Since the reintroduction of the last-16 knockout round to Europe's showpiece competition in 2003-04, there has always been at least one Italian representative. After Inter's exit on Tuesday, many Italian football experts were labelling it a disaster for the sport in their country. Another Italian football journalist, Daniele Verri, said all three sides failing to make the knockouts would have been a "complete debacle, a disaster for our clubs". "Now Atalanta are the darlings of Italian football," former West Brom and Aston Villa defender Curtis Davies said on BBC Radio 5 Live. European football expert James Horncastle added: "They're sort of Serie A's Bodo/Glimt in many respects.

Source: BBC February 26, 2026 00:47 UTC