[ITA] Serie A 2010/2011 (82 Viewers)
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Champions League Comment: Inter, Milan & Roma - Remember When Italian Teams Were Unbeatable At Home?
Goal.com considers the potential downfall of Calcio in Europe this season...
The Champions League Round of 16 brought up many interesting statistics and prospects ahead of the second legs, but one that simply cannot be ignored is that all three Italian teams - Inter, Milan and Roma - lost on home soil.
Inter fell to a last-minute tap-in from Bayern Munich, Milan lost out to Tottenham Hotspur, and Roma were picked apart by Shakhtar Donetsk. Three teams over the last two weeks, came, saw and conquered the Serie A representatives.
Serie A's home wipeout is a symptom of their malaise. Since Milan won the Champions League in 2007, only Inter have made it past the final eight and only once did any other Italian side make it to the quarter-finals; Roma in 2008.
Once upon a time, foreign teams feared coming to Italy - the San Siro, the Stadio Olimpico, the Stadio Delle Alpi were all viewed as fortresses that were near unbreakable and clean sheets were expected. Italian defences were considered too strong to break down and it was considered a miracle to walk away from the pitch having a goal or result in your pocket.
Juventus' side of the mid-90s which won the Champions League in 1996 and then made the next two successive finals were a defensive masterclass and the Rossoneri's team in the middle part of the past decade, that featured great, top class defenders like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, who acted as a wall of massive proportions.
This season however, based on the first legs of the Round of 16 in Europe's top competition, the Serie A defences were almost laughable by comparison.
Concentrating on Inter, they were perhaps unlucky to be denied by the Bavarians' in-form goalkeeper Thomas Kraft, however the holders simply gave up too many chances (the visitors hitting the post twice) to their opponents at home and eventually the pressure told after a mistake from their own shot stopper Julio Cesar, and Mario Gomez made them pay in the 90th minute.
Nerazzurri boss Leonardo, for all his initial wonders since being appointed on Christmas Eve, proved he is still naive as a tactican, by not changing his style or formation the entire match, even when Louis van Gaal's well-marshalled side took a stronger foothold in the match as the second half wore on.
Milan lacked both intensity and creativity on the pitch at the San Siro before they fell behind to a goal from Spurs' lanky striker Peter Crouch with 10 minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late to awake from their slumber and salvage a result thereafter.
In coach Claudio Ranieri's penultimate match with Roma, the Ukrainians exploited an atrocious Giallorossi side both in terms of their tactics and technique, taking advantage of all the available space to put three goals past a leaky defence.
Overall, foreign teams no longer have reason to fear visits to Italy. Tottenham, Bayern and Shakhtar were not afraid to, all in their own way, take the game to their hosts and all succeeded by winning on arguably hostile, but obviously claimable, territory.
It is no wonder that Serie A has fallen behind the Bundesliga in terms of UEFA's coefficient and will lose their fourth Champions League spot, after dropping matches like these at home in two-legged affairs. These Italian losses happened for a variety of reasons, but one thing they have certainly done is highlight Italian football's downward spiral.
Goal.com considers the potential downfall of Calcio in Europe this season...
The Champions League Round of 16 brought up many interesting statistics and prospects ahead of the second legs, but one that simply cannot be ignored is that all three Italian teams - Inter, Milan and Roma - lost on home soil.
Inter fell to a last-minute tap-in from Bayern Munich, Milan lost out to Tottenham Hotspur, and Roma were picked apart by Shakhtar Donetsk. Three teams over the last two weeks, came, saw and conquered the Serie A representatives.
Serie A's home wipeout is a symptom of their malaise. Since Milan won the Champions League in 2007, only Inter have made it past the final eight and only once did any other Italian side make it to the quarter-finals; Roma in 2008.
Once upon a time, foreign teams feared coming to Italy - the San Siro, the Stadio Olimpico, the Stadio Delle Alpi were all viewed as fortresses that were near unbreakable and clean sheets were expected. Italian defences were considered too strong to break down and it was considered a miracle to walk away from the pitch having a goal or result in your pocket.
Juventus' side of the mid-90s which won the Champions League in 1996 and then made the next two successive finals were a defensive masterclass and the Rossoneri's team in the middle part of the past decade, that featured great, top class defenders like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, who acted as a wall of massive proportions.
This season however, based on the first legs of the Round of 16 in Europe's top competition, the Serie A defences were almost laughable by comparison.
Concentrating on Inter, they were perhaps unlucky to be denied by the Bavarians' in-form goalkeeper Thomas Kraft, however the holders simply gave up too many chances (the visitors hitting the post twice) to their opponents at home and eventually the pressure told after a mistake from their own shot stopper Julio Cesar, and Mario Gomez made them pay in the 90th minute.
Nerazzurri boss Leonardo, for all his initial wonders since being appointed on Christmas Eve, proved he is still naive as a tactican, by not changing his style or formation the entire match, even when Louis van Gaal's well-marshalled side took a stronger foothold in the match as the second half wore on.
Milan lacked both intensity and creativity on the pitch at the San Siro before they fell behind to a goal from Spurs' lanky striker Peter Crouch with 10 minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late to awake from their slumber and salvage a result thereafter.
In coach Claudio Ranieri's penultimate match with Roma, the Ukrainians exploited an atrocious Giallorossi side both in terms of their tactics and technique, taking advantage of all the available space to put three goals past a leaky defence.
Overall, foreign teams no longer have reason to fear visits to Italy. Tottenham, Bayern and Shakhtar were not afraid to, all in their own way, take the game to their hosts and all succeeded by winning on arguably hostile, but obviously claimable, territory.
It is no wonder that Serie A has fallen behind the Bundesliga in terms of UEFA's coefficient and will lose their fourth Champions League spot, after dropping matches like these at home in two-legged affairs. These Italian losses happened for a variety of reasons, but one thing they have certainly done is highlight Italian football's downward spiral.
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And it's official!
Italy loses Champions League place
The number of Champions League places allocated to clubs in Serie A will be reduced to just three from the start of the 2012-13 season.
Despite Inter's victory in the competition last year poor performances in general from Italian clubs over the last decade has seen their co-efficient ranking plummet.
Inter, Roma and Milan all lost the home legs of their Champions League knock out ties this month, making the prospect of any Italian team reaching the Quarter-Finals slim to none.
The distance between Italy and Germany in the co-efficient rankings is now too big to recover and in two years' time the team that finishes third in Serie A will have to go through the preliminary stages to reach the Champions League outright.
There are also ramifications for participation in the Europa League, as from 2012-13 the team that finishes sixth in Serie A will stay at home.
http://www.football-italia.net/feb25k.html
Italy loses Champions League place
The number of Champions League places allocated to clubs in Serie A will be reduced to just three from the start of the 2012-13 season.
Despite Inter's victory in the competition last year poor performances in general from Italian clubs over the last decade has seen their co-efficient ranking plummet.
Inter, Roma and Milan all lost the home legs of their Champions League knock out ties this month, making the prospect of any Italian team reaching the Quarter-Finals slim to none.
The distance between Italy and Germany in the co-efficient rankings is now too big to recover and in two years' time the team that finishes third in Serie A will have to go through the preliminary stages to reach the Champions League outright.
There are also ramifications for participation in the Europa League, as from 2012-13 the team that finishes sixth in Serie A will stay at home.
http://www.football-italia.net/feb25k.html
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