When the final whistle sounded in Greece on Thursday evening and AC Milan’s European elimination was confirmed, the reality of another season of humiliation for Italian clubs in Europe was made strikingly clear as the Rossoneri followed Inter and Napoli in dropping out of their respective competitions at the first hurdle.
Of the seven Serie A teams to start the 2018/19 season competing in Europe, only Juventus, Roma and Lazio remain in the tournament in which they started the campaign, although those who failed in Champions League do now drop into the Europa League’s last 32.
Atalanta failed to even make it to the group stage, Milan imploded away to Olympiacos, while Inter and Napoli can only point to themselves for their own respective shortcomings.
Juventus, expectedly, lead the way for Italy’s top sides and their increasing superiority is as evident on the continental stage as it is domestically. The Old Lady have competed in two of the last four finals and pushed eventual champions Real Madrid close last season only to fall at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Loathed as they are across the Italian peninsula, it is hard to deny that the Bianconeri are on another level to their fellow Serie A representatives, be it on or off the field. The club functions effectively, they boast a modern stadium that they themselves own and, for what it’s worth, have their name on each of the last seven – soon to be eight and probably nine – Scudetto crowns as well.
For all the talk of Inter’s resurgence, the Biscione are still some way off competing with Italy’s best, nevermind Europe’s and their consecutive slips against Juventus and then PSV Eindhoven only highlight that fact.
Luciano Spalletti has undoubtedly improved things at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, but there are fatal flaws that remain and it is puzzling that some glaring issues in their squad – namely a real creative force to feed Mauro Icardi – remain unaddressed.
After falling to Juventus in the recent Derby d’Italia Inter’s players took the bizarre line of proudly asserting how the game acted as evidence that, despite losing to Italy’s No.1, they could compete with Europe’s top sides. A subsequent humbling at home against PSV suggests otherwise.
Napoli, too, can only look inwards in search of the reasons behind their elimination, though it may be harsh to be too scathing of the Partenopei.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side beat Liverpool at the Stadio San Paolo and drew twice with Paris Saint-Germain and it was the games against the French champions that ultimately cost them their place in the Champions League after Christmas.
Wasteful in periods of dominance, Napoli allowed PSG to escape twice with a point in a group where every one of them counted, while their opening night slip against Red Star Belgrade is every bit as costly as it seemed it would be at the time.
Milan’s failure to progress from a group with Real Betis, Olympiacos and Dudelange should be seen as nothing other than an embarrassment and despite their increasingly sporadic signs of life, the Rossoneri continue to be engulfed by utter mediocrity.
The one shining light on their season now is that, with just Serie A to focus on, they will surely back themselves to secure a top-four finish.
Gennaro Gattuso’s job will undoubtedly be questioned, and he is not the only coach of a European representative wondering whether or not he will be afforded the luxury of eating panettone this festive period.
Eusebio Di Francesco’s Roma are still in the Champions League despite their best efforts to ensure otherwise and the Giallorossi advance having lost three of their six group games.
Perhaps spared by the lack of quality in Viktoria Plzen and CSKA Moscow, it is surely just a case of the inevitable being delayed for the Eternal City side and a repeat of last season’s journey to the semi-finals would come as a surprise to even their most enthusiastic fans.
With an identical record of three wins and as many defeats from six games, Lazio, too, move on in the Europa League, edging Apollon Limassol and holding eternal gratitude for a monumental internal collapse at Olympique Marseille.
Italian football has shown some signs of resurgence in recent seasons but it is high time that Serie A’s sides, Juventus aside, start to make their presence felt and stop disgracing themselves on the European stage.
