The 2023/23 football season has taken a break for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, making it the perfect time to release a mid-term report on how Italian clubs have performed in the Champions League.
AC Milan, Inter and Napoli all qualified for the round of 16, but unfortunately we lost to Juventus in the group stage. The Old Lady are going through a period of struggle, and that was more evident than ever when they finished third in Group H, with just three points from six matches.
Italian clubs’ chances of winning the 2022/23 Champions League
With a favorable draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, Napoli are the cheapest Italian club in betting. Luciano Spalletti’s side are only 10/1. They are followed by the two Milan clubs, both at 33/1 with Betfair.
Betfair also offers live odds and World Cup betting promotion throughout the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup. These offers are often available in bigger competitions like the World Cup and the Champions League.
How do Italian clubs compare to the rest of the remaining teams in the Champions League draw?
To put the Italian trio’s chances into perspective, Manchester City are favorites to win the Champions League at just 13/8. Bayern Munich are next at 6/1, with PSG at 8/1, then Liverpool at 9/1. It shows that Napoli are considered to have a good chance of winning the trophy for the first time in their history.
With Benfica at 22/1, AC Milan and Inter are the top three teams in what looks like underdogs. The teams with the longest odds are RB Leipzig, Club Brugge and Eintracht Frankfurt, all at 100/1. So overall it’s not a bad performance for the three remaining Italian clubs.
Who has the best chance of progressing?
As the winners of Group A, Napoli entered the pot of seeded teams, where they were drawn against Eintracht Frankfurt. The German team qualified for the Champions League by winning the Europa League last season.
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— Eintracht Frankfurt (@eintracht_eng) May 19, 2022
They are currently fourth in the Bundesliga and are having a pretty decent season by any standard. That said, it’s probably safe to assume that Frankfurt is one of the teams that Luciano Spalletti would have been happy to face in private.
AC Milan have attracted Tottenham Hotspur, and with the English side being a bit of a hit and miss, the Rossoneri will believe they have a chance to progress. Milan moved through Group E quite comfortably in second place behind Chelsea. This is probably around where they would have expected to end up when the draw was made.
Inter passed, so Barça is OUT?
Romelu Lukaku was among the goals as Inter Milan beat Viktoria Plzen in the #UCL.
Report? #BBCFootball
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 26, 2022
As for Inter Milan, they can be very proud of their efforts to go through Group C, a group made up of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Viktoria Plze?. And the qualification was obtained on the 5th day. The Nerazzurri have already exceeded expectations this season, and it could get even better, having drawn against Porto in the Round of 16.
All in all, with the exception of Juventus, it seems to have been a decent season – so far – for Italian clubs in the Champions League. Napoli are among the favorites to win, AC Milan are roughly level and Inter Milan have already secured an assist. Not a bad mid-term report all around.
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