On Thursday, Roma defeated Milan and Atalanta held Liverpool to one goal to advance to the Semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. With a 50% chance of an Italian club winning the competition, Forza Napoli Press explains the implications of those same clubs ending the Serie A campaign in a Top 7 position.
New Format
The Champions League has been reformatted for the 2024/25 campaign, expanding from 32 teams to 36. Each domestic league may enter a certain number of teams in the competition, as determined by their respective association coefficients. Based on the current association coefficient rankings, entries for each of the top domestic leagues will be as follows:
- England: Champion (CH), Runner Up (N2), Third Place (N3) and Fourth Place (N4)
- Spain: CH, N2, N3, N4
- Germany: CH, N2, N3, N4
- Italy: CH, N2, N3, N4
- France: CH, N2, N3 (N3 is one of the four additional positions available with the increase from 32 to 36 teams)
- Netherlands: CH, N2
- Portugal, Belgium, Scotland, Austria: CH
The remaining 11 qualification positions are allocated as follows:
- Champions League winner
- Europa League winner
- One additional position awarded to each of the associations that finish the current season with the highest association club coefficients. These European Performances Spots (EPSs) represent two of the additional four positions available with the increase from 32 to 36 teams.
- Italy has already secured one of these positions (guaranteeing that five Italian clubs will qualify for the 2024/25 Champions League). With only Aston Villa remaining in European competitions, Germany are well-positioned to secured the other coefficient place
- Five teams via the Champions Path playoff. One of these places is the final of the four additional positions available with the increase from 32 to 36 teams.
- Two teams via the League Path playoff
Overlap
The big question, particularly for fans of Bologna, Roma, Atalanta, Lazio and Napoli, is, “What happens if Roma or Atalanta win the Europa League?”.
Answer
Per Article 3.04 of the official Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, if the Champions League or Europa League winner qualifies directly for the league phase of the Champions League (e.g. if Roma win the Europa League and finish in the top 4 in Serie A), the vacant position is not automatically awarded to the next highest ranking club in Serie A.
Rather, the vacancy created by the Europa League winner is filled by the club with the best individual club coefficient of all the clubs that qualify for the Champions Path and the League Path, subject to other conditions.
Per Article 3.04, if the Champions League or Europa League winner qualifies directly for the Europa League or Conference (e.g. if Atalanta win the Europa League and finish 6th in Serie A), then the number of Europa League and Conference League places awarded to Serie A is reduced by one.
However, treatment of the EPS is different. Per Article 3.08, if a club that is allocated an EPS also qualifies for the UEFA Europa League (e.g. If Atalanta win the Europa League and finish 5th in Serie A, putting aside the EPS for a moment), then its place in the Europa League is allocated to the next highest ranking club in Serie A. Moreover, “Each other representative of the domestic championship concerned enters the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League at the stage initially reserved for the club ranked immediately above it in the domestic championship.”
Taken together, the regulations seem to suggest that if the Europa League winner finishes in 5th spot in Serie A, then the EPS will be allocated to the club that finishes 6th in Serie A. Per Article 3.09, “UEFA issues a circular letter at the beginning of the season confirming the final adapted and rebalanced access list on the basis of the final results in the UEFA club competitions and the domestic competitions and addressing any scenario not covered by these regulations in accordance with the above rules and principles.”
Thus, Roma and Atalanta can qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League or by finishing the Serie A campaign in the top 5. For Lazio and Napoli, a top 5 finish guarantees qualification to the Champions League as well. However, for all four clubs, there remains a possibility of qualifying for the Champions League by finishing 6th in Serie A, in conjunction with Roma or Atalanta winning the Europa League, subject to confirmation from UEFA.
