Samuel Rodríguez analyzes that Italy will become the country with the most representation in the quarter-finals of the Champions League
One of the largest domestic leagues on the continent is gradually re-establishing its presence in the highest continental showcase. Italy comes back strong and drags three teams to the quarter-finals as the most represented league in this round of the competition. Naples, AC Milan and Inter Milan occupy three of the eight available places and thus practically also ensure a possible Italian semi-final after the first legs.
ON THE ROAD TO A SEMI-FINAL IN THE ‘MEAZZA’
Of the three delegates, it is Inter Milan who has the best return against Benfica. With the return against Giuseppe Meazza, the 0-2 win in Lisbon clarifies the prospects for the semifinals.
A rival that will emerge from the Italian cross between the leader and the fourth-placed in Serie A. Napoli and AC Milan face each other in the second leg at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona with a minimal lead of 1-0 in favor of the Milan team. To maintain or extend the lead, UEFA would have a semi-final with the two Milan teams in a truly historic duel in the competition.
A NAPLES FROM ANOTHER TIME
Spalleti’s team stands with an iron fist as the best Italian team in the transalpine competition. Trailing second place by nearly twenty points, Mauricio Sarri’s Lazio has Napoli in hand to win another ‘scudetto’ after several runners-up. The last Italian championship trophy for the Neapolitan team dates back to Maradona’s time as leader of that team in the 1989/1990 season.
A streak that would be broken more than thirty years later and would break the hegemony of Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan itself in recent decades. They need to come back 1-0 from the first leg at San Siro to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League and, predictably, star in an Italian duel against Inter Milan.
Samuel Rodriguez
Source: Goal