Roma and Milan both crashed out of the Champions' League at the first knockout hurdle. While Roma fell to a tactically astute and accomplished Shakhtar Donetsk side, rich in both talent and tournament experience, Milan were the latest victims of Tottenham Hotspur's debut season. Fellow Serie A side Inter bucked the trend, but only by the skin of their teeth. In a rematch of the 2010 final, Inter pulled out an outrageous come-from-behind late game victory in the second leg, to progress on away goals (0-1 and 3-2), versus Bayern Munich.
It is a damning indictment of how far Italian football has fallen. Once the class of continental competition with consistent performances resulting in annual domination, Italian club football now resembles a footballing backwater.
A fellow observer casually remarked, during Milan's lively, but ultimately futile quest to overturn a first leg deficit, in the second leg at White Hart Lane, that if this Milan side were to go on and win Serie A, it would be a poor advert for the league. By corollary, he reasoned that this was one of the poorest Milan sides in decades. Watching Kevin Prince Boateng receive a sideways pass from Mathieu Flamini before promptly losing possession in an ill-advised run into no-man's land, one could hardly disagree. They lacked both guile and gumption, displayed neither a sense of purpose nor any idea of execution. Their second leg performance was encouraging at times, but eventually limp overall and Spurs rarely looked like losing the game. After the shambles of the first leg, Milan were an embarrassment over the course of the tie losing 0-1.
Roma were cruelly exposed by a Mircea Lucescu side that have now not lost at home in Europe for several seasons, losing 6-2 on aggregate and getting walloped 3-0 in the second leg. Although cultured and fielding a team that has played together for years, the side from the Italian capital showed woeful tactical awareness and lacked a cutting edge in midfield. Shakhtar cut them open at will and looked to have plenty in reserve despite outclassing their pedigreed opponents. Claudio Ranieri's replacement Vincenzo Montella has his work cut out if Roma returns to the Champions' League next season.
Italy's hopes now reside with Inter as the defending champions are finally showing some verve and form. Having flattered to deceive in the group stages, shedding initial manager Rafa Benitez enroute, former Milan legend Leonardo seems to be getting this team to come together at the right time. A quarterfinal against Schalke looks promising on paper but Inter must be wary of the German side, whose fluctuating performances this season were enough to dispatch Valencia in the previous round.
Inter’s progress aside, Italian football is at a crossroads. Whereas the Serie A is more open than ever, the quality has most definitely dropped. While the lack of financial clout is definitely a factor, the performances of Italian clubs have demonstrated that the domestic challenge is lacking in both physical demands and tactics. Long derided for being more about the system than the individual, it is ironic that Italian football contains several talented individuals but now lacks the teamwork required to flourish.
Milan will be mocked irrespective of their eventual finish at season end, while Roma, long a bastion of attacking fluid football seem to have reached the end of the Totti era. The present generation looked tired, jaded and bereft of creativity. Shakhtar might be fuelled by the new found oil wealth of the Ukraine but their performance was about cohesiveness, technique and careful orchestration, once the very hallmarks of a typical Italian club’s foray into Europe. Added to the Champions’ League woes, Serie A only advanced one club out of the Europa League group stage but saw Napoli lose to a sparkling Villareal side at the first hurdle.
In 1999, Bologna, then Serie A mid-table reached the semifinals of the UEFA Cup while Parma won the tournament. Lazio won the Cup Winners’ Cup and Juventus reached the semi-finals of the Champions’ League. This year Inter is the remaining team from the peninsula to still be involved beyond spring break.
Serie A needs to look at itself in the mirror this summer, identify new talent, reinvigorate the league and hope to end the cycle of poor returns. Italian clubs have featured 11 times in the past 19 finals but only three times since Milan beat Juventus in 2003. The Champions’ League is the World’s most televised and prestigious club tournament. Italy badly needs to feature more often.
