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On the 13th April the last embers of hope of Italian glory in Europe were extinguished, it had been apainful experience. Whilst ideas of triumph had died in the Europa League some time before, it was the long drawn out proce s in the Champions League that left Italian fans wondering what was next for Calcio. Inter had made the quarter-finals, not too bad an achievement on the face of it but it was the desperate nature of their and the other Serie A clubs struggles before that which made Europe sit and take notice of the decline of Italian football.Milans exit was a case in point. They faced Champions League new boys Tottenham Hotspur, who had topped Inter in the group stage, in the first knock-out stage and failed to score a goal over the two legs. The days when English teams feared the giants of Italian football had gone, Spurs were finding it hard to repeat the trick of qualification into Europes premier tournament through the league yet had knocked out Serie As top team without conceding. Roma suffered an equally humbling defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk at the same stage. It was only Inters escape at the last against another European giant finding domestic form hard to come by that enabled the trip to last so long. They should have been buried by Bayern Munich long before Goran Pandev struck a last gasp winner to take Inter through. With what was to follow, perhaps it would have been better had it never happened. The draw appeared favourable Schalke 04, mid table in the bundesliga hardly had the reputation of most of the other remaining sides. If it was on the 13th of April that hope died, it was a week before when it was put on life support following a humiliating 2-5 home defeat to the Germans. The team who had conquered Europe in the previous season had been destroyed and if the previous warning signs had not been enough, this was a sharp shock confirming something was seriously wrong in Italian football.There had been reasons for concern. Despite Inters succe s in 2010 and their World Club Championship win, Serie A had lost their fourth Champions League spot for the 2011/2012 season, superceded by the re-emergence of the Budesliga and its attacking brand of football and fan friendly ideals. There was the catastrophic performance by the Azzuri in the World Cup in South Africa, such a contrast to the feeling after glory in Germany four years previously. There was also the ageing nature of the spines of the more prestigious clubs, how much longer could Totti, Del Piero and Nesta influence the direction of the Scudetto? So, are we witne sing the sad decline of a once great and admired footballing nation or are there reasons for hope?It is interesting to consider the Nerazzuris victory in 2010 and consider whether this simply disguised Italys position in the European game or whether it highlighted an untapped reservoir of potential within the sport.One thing that clearly stands out in that heroic team is the presence of Jose Mourinho. He stands out for many reasons, not just the succe s he achieved in Europe but also because he is a high-profile foreign manager, something that is a minority in Serie A. His role under Bobby Robson at Barcelona, coupled with his expansive experience at Porto and Chelsea gave Mourinho a broader knowledge of European football than many of his counterparts and appeared to give him a considerable advantage, especially when it came to leading his team in the Champions League. The English and Spanish leagues have both incorporated foreign concepts and styles to a great degree and it is noticeable at the very top, with frequent appointments of foreign managers at clubs such as Real Madrid and Chelsea as well as long term foreign influence at the likes of Barcelona and Arsenal. This is in comparison to Italy where Mourinhos stint at Inter is the exception to the norm where the attitude appears to be more insular there is only two foreign managers and six years managerial experience outside of Italy in Serie A at the time of writing (three of those belong Marlon Mack Jersey to newly appointed Luis Enrique at Roma). This pales into insignificance when compared to the other three major European leagues and represents the recycling of ideas within Serie A. The lack of variety amongst the coaches in Italy seems to have lulled the Italian footballing culture into a malaise. Within a domestic league lack of progre s is hard to spot if everyone plays in the same style, it only becomes pertinent when coming up against teams from other football cultures that have progre sed, this is when Italian teams weakne ses have been highlighted. Sadly Mourinhos savvy approach to Europes blue ribbon competition didnt have time to rub off on Italys other top competitors, if anything it showed that these teams still have the talent and it is just a matter of applying it correctly in order to bring succe s.This should be considered a positive rather than a negative, Serie A may not quite have the pull it once did but there is still a huge array of skilled players at the top clubs. The Milanese clubs alone boasted an extraordinary number of players who could play in any team in the world. It is hard to argue that teams with players such as Etoo, Sneijder, Milito, Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Pato shouldnt be challenging for the top honours. So, where does Italian football go now in order to fulfil some of the potential that it clearly still has?Firstly, there is already evidence that le sons may have been learnt in some quarters this season, the way Milan approached their second leg against Tottenham was admirable. Deploying Seedorf in a deeper role and playing with a genine three-pronged strikeforce showed aggre sive intent and more important than that there was an urgency to their play that was sorely lacking at the San Siro. They played at a high tempo more akin to their Premier League counterparts and played with full backs pushed forward almost as wingers to provide early width as opposed to using them as wide support arriving late from deep. It was a match they dictated and although they failed to score there were positive signs that they could not only cope with the pace that other european leagues are used to but also control the game at greater speed. For these reasons it was pleasing to see Allegris forward thinking style prevail domestically too.Of course it has been an exciting season away from European competition in Serie A. Those who follow Italian football will have been delighted to watch Udinese this term, playing with verve and width they have been fantastic to watch and people will be hoping they can light up the rest of Europe next season, hopefully still powered by the electric Alexis Sanchez if they can ward off some of Europes finest who are after his services. Napoli have been another team to bring Serie A to life, involved in some astonishing games and challenging the authority of the N