Article by Tudor Belivacă – Published Thursday, February 19, 2026 6:20 p.m. / Updated Thursday, February 19, 2026 7:11 p.m.
Since the introduction of the round of 16 competitive system in the 2003–04 season, there has never been an edition without at least one Italian club in Europe's top 16. With the defeat InterSITE to Cristi Chivu in the land of those from Bodo/Glimtscore 1-3, the scenario in which no club in Italian football reaches the “eighties” has become probable.
Italian football is going through a delicate moment in the Champions League, and after the reigning champion was eliminated from the group stage, the other Italian teams did not fare any better in the play-offs either, and all three teams in the race are close to elimination from the competition.
Disastrous week for Italian teams in the Champions League: all clubs are close to elimination and would set a first
Juventus, Inter and Atalanta had a disastrous play-off round leg. The team from Turin was decisively defeated at Galatasaray's ground, score 5-2, Inter lost to Bodo/Glimt, score 3-1, and Atalanta succumbed to Dortmund, score 2-0. Napoli had already been eliminated in the group stage, which leaves open the scenario of having no Italian club at the start of the round of 16: something that has never happened since the introduction of these in the modern format of the competition, according to abola.pt.
Certainly, there is a possibility that at least one of the three teams in Italy will turn the score around. All the “Boot” teams will play the second leg in Italy. Juventus have a three-goal deficit to recover from, while Inter and Atalanta need to recover from two goals to send the match into extra time.
Worrying for the Italians is the fact that the remaining 4 championships from the top 5 strongest leagues in Europe have already secured a representative in the last 16 of the competition.
The fall of the Italian teams comes after they had a representative in the Champions League final in two of the last three seasons. Inter, now led by Cristi Chivu, played two finals, but lost both. . In 2023, they lost narrowly to Manchester City (1-0) and in 2025, they suffered a stinging 5-0 defeat to PSG.
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Since the introduction of the round of 16 system, only two teams in Italy have managed to claim the Champions League trophy. AC Milan won the trophy in the 2006-2007 season, while Inter lifted the trophy in the 2009-2010 season. AC Milan have lost one final, Juventus have lost two finals and Inter Milan have also lost two.
