Former AC Milan defender Alessandro Costacurta shared his thoughts on the upcoming Champions League season in an interview with Sportweek, the weekly magazine of La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Costacurta expressed his hope for Italian football’s resurgence in the competition, stating, “I hope our football returns to dominate this competition. But it can only succeed in one way: by playing many Italians. So my wish is that more and more Italians play in the Champions League.”
Regarding the new Champions League format, Costacurta is optimistic: “I like the idea of this new Champions League. I like the fact that to gain a position in the rankings, you’ll have to fight until the end. This will push teams to seek results, even to score one more goal, until the last game. The spectacle will benefit, and consequently, the fans.”
When asked to rank the top teams, Costacurta placed Inter Milan third, behind Real Madrid and Manchester City. He explained, “I put Inter on the third step, Real on the second, and Manchester City on the first. Why City higher than Real, unlike common predictions? Because while it’s true that Real has signed Mbappé, the world’s strongest player, they’ve lost Kroos, who was their balancer. City seems more of a team to me.”
Costacurta praised Inter’s quality and fluidity of play, as well as their players’ mentality. He highlighted Lautaro Martinez’s work ethic and Calhanoglu’s defensive contributions as key factors in Inter’s strength.
On Inter manager Simone Inzaghi, Costacurta said, “He’s done a lot, but let’s not forget that Inter has been the strongest for the last 4-5 years, at least at the start. And credit goes to the market operations done by Marotta and Ausilio.”
Costacurta also commented on AC Milan’s recent issues, stating, “The Rossoneri are in the eye of the storm for what happened in Rome with Theo and Leao, but in their case, as with Inter’s other rivals, today we discuss problems, but in a few matchdays, we’ll be talking about something else. It’s good that certain defects stand out at the beginning, but it’s equally necessary that the club, coach, and teammates make them understand that things like not approaching the coach during the cooling break should not happen again.”
