\n<\/p>\n
FootItalia spoke exclusively to serial trophy winner Marcel Desailly about the Serie A teams\u2019 dismal results in the Champions League knockout round and current the state of Italian football ahead of national team\u2019s crucial World Cup playoff tie with Northern Ireland.<\/strong><\/p>\n FootItalia: Inter were knocked out of the Champions League by Bod\u00f8 of Norway, just nine months after reaching the final. What did you make of that result?<\/b><\/p>\n Marcel Desailly: <\/i><\/b>It happens. They lost the away match but had the belief they could come back but it wasn\u2019t to be. <\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s the beauty of football \u2013 smaller teams can beat bigger teams. I\u2019m disappointed because Inter are an experienced team and were expected to go through, even in this new Champions League format. <\/span><\/p>\n It means there are some internal problems \u2013 the dynamic, the focus, the discipline. For a team that\u2019s supposed to be defensively solid Italians, they\u2019ve conceded too many goals. <\/span><\/p>\n How does that happen? Once you lose defensive discipline, you pay the price. UEFA have structured this competition to give smaller teams a chance to express themselves, and Bod\u00f8 took full advantage. <\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re glad to see new faces in the knockout stages. And I\u2019m a AC Milan man, so I\u2019m not that disappointed, to tell you the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n FootItalia: You played in one of the great Italian teams \u2013 AC Milan in the early nineties \u2013 a side that barely conceded goals. Atalanta are the only Serie A team remaining in the Champions League after Juventus were knocked out by Galatasaray, condeding seven goals across two legs. Is there a lack of quality across the board in Italian football in 2026?<\/b><\/p>\n Marcel Desailly: <\/i><\/b>You can see it at national team level too \u2013 they\u2019re struggling to find leaders, players and managers who can read modern football and adapt to it. <\/span><\/p>\n You cannot just defend anymore and wait for your moment. You have to go forward, you need positional play, you need consistency. <\/span><\/p>\n They don\u2019t have squads where every player is a first choice at their club. They\u2019ve started exporting players, and sometimes those players face challenges abroad, so the focus is no longer what it was. <\/span><\/p>\n The national team is no longer the priority it once was, and Serie A is no longer the top league in Europe. The Bundesliga is more structured, the stadiums are better organised, the financial planning is on a higher scale. <\/span><\/p>\n So it\u2019s an overall issue \u2013 it\u2019s not just one team losing. The Italian league is performing below where it was, though it still has potential. <\/span><\/p>\n Inter showed in the previous Champions League that they could reach the final under Inzaghi. But yes, big disappointment \u2013 and when you look at the whole picture, including the national team, the disappointment is even greater.<\/span><\/p>\n