Juventus, Roma join Napoli and Fiorentina to make European history

Juventus, Roma and Fiorentina all advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective European competitions on Thursday night, and in doing so joined Napoli, AC Milan, and Inter to create a unique piece of European history for the Serie A. 

Juventus completed a comfortable 3-0 aggregate win over Freiburg in the Europa League to seal a place in the quarterfinals, while Roma needed only 84 completed passes to draw 0-0 against Real Sociedad and qualify thanks to a 2-0 lead from the first leg. 

Fiorentina, playing in the UEFA Europa Conference League, easily dispatched Sivasspor 5-1 on aggregate, winning both legs of the tie, and dismantling the Turkish side 4-1 in their own stadium. 

The incredible feats of Serie A’s teams in the lower rungs of Europe matched up with the impressive feats of its sides in Europe’s flagship football competition as Juventus, Roma, and Fiorentina joined Napoli, AC Milan, and Inter as Italian sides that have made it to the quarterfinals of European competition this season. 

The six clubs represent the most Serie A clubs to have reached this stage of European competition in a single season since the 1990/91 season 32 years ago. 

Despite the cash crunch plaguing the league, Serie A teams have shown that they can still compete at the highest level.