Italian stallions: Serie A clubs' renaissance could see them make a clean sweep in Europe

From the perspective of Italy manager Roberto Mancini, these are bittersweet days. The patriot in him enjoys the talk of an improbable Grand Slam, a scenario where, by June, the Italian flag is draped over every significant Uefa trophy.

At the same time, Mancini would like the triple target, very much alive, of Italian clubs making the finals of the Champions League, the Europa League and their infant sibling, the Conference League, to feel … well, to feel a bit more Italian.

The club Mancini long ago guided to the first of the league titles of his managerial career, Inter Milan, can on Wednesday guarantee an Italian presence in the most prestigious of those finals. Should Inter hold on to the lead – 2-0 – they efficiently took away from Lisbon in the first leg of their quarter-final against Benfica, they will meet a fellow Serie A club next.

Mancini would be delighted to see key men from his national squad, winners of the last European Championship such as Nicolo Barella and Alessandro Bastoni, boosted by Inter’s best progress in the competition since they were its last Italian winners in 2010. But he’d be even more thrilled if Inter ever fielded a high-class native Italian striker, a species Mancini is concerned is threatened with extinction.

When Serie A’s dominant presence, in terms of numbers, in these later phases of the European club knockouts is labelled a “renaissance”, Mancini says sceptically: “If clubs like Inter, AC Milan and Napoli were fielding 33 Italian players between them, you could call it a renaissance. But the numbers aren’t even half of that.”

Likewise, when he recalls how important his core of Juventus footballers were in carrying Italy to triumph at Euro 2000 – a Juve hero, Leo Bonucci, scored