Italy legend Alessandro Del Piero feels the glass for Italian clubs in European competition is ‘half full’ and expects the Azzurri to defend the European title in Germany over the summer ‘with all our strength.’
Former Italy and Juventus striker Del Piero spoke about Serie A clubs’ results in European competitions in 2023-24 during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Even if Italy had no representatives in the Champions League quarter-finals, Roma and Atalanta have qualified for the Europa League semis and Fiorentina reached the same stage of the Conference League, so Del Piero’s verdict on Serie A clubs is quite clear.
“The glass is half full, surely,” he said.
“We’ll have five clubs in the Champions League next season and the results in Europe over the last couple of seasons were extraordinary. The glass is half full also if you look at the financial side of things, at the efforts and investments we can make compared to other countries. With ideas and creativity, Italy has been able to get an important role in Europe. It’s a long road to returning to what we were in the 2000s, but we are taking important steps forward even without stadiums and with many negative aspects in our football.
Del Piero, a 2006 Italy World Cup winner, briefly spoke about the Azzurri who will be involved in the European Championships this summer. Fans are looking forward to seeing Luciano Spalletti’s men live and are searching how to get Euro 2024 tickets to see the Azzurri in action during the group phase against Spain, Albania and Croatia, while Del Piero will probably be among the TV pundits in Germany.
“We have qualified, and there is a generational change, but we’ll go to Germany to defend the title with all our strength,” said the former striker.
Del Piero has recently returned to Europe after spending a few years in Los Angeles, and he explained his decision to move to Madrid, the capital of Spain, with his family.
“We used to live in Los Angeles and we were looking for a comfortable and international place in Europe. We’ve found it,” he said.
“The lads are happy and they all play football. Tobias joined Alcorcon from Getafe, Sashs is still at Getafe and Dorotea is at Olimpia. The training level in Spain is extremely high for boys and girls.”
During the same interview, Del Piero refused to discuss the future of Massimiliano Allegri at Juventus but suggested that the club will make a decision over the Tuscan tactician’s future over the next few weeks.