OLIMPICO STADIUM, ROME, ITALY - 2024/05/02: Paulo Dybala of AS Roma and Granit Xhaka of Bayer ... [+]
It’s been quite the turnaround for Serie A clubs in Europe over the last few years. There was a point in the early 2010s that the league, due to a falling coefficient ranking, only had two teams guaranteed entry into the Champions League group stages.
Germany overtook Italy in third place, and this meant that whichever team finished third in Serie A had to go through a playoff. Considering that at the time Serie A’s season started later than others, it meant their teams were physically unprepared and usually eliminated, a fate that befell Udinese (twice), Sampdoria, Napoli, Lazio and Roma throughout the decade. It was only when Italy was handed four guaranteed posts from 2018-19 that the horrible run of defeats ended.
Next season, Italy could have as many as six teams in the Champions League proper. From two to six in a decade is quite the leap. Due to their impressive coefficient ranking this season (Italy is currently top, but could be overtaken by Germany should results go their way in the second legs of the remaining European semi finals). Either way, Serie A won a fifth Champions League spot for next season’s expanded competition along with the Bundesliga.
Should Atalanta or Roma win the Europa League this season, then the slot Italy earned for their European performance would be transferred to the team who lie sixth in Serie A which is, coincidentally, currently Atalanta.
Yet following the Europa League semi final first legs, it isn’t likely to be Roma lifting the trophy in Dublin later this month. The Giallorossi were outclassed by Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen in the Etermal City and now face an uphill battle to reach a second consecutive final. The opening 20 minutes was fairly even, until a massive mistake from right-back Rick Karsdrop gifted the ball to Alex Grimaldo on the edge of his own box, Grimaldo then squared it for Florian Wirtz, who side-footed it into the goal to give Leverkusen the lead.
Romelu Lukaku hit the crossbar with a header moments before Karsdorp’s mistake, yet Roma were chasing the match and Robert Andrich added a second in the second half with a marvellous curler of a strike from outside the box. Tammy Abraham missed an open goal from two yards in the dying moments of the game that could’ve given Roma a glimmer of hope going into the return in Germany next week, but Roma now face a gargantuan task to reach a third European final in as many years.
Atalanta fared much better in southern France. While the other semi final captured the imagination of the public, Marseille against Atalanta went somewhat under the radar. La Dea got off to a great start when Gianluca Scamacca, in the form of his life, scored within the opening 12 minutes. Atalanta couldn't sustain their early wave of dominance however and Marseille got back into the game with a smart goal from Chancel Mbemba. Both sides wasted chances to win the game but Atalanta will return to Italy knowing they’re in the driving seat going into the second leg in Bergamo next week.
The prospect of an Atalanta vs Leverkusen final is enough to get the football purist giddy: Gian Piero Gasperini vs Alonso could be a tactical battle to savour. Moreover, the thought of Leverkusen closing in on a historic treble also adds another layer to the contest. Two attacking teams could make for a thrilling final. Of course, there is still another 90 minutes to go. Yet after the first legs, Italy should at least have one side in the showpiece event in Dublin on May 22.
