Italian League clubs began to revive in European competition. For the first time in 17 years, three Italian clubs have entered the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Napoli followed Inter Milan and AC Milan into the Champions League quarter-finals this season, after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 in the last 16 second leg.
Overall, Napoli won 5-0 on aggregate goals over Eintracht Frankfurt, who won the Europa League last season. This is Napoli’s all-time best achievement in the European Champions League. Previously, Napoli always stuck in the last 16 of the Champions League, most recently in the 2019/2020 season.
Inter Milan qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season after winning a narrow 1-0 aggregate goal over Porto. Likewise with AC Milan who won 1-0 on aggregate over Tottenham Hotspur. The two clubs from Milan have not felt the quarter-finals of the Champions League for a very long time.
AC Milan last reached the quarter-finals in the 2011/2012 season. Meanwhile, the last time Inter Milan was in the last 8 of the Champions League was in the 2010/2011 season. The success of AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli in the quarter-finals of the 2022/2023 Champions League repeats the sweet story of 3 Italian clubs in the early 2000s.
Dzeko and Lukaku are the mainstay strikers for Inter Milan/ photo: 90min.com
Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan were so mighty in Europe at that time. The three clubs simultaneously reached the Champions League quarter-finals in the 2002/2003, 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons.
The 2002/2003 season was the golden era of Italian clubs in the Champions League. At that time AC Milan won, Juventus runner-up, and Inter through to the semifinals. England, which in the previous two seasons had routinely sent 3 clubs to the Champions League quarter-finals, this season only Chelsea and Manchester City are in the top 8.
Liverpool failed to reach the quarter-finals because they were unable to stem the might of defending champion Real Madrid. Real Madrid is the same as Chelsea and Manchester City, three consecutive seasons through the UCL quarter-finals. German giants Bayern Munich have made it into the last eight of the Champions League for the fourth straight season. Portugal’s elite club, Benfica, continued the success last season of reaching the last 8 of the UCL. So you could say 3 Italian representative clubs will compete with customers in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Can Italian clubs survive against the great power of representatives from other countries, and can they win the Champions League this season? Looking forward to it. As a reminder, the last Italian club to win the Champions League was Inter Milan under coach Jose Mourinho in the 2009/2010 season. It will be an interesting experience for Italian football fans to wait and see on their favorite clubs performance in the Champions League for this season.
ASL
