The Champions League is too cruel for “Calcio”

The 2025–2026 Champions League was particularly cruel for Italian football, also known as calcio. As Italy's sole representative in the quarterfinals, Atalanta suffered the worst aggregate defeat for a team from the Land of Espresso in Champions League history. Meanwhile, the Italian national football team faces the risk of losing key players in the 2026 World Cup playoffs.

Atalanta was truly powerless against the German giant, Bayern Munich. In the second leg of the Round of 16 of the Champions League, Thursday (19/3/2026) early morning WIB, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Atalanta had to bow down with a defeat of 1-4.

"Si Dewi" was powerless to stop Bayern's attacking trident. They are Harry Kane, who scored two goals in the 25th and 54th minutes, followed by Lennart Karl and Luis Diaz, who each added to Atalanta's misery in the 56th and 70th minutes, respectively. A consolation goal for the team from Bergamo was scored by substitute player Lazar Samardzic with a header.

Despite receiving support from around 4,000 loyal fans who were willing to travel from Italy, Atalanta was truly unable to match the performance and superior quality of Bayern's squad. As a result, they were eliminated from the best European club competition with an aggregate loss of 2-10.

Undoubtedly, Atalanta has recorded the worst performance for an Italian representative in European competitions. They became the first Italian team to register the worst aggregate defeat in the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Previously, no Italian team had ever lost by more than five goals on aggregate. Atalanta's record was more painful than AC Milan's 7-2 defeat to Manchester United in the 2009–10 round of 16, AS Roma's 8-3 defeat to Manchester United in the 2006–07 quarterfinals, and Juventus' 8-3 defeat to Wiener Sport-Club in the 1958–59 main draw playoffs.

Atalanta's crushing defeat to Bayern highlights the declining quality of Italian teams on the continent. The two Italian clubs with the most expensive squads—according to Transfermarkt market values—Inter Milan (Rp 483.9 billion) and Juventus (Rp 389.5 billion) were eliminated in the playoff round of 16 by teams from mediocre European nations, Bodo/Glimt (Norway) and Galatasaray (Turkey).

Napoli, the defending champion of the Italian League, faced a more tragic fate. They failed to even break into the top 24 zone to avoid early elimination or being ousted in the league phase.

We must make changes in academic training. Because, when we play against teams like Bayern Munich, we feel as if we come from a different sport.

Atalanta coach Raffaele Palladino stated that Bayern is one of the best teams in the world at present and a strong candidate for the Champions League title. In a television camera capture after the match, Palladino did not hesitate to praise the performance of "Die Roten" in the two matches while shaking hands with Bayern coach Vincent Kompany after the final whistle. Kompany smiled as he received the positive remarks from Palladino.

Regardless of Bayern's quality, Palladino stated that the playing style of Italian teams must change rapidly in order to compete in Europe. He emphasized that the ball movement in Serie A is very slow, which causes Italian clubs to struggle to keep up with the pace of play in European competitions.

"The biggest difference is how fast the ball moves on the pitch. You might not notice it on television, but we felt the speed of the passing was difficult to match," Palladino told Sky Sport Italia.

"They (Bayern) always deliver passes to the right feet, control the tempo of the game, deceive our defenders, and are also at a better speed in quick sprint situations," Palladino stated subsequently.

Furthermore, Palladino stated that the change in the fate of Italian representatives in the Champions League can only be achieved through a revolution in the development system. According to him, Italian academies have become outdated as they are no longer able to produce the best talents to compete at the European level.

"We must make changes to our academic training. Because when we play against teams like Bayern Munich, we feel like we come from a different sport," said Palladino.

"We must focus more on individual development and basic skills in the early years of the players. That is what makes a clear difference," he stated subsequently.

Palladino's statement aligns with the presence of young stars in the Italian League this season who are not products of Italian academies. According to statistics website Sofascore, only one of the top five highest-rated players in the under-23 (U-23) category is homegrown, a product of an Italian academy. He is Matias Soule (Roma), a graduate of the Juve academy.

Four other players are Kenan Yildiz (Juve), who has been trained since childhood at Bayern's academy; then the Como duo, Nico Paz and Jacobo Ramon, who were raised in Real Madrid's academy; and Wesley (Roma), who was developed by the training system of the Brazilian club, Flamengo.

On another statistics site, Fotmob, Yildiz, Paz, and Ramon also have the highest ratings for U-23 players in the Italian League this season. They are followed by Maximo Perrone (Como), who was trained by Manchester City, and Marin Baturina (Como), a product of the Dinamo Zagreb academy in Croatia. In Fotmob's assessment, the only outstanding U-23 player trained by Italy is Atalanta defender Giorgio Scalvini.

In addition to the elimination of the Italian representative in the knockout phase, this season's Champions League has also become a nightmare for Italian players. Sandro Tonali, midfielder of Newcastle United, could only play for 55 minutes when "The Magpies" were crushed by Barcelona 2-7 at Camp Nou Stadium, Thursday (19/3/2026 WIB).

Tonali is suffering from an injury, raising concerns about the depth of the Italian national team's squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup European playoffs at the end of March.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has confirmed his star midfielder could miss Sunday's Premier League match against Sunderland before the international break. "It looks like he (Tonali) has a groin problem. We missed him a lot in the second half," Howe said, as reported by the BBC.

In fact, Tonali was irreplaceable for Italy in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He played in seven consecutive matches.

The only match during his absence was when Italy lost 1-4 to Norway on November 17. The defeat at San Siro Stadium caused "Gli Azzurri" to fall behind in the direct ticket competition for North America 2026 against Norway.