It’s Official- Italy Have a Quartet of Teams in the CL Groupstage

Fiorentina’s second leg qualifier against Artmedia ended 0-0 today, putting them through 2-0 on aggregate. This means they join Inter, Roma, and Juve in the group stages of the prestigious Champions’ League.

Pretty good news for Italian footy, no? Well it gets even better- Schlake were knocked out today by Athletico Madrid, meaning that Juve take over their place as a 2nd seed for the group stage drawing.

But I didn’t see either of those games (the Fior or Schlake ones). I couldn’t get a decent feed of the Fior game, so I instead watched the Liverpool one. And for a while, it looked like Italy would be the only country with 4 teams in the CL. Quite frankly, Standard Leige gave Liverpool one hell of a run for their money. Kuyt ended up scoring late into extra time to give Liverpool the 1-0 aggregate, but it was a very tense game.

And as promised, here’s my preview of how Fior will do in the CL:

Fiorentina are riding high. After missing out on the Champions League for 3 years now, mostly due to Calciopoli, they’re finally in the competition. Fans couldn’t be happier and the club is looking stronger than ever. They have a stellar goalie (He’s the starting goalie in my fantasy footy team fyi) in Sebby Frey, an amazing manager in Prandelli, and a great striker in Mutu. On paper they have a very, very good squad, if not a great one. Key payers include Montolivo, Vargas, Gila, and Gamberini amongst others. Depending on the draw, they have the squad to get out of the group stages and advance.

But how far can they really go? Compared to most clubs, they’re basically noobs at the CL, and I say that in the nicest way possible. The players played in the UEFA cup last year so they know the rigors of European football, but are they ready for the big time? CL games are tough and demanding, and squad depth is a must. Fior probably have that, but considering this is their first go at the CL in a while, I doubt they can win it. The club also needs to focus on getting at least 4th place this year if they want to be in the competition next year, too. All things considered, I think their inexperience might prevent them from getting too far.