Champions, the draw: Naples, Milan and Inter to attack the top of Europe

Back to the Future. Return to a football that seemed unrepeatable in the new world order: the “rich” of Qatar and the Emirates have now flooded the system with the state billions, widened the gap between clubs and overturned history. An elite has been born, PSG, City, Chelsea, who can afford crazy spending. The Italians have not won a Champions League since 2010: the movement has remained in the stone age in terms of organization and mentality. But something is changing. It hasn’t happened since 2006 that three from Serie A, Naples, Milan and Inter, were among the magnificent 8 from the Champions League. With Juve and Roma in the Europa League, and Fiorentina in the Conference, six out of seven are in the running for the quarterfinals. No one has succeeded. And no goal is impossible, like in the good old days: indeed, ideas, inspirations and winning models can come from the past.

Naples: offensive and spectacular like Sacchi’s Milan

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Today’s draw draws the path up to the final like a tennis scoreboard: it cannot fail to influence destiny. Haaland’s frightening City is one thing and playing the odds with the more “playable” Chelsea is another. But there are no unbeatable like Ronaldo’s Madrid or Messi’s Barça. Napoli is the most spectacular and entertaining team with Schmidt’s Benfica. It has nothing to lose, it plays lightly, it combines seemingly infinite energies with clockwork mechanisms. The most appropriate reference is Sacchi’s Milan, also in his second season in Milan when he won the Champions Cup in ’89. Sacchi’s was the first revolution since total football, but in a small way Spalletti is also leading an attack on the system: the greatness was realizing that, with a high pace and offensive mentality, he would create a vacuum in Italy and surprise the Europe. Before Sacchi, the Italians in the cups started from “don’t take them”. That Milan was a fake 4-4-2, with Donadoni who moved from the wing to the middle, as an attacking midfielder, the real tactical key. That Milan realized they were great after they swept Real Madrid in the semifinals. This Napoli, in a very mobile 4-3-3 like today’s football, and with the best playmaker around, Lobotka, never makes calculations: a challenge with Ancelotti’s Real could give the last leap in quality.

Milan: unpredictable and creative like Ancelotti’s

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Nobody is hiding that Napoli is giving away an image of Italian football that is different from the rest. Glasner himself, the Eintracht coach, spoke of an “anti-Italian” team. But if there is a historically European club, its name is Milan. The Champions League is tradition, it is football “culture”, it is not invented overnight. And Milan could find the DNA of its great past in the cups. Overcoming the round with Tottenham, exorcising the English totem, was a feat that goes beyond the crisis of the rivals. Now the lightness, speed, imagination and unpredictability of the first Pioli must be found: the one with Theo full-back-mezzala, with Leao a prototype more similar to the original again Ronaldo, or in any case a “relative” of Kakà, with Tonali-Bennacer a fight and government couple … The reference is to the last successful Milan, that of Ancelotti who took the Champions League in 2007 with Kakà and Seedorf behind Inzaghi, and with Pirlo, Gattuso and Ambrosini in between: it could be a tactical suggestion for Pioli whose recent back three feels the “call” of the back four in different game situations. Pioli’s most beautiful Milan was European, they lost the thread a bit but can find it again.

Inter: solid and irreducible like Mourinho’s team

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This Inter won’t go down in history for its spectacular mentality but, if you like, Mourinho’s was not for aesthetes either. But he was exciting, enthralling and successful. He was solid and irreducible. He knew how to defend himself like no other, closing all the passing lines: Chelsea, Barcelona and Bayern in the final, in 2010, are legendary challenges due to suffering and an explosion of joy. Team closed and restarting, in the best Italian tradition. Herrera, Rocco and Trapattoni thus won. Football has changed, aesthetics are no longer an accessory, but neither can one expect to impose a single thought. The beauty of football is also in the variety of styles. And Inzaghi’s is linked to a past that it would be hypocritical to deny. If his Inter were to play like Napoli, they would go up in the air, not having the right mentality and script. But he can do something else. He knows how to keep Barcelona away from the box and then hit them with frightening speed. He knows how to close with Porto, lighten the pressure and start again. Scoring little, conceding less. With obsessive attention and total concentration in single matches or in any case for 180 minutes. Mourinho had the courage, or the recklessness, to multiply the attackers in times of need: that’s what could inspire Inzaghi to resolve some situations of stagnation. And if Conte’s Lukaku were to see again…

The draw: City, Bayern and Real Madrid unplayable (or maybe not)

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Free draw. Possible derbies, possible all intersections. Four Italian coaches (Ancelotti is also there) and a well-defined theoretical ranking: City, Bayern and Real Madrid are the strongest. but not unbeatable. Benfica is indecipherable like Napoli. Chelsea physically strong and growing. For Spalletti, for example, the “laissez-faire” of Real could be useful. Pioli has lost to Chelsea and Inter several times this season, the best Milan could create some difficulties for Benfica by looking in the mirror. Inter know how to deal with Milan and could respond physically to the competitive impact of Chelsea. Nothing is sure. Otherwise it will be a dream show.