With Juventus having qualified for the Champions League final and both Fiorentina and Napoli set to play the second legs of their Europa League semi-finals this has been the most successful season for Italian teams on the continent since Inter’s 2010 Champions League triumph.
Italy remain in fourth place in terms of country coefficient rankings, but they are now only nine points behind Germany who took the fourth Champions League qualifying spot off Italy in 2012, a development which severely harmed Serie A’s prestige and arguably signalled the beginning of the league’s current malaise.
If one of the peninsula’s two Europa League participants were to reach the final of that competition then it would improve Italy’s position even further and bring the country to within touching distance of third place and the recovery of a fourth Champions League qualify place.