Italy’s chances of attaining an additional spot in next year’s Champions League remain slim despite a Europa League and Conference League victories for play-off victory for Bologna over Brann on Thursday night, as Inter added to Juventus and Atalanta losses with their 3-1 defeat against Bodo/Glimt.
Where Italy stands in race for extra Champions League spot after play-off first legs
As things stand, Italy remains in fifth place in UEFA’s season association coefficient ranking, which is used to determine the nations that receive an extra spot in the following year’s Champions League. Only the nations that finish the season in the top two will receive an additional Champions League place.
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It hasn’t been a brilliant week for the Italian sides competing in Europe, as three of the five teams competing over the last few weeks slipped to defeats: Juventus were beaten 5-2 by Galatasaray, Atalanta were beaten 2-0 by Borussia Dortmund and Inter were beaten 3-1 by Bodo/Glimt, all in the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday.
BODO, NORWAY – FEBRUARY 18: Jens Petter Hauge of Bodo/Glimt celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with teammate Kasper Hogh during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Knockout Play-off First Leg match between FK Bodo/Glimt and FC Internazionale Milano at Aspmyra Stadion on February 18, 2026 in Bodo, Norway. (Photo by Martin Ole Wold/Getty Images)
Bologna beat Brann 1-0 away from home on Thursday, while Fiorentina picked up a 3-0 win away against Jagiellonia.
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These results leave Italy in fifth place in UEFA’s season association coefficient ranking with a score of 16.071 points.
England top the rankings with 21.513, Germany are currently second with 17.071, Portugal are third with 16.600 and Spain are fourth with 16.156.
How is the extra Champions League spot determined?
LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 01: Zinedine Zidane places the Champions League Trophy onto the plinth after the UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Final match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid CF at Wembley Stadium on June 01, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
The nations that finish the season in the top two on UEFA’s season association coefficient are awarded one additional spot each in the following season’s Champions League.
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So, how does the coefficient ranking work?
Teams competing in the three UEFA competitions (the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League) are awarded points based on their results in the European competitions. Nations are awarded two points for each of its teams’ wins, one for a draw and zero for a defeat. Those points are halved for qualifying matches.
Bonus points are also awarded depending on each team’s finish in the league phase table. The team that finishes top of the Champions League pile gets an additional 12 points, the team in second gets 11.750, the team in third gets 11.500 and so on all the way down to the team in 36th. The winner of the Europa League league phase is awarded 6 points and 4 for the team at the top of the Conference League table. Points are awarded for places 1-24 in both the Europa League and Conference League.
MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 11: The UEFA Champions League trophy is cleaned as it is displayed on a plinth at the side of the pitch prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Internazionale Milano and Feyenoord at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on March 11, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
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Additional bonus points are also awarded for each knockout stage that a team passes through.
All of those points are added up and are then divided by the number of teams that the nation in question has competing in UEFA competitions.
Italy’s collective points tally stands at 112.500, which comes to a coefficient score of 16.071 when divided by the number of Italian sides involved in European competition this season (seven).
That score of 16.071 keeps Italy in fifth place in this season’s association coefficient ranking.