The Premier League’s hopes of securing a fifth Champions League spot for the upcoming season have been dashed, but Serie A and the Bundesliga are set to benefit from this setback.
In the 2024/25 season, Serie A will have a minimum of five teams participating in the Champions League, thanks to their success in UEFA’s coefficient rankings.
Roma and Atalanta’s progression to the semi-finals of the Europa League, along with Fiorentina’s advancement to the last four of the Europa Conference League, have secured Serie A’s additional two spots.
The upcoming season’s redesigned 36-team tournament will allocate additional spots to two leagues via the ‘European Performance Spots’. Unfortunately, the Premier League seems to have lost its chance for these extra places as Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and West Ham all failed to progress in the Champions League and Europa League.
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On the other hand, the Bundesliga has secured a strong position in the rankings, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund reaching the semi-finals of the UCL, and Bayer Leverkusen earning a spot in the Europa League semi-finals. As a result, the Bundesliga currently stands in second place, trailing behind Serie A.
If the coefficient race remains unchanged, the team finishing in fifth place in Serie A will secure a spot in the next season’s UCL, a position currently held by Roma, while Atalanta is in sixth place.
Should either of them win the Europa League and end up outside the top four in the Italian league, Serie A will have six representatives in the UCL for the 2024/25 season. Despite the widespread belief in the Premier League’s superiority, these statistics suggest otherwise.
The upcoming season will see the Champions League increase from 32 teams to 36, utilizing a ‘Swiss’ format. During the qualifying stage, teams will compete in eight matches – four at home and four away. The top eight teams will advance to the last 16, while the teams ranked ninth to 24th will face off in two-legged play-offs.