Five days to go and anything is still possible: here’s what happens with the Coppa Italia final, Fiorentina’s run, European qualifiers and criteria in the relegation zone
Europa, salvezza e “variabile” Fiorentina: cosa può accadere fino a fine campionato serieanews.com
At certain times of the season, looking at the standings is like reading a detective story in the middle: you know something is going to happen, but you still don’t quite understand what. Especially if you are among those who dream of a ticket to Europe or among those who hope, with fingers crossed, that they won’t have to use it for the Serie B.
With five days to go, Serie A has turned into a chess match between blocks of teams that study each other, fear each other, overtake each other and then find each other. And in between are the cups. The ones already won, the ones to be played, the ones that – due to the usual all-Italian entanglement – risk complicating things even more.
Milan and Bologna. One of the two will raise the Coppa Italia, but it is already clear that that cup will not just be a trophy. It will also be a pass for the Europa League. Unless, of course, whoever wins it is already in the top six: in that case, it will free up an extra place for the Conference League. And there the story changes again.
Because today, as we write, Milan is ninth in the standings. Too far from the useful zone to qualify via championship. For Conceiçao, the only way is to win the cup. Bologna, on the other hand, is there, firmly fourth. Should it triumph in the final, it would leave the “bonus spot” to seventh in the standings.
It doesn’t end there. Because among the Italians in the running is also Fiorentina, engaged in the Conference League semifinals. And if the Viola were to win the tournament, it would have guaranteed access to the Europa League, regardless of Serie A placement. In that case? Three Italians in the EL, none in the Conference. A kind of domino effect that could throw off all other calculations.
Sette posti, mille incastri: la corsa all’Europa e quella alla salvezza
Inter and Napoli are at 71. Barring sudden collapses, they will fly into the Champions League together with Atalanta, the third solid and concrete force again. Behind, everything is in question. Bologna, Juventus, Lazio, Roma and Fiorentina: in five for three safe European places, with the shadow of the Cup looming over all. And with Milan watching, ready to re-enter through the window.
Sette posti, mille incastri: la corsa all’Europa e quella alla salvezza – serieanews.com
The risk? That some team will finish seventh and find itself out due to an unfavorable cup interlock. That’s why every point counts. That’s why every goal can change destiny.
Down below, however, it is a war of nerves for salvation. Monza at 15 points is now doomed. But seven points and six teams dance between 19th and 14th place: Venezia (25 points), Empoli (25), Lecce (26), Cagliari (30), Parma (31), and Verona (32).
Who gets saved, who gets relegated, who ends up in the salvation playoff. Because yes, also this year in case of a tie on the third-last place points, a dry playoff is played, just as it happens for the Scudetto. An in or out game, at the home of the one placed better according to the standings. What if there are three or more? Avulse ranking, then tiebreaker between the two worst.
In the image you see the criteria for finishing tied on points. These criteria apply to the race for the “European” positions and for the “avulse” rankings, but also for the pre-showdown. In fact, these criteria are also used to decide which team will play at home. At the last gasp: raise your hand if you do not think that some of the goals of this championship will be decided just like that.
This article Europe, salvation and “variable” Fiorentina: what can happen until the end of the championship appeared in its original version first on SerieANews.
