Five Serie A clubs will qualify for next year’s Champions League

As many as six Serie A teams could compete in the Champions League next season following strong European showings by Italian clubs.

The Champions League is being revamped, with UEFA increasing the number of teams involved from 32 to 36 as they implement a new eight-match group stage. Two of those extra four spots will go to the leagues that perform best in Europe this season based on their coefficient ranking and Serie A has already secured one of those places.

It was confirmed after Roma and Atalanta both reached the semi-finals of the Europa League and Fiorentina reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, while four out of five Premier League clubs were eliminated.

Aston Villa progressed in the Europa Conference League, while Arsenal and Manchester City crashed out of the Champions League and Liverpool and West Ham were knocked out of the Europa League.

As a result, the team that finishes fifth in Serie A this season will compete in next year’s Champions League. However, a sixth Italian club could join them if either Roma or Atalanta win the Europa League and finish outside the top four.

The Bundesliga is now the favourite to earn the second European Performance Spot following the Premier League’s poor results. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have both reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, while Bayer Leverkusen are through to the semi-finals of the Europa League.

This week’s results have seen Germany leapfrog England in the coefficient rankings and they need two more wins or a win and two draws to seal the second place.

As a result, it is now highly unlikely the team that finishes fifth in the Premier League this season will qualify for the Champions League as England’s hopes of sealing the second European Performance Spot rest on Villa winning the Conference League and all three Bundesliga sides failing to win any more games.