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The Uefa coefficient places Italy as the fourth best league in the Europe and Uefa has reduced Italy’s Champions League slots to three. Uefa has finally made a decision that see the winners of the Uefa Europa League qualify automatically to the group stage of the Uefa Champions League, an opportunity that should be grabbed by Italian teams.
AC Milan and Internazionale Milan join Juventus as Italy’s powerhouse in the Champions League. The two Milan clubs failed to qualify for Europe in the 2015/16 season and their performances in the league were sub-par.
Juventus brought Italy back to Europe by playing Barcelona in the Champions League final in 2015. They are the only Italian team that can make a mark in the Champions League amid Roma’s performances against other clubs in the competition.
But aside Juventus what are the other teams in the league doing in order to help Serie A compete equally in Europe.
Serie A Should Make Europa League a Priority
In the 2015 Europa League, Fiorentina and SSC Napoli made the semi-finals which gave Italy a great chance to advance to the final. The two teams were knocked out by winners Sevilla of Spain and finalists FC Dnipro of Ukraine.
In 2016, no Italian team made the semi-finals of the competition. Spain has won the last six club competitions because they have the numbers to compete.
With Italy’s three slots, the third placed team in the league also plays in a qualifying stage in order to advance to the group stage.
Lazio placed third in 2014/15 and qualified for the qualifying rounds of the 2015/16 Champions league but lost in two games to Bayern Leverkusen. The Bundeslisga was therefore represented by Bayern Munich, Borussia Monchengladbach, Wolfsburg and Bayer O4 Leverkusen whiles Serie A was reduced to Juventus and Roma, two teams that ended their respective campaigns at the Round of 16.
Internazionale Milan, Fiorentina and Sassuolo should make it a priority to fight for the Europa League title because if Serie A wins the Europa League it gives the league three automatic entries into the Group stage which gives Serie A chance to advance further in the Champions League.
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