Continue with Naples and Fiorentina. Italian football loses three out of five teams but is still in the running for the Europa League. Nothing to do for Inter, Turin and Rome, forced to say goodbye to that dream called Warsaw. Grenade aside, these are eliminations that burn a lot: for the Nerazzurri and the Giallorossi it is a debacle that certifies the failure of a season. But if Mancini's team had already compromised qualification in the first leg, Garcia's managed to almost destroy themselves with his hands, moreover in front of their own fans. A real disaster that of Rome, literally outclassed by a great Fiorentina, capable of conquering the Olimpico with a bombastic 3-0.
A walk through the Viola, who closed each speech in just 21 minutes: many were enough for Gonzalo Rodriguez (penalty in the 9th minute), Marcos Alonso (tap in in the 18th minute on Skorupski's incredible duck) and Basanta (header to 21') to access the quarter-finals. The disaster risks leaving an indelible aftermath in the Roma home and who knows if the protests of the fans (Curva Sud emptied in protest in the first half) will cause some excellent heads to fall.
"The team pays for my mistakes, I'll have to take them into account" embittered Walter Sabatini explained, whose future seems increasingly distant from the capital. "I'm mortified, now all that remains is to defend second place: whoever has pride, follow me" echoed Rudi Garcia, another decidedly in the balance. His diametrically opposite mood in the Fiorentina house, where ambitions are getting bigger and bigger. “I'm very satisfied, we're fighting for all the goals” explained Montella with pride. It's hard to blame him: the Viola are in the quarterfinals of the Europa League, in the semifinals of the Coppa Italia (with a foot and a half in the final) and in full battle for third place in the league.
Just like Napoli, the other smiling Italian on this football Thursday. The Azzurri, in Moscow, had to manage the 3-1 first leg without complicating their lives as happened too often in the season: they did it best with an unusual (for them) 0-0, showing maturity and depth. “It wasn't easy, we did well – thought Benitez. – But now I don't want to hear about final victory. We will try but I know this competition and I know it will be difficult, there are more experienced teams than us."
Certainly not Inter, forced to abandon the race in front of the 40 San Siro, as well as to certify the failure of a season. Only the Europa League could give it meaning, but now finding stimuli will be very difficult. The Nerazzurri tried to make up for the 3-1 lead in the first leg but Wolfsburg proved to be a real team, far superior. The Germans took the lead after just 24 minutes with Caligiuri, ruthless in punishing the distracted Inter defense. At that point a truly epic feat would have been needed but Mancini's team didn't even come close. And so, after Palacio's momentary equalizer (71'), Wolfsburg's 2-1 final with Bendtner arrived, which blew up all the disappointment at San Siro. “The boos are justified, we too are disappointed – Mancini's words. – We can't afford so many mistakes in the European field, it's probably my fault: I wasn't good at teaching certain mechanisms".
Different elimination, albeit still bitter, for Turin, the only Italian to come out to applause despite the result. The grenades played a splendid game by crushing the much more popular Zenit of Villas Boas. The final 1-0 (Glik in the 89th minute) wasn't enough but Toro can be proud of what they did. "We did the race for 90 minutes, if we had passed there would have been nothing to say" commented Ventura with a mix of pride and disappointment.
From today, however, it is already time to look ahead. At 12, in fact, Nyon's urn will decide Juve's opponent in the Champions League and, subsequently, those of Naples and Fiorentina in the Europa League. The bogeymen of the black and whites are called Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG (the dreams are Porto and Monaco and even Atletico Madrid would not be received so badly), those of the blues and purples bear the names of Wolfsburg and Sevilla (Dinamo Kiev, Zenit, Bruges and Dnipro are equivalent). Today we will know everything but in the meantime we are sure of one thing: our football will still have nights of great emotions.
