Champions League: The Italian Challenge

There are great expectations in Italy, and a real hope that one of the four Italian teams involved in the UEFA Champions league campaign can bring the trophy back home, come May 2008.

It won’t be easy though. Last year, three Premier League outfits showed they can play a major role in the most important continental competition, and even if they didn’t win the trophy in the end, they matched the great result achieved by the Italian clubs in 2003.

And, of course, Real Madrid and Barcelona, very eager to impress after a disappointing campaign in 2006-07, cannot be discounted. But can Inter, Roma, Milan and Lazio manage to keep the big-eared cup, as they Italians call it, in the bel paese?

Defending Champions Milan are always the team to watch. Two victories, a final lost on penalties being 3-0 up and - just for a change - a semi-final. That’s the impressive Rossoneri record in the last five Champions League editions.

And they've been full of incident; in 2004 they lost 4-0 at La Coruna in the quarter-finals after winning the first game 4-1, a sort of premonitory sign the 2005 infamous Liverpool game.

Ancelotti's been in charge for all five seasons, so clearly the man knows a thing or two about a run in Europe. What's more, his players have tons of experience to rely on. Some of them might be slightly over-age, like Maldini, Cafu, Favalli or Inzaghi, but they’re so used to perform under the floodlights on a Tuesday or a Wednesday night that maybe they must be fairly relaxed when they hear the Champions League jingle at the start of the game.

Many pundits in Italy reckon Milan could fail to win the Serie A title as the league is too long and tiring for such an “old” outfit. But Europe is a different matter, especially if super-star Kakà raises his game and plays like he did in the Manchester United tie last season.

The qualifying group doesn’t seem too complicated. Celtic and Benfica shouldn’t be a major threat, even though the away games could always be a bit tricky, while honestly Lucarelli’s Shakhtar Dontetsk seem too weak to have chances to create problems to Gattuso and co.

Overcoming the first obstacle without too much hassle would be perfect for the Rossoneri, as in January they can field another important striker in Pato. For the time being the three upfront are the only great worry for Ancelotti, as Ronaldo is constantly injured and Gilardino and Inzaghi are not in a great state of form. A talented youngster like the former Internacional star could boost Milan’s hopes to get to Moscow.

Having far too many strikers, Mancini could afford to leave Adriano out of the Inter Champions League list, but he would kill to have a few more defenders available, especially for the very first beginning of the competition. Burdisso, Cordoba and Maicon have to serve a ban due to the disgraceful brawl which took place in Valencia last campaign, Chivu and Materazzi are out until the end of October and Samuel is slightly injured as well.

Fortunately for the Nerazzurri they were drawn in a relatively easy group. PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and Fenerbache (where former Inter man Roberto Carlos has just landed) shouldn’t be too much of a problem for a team tipped to win the ultimate prize.

Nonetheless it’s important to win the group, avoiding top flight clubs in the first knock out stage in 2008. Last season Valencia had the better of Inter in the last 16, possibly because Mancini employed overly defensive tactics in the home game and didn’t risk too much at the Mestalla despite needing a win (the San Siro match had ended 2-2).

Will the Nerazzurri manager learn from his mistakes and make a real attempt tobring the Cup back to the Inter HQ at Via Durini after more than 40 years? Moratti - and a few million nerazzurri faithful - really hope so.

AS Roma were one of the biggest surprises of last Champions League edition. They managed to knock highly-rated Lyon out of the tournament and eventually they played a terrific game against Manchester United at Olimpico and were unlucky to win it only 2-1.

But the Old Trafford trip proved to be a real nightmare for Spalletti and co. as Ronaldo and Rooney simply dismantled them. The Giallorossi flew back to Italy in total disarray after losing 7-1.

Now, guess who’s in Roma’s group? Manchester United, of course!

I believe if they can get a much awaited revenge in the second game of the qualifying stage at Old Trafford they can have a massive chance to repeat or even improve on last season's impressive run.

Look at the facts. Last April they lost so badly because of lack of experience and players, as the ones fielded to replace injured Taddei, Perrotta and Tonetto proved to be not as good as those three.

This year Roma have strengthened their squad with big names like Giuly, Cicinho and Juan. They’re skilful but also used to perform under big pressure.

But, Spalletti has to remember that also the other teams drawn in Roma’s group, namely Sporting Lisbon and Dynamo Kiev, are not to be underestimated, especially if the rematch in Manchester doesn’t wipe out the bad memories of the first encounter.

The other team from the Eternal City, SS Lazio, had a pretty complicated qualifying round. Dynamo Bucharest were hard to overcome, but in the end classy players like Rocchi and Pandev had the better of a scrappy Romanian defence.

After they had reached the Champions League main draw, all the Biancocelesti fans would have thought President Lotito would have strengthened the team. Actually, at the moment ,he seems more interested in building a new stadium in a small town outside Rome.

Nonetheless, coach Delio Rossi is quite confident they can book a place in the last 16 and, to be honest, he’s got a point. Real Madrid are definitely out of reach, but Werder Bremen and Olimpiacos are quite average teams, having being depleted by the departures respectively of Klose and Rivaldo – and some Werder key players like Frings are also injured.

Lazio’s slow start to the season is not a great viaticum for the Champions League campaign, but Europe could bring some new motivations to the Biancocelesti. Don’t forget that last season nobody thought they could finish third in Serie A, so Rossi’s pack is used to surprising people!

Goal.com