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5 months ago
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After an impressive success at Anfield in the first leg, Atalanta Bergamo welcomes Liverpool on Thursday evening, in the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League, on the lawn of the Gewiss Stadium. If the Dea already has one foot in the semi-final, where Gian Piero Gasperini’s players could face Olympique de Marseille or Benfica Lisbon, it will be necessary to finish the job well to avoid an unprecedented turnaround. Especially since behind this beautiful European poster, another issue is hidden and not the least important. Indeed, if the Italian club were to eliminate the English club, then Serie A will definitively end competition in the UEFA index ranking this season. And unlike other years, the countries were playing really big in this edition due to the official introduction of the new reform of the three European competitions next season. Already last year, Italy had a great epic with six Italian clubs (Inter, Napoli, Milan, AS Roma, Fiorentina and Lazio) represented in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the Europa League and the Europa League Conference.
But Atalanta is not the only transalpine club still competing in Europe. AC Milan must face AS Roma again for an Italian-Italian quarter-final second leg, on the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico. Defeated at San Siro by the minimum score (0-1), the Rossoneri will try to reverse the trend. Regardless of the outcome of the match, Italy is already assured of having at least one candidate in the semi-final of the Europa League. In the smallest of European competitions, Fiorentina is the last representative of the Italian Boot. After a first leg concluded with a tasteless goalless score (0-0) in the Czech Republic, the Viola hopes to advance to the next round by defeating the Viktoria Plzeň club. Serie A can pocket the jackpot in the coming weeks. Good news expected for a championship which needs to experience glorious times for a while, while Calcio is still stuck between archaic development and economic crisis.
A 5th club in the Champions League?
Atalanta’s incredible feat, Roma’s success in the Italian derby against Milan and Fiorentina’s draw at Viktoria Plzen contribute to Italy’s advance in the standings which will award an additional team to two federations for the next edition of the Champions League. Indeed, from 2024-25, we will go from 32 to 36 teams who will compete in a sort of single major championship in which each club will play at least eight matches against always different opponents determined by draw. Once this phase is completed, which will take place from September 2024 to January 2025, the first eight in the ranking will directly advance to the round of 16, while from ninth to twenty-fourth, they will participate in the round of 16. The Champions League will therefore open its doors to four other teams from the next edition. Among these additional places, two will be allocated based on the first two positions in the ranking of individual federations from the last sporting season and therefore the current 2023-2024 campaign. Thanks to the results obtained in the Europa League and the Europa Conference League, Italy continues to lead the way with 18,428 points. The gap with Germany (16,785) and England (16,750) is widening further and brings Serie A even closer to the official release of a fifth team in the next edition of the Champions League.
Spain is desperately behind (15,062) and its return seems utopian. The ranking is completed by France (14,750), Belgium (13,600), the Czech Republic (13,500), Turkey (11,500), Portugal (11,000) and the Netherlands (10,000). To better illustrate Italian domination this season, a scenario unprecedented in the history of football exists: ten Italian teams in Europe next season. A scenario that is obviously difficult to achieve but which at least has the luxury of existing if a few pieces fall on the right side. For this to happen, Roma or Atalanta must first win the Europa League and Fiorentina win the Europa Conference League, which could give a record number of teams in the next European cups. But at the same time, the Dea and the Giallorossi would have to not qualify through a European position in Serie A. This would therefore allow us to potentially have Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus and Bologna qualified for the Champions League through the championship.
The fifth in the championship which would be AS Roma or Atalanta would also be qualified by the qualifying place obtained by the good Italian performances in Europe this season while the winner of the Europa League if it is the 6th and that It’s Atalanta where AS Roma will also qualify. Six Italian teams in the Champions League, a record number and which would reshuffle the cards for the other European places. Currently seventh and eighth, Lazio and Napoli could advance to the Europa League if the Italian Cup is won by Lazio, Juventus or Atalanta. On the Florence side, if the Viola manages to lift the Europa Conference League and finish outside the top 8 without winning the Italian Cup, it would then be moved to the Europa League with the 7th and 8th in Serie A, while the place in the Europa Conference League would go to the best placed team which has not been mentioned, currently Torino which is ninth.
