Champions League Nightmare Looms as Serie A Faces Last-16 Wipeout

Italian football is staring into the abyss of a Champions League catastrophe, with the once-dominant Serie A facing the real possibility of having no clubs in the last 16 of Europe’s elite competition for the first time in nearly four decades.

Since the reintroduction of the Champions League last-16 knockout round in 2003–04, Italy has always had at least one representative.