The fifth team in the next Champions League is a sweet reality for Italian football. The goal, much sought after throughout the season, became concrete with two rounds to go before the end of the European competitions. The qualification of Roma, Atalanta and Fiorentina to the semi-finals of the Europe and Conference League, together with the simultaneous elimination of Liverpool (at the hands of the Bergamo players) and West Ham (overtaken by Bayer Leverkusen), allowed Italy to irretrievably break away from the England, third in the UEFA ranking for the 2023-24 season. This ranking, in fact, will assign to the top two federations five rightful participants in the top continental competition.
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Italy is sure of not falling lower than second place and will compete for glory with Germany. The ranking currently sees us in the lead as follows: Italy 19,285, Germany 17,642, England 17,375 with Spain in fourth position at 15,312. The gap, therefore, is such that even if Roma, Atalanta and Fiorentina were eliminated with two defeats in the semi-finals and at the same time Aston Villa were to win the Conference League by winning the next three matches, England would not be able to close the gap that it was created.
