MONZA, ITALY – AUGUST 13: Silvio Berluconi and CEO of AC Monza Adriano Galliani attend the Serie A match between AC Monza and Torino FC at Stadio Brianteo on August 13, 2022 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
Milan and Monza legend Adriano Galliani outlines the problems with Italian football and takes a sideswipe at Inter’s Calciopoli title. ‘The only time in history where those in third finished first.’
The former CEO spent over three decades by Silvio Berlusconi’s side, first at Milan, then in their next adventure together at Monza.
There are currently reports that he could make a return to San Siro as an additional advisor to Gerry Cardinale and RedBird, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Giorgio Furlani could be moving on.
Meanwhile, Galliani was attending an event today and spoke to the reporters about the problems with modern Calcio.
Galliani identifies issues with Calcio
“The clubs that won the Champions League in recent years have double the revenue of the biggest Italian clubs,” Galliani told Calciomercato.
“Real Madrid’s revenue is €1.2 billion, while the best Italian sides can do is €400-500m including profits from player sales.”
There were no Serie A representatives in the semi-finals of the three UEFA competitions, and only Bologna and Fiorentina got into the quarter-finals.
“We used to win because we had the best players. The last Ballon d’Or winner from Serie A was Kaka in 2007,” noted Galliani.
It again comes down to the lack of revenue, so what is causing the huge gap in finances?
“There are a few reasons why Serie A struggles to sell its TV rights abroad. The Premier League is fine because so many around the world speak English, while LaLiga is sold to the Spanish-speaking countries. Nobody really speaks Italian outside of Italy, other than parts of Switzerland,” explained Galliani.
“In order to increase revenue, the first thing we need to work on is the stadiums. A beautiful structure also helps sell TV rights, because when viewers see half-empty arenas that are crumbling, they aren’t interested.
“Serie A used to be something players aimed for, now we are a transitional league.”
There also doesn’t seem to be long between scandals, although Galliani is still not over the Calciopoli earthquake of 2006.
He was standing next to Fabio Capello at the event, the coach who saw two Serie A titles at Juventus stripped from the record.
“Capello won two titles on the field with Juventus. This was the only time in history where those who were third finished first. In Heaven, so the last shall be the first, but on Earth it was the third who became the first.”
Calciopoli left the 2024-25 title unassigned, but stripped the 2025-26 one from Juventus and handed it to Inter, who had finished third in the regular season.
This is because both Juve and Milan, who were first and second, were docked points in the scandal.
The 2026 Scudetto is often referred to as the ‘Cardboard Title’ because it was handed to Inter in this way.
