Italian soccer might not be at the level of its rich past, but Italian managers are still among the best ones in their job. This year three Italian managers will coach a team in the three European finals that will take place in the next two weeks. Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta will face Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final, Vincenzo Italiano will lead Fiorentina against Olympiacos in the Conference League on May 29 while Carlo Ancelotti will try to win his fifth Champions League trophy as manager against Borussia Dortmund on June 1.
The three managers also represent different generations and have different approaches on how they deal with players. Italiano (46) is the youngest among the three while Gasperini (66) and Ancelotti (64) are from the so-called old school of Italian managers. The current Fiorentina coach, as a consequence, has less experience but already reached two European finals as the Viola lost to West Ham the 2022-23 Conference League final last season. After coaching Spezia and Fiorentina, Italiano is set to leave his club at the end of the current season, and there are already rumors about his next destination with both Napoli and Bologna interested, per multiple reports.
Europa League final: Atalanta vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Date: Wednesday, May 22 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: Aviva Stadium -- Dublin, Ireland
TV: CBS Sports Network | Stream: Paramount+
Gasperini is a well-known figure in Italy. After coaching Genoa, he had a short experience at Inter back in 2012 but was sacked a few games into the season after a disappointing start. Atalanta started from zero and struggled for some years until Gasperini was appointed in 2016. The former Genoa coach created one of the most interesting projects of Italian soccer, based on young players from the academy and great scouting by the club directors during the past years. It worked so well that Atalanta reached the Champions League soccer three times in recent years, including when they lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals of the 2019-20 edition. There are reports that Napoli are interested in appointing him in case he leaves Atalanta at the end of the current season.
For Ancelotti, he doesn't need many words. The Real Madrid manager is one of the most known and winningest soccer managers of all time. He won the Champions League four times (all-time record) as manager and twice as a player. On June 1 against Borussia Dortmund, he will have the chance to win his fifth Champions League as coach (two with AC Milan and two with Real Madrid so far).
While the Serie A may not be the world's best league as it used to be, thanks to the work of the Italian teams and managers, Italy will have at least five teams playing Champions League soccer next season, as the teams performed really well outside of Italy. It's not a coincidence that other coaches had a great impact outside the country, such as Roberto De Zerbi, who was able to qualify Brighton to Europe for the first time ever last season.
Manchester City's Pep Guardiola described De Zerbi as "one of the coaches I admire most in world football," while another coach such as Inter's Simone Inzaghi is considered among the best ones after reaching the Champions League's final last season, falling to Guardiola and Manchester City. Inter showed on the pitch that they could fight against one of the strongest teams of the past decade thanks to the work of the manager and went on to win the Serie A title this season. While Serie A clubs can't financially afford the best players around anymore, they can at least work with what they have thanks to the coaches and their football knowledge which have been leading to incredible results.
