Champions 2023-2024, because there could be five Italian teams

The Champions League is one step away: the one that Inter will try to win on 10 June in Istanbul and the one that the Nerazzurri also want to play next season. Inzaghi and his men, in fact, at this point have two ways to participate in the Champions League 2023-24: enter it as reigning champions – in this case they would be in the first pot in the draw, together with the Scudetto-winning Napoli – or from placed among the top four of the Serie A. The first option would allow Inter to play in the next Champions League even if they finish the championship beyond fourth place. But the second option is also definitely within the Nerazzurri’s reach: three days from the end of the championship, Inter are third at +5 on the fifth (Milan), +7 on the sixth (Roma) and +8 on the seventh (the ‘Atalanta).

Five Italians

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What if one of Juventus and Roma wins the Europa League finishing beyond fourth place (as in the current case of the Giallorossi)? Italy would thus have five teams in the next Champions League: the first four qualified plus the winner of the Europa League, which will automatically assign a place in the Champions League to whoever lifts the cup in the final in Budapest.

The fourth relegated?

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Arithmetic also admits another scenario, more unlikely but still possible: Inter champion of Europe but out of the top four in Serie A and Roma (or Juve) champion in the Europa League but out of the top four. The UEFA rules are clear: Champions and Europa League holders play the next Champions League, while Italy cannot have more than five clubs in the next Champions League. In the big cup, therefore, the top three of Serie A would go plus the two holders of the main European cups: the fourth classified would slip into the Europa League.

running

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And here Fiorentina also comes into play, virtually almost out of the 2023-24 cups but still in the running in this Conference League (tomorrow the Viola will play the second leg semi-final at Basel) and in the Italian Cup final (on 24 May against Inter). If Fiorentina win one of the two trophies, they would secure a place in the next Europa League.

The variable

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The picture is already quite complicated but further shuffling the cards could be the verdicts of our sports justice or the sentence of the EU Court on Juve: the future of the black and whites in Europe is sub iudice. Doing too many calculations, in short, would be half a feat. Only two certainties: no more than eight Italians in total in the next cups, a maximum of five in the Champions League.