Following the exciting start of the Serie A campaign, seven Italian clubs have now began their European adventures in three different competitions. The first matchday of the season delivered diverse results varying between enthrall and agony. So here are five things we learned this week about Calcio’s representatives in European competitions.
Milan’s Complex Group
Champions League’s Group E was supposed to be a straightforward affair. Perennial contenders Chelsea were the heavy favorites while Milan needed to ward off Reb Bull Salzburg for the runners-up place.
Nonetheless, Dinamo Zagreb refused to play the whipping boys act. Instead, they stunned the West Londoners in 1-0 victory which turned out to be Thomas Tuchel’s swansong, creating a massive scramble in the process.
For their part, the Rossoneri did well to avoid a defeat in Austria against their underrated hosts, but their mission appears to be significantly more complex at the moment due to the shocking result in the group’s other fixture.
Inter and Juventus Far from Elite
In Italy, many consider Inter and Juventus as the two strongest squads in Serie A on paper. So watching them soundly defeated by another two European giants is a dreadful sight for us Calcio fanatics.
While the final scorelines weren’t the harshest, the gap in quality between the Bianconeri and the Nerazzurri on one hand, and PSG and Bayern Munich on the other didn’t go unnoticed.
In fairness, we’re talking about two massive superpowers. But although there’s no shame in the such defeats, it’s depressing to see Italy’s best products comprehensively trailing behind others.
Magical Partenopei
Luckily for all of us, one Serie A side managed to raise the league’s sigil high with a wonderful performance on Wednesday.
On English shores, they noted how this was arguably Liverpool’s worst Champions League display under Jurgen Klopp’s watch. But on the contrary, it was Napoli’s finest European hour in the modern era.
The Partenopei produced a magical performance, and could have even added more goals, but eventually decided to take their foot off the pedal at 4-1, perhaps as a sign of respect for their fallen foes.
Roma Will Be Roma
On Thursday, Roma were supposed to kickstart their Europo League campaign with a comfortable win in Bulgaria. José Mourinho even unleashed a strong first XI to avoid an unpleasant surprise.
But in a typical Roman fashion, the Giallorossi made life difficult for themselves by losing their opening fixture against Ludogorets. Now surely it wasn’t as humiliating as last season’s routing at the hands of Bodo/Glimt, but one could see a similar pattern.
At the end of the day, we still expect the Italian capital side to somehow scrape through the knockout stages, but not before exhausting the emotions of its loyal fanbase.
Viola Drought
Also on Thursday but in a different competition, Fiorentina made their long-awaited European return when they hosted a largely unsung Latvia club that goes by the name of RFS.
Despite their 32 attempts on goal and 76% ball possession, the Viola only managed to score once (through Antonin Barak). Eventually, the minnows made the Italians pay for their woeful finishing by snatching an equalizer.
As some of you may recall, the Tuscans suffered the same issue last weekend against Juventus, when they failed to finish the job against their uninspired arch-rivals.
With all due respect to Luka Jovic and Arthur Cabral, Fiorentina are stilll in a dire need of a merciless hitman who can fill the large boots of Dusan Vlahovic.
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