AC Milan and Juventus will both participate in the Europa League this season, and as highlighted by Gazzetta dello Sport, you could definitely use the word burden to describe the tournament.
Due to their fifth-place finish in 2025-26, Milan missed out on the Champions League. It sparked the management revolution, along with a change of direction from Gerry Cardinale, but there’s still no doubt that the effects are mostly negative.
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Today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport (see featured image) has highlighted the differences between the Europa League and the big brother. Furthermore, it’s clear that the tournament can be seen as a burden for Italian clubs, especially big ones like Milan and Juventus.
Lack of revenue
Qualification for the Europa League gets you €4.31m, as opposed to €18.6m for those who qualify for the Champions League. Each win brings €450k in the Europa League, while that figure is €2.1m in the Champions League; a draw earns €150k versus €700k.
And what about qualifying for the knockout rounds? Going all the way to the final from the round of 16 guarantees €15.4m, plus an additional €6m if the team wins the tournament. That makes it €25m in total, while the same scenario is €57m plus an additional €6.5m in the UCL.
These aren’t even all of the revenue sources, with historical ranking and market pools to factor in too, but the trend is the same for those. PSG, for example, earned €142m for winning the Champions League in 2025-26. If you want to find out more, we have a long read about this.
Hard to balance
Since 2009-10, when the UEFA Cup became the Europa League, Italian teams have participated in the tournament 43 times. This excludes those who entered in February from the Champions League, when that was still a thing.
The participating Italian clubs have often struggled, or at least they have never managed to win the Scudetto when splitting their time between Thursday and Sunday (or Monday). It’s a demanding schedule and with the lack of revenue, you can’t make as many depth signings.
Roma finished second in the league in 2009-10 and 2016-17, as did Napoli in 2015-16 and Milan in 2020-21. Third place went to Udinese in 2011-12, Napoli in 2021-22, and Roma last season. Fourth place went to Lazio in 2011-12, Fiorentina in 2013-14 and 2014-15, and Atalanta in 2023-24 (who won the Europa League).
In the other 32 cases, the Italian teams finished fifth or lower and thus outside of the Champions League zone. A warning to Milan and Juventus: the Europa League risks being a pitfall for the Scudetto. To take it on without paying the price, you need a well-equipped squad and rotation.
Tough path to the UCL
Winning the Europa League guarantees qualification for the following year’s Champions League, as well as a ticket to the European Super Cup final. However, what chances to Milan and Juventus have of reaching the final?
Some potential opponents will be the Champions League play-offs losers, while English clubs Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, and Sunderland, Spanish clubs Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo, German clubs Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen, French clubs Marseille and Rennes, and Dutch club AZ Alkmaar have already been guaranteed participation.
On paper, there are many obstacles for Amorim and Spalletti’s teams…