ITALY
Why Italy could have six teams in next season’s Champions League
Atalanta’s victory in the Europa League opens up the possibility of sixth place AS Roma securing a place in next year’s Champions League.
Atalanta BC made history in Dublin on Wednesday night with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen to secure the first European silverware for the side from Bergamo. It’s only the club’s second silverware after a Coppa Italia win back in 1963 but the Aviva Stadium win could benefit Serie A with the Europa League win potentially opening the door for a sixth Italian team to participate in next season’s expanded Champions League.
Due to Italian teams collective coefficient, Serie A (and the Bundesliga) secured an additional place to the expanded 36 team Swiss Model Champions League which commences in September of 2024. Atalanta are automatically guaranteed a place in the UCL by virtue of their Europa League win and should the side from Bergamo end the season in fifth place, then a sixth Italian team would advance to the top continental competition.
At present AS Roma sit in sixth place and cannot be caught by Lazio or Fiorentina (teams in 7th/8th) with the Giallorossi set to face Empoli on the last day of the season but De Rossi’s team playing in the Champions League all depends on Atalanta.
The Bergamo outfit have two games left in the current campaign and face Torino next Sunday and play their game in hand against Fiorentina on 2 June, with the original match being postponed due to the death of Viola general manager Joe Barone.
Roma need to hope that results ensure a fifth place finish for Atalanta to guarantee a sextet of Serie A sides in the 2024-25 Champions League.
A fourth or even third place for ‘La Dea’ would scupper Roma’s UCL dream and open the Champions League door to Lisbon giants Benfica who are the next the highest-ranked team in the UEFA coefficient ranking.