trophies in 31 years. The days of being able to win the Champions League seem a long way away though, given the decline of calcio.
Galliani was also among the guests attending a European Golden Boy event and he spoke to reporters about a number of topics, with his comments via Calciomercato.com.
Why don’t Italian clubs win any more?
“Those who have won the Champions League in recent years all have double the turnover of the big Italian clubs. Real Madrid has a turnover of 1.2 billion, while the Italian clubs that do better have 400-450 million with capital gains.
“Why did we win before and not anymore? Because we had the best players. The last to win the Ballon d’Or playing in Italy was Kaka in 2007. It’s difficult to sell the rights abroad for various reasons.
“England has no problem because they speak English. La Liga is sold in Spanish-speaking countries, while Italian is spoken in the Canton of Ticino and that’s it.”
Are new stadiums needed?
“To increase revenues, you need stadiums first and foremost. A beautiful facility also helps sell TV rights, because with ugly and half-empty stadiums, foreigners aren’t interested. Once upon a time, we were a league of arrivals, now we’re a league of transition.”
On Calciopoli, with Capello on stage alongside Galliani…
“Capello had also won two Scudetti on the pitch with Juventus. The only case in the world where the third-placed team becomes the first. In heaven, the last become the first, on earth, the third-placed team became the first.”
You also need a product that people want to watch. It’s convenient that he left out the German teams that do much better in the CL.
We need uncle fester back asap. Furlani would never think of such a beautiful line like that, last on earth first in heaven lol. Inter have been verbally beating us up for years, it’s time a real artist is back in Milan.
Well that is debatable if you’re talking about the last 5 years
If you remove Bayern, who don’t count because they’re one of the super-clubs he’s referring to, Italy has outperformed Germany in the UCL over the last few years.
1901, 1906, 1907, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1956–57,
1958–59, 1961–62, 1967–68, (1971-72), (1972-73),
1978–79 , 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04, (2004-05), (2005-06),
2010–11, (2011-12), 2021–22;
What does 1901 have to do with now? That’s part of the problem, Italians are living in the past. The one team has done well RECENTLY is Inter. Unless you’re a fan of a team, are people really watching Serie A.
(1971-72), (1972-73), (2004-05), (2005-06), (2011-12)- the titles (“scudetti”) that were stolen from AC Milan.
💯.
Even as a fan of a team Serie A is a rough watch, especially Milan under Allegri.
Well, under Galliani revenues at the club stagnated badly. We were eye to eye with Real Madrid in terms of revenues in early. 00s. They left us in the dust under Galliani’s watch and this was before Calciopoli. He just was not modern enough to understand how to grow the club and market the club. Selling the TV rights is one thing but merchandising and distribution were horrendous under his watch. I’ll always give him his props to construct a team and win things though. But that other aspect , he was out to lunch
Keeping guys like Galliani around is also a huge problem
I hope Galliani does NOT come back… that would be a huge step back.
Uncle fester was one efficient when he had a sizable financial backing and Braida with him to work magic.
Galliani on a tight budget was the architect of the banter era especially when Braida left in 2013 and the money dried up.
And look at his stint at Monza… promotion with Silvio there. Relegation after he passed. Now that Adriano is out they are on their way back to Serie A.