Why do Italian teams struggle in European competitions?

In the 1990s and early 2000s Italian teams were the dominant force in European football with the likes of AC Milan, Internazionale and Juventus feared by their European compatriots. However this fear is long gone as no Italian team has won the Champions League since Jose Mourinho inspired Internazionale to the famed title in 2010.

Why then have Italian teams struggled in Europe and what does the future hold for Italian teams on the continental stage? 

Firstly we must look at the success in the 90s where Italian football finances were at their peak and this led to the league attracting some of the Worlds best talent with players such as Zinedine Zidane and Kaka plying their trade in Serie A. This attracted large worldwide audiences which only added to the riches of Italian football. The peak for the Italian game came in 2002-03 when AC Milan beat rivals Juventus in an all Italian Champions League final, cementing Italian football as the dominant force. We then learnt that these heights would be hard to reach again.

With the rise of the Premier League and its major television rights it would soon become clear that nobody except Real Madrid and Barcelona were going to be able to compete with the riches of the English game. With Juventus, Internationale, Roma and Lazio all having financial issues going into the 2022/23 season due to a variety of factors it was clear that success on the European stage would only act as a bonus for these debt ridden clubs.

With Premier League clubs seemingly allowed to spend however much they wish on incoming transfers the same cannot be said in Italy where clubs like Roma simply relied on free transfers and loan deals to compliment their squad. This leads to Serie A clubs becoming less competitive as they can’t spend these obscene amounts of money.

Another factor clear to see in this demise is that of actual footballing quality. It seems Italian teams have a lack of ideas when it comes to European competitions and struggle to overcome the quality and intensity from other teams. This may be due to the lax nature of Serie A where older players are given the go ahead over young players leading to a slower intensity. That is why national team boss Roberto Mancini is pleading with bosses to give young players the go ahead in League fixtures. 

For example in the 2021/22 Champions League Juventus were simply undone by a resolute Unai Emery Villereal side and had no answers to the Spanish clubs defensive organisation. Scudetto winners of that season AC Milan were embarrassed in their group and finished bottom on four points with the club clearly lacking experience in this competition. Inter Milan were deservedly knocked out by Liverppol but did give a good account of themselves while Atalanta dropped into the Europa League. Therefore a poor showing by Serie A clubs.

Since 2010 though Italian teams have not been dealt a great hand in this competition. Max Allegri’s legendary Scudetto topping Juventus side made it to two Champions League finals from 2014-2017 but were unlucky to come up against the MSN inspired Barcelona and arguably the best Champions League side of all in Real Madrid. Juventus were also unlucky in 2020/21 when they were knocked out on away goals in extra time by Porto. Had Cristiano Ronaldo not ducked from a free kick they would have probably gone through, deservedly. However that season no Italian team even made it to the quarterfinals which a decade ago would have seemed unthinkable.

However in this season’s Champions League fans of the Italian game should have more hope than before. Although Juventus will not be in the knockouts, both Milan clubs and Napoli are into the latter rounds and will be hoping to give a good account of themselves. With Napoli in seemingly unbeatable form the hopes of Italian neutrals will be on them to bring back the coveted trophy for the first time since 2010 and who would bet against them after their thrashings of Liverpool and Ajax. 

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The future of Italian teams in Europe depends on whether the likes of Simone Inzaghi, Luciano Spalletii and Simone Pioli can get their tactics right against top quality opposition. In years gone past this has not occurred but don’t bet against this plucky trio of teams who want to prove their worth to Europe. 

Whether it’s due to poor finances, a lack of tactical ideas or simply being unlucky Italian teams have underperformed on the continent for the last decade. With the English game becoming more dominant by the day it will be fascinating to see whether Italian clubs will maintain this pattern or disrupt it and go on to reach the heights of the 1990s.

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