Italy's sole survivor in Champions League cannot mask Serie A struggles

Feb 26 - For the second successive season, Serie A has one club remaining in the last 16 of the Champions League as Italian football struggles to compete in Europe's premier club competition and risks falling even further behind.

No Italian club finished in the top eight of the league phase, which would have meant avoiding the knockout playoffs, a symptom of a wider malaise in Italian football with the national side also facing a playoff competition to avoid missing out on the World Cup for a third consecutive occasion.

Atalanta came back from 2-0 down after their playoff first leg against Borussia Dortmund to advance on Wednesday, while Juventus came close to their own great escape but ultimately paid the price for a 5-2 loss to Galatasaray last week.

Serie A champions Napoli exited the competition after the league phase. Antonio Conte's side struggled to compete on both fronts, and now find themselves 14 points off leaders Inter Milan as the Scudetto slips from their grasp.

Inter, last season's Champions League finalists and widely regarded as the best side in Italy, went out of the competition to Bodo/Glimt, losing both home and away to the Norwegian club having suffered a humiliating defeat against Paris St Germain in last year's decider.

Against PSG, Inter were devoid of ideas, and outclassed by a young, dynamic team in a 5-0 hammering. Italian football often struggles to produce this type of exciting player, and the clubs do not have the money to bring them to Serie A.

Premier League clubs spent over three billion pounds ($4.06 billion) in the most recent close-season transfer window, well over double Serie A's outlay. The Italian league also lags far behind the Premier League when it comes to broadcasting revenue.

In contrast to Italy's Champions League struggles, England's top flight has six teams into the competition's round of 16.

The Italy national team is also struggling, with their Euro 2020 triumph papering over the cracks.

Italy won the World Cup 20 years ago, but followed that up with two group-stage exits before failing to qualify for the two most recent editions.

In the qualifying competition for this year's tournament, Italy were soundly beaten by Norway twice to leave them facing the perils of playoff football once again, and as Serie A clubs have found out, that path is fraught with danger. REUTERS