Reuters, 22/03 17:03 CET

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By Terry Daley

ROME (Reuters) – With Italian football facing up to another disastrous season in Europe, fans and those within the game are wondering where to turn to next for a league going through an ongoing identity crisis.

Juventus are the only Italian side left in the last eight of either European competition after knocking Fiorentina out of the Europa League on Thursday, with Napoli eliminated by Porto in the same competition and AC Milan humiliated 5-1 on aggregate by Spain’s Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Leading figures in Italy have been calling for reform since Germany took Italy’s fourth Champions League spot in 2012, and with Portugal nearing Italy’s UEFA coefficient ranking, change is desperately needed in a league previously considered the toughest in the world.

Italian sports daily Corriere Dello Sport published a report on the failings at the top of Italian football, listing poor government policy, a flood of playing and coaching talent leaving the country and a bloated domestic league as reasons for the decline.

However Udinese manager Francesco Guidolin said little could be done in the face of superior resources abroad.

“As a manager I can say that it’s not a technical reason for why we are struggling. The problem is almost exclusively economic,” he said.

Guidolin said that a change in culture is needed if Italy wants to claw back some of the deficit that has opened up between it and those north of the Alps.

“The best players have left, and have been attracted by the money and atmosphere of other countries. Abroad they earn more and are under less pressure.

“England and Germany are completely different to Italy, and when Italy lost its competitiveness with other countries, the top players went away.

“We need to begin with infrastructure and education. New stadiums are indispensable to this, but the most important thing is that they’re occupied with well-behaved people.

“It’s intolerable that we are still hearing songs about the dead of Superga (plane crash that killed the “Grande Torino” side of the 1940s) and Heysel (stadium disaster that killed 39 Juventus fans).

“There’s a need for deep cultural change.”

Vice-president of the Italian Football Federation Demetrio Albertini is another who thinks that serious reform is required, although the former AC Milan midfielder, who won five Serie A titles and two Champions League crowns during a golden age for Italian football, cautioned against reading too much into this week’s results.

“Thursday shouldn’t weigh too much on our analysis. In Florence an Italian team was going to be knocked out, and the team that has been our strongest for three years went through.

“Napoli should still be in the Champions League for how they played in the group stage.

“We need to decide what we want to be: a feeder championship for leagues abroad or a top-level system?

“Looking at our history isn’t going to work anymore, because others have looked to the future, and I don’t only mean Germany, but also Switzerland and Belgium.”

(Editing by Josh Reich)

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