Can a Serie A team end the Champions League drought in 2025-26?

Four Serie A sides will begin their 2025-26 Champions League campaign when the competition kicks off with Matchday One this week, each looking to make their mark in Europe's biggest club competition. 

Napoli booked their place in this season's festivities by winning the league title in 2025, with Inter Milan finishing as runners-up and the remaining places taken up by Atalanta and Juventus.

Italian teams, of course, have a rich history in the tournament, but this season will mark the sixteenth year since the last time a Serie A side lifted the famous trophy. 

Back in 2010, it was peak Jose Mourinho and his Inter side that triumphed over Bayern Munich to complete a historic treble, but do any of the class of 2026 have what it takes to match that achievement?  

DAZN News' Ash Rose assesses each side's chances ahead of their opening games this week... 

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Atalanta 

Manager: Ivan Juric
Champions League best: Quarter-finals 
Key player: Ademola Lookman 

Easily the rank outsiders when it comes to the four Italian teams, but that's not to disrespect Atalanta's achievements in Europe. They can, after all, boast a European triumph more recently than the Serie A sides, having won the Europa League in 2024 with their win over Bayer Leverkusen. They also reached the knockout stages of the Champions League last season, only to be dumped out by Club Brugge. 

Those achievements, however, were part of Gian Piero Gasperini's dynasty at the helm of the club. The legendary boss has now left the club, and in his place comes Ivan Juric, fresh off losing a relegation battle with Southampton in the Premier League last season. 

From what we've seen from Juric's side so far, they remain a work in progress under the new gaffer and with a tough opening round of fixtures where they travel to reigning champions PSG and then rekindle their rivalry with Club Brugge, they'll need to be quick out of the blocks. A progression into the knockout stage would really be the height of achievement you'd expect from them in Europe this season. 

League phase fixtures 

• Paris Saint-Germain (A) - Wednesday, September 17
• Club Brugge (H) - Tuesday, September 30 
• Slavia Praha (H) - Wednesday, October 22
• Marseille (A) - Wednesday, November 5
• Frankfurt (A) - Wednesday, November 26
• Chelsea (H) - Tuesday, December 9
• Athletic Club (H) - Wednesday, January 21 2026
• Union Saint-Gilloise (A) - Wednesday, January 28 2026

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Juventus 

Manager: Igor Tudor
Champions League best: Winners - 1985, 1996 
Key player: Kenan Yildiz 

This season will mark thirty years since Juventus last won the Champions League, and it's hard to judge whether the 2025-26 version are equipped enough to go anywhere near deep enough in the competition to celebrate that milestone. 

Igor Tudor took over midway through last season and managed to steady the Juve ship and steer them into the Champions League places and no doubt there are plans to better that finish in the league as well as make an impression on Europe, too, in this campaign. 

Juve certainly have the firepower to beat anyone on their day, and will give them a greater chance of going further into the competition than last year, when PSV eliminated the Old Lady in the first knockout phase. However, it remains to be seen what Tudor can get out of his team in his first full campaign in charge and whether they could reach a first final since 2017. 

League phase fixtures

• Borussia Dortmund (H) - Tuesday, September 16
• Villarreal (A) - Wednesday, October 1
• Real Madrid (A) - Wednesday, October 22
• Sporting CP (H) - Tuesday, November 4
• Bodo/Glimt (A) - Tuesday, November 25
• Pafos (H) - Wednesday, December 10
• Benfica (H) - Wednesday, January 21 2026
• Monaco (A) - Wednesday, January 28 2026​

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Inter Milan 

Manager: Christian Chivu
Champions League best: Winners - 1964, 1965, 2010 
Key player: Lautaro Martinez 

The last Italian team to lift the Champions League was Inter and since then, they've also been the side who have come closest to ending the sixteen-year drought. 

Twice in the last two years, they've finished as runners-up in the competition, first on the wrong end of a tight and scrappy 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in 2023 and then last year when Simeone Inzaghi's side were humbled by PSG with a 5-0 thrashing in Munich.

The question is, can they go one better in 2026? Well, Inzaghi has been replaced by the inexperienced Christian Chivu, but the majority of the same cast remain. Early Serie A results suggest that the new manager will take some time to remodel this Inter side, but they proved they can dig out results in the Champions League when they need to in the past few seasons and in cup competition will be a threat once again. 

League phase fixtures 

• Ajax (A) - Wednesday, September 17
• Slavia Praha (H) - Tuesday, September 30
• Union Saint-Gilloise (A) - Tuesday, October 21
• Kairat Almaty (H) - Wednesday, November 5
• Atletico Madrid (A) - Wednesday, November 26
• Liverpool (H) - Tuesday, December 9
• Arsenal (H) - Tuesday, January 20 2026
• Borussia Dortmund (A) - Wednesday, January 28, 2026 

Napoli 

Manager: Antonio Conte 
Champions League best: Round of 16 
Key player: Scott McTominay 

For a team that has been champions of Italy twice in the past three seasons, Napoli are still yet to make a mark on the European stage.

They also have one of the game's great winners in charge, but like his team, Antonio Conte has yet to really translate his success as a manager into the Champions League. So can this year be different? 

They certainly look more like the league's standout team than ever before. They have last year's best player in Scott McTominay, they have a strike force that includes Romelu Lukaku and Rasmus Hojlund and they've added a man who's been there and done it in the Champions League, one Kevin De Bruyne. 

We'll get an early indication of where this Napoli is at when they travel to Manchester City on Matchday Day One, but all the ingredients suggest this could be their best European campaign yet. So if you're looking for dark horses in 2026, look no further than Naples. 

League phase fixtures 
 

• Manchester City (A) - Thursday, September 18
• Sporting CP (H) - Wednesday, October 1
• PSV (A) - Tuesday, October 21
• Frankfurt (H) - Tuesday, November 4
• Qarabag (H) - Tuesday, November 25
• Benfica (A) - Wednesday, December 10
• Copenhagen (A) - Tuesday, January 20 2026
• Chelsea (H) - Wednesday, January 28 2026

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