Their struggle for the fourth place could be the last Italian teams indulge in for some time. Because from next season, only the top three in Serie A will qualify for Europe’s main competition.
Italy’s loss of its fourth Champions League spot is due to its declining status as a football power for some years now. On the international scene, a glorious World Cup triumph in 2006 gave way to stagnation over the next four year cycle, with their 2010 defence a miserable failure.
At club level, Italy’s sides have been similarly poor. Not a single team from the country of pizza, pasta and opera were still in European competition by April.
Its teams are afflicted by debt, with just four sides turning a profit last year. And the team with the highest turnover ironically was Fiorentina, who succumbed to bankruptcy in 2002 before storming back to the top flight.
The country’s top teams are a shadow of their great teams of days gone past. Champions AC Milan may have had a good season, but were knocked out of the Champions League by Tottenham in only the second round, whilst Inter Milan were thumped by Schalke, who are having a derisory season in the Bundesliga. Juventus go from low to even lower with another season outside the Champions League places as they struggle to return to their previous glory days. And Roma are still recovering from financial instability and remain worryingly dependent on Francesco Totti.
The picture is not a good one, and it is mainly a result of that most recurrent of sporting themes; money. Money makes football go around, and in particular when few major Italian sides – from AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma and Lazio – own their own stadiums. Juventus are moving into their new ground next season, and it may herald a new start in Italian football as their leading sides look to use their grounds to make as much money as possible. It is through turnover that teams make profits; and turnover is fuelled mainly by fans paying money to enter the stadium on a match day.
Allied to that is a new collective TV deal, similar to the model used in England, which could help spur a recovery in Italian football. The deal means that Italian teams can rely on a greater stream of funding than previously and can start to compete with their English and Spanish rivals again.
Italy may be struggling now, but it should be remembered that this is a proud and important country on the international football map. They are down now, but will surely be back. With the passion and history of Italy’s top clubs, it is unlikely to be long until the likes of AC Milan and Juventus return to the pinnacle of European football.
