So I recently had a discussion with an Italian friend of mine, who is a huge AC Milan fan and also frequently watches the Serie A (or Calcio A...), and he tried to argue that the Serie A, in terms of quality, has more than the Bundesliga. I completely disagree, he might have been drunk at that time but that's beside the point... That got me thinking, I remember when next to Juventus, there were the Milan clubs who were all powerhouses in Europe. The league was so exciting. And as a whole it used to be a lot more prominent and attractive for players. So why is it that Juve is the only club that stands a chance in Europe and dominates the league every year? Is it because Italy as a country isn't developing as talented players as they used to? Remember Italy's squad in the World Cup 2006?! Where do you see Calcio A's future? How long until we see an italian european champion again? Discuss Calcio A fans (and everyone else of course)

I don't know a whole lot about the Serie A , but from what I can tell it is on the upswing, Clubs like Lazio- roma-milan-inter-torino-fiorentina are steadily improving. Juve really needs to win UCL and bring another UCL spot to italy. I would love to see the Milanese clubs fighting in the UCL again, it is in their DNA, however this will mean that England most likely lose their 4th UCL spot. Sorry Arsenal :P

you should listen to your friend.

seria a > bundesliga

this is turning out to be a great year in serie a. the competition for top 4 and the competition for first is nail btiting. serie a has legendary teams (juve, milan, inter) there is great football being played at roma, lazio, napoli. there's amazing up and coming teams with the like of torino. just because you don't watch serie a, does not mean the quality has gone down. they have better football. more competitive, the gap at the top of the league is way tighter than the bundesliga, always is. There's more competitive teams. there's 6/7 top teams in serie a...there's barely 3 in germany.

look what happened to bayer, wolfsburg, monchengladbach and dortmund...look where they are in their league table. their quality has gone down the drain.

at the top of the league...who don't even come close to bayern are hoffenheim and leipzig....money clubs and the most hated clubs in germany.

milan is doing really well this year. you'll see their quality in the champions league next year.

the only thing i don't like about serie a is the camera quality in the stadium. how they film. the camera set up. the premier league looks wonderful on screen in comparison.

"And as a whole it used to be a lot more prominent and attractive for players. So why is it that Juve is the only club that stands a chance in Europe and dominates the league every year? Is it because Italy as a country isn't developing as talented players as they used to?"

there is a lot of young players coming through the ranks in italiy...donarrumma, belotti, rugani.
it's all about money. it's not attractive to players because of the money in other countries. shite premier league teams at mid table have a lot of money. However, inter milan i hear is coming into money in the near future and Juve has economic power as well.

Corruption. Match-fixing. Clubs not paying players. Bankruptcies. A broadcasting influx of money that largely passed them by.

There are a myriad of reasons, but I think that if we're taking a trip down lore road, it really began when Madrid bought Zidane. The best players in the world always played in Serie A, until that moment. La Liga, EPL, and to a smaller extent Bundesliga is where the greats of today's game play. The exact factors as to why players and investors shied away from Serie A is above, but when I look back in history, that appears to be where it all starts.

Although a mention of the new rules/meta in the world game that account for an increase in attacking proficiency probably have something to do with it as well. Serie A was and is known as a defensive league.

tbh I think everyone knows that Italian clubs are far from their best form, but like every other league, Serie A got more exciting. Simply underdogs started to play better after Leicester winning PL. Also traditionally Serie A has great talents. I don't know what you mean by 'isn't developing as talanted players as they used to' because it is probably Serie A who has best-performing young talents.

For example, Milan has Donnarumma, Suso, Romagnoli, and few other players as their starters. Also there is Niang, Pašalić, Locatelli and de Sciglio. Kessie, Gagliardini, Caldara, Rugani, Felipe Anderson, Belotti and others have been amongst best players. I don't think any league in Europe can match than many youths having such good perfomances. On other hand Bundesliga has improved this season. Even as Bayern fan watching us having no competition in league was boring. Teams like Hoffenheim, Leipzig and Frankfurt are good for making excitement in the league.

Just to clarify, I'm not saying that Serie A hasn't got any talent left. I'm fully aware of the fact that they are on the rise and of the young players coming through the ranks, like Rugani, Belotti, Romagnoli, and players like Dybala or Donnarumma who have the potential to become world class. But I'm not necessarily talking only about young players. I'm comparing the serie a and clubs like Milan and Inter to the way they were less than 10 years ago. Plus, would any team other than Juve stand a chance to make it to at least the Semi-Finals of the Champions League? And if you created an all star team between the BuLi and Serie A, who would win? (IMO BuLi)

Well, both Milan clubs failed to plan for the future. AC Milan had an amazing squad back in '03-'08, but they started slacking off in squad-building. Pato was greatly promising, but failed to live up to expectations. Players like Seedorf, Pirlo, Kaka all left the club, a few quality players were bought (Zlatan, Nocerino, Thiago Silva, etc.). But after Zlatan left for Paris, Milan kind of went downhill. They haven't really been able to make any good signings to compete with Napoli or Juventus.

Inter Milan just straight up failed to recognize the limits of an aging squad. The average age of the starting XI that won the treble was 30 years. That's astonishingly high. In comparison, Bayern's treble winning starting XI had an average age of 26. Inter completely failed to recognize that problem and proceeded to purchase half-assed players to replace the aging stars (Alvarez, Palacio, Nagatomo, etc.). Mourinho masked their problems really well, but it was only after he left for Real Madrid that they realized how broken their squad really was. Mourinho just made them peak in the perfect manner at the perfect moment.

Greatly summed up boys!

In my opinion, the scale is Bundesliga = Serie A

Neck and neck, but if I had to choose one, bundesliga wins.

@amir keal Well, its your personal opinion and I greatly respect it but for me personally, Serie A is more interesting than Bundesliga for the simple reason that I know a lot about more Italian team than German team. There is also the fact that most team under Juventus are more balanced to one another in Serie A and there are a few more second tier and competitive team in that league than in the Bundesliga. But, of course, that is my own personal opinion and I'll alway understand people who have preference for Bundesliga. ;)

@Emobot7, me too. I understand with you too. I probably watch them as equally as each other.

I think that Serie A is great, just not as good as others.

In my opinion, Serie A is trying to restore their greatness. Just look at how Juventus became the finalist of a couple season a go in Champions League, Milan clubs that gained new investrors, and also AS Roma and Napoli who could surprise us. In term of quality, Bundesliga may win, but Serie A is way more competitive (beside the Bianconeri domination in recent years of course). Probably only EPL that promise more 'giant kiliing' and drama. CMIW

I remember when Seria A was the best league in the world by far. I followed it regularly 1998-2003 .Every of top 6-7 teams invest big money,signed big names and it was amazing to watch how competitive that league was . Many teams bankrupted after that like Lazio,Fiorentina,Parma even Juventus (calciopoli case ) . Mafia was all around and inside many of teams there,fans and other people stopped coming to stadiums ,foreign players don't want to play there, owners don't want to invest .... Juventus is now far better than others Serie A teams which is resulted with 5 titles in a row (it will be 5 more imo) No doubt for me who will be a champion ,but fight for other places are very interesting.... I prefer to watch Serie A matches over Bundesliga. However I saw some improvement in the league cos Inter become ambitious ,Roma is solid,Napoli interesting ..and many young players are ON and they are great talents . : Donnarumma,Rugani,Romagnoli,Locatelli,Bernardeschi,Berrardi,Belotti... really top talents.

you should listen to your friend.

seria a > bundesliga

LOL, Gonzi at it again. He also claimed Serie A is better quality than the EPL too. lol.

But on a serious note, I believe the league is on it's way back. New money coming in. Look at Inter etc..

@KTB To be fair mate, its all a matter of opinion. There's isn't a thing as a best league in the world, its just not universaly agreed on, either by the fan or the people in the world of football. ;)

PS: Though lets not lie, they do seem to lean toward favorising the PL as the best one. :D

back at it again. emo's right, it's all a matter of opinion. i prefer watching serie a every weekend. not that it's better, that's just what i watch.

Claiming Serie A is better than bundesliga is a bold statement, and by claiming so, it's obviously not only your preferences speaking. Swedish allsvenskan is the best one then, because I prefer to watch it every weekend. It's great fun!

@Gonzi @KTB You guys just understand what I mean. Both your statement are true. All in all, the best league is the one that capture your heart. ;D

. All in all, the best league is the one that capture your heart. ;D

Very wise and true statement.

The MLS captures our heart Emo but its probably one of the worst leagues :P

@Golefty Harsh but propably true... :(