The jury remains out on the Champions League finale. Sure, the goals flowed across Europe and having 18 matches played simultaneously is as close as football will get to replicating NFL’s Red Zone, the absolute gold-standard for fans of action unfolding in multiple places at once.

But “Matchday Mayhem”, as CBS labelled the eighth round of games of the revamped Champions League, lacked any major surprise. Manchester City sneaked through despite losing three of their eight games and Celtic are the only team from outside Europe’s top eight leagues to progress. Plus ça change.

As far as Serie A clubs are concerned, whatever drama was on offer during the final round of the Champions League group stage did not exactly make for thrilling viewing.

Ahead of Wednesday night, Italy had three teams in the top-eight spots of the league table, which guarantee a direct route to the Round of 16. By the end of the night, only Inter Milan had managed to punch their ticket.

Lautaro Martinez continued his purple patch – the Argentine has scored eight goals in his last seven appearances in all competitions – as the Nerazzurri dismantled 10-man Monaco at San Siro to finish fourth in the league phase.

Inter kept a clean sheet in seven of their eight Champions League fixtures and missed out on second place on goal difference alone.

“We’ve had an incredible run,” Simone Inzaghi said. “I’m extremely pleased with our performance. The new Champions League format is much more demanding for players and staff. With eight different opponents, you can’t prepare for matches in the same way as before.”

Inter will face one of PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord Milan and Juventus in the Round of 16. Mouthwatering as the prospect of watching Derby della Madonnina or the Derby d’Italia on the European stage is, the reality is that Inter would be overwhelming favourite in both ties on current form.

Milan’s hopes of qualifying for the Round of 16 came crashing down in Zagreb as the Rossoneri lost 2-1 to Fabio Cannavaro’s Dinamo.

Trailing to Milan Baturina’s first-half goal and a man down following Yunus Munsah’s sending off, Il Diavolo again had Christian Pulisic to thank for drawing them level early in the second half, before former Juventus man Marko Pjaca condemned them to a third defeat in Europe this season.

The sight of Sergio Conceicao smoking a cigar after winning the Italian Supercup a week into his reign earlier this month is nothing but a distant memory now, with Milan showing all the warning signs that punctuated Paulo Fonseca’s six-month tenure.

The Rossoneri are slow in possession, disjointed off the ball and, with the exception of Pulisic, Rafael Leao and Tijjani Reijnders, lack any matchwinners. Far more of a concern, however, was Milan’s passive approach, which seemingly infuriated Conceicao.

“This is the reality at this level,” a visibly angry Portuguese said in his press conference. “How do you coach aggression? It’s about individual pride, personal ambition, and the drive to succeed.

“Of course, tactics and formations play a role, but that’s not the main point. We need to be much more aggressive and assertive. We need to turn things around and do better. We still have a lot to play for.”

Like Fonseca in October, Conceicao needs a reaction in the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday night. Whether he will get it, remains entirely to be seen.

If the Portuguese was angry after the defeat in Zagreb, Thiago Motta cut a resigned figure on the touchline at the Allianz Stadium as Juventus slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Benfica to finish the league phase in 20th place and were booed off at the final whistle.

The days of the Bianconeri strutting their stuff in European football’s premier competition are long gone. Juventus, plainly, are simply making up the numbers in the Champions League, which could not have been part of the plan when the club sanctioned €200m-worth of signings in the summer.

Reasons for optimism ahead of the play-offs are thin on the ground considering Juventus have failed to score in half of their European fixtures this season and Motta conceded improvements were desperately needed.

“We have to address some key areas quickly,” he said. “I don’t blame individual players after a defeat. If we’re not good enough to beat the opposition, I take full responsibility.”

As well he might, for he’s burned through most of the credit he had in the bank at the beginning of the season simply by virtue of not being Massimiliano Allegri.

Atalanta, too, missed out on a pass to the Round of 16 but can hold their head high unlike Milan and Juventus. La Dea twice came from behind to earn a point in Barcelona courtesy of a stunning finish from Ederson and Mario Pasalic’s late equaliser and will face one of Sporting or Club Bruges in the play-offs, with Lille or Aston Villa potentially waiting in the Round of 16.

Bologna, meanwhile, ended their first Champions League campaign with a positive draw in Lisbon and the Rossoblu will feel their chances of reaching at least the play-off stages were damaged beyond repair in the opening rounds.

The format may have changed, but Serie A’s hopes of success in the Champions League remain firmly on Inter’s shoulders.