Where is the Magic of the Coppa Italia?
Calcio fans have grown bored of the Coppa Italia, why is that and what can be done to fix this?
With the round of 16 and quarterfinals of the 2024 Coppa Italia taking place in the past few weeks, I wanted to dive deeper into the tournament and discuss some of the many issues that plague this historic, 102-year-old tournament today. It’s no secret that the Coppa Italia is merely a side-thought for many of the top teams in Italy and has become a meme among Serie A fans. The real shame is that many of the issues leading to the Coppa Italia’s poor reputation could be quite easily mended with more effective organization from Lega Serie A, the current governing body of the tournament since 2010.
The Coppa Italia was established as Italy’s domestic cup in 1922, to be held concurrently with the domestic campaign, however, the cup never really got going until after WWII ended. Since 1958, the tournament has been held each season and there have been some strange formats through the decades. From UCL-style group stage and knockout round format, which ended in 2004, to two-legged finals which ended in 2007, one can see the rather interesting nature of the tournament. Traditionally, all teams from Serie A through Serie D are invited to participate in the Coppa Italia, though in some formats teams from Serie C or D have been excluded.
From 2008–2021, the tournament comprised 78 clubs from the top four divisions in Italy. A tournament change from Lega Serie A was implemented in 2021 to remove the Serie C and D clubs once again. However, a compromise of this rule change resulted in four Serie C teams still taking part in the first round of the Coppa Italia.
So, today’s Coppa Italia consists of 44 of the highest-ranked clubs in Italy; four from Serie C, twenty from Serie B, and twenty from Serie A. Here, already, we see one of the annoying issues with this tournament. The 44 teams in the Coppa Italia mark the lowest number of competitors in a 2023–24 domestic cup competition in comparison with the other top footballing nations in Europe, France (Coupe de France — 8,506 teams), England (FA Cup — 729 teams), Spain (Copa del Rey — 126 teams), and Germany (DFB-Pokal — 64 teams). Important sidenote… France’s Coupe de France invites all amateur and professional clubs in France and France’s associated territories around the world, explaining why nearly 10,000 football clubs play in the tournament. No, I do not ask for that for the Coppa Italia, but I do admire France’s initiative to include all French clubs. The major takeaway is that in other countries, there is pride in holding a tournament open to clubs at various footballing levels, and there is an admirable culture centered around the inclusion of smaller, local clubs with die-hard support having an opportunity to contend with the country’s giants.
In Italy, it’s painfully clear that Lega Serie A does not care for the lower divisions and just wants to see the top clubs take home all the attention and money from the tournament. And so, the modern Coppa Italia is formatted by seeding. The top eight-ranked Italian clubs from the previous Serie A campaign don’t have to bother with this tournament until mid-January when they play in the round of 16. The other 38 clubs fight amongst each other until eight remain to contend with the Italian giants. Not only do the top eight clubs get favorable draws, but they also get to play them in the comfort of their own homes. The big clubs and Lega Serie A want this because it brings in the most stadium and TV revenue, which is 100% sensible and understandable. But, it puts the smaller teams at even more disadvantage than they already are in Italy’s game. Yes, it is based on the merit of having a successful Serie A campaign in the year prior; so keep the byes for the top eight teams so that we get our top teams in the latter stage of the tournament, but implement a random draw from the round of 16 onwards and find yourselves with a substantially more exciting tournament.
The 44-team format takes all the magic away from the cup. It relies solely on the giants playing against other giants and hoping the matches are entertaining. There are seldom any Cinderella stories to root for, so we find ourselves pleading for historic matches between the top teams to compensate and create an aura that establishes the identity of that particular year’s edition of the tournament. Sure, seeing the Derby d’Italia or Derby della Capitale in the semifinals or final is thrilling, but combine one of Italy’s great derbies with a minnow Serie C side reaching the semifinals and you have an all-time classic tournament.
That’s what we had in the 2015–16 edition of the Coppa Italia, going back to the 78-team format that was in place between 2008 and 2021. Alessandria, a Serie C side fighting for promotion to Serie B, made a historic run to the Coppa Italia semifinals, beating Palermo and Genoa, who both were in the top flight, on their way to a quarterfinal matchup with fellow minnow Spezia who had upset Roma to mark their place in the quarterfinals. Alessandria would find themselves victorious, marking one of the most historic feats in the club’s modest history. They met and eventually fell hard to Milan in the semifinals, but their run to the San Siro was marvelous and brought an entire nation behind their story.
It wasn’t such a rare occurrence with the 78-team format either, with Catania in the quarterfinals in 2009–10, Pordenone getting to the round of 16 and taking Inter to penalty kicks in 2017–18, and both Novara and Virtus Entella reaching the round of 16 in 2018–19, all these sides fighting from the third division to the bright lights of a famous cup run.
Sure, this year we had Frosinone upset Scudetto champions in the round of 16, and last year we saw Cremonese beat Napoli and Roma to reach a famous semifinal amid an otherwise disastrous Serie A campaign, but I can’t help but wonder what magic might be in store for fans if we brought back a format comprising of all 100 of the top sides in Italy from Serie A to the three leagues of Serie C. Could we see another Cinderella campaign from a side like Alessandria? It is improbable but possible with a Coppa Italia inclusive of more Italian teams.
I am not sure if the Coppa Italia will change, and if Lega Serie A is the right organization to coordinate an inclusive cup competition, but I do hope for better days for this historic competition. It is exciting to relive the triumphs of Alessandria and other smaller sides who’ve made a lasting impact on the competition, and one day, with a larger tournament pool and a more unbiased format, we will soon see character, life, and magic brought back to the Coppa Italia.
