The Italian champions fail to qualify for the second phase while Inter, Juventus and Atalanta go to the playoffs: here are report cards and what happens after the last round of the Champions League group stage
Sixty seconds, something more considering Maradona’s delay. Italy in the Champions League round of 16 without making it through to the playoffs lasted a minute, the one that elapsed between Dimarco’s deadly free kick in Dortmund and the diagonal shot that extinguished Napoli’s last hopes against Chelsea. Three teams in the play-offs, all seeded and with prospects of qualifying. One eliminated and it is a painful failure because for a lifetime the reigning Italian champions (not former ones so no one gets offended) did not abandon the company in the first round and curiously, then as today, Antonio Conte was and is on the bench.
Napoli’s 30th place is the bad news of the evening. The performance full of courage and self-sacrifice against Chelsea is not enough to amend a largely insufficient European path, photographed not only by the standings but also by having scraped together the misery of 8 points in 8 games without having inherited a calendar that can justify it. Conte, dealing with yet another international failure in an extraordinary career only as a collector of championships, wanted to talk about the disappointment starting from the alibis and extolling the path taken. The truth is that De Laurentiis is a little poorer from today, having lost a significant portion of revenues, and certainly a little less happy at having entrusted full powers to a coach who is struggling more than expected in the post-championship season.
The fact of being able to start chasing Inter in the championship with just one commitment in mind cannot be a consolation. Whether it is too late or there is room for a comeback from -9 will be seen, but the European flop is something that Conte and Napoli would do well to reflect on. Among the good things, Antonio Vergara’s extraordinary game, not only for the goal.
The others, as mentioned, go to the playoffs and the projection of the draw that will choose the opponents did not go badly. The suggestion is the match between Chivu’s Inter and Mourinho’s Benfica, who grabbed qualification at the last gasp with a header from goalkeeper Trubin. Knocking out none other than Real Madrid, forced into the play-offs. The Portuguese or Bodo Glimt for the Nerazzurri cannot, however, be too high obstacles towards the round of 16. Side consideration: Chivu scored 15 points (it would have been 16 and direct qualification without the penalty awarded to Liverpool) with a group split in two, with half of the matches at semi-final or quarter-final level. A year ago Inzaghi had collected 19, challenging only Manchester City and Arsenal among the big teams: did the Romanian really disappoint?
Juventus will have to face Bruges or Galatasaray in the playoffs: the Belgians are better than the Turks, but Spalletti can smile even if the match in the Principality confirmed the current distance between starters and reserves. It was, however, a test with very little weight on the standings and it was interpreted as such by the Bianconeri who gave priority to the next championship trip to Parma.
To close Atalanta who have to eat their hands and elbows. They had served direct qualification to the round of 16 on a silver platter and threw it away against Athletic Bilbao and Union Saint-Gilloise, two of those eliminated from everything. Unacceptable and a source of regret especially if the ballot box were to deliver Borussia Dortmund and not Olympiakos as the next opponent.
