If English clubs have dismal seasons in the UEFA Champions League, it might cost the Premier League an additional berth for the next season.
Changes mandated by UEFA will take effect in the next season. Starting in 2024-25, Europe’s most prized club competition will have a new structure with four more teams in the group stage.
One of these new rules will enable the top two nations in the standings to qualify an additional club from their first division for the Champions League. It will be club coefficients that will determine which two European leagues get these two automatic qualifying spots.
Italy set to overtake Premier League clubs?
Given the Premier League’s consistent performance over the last seven years, it was generally assumed that one of these additional slots would be assured for an English team.
While German, Italian, and Spanish teams are now ahead of the English in the fight for these two additional berths, the English squads are currently falling well behind.
The fact that both Newcastle and Manchester United are now in the worst possible positions in their respective groups, with elimination a real possibility, is not encouraging either, as per Daily Mail.
Thus, with Italy’s recent rise in the UEFA Coefficient season rating, Serie A teams may have a better chance of pursuing a coveted trophy. Italian influence in Europe will increase thanks to the UEFA Coefficient increase, as outlined by Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio.
The Italian Serie A league scored 9.142 in the 2023-24 UEFA ranking. This result has established the nation second in the coefficient standings after first-placed Germany (with 10.071).
Italian teams have excelled in recent years in UEFA competitions
AC Milan, Inter, and Lazio all had strong showings in the UEFA Champions League, which contributed to the country’s improvement in the rankings. Then there’s Atalanta, who are flourishing in the Europa League, and Fiorentina, who are leading the way in the Conference League.
The Italian journalist claims that if Italy maintains its current standing in the Coefficients, the fifth-placed team in the Serie A will also qualify for the Champions League group stage.
Currently, the top four sides in Serie A at the end of the season qualify for the group stages of Europe’s prized competition.
This will undoubtedly raise the bar for competitiveness in Serie A and reward the bonus team that make it to Europe monetarily.
What are UEFA coefficients and how are they counted?
Each country’s club coefficient is averaged across all of its representatives in European club competitions like the Europa League and Europa Conference League.
The coefficient for each nation is calculated by totaling the points scored by all of its teams and then dividing that total by the total number of teams competing in the tournament.
Points are provided for both victories and draws in the Champions League group stage, and the coefficients reflect this. When clubs advance to the knockout stages, they get a bonus, and the more rounds they go to, the more money they receive.
The point system is identical to that of the Champions League, with the exception that finishing second in the Europa League earns just two points, as opposed to four in the Champions League.
The point totals for the group winners and runners-up in the Europa Conference League are split in half. Meanwhile, the incentive for surviving the elimination stages does not become available until the semi-finals.
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