Three European finalists, but not a single champion. A brilliant season for Italian club football ended in the most agonising way possible, with Roma, Fiorentina and Internazionale each carving out opportunities to win their respective competitions but none able to land a killer blow. Feelings of pride in performance crashed up against the overwhelming emptiness of knowing that, for many players and coaches, such opportunities come but once in a career.
Does their collective failure paint a bleak picture for Serie A? Don’t be ridiculous. From 2014 to 2016 there were three consecutive years when Italy qualified only two teams to the Champions League group stage – Napoli, Lazio and Roma suffering defeats in the playoff round at a time when the fourth spot had been lost to a dwindling Uefa coefficient. Contrast that with three teams in the quarter-finals this time around.
