As the soccer season in Italy is about to get started this weekend, arguably the best soccer tournament anywhere – the Champions League – has already begun. The Champions League for 2010-2011 has three Italian teams among the contenders (sadly, the fourth Italian squad was eliminated in the playoff round). There will be games held in Milan and Rome during this next stage of the tournament, so if you’re a sports fan traveling to Italy between mid-September and early December, you might want to see if one of these games will be happening while you’re there.
And of course if the Italian teams are among the top two in each of their groups, they’ll advance to the next round in the Champions League and there will be even more games in Italy. Those of us who are Italian footy fans will certainly be hoping for the best.
With two teams in the tournament, the city of Milan is the best city to visit in Italy if you’re a Champions League fan – you’ve got six Milan-based games to choose from. AC Milan is in Group G with Real Madrid (Spain), Ajax (Netherlands), and Auxerre (France), while Inter Milan is in Group A with Werder Bremen (Germany), Tottenham (England), and Twente (Netherlands).
>> There’s a schedule of the Milan-based Champions League games on this “Travel to Milan to Watch the Champions League” page.
Italy’s capital city has one team in the Champions League tournament, too, so if you happen to be visiting Rome you have only three dates to keep in mind. AS Roma is in Group E with Bayern Munich (Germany), Basel (Switzerland), and Cluj (Romania).
>> There’s a schedule of the Rome-based Champions League games on this “Travel to Rome to Watch the Champions League” page.
