As many as 8 Serie A teams could play in Europe next year, but it will take a sensational combination to make this scenario happen
Serie A, 8 squadre in Europa il prossimo anno: come può verificarsi lo scenario clamoroso (SerieANews.com)
Italian soccer, after a banner 2023-24 with eight teams in the cups, is preparing for a more complicated year. The Uefa ranking now smiles on England and Spain, leaving Italy and Germany to chase a miracle from the quarterfinals onward. Still, Serie A is not giving up: even without the bonus of fifth in Champions, our teams are ready to do battle for a place in the European sun.
At the cup banquet, the giants have returned hungry after the break. A year ago, Italians and Germans dominated the scene, but today the wind has changed. It pays to face reality: in 2025-26, Serie A should have 7 qualified teams. The top 4 in the Champions League, the 5th and the winner of the Italian Cup in the Europa League, the 6th in the Conference.
No more gifts: playing the Coppa Italia final against an already qualified big – like an Empoli versus Inter – is no longer enough. Either raise the trophy, or you’re left high and dry, with the 6th taking the Europa League and the 7th settling for the Conference. Today? Inter, Napoli, Atalanta and Bologna in Champions, Juve and Lazio in the Europa League, Roma in the Conference. But destiny is yet to be written.
Squadre di Serie A in Europa: chi può ancora sognare
Fiorentina and Milan, at the moment, are watching from the sidelines. But the last word is not said. The Viola, eighth in the standings, has one card to play: win the Conference League. If it makes it and stays out of the top 7, it will place in the Europa League, bringing the number of Serie A teams in Europe to eight.
Squadre di Serie A in Europa: chi può ancora sognare (LaPresse) – SerieANews.com
Imagine the scene: fans at the Franchi in delirium, a trophy raised to the sky and a ticket to Nyon. Same for AC Milan: a win in the Coppa Italia against Inter in the semifinals and then in the final (perhaps against a surprising Empoli) would mean an assured Europa League. In that case, Lazio would slip into the Conference and Roma would be left with a fistful.
And then there is Lazio, which is certainly not standing idly by. Baroni’s biancocelesti have two paths to Europe. The most scintillating? Lifting the Europa League on May 21 in Bilbao. If they succeed and are already in the top 4, they go to the Champions without disrupting anyone else’s plans. But if they finish fifth, here’s the twist: five Italians in Champions, with the Europa League reserved only for the Italian Cup or sixth.
The Coppa Italia is the wild card that can shuffle the cards. Take Empoli: if the Tuscans, against all odds, beat a big team in the final, they would take the Europa League, pushing the 6th into the Conference and leaving the 7th at home. Or, if an already qualified team (say Juve) wins the trophy, 6th goes to the Europa League and 7th to the Conference.
It’s a headache puzzle, but Italian soccer has accustomed us to these twists and turns. Think of Gasperini’s Genoa years ago: from newly promoted to a step away from Europe, then faded. Today, with 8 teams in the balance, Serie A is a ring where every punch counts.
This article Serie A, 8 teams in Europe next year: how the sensational scenario can happen appeared in its original version first on SerieANews.
