Extra Champions League Spot: Still a long-shot for Italy despite improved ranking

In the Europa League,Juventus claimed a 2-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar, butMilan fell to a 2-0 defeat at home against Ferencvaros. Atalanta were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Kairatin the Conference League.

Italy began the week in ninth place in the UEFA season association coefficient, and have since moved up to eighth place in the rankings after the latest update on Thursday night. As things stand, England sit at the top of the rankings with a score of 9.166, Portugal are in second with 8.900, Belgium in third on 8.400, Germany in fourth with 8.285, Turkiye in fifth with 7.900, Spain are sixth with 7.875 and the Netherlands are in seventh with 7.666.

How are the extra Champions League spots decided? Italy, along with England, Spain and Germany, are among the nations whose leagues are guaranteed four places in the Champions League, but there is also a chance of a fifth being added.

Two nations are awarded an extra Champions League spot each, known as the European Performance Spot, which went to England and Spain for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 tournaments. Italy and Germany received the extra Champions League spots in 2024-25, the first edition of the tournament after its expansion to 36 teams.

The European Performance Spot is awarded to the two nations that finish the previous season at the top of the UEFA Season Association Coefficient. Each team is awarded two points for a victory, one point for a draw and zero for a defeat.

Those points are halves for qualifying and play-off matches. Clubs are also awarded bonus points depending on their positions at the end of the league phases, and extra points for each round they progress through after that.

Those scores are added up and divided by the number of clubs a nation has competing in UEFA competitions that season.