Journalist Sebastiano Vernazza was proud to see Italian teams in the finals of all three European club competitions, but explained why Serie A fans must ‘remain humble’.
Inter qualified for the Champions League final after beating intercity rivals Milan in a 3-0 aggregate win in the semi-final, taking them to the biggest game in the European footballing calendar. They’ll face the ever-dominant Manchester City in the final on June 10.
Jose Mourinho showed off his dark arts in Roma’s Europa League semi-final win over Bayer Leverkusen, edging to the final against Sevilla after a slow and tense 1-0 aggregate win. It’s the club’s second European final in as many seasons.
In the Europa Conference League, came back from a semi-final first leg loss to FC Basel with an impressive 3-1 win in the second leg, giving Vincenzo Italiano’s side the chance to win an unexpected European title.
Vernazza wrote a column in La Gazzetta dello Sport today, discussing the three Italian teams in the European finals and what it means for Serie A at large.
“An Italian team in every European Cup final. Inter against Manchester City in the Champions League, Roma against Sevilla in the Europa League, Fiorentina in the Conference League against West Ham. Three Italians against two English and one Spanish, and it’s not a joke.
“Let’s not blow things out of proportion, let’s remain humble, let’s not dream of a renaissance of our football, but the signal is powerful and takes us back to the golden age of the 1980s and 1990s.
“The last time such an event occurred was in 1993-94, when Milan (Champions League), Inter (UEFA Cup) and Parma (Cup Winners’ Cup) all three reached their respective finals. Milan, against Cruyff and Guardiola’s Barcelona, and Inter, against Salzburg, lifted the trophies; Parma were beaten by Arsenal. In 1997-98 three more Italians made it to the end, but ‘only’ in two competitions, Inter-Lazio being UEFA Cup finalists and Juve-Real in the Champions League. The cups went to Inter and Real.
“José Mourinho and the art of Europe. Second consecutive final as coach of Roma, a club that, before the advent of the great Portuguese, had played two European finals in organised UEFA competitions and lost them, in the Champions League on penalties in 1984 against Liverpool and in the UEFA Cup against Inter in 1991. The Fairs Cup, won by the Giallorossi in 1961, both counts and does not count, in the sense that UEFA does not count it in its statistics.
“If we exclude the Fairs Cup, Mou has in two seasons doubled the number of Euro-finals Roma have reached in the almost 70 years before. Impressive. Purists will have something to say about the game, yesterday in Leverkusen Roma gave their fans an epic, 20th-century game, everyone behind the line of the ball defending Bove’s goal in the first leg at the Stadio Olimpico. A catenaccio with no inhibitions and no scandal, everyone has the right to practice the football they believe in and Mourinho’s idea is blatant, the result first and at all costs.
“A year ago, his Roma won the Conference League in Tirana in the final against Feyenoord; on 31 May in Budapest, Hungary, they will attempt the encore, but at a higher level, against Sevilla. The Conference-Europa League pairing would be an exceptional feat and would bring with it the security of a pass to the next Champions League. Mourinho divides the masses, you either love him or loathe him, but he can say he has won wherever he has coached and there are not many colleagues who can boast such confidence with success.
“The Europa League is Sevilla’s backyard, the Spanish team having won it six times between 2006 and 2020, without ever losing a final. Mourinho, however, has kissed five Euro Cups, two Champions Leagues, two UEFA/Europa Leagues, one Conference League. A clash of Europeanism. Yesterday Juve practised active resistance, it is not easy to get away in the infernal Sanchez-Pizjuan, in Sevilla they know how to put pressure.
“Juve defended and returned the blows, a flurry of chances. At the end of the first half they were pardoned, referee Makkelie and varista Van Boekel ignored a clear penalty foul by Cuadrado. We have seen worse Juve, throughout this tormented season, we remember Juve winning by chance, by grace received at the last second. In Sevilla we saw a strong-willed Juve, present to themselves, but the attitude of offensiveness cannot be improvised, it is not enough to pile up crosses, mostly on corner kicks.
“And then Fiorentina, with its suffered and beautiful qualification for the seesaw of emotions, the ups and downs of the result. In Basel, the Viola resolved the issue at the end of an endless recovery, moments before everything was resolved on penalties. Fiorentina are now awaiting a double final, Coppa Italia and Conference League, a record within the record. And if Florence is involved, the reference to the Renaissance does not sound inappropriate.”