2024/25 Champions League preview: How far can Serie A clubs go with the new format?
When the 2024/25 Champions League league phase begins, Serie A will have five clubs competing in the competition for the first time in its history, after a change to the format also brought an amendment to the qualifying rules.
Bologna were the lucky recipients, although their qualification was much deserved after their domestic efforts secured fifth place, and the Rossoblu join champions Inter, AC Milan, Juventus and 2024 Europa League winners Atalanta trying to reach the final in Munich at the end of the campaign.
With Inter the last Italian team to win the competition in 2010, the quintet are unlikely to be amongst the favourites to be holding aloft the trophy in Germany come May, but what are their chances of being crowned European champions?
Inter looking for Champions League revenge
The losing finalists from 2023 are easily the best equipped, based on squad depth and the consistency brought by coach Simone Inzaghi, who navigated them to that final in Istanbul where they narrowly lost to the financial juggernaut of Manchester City.
As the only Serie A team in Pot 1 under new coefficient criteria, the Nerazzurri should get a slightly more favourable draw than the others and Arsenal of the Premier League and Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen the most notable clubs they could face.
If Inter retain their defensive resilience of last term, Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram and Mehdi Taremi should ensure that they comfortably exit the league phase and increase their chances of another final appearance.
Seven-time champions AC Milan may struggle
For a second consecutive summer, there has been plenty of transfer activity at the Stadio San Siro and that could affect Milan’s attempt to lift the trophy for the eighth time in their history, as it will their attempts to recapture the Scudetto.
New coach Paulo Fonseca will probably still be fine-tuning his starting XI as the Champions League's league phase reaches its midway point, but with the two extra games meaning that it stretches into mid-January, the Rossoneri should be able to sneak into positions 9-24 and face a playoff for the knockout stages.
However, going further in the competition will depend on whether Alvaro Morata can replace the crucial goals of the departed Olivier Giroud and whether Rafael Leao has another second-half-of-the-season slump.
A new-look Juventus for a new-look format
With 24 teams qualifying from the league phase either directly or into an additional play-off round, the pragmatism of former coach Massimiliano Allegri would have suited the new format perfectly. Even if they probably would have been brushed aside in the knockout stages, when it is necessary for teams to actually attempt to win games.
On paper, the new look and youthful Juventus under Thiago Motta may lack the experience to navigate the bloated league phase, but the appointment also offers the coach the opportunity to develop his tactical ideas with a slightly better group of players. Although an early exit in the knockout stages is as far as that is likely to take the Bianconeri.
Atalanta riding wave of Europa League success
La Dea are no strangers to Europe’s top table by now and will go into the competition full of confidence after their historic Europa League success last season. Then, they negotiated a marathon European campaign alongside a challenge for Champions League qualification domestically.
As they, Milan and Juventus occupy three of the eight Pot 2 places, a reunion with Bayer Leverkusen feels inevitable, and they will also face three clubs from Pot 1, but through the tactical astuteness of coach Gian Piero Gasperini they will be dark horses for one of the top eight positions who qualify automatically for the Last 16.
The 66-year-old will no doubt back himself against the best minds in European football and we must not rule out a quarter-final appearance.
Brief visit expected for Bologna
The city of Bologna and Stadio Renato Dall’Ara will be high on the list of dream destinations for supporters of the other 35 clubs entering the league phase draw, and equally heartbreaking if only a home draw against the Rossoblu is produced, with the new format removing home and away encounters between teams.
In addition, the loss of coach Thiago Motta to Juventus, further exits of stars like Joshua Zirkzee and Riccardo Calafiori to the Premier League and being one of the lowest-ranked sides in the league phase draw, will probably see the Rossoblu drop out of the competition at the first hurdle.