old enough to notice, anyway, clubs from Italy did very well in the UEFA Champions League (and its predecessor), dominating it at times. In the 80s, 90s, and even the early 2000s, it seemed clear that the top 5-8 Italian teams were generally better than their counterparts in Spain and England. It seemed like AC Milan, Juventus, or another Italian club was in the Champions League final most years, and they were rarely absent from the semifinals. In 2003 Juve and Milan even met in a (very boring) all-Italian UCL final.

But it's been a very different story lately. Serie A has clearly dropped behind the leagues in Spain and England in overall strength. The Big 3 clubs (AC Milan, Juve, Inter) are still very good, but they are now absent from the late stages of the Champions League most years. Italian clubs have won the European Cup/UCL 12 times, which places them second to Spain all-time. But only one of those titles has come in the last 7 years, and two in the last 11 years. Inter won it all in 2010, but that is also the only time an Italian club has gotten as far as the semifinals since 2007 (when Milan won it all). This is amazing to me, given where Italian soccer used to be. Any theories as to what has happened to it?