Italian UCL tragedy: Sorry Serie A sides 'slaughtered to a man'
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Reading Time: 3min | Thu. 20.02.25. | 11:29
Benelux-Italy 3-0! Three of four Italian representatives in the Champions League were knocked out of the competition by two Dutch and a Belgian side?!
The Italian clubs' destiny in this season's UEFA Champions League campaign sounds like the beginning of some joke where three guys walk into a bar. Only in this case, five Serie A sides enter the UCL competition. One gets eliminated in the league phase and three of them end up knocked out already in the playoffs! And by two Dutch and one Belgian crew!
Hat-trick is complete!
— Football Meets Data (@fmeetsdata) February 19, 2025
Benelux 🇳🇱🇧🇪 vs. Italy 🇮🇹 3-0:
✅ Feyenoord 🇳🇱 v Milan 🇮🇹 ❌
✅ Club Brugge 🇧🇪 v Atalanta 🇮🇹 ❌
✅ PSV 🇳🇱 v Juventus 🇮🇹 ❌
Despite their 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Rotterdam, AC Milan were still firm favourites against Feyenoord at San Siro, especially since they were undefeated at home in all competitions since October 29. And the Rossoneri opened the game ideally, annulling Feyenoord's advantage after only 38 seconds. But then Theo Hernandez happened...
The Frenchman was dismissed already in the 51st minute - getting the second yellow for diving?! - and the Dutch side salvaged a vital 1-1 draw that launched them to the Round of 16.
To recap:
— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) February 18, 2025
• Feyenoord sacked their coach
• Sold their best player to milan
• Lost their captain to injury yesterday
• Got scored on by the player they sold to Milan
Yet still knocked Milan out of UCL… pic.twitter.com/vCeHkG51oY
Atalanta were in a pretty much same situation, only the first-leg result was different, as the Goddess lost 2-1 to Club Brugge in Belgium. However, unlike their neighbours from Milan, Gian Piero Gasperini's men didn't even stand a chance in the return leg at home, as they were 3-0 down already at the break. In the end, they were crushed 5-2 on aggregate.
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Finally, the only Serie A team that awaited their return leg with advantage was Juventus. The Old Lady had beaten PSV in Turin 2-1 and had the biggest chance of advancing to the Round of 16. Still, PSV turned out to be a tough nut to crack, as the Eindhoven side won the clash by the same result, securing extra time in which they prevailed for a 4-3 triumph on aggregate.
Unfortunately it’s nothing new with Juventus and UCL in recent years…
— Marco Messina (@IFTVMarco) February 20, 2025
Last 6 campaigns in the competition:
❌ Ajax - QF
❌ Lyon - R16
❌ Porto - R16
❌ Villarreal - R16
❌ Group Stage exit
❌ PSV - Playoff KO pic.twitter.com/P2RAB5iS9F
In the end, one of the major European leagues has been "slaughtered to a man," or to only one UCL representative in this case - Inter Milan - for only the third time in history. The Nerazzurri had a fantastic league phase, which guaranteed them direct qualification for the Round of 16, and they can consider themselves very fortunate. Based on how their Serie A colleagues were "massacred," who knows what would have happened with them...
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