It has been some time since multiple Italian clubs found themselves in the latter stages of the Champions League, but this year is different.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport report, Napoli’s win against Eintracht Frankfurt last night means that they will join Milan and Inter in the final eight of the competition, marking the first time in 17 years (since 2005-06) that there have been three Serie A teams in the quarter-finals.
Milano is a city that boasts 10 combined Champions League trophies (seven for Milan, three for Inter) and then there is Naples which has played host to some electrifying football this season with Luciano Spalletti’s side registering five wins out of six in the group before crushing Frankfurt.
It shouldn’t sound strange given that Italy are on the podium of countries with the most Champions League winners – 12 combined – behind Spain on 19 and England on 14. Milan meanwhile with their total of European Cups are surpassed only by Real Madrid at 14.
The Serie A sides are battling on an uneven playing field as well. Deloitte data for 2022 showed that more than half of the top 30 (16) for highest revenues are clubs from the Premier League, five are from LaLiga, three from Serie A and three from the Bundesliga.
Inter and Milan are in 14th and 16th place and Napoli are not there at all, while Benfica are in 24th and are having an equally impressive run in the competition. For a nation that has missed consecutive World Cups and lags behind other leagues in resources, having a trio in the quarter-finals is a memorable feat.
The trophy itself is heading to Milan
Milan doing good job. Partly there is luck. Milan just need more consistent play in Serie a to become regular champions league team
There is some luck that the Serie A sides didn’t face better competition. We probably may not have won against Pool for example. So I don’t think it’s accurate to say that money isn’t correlated with success. It still is and definitely is. Perhaps next year might see an even bigger gap money-wise and success wise
Tottenham, Porto and Frankfurt are far from the best teams so it was a lot of luck as well.