Italy’s hopes of securing a fifth Champions League spot for next season took a major hit after Milan and Atalanta were eliminated from European competitions. Their early exits left Italy with minimal points, allowing Spain to maintain a strong grip on second place in the UEFA seasonal ranking.
England leads the rankings with 20.892 points, followed by Spain at 18.035 and Italy at 17.812. Portugal (15.550) and Germany (15.546) trail behind, but the gap to the top spots is becoming increasingly difficult to close. With Barcelona and Atletico Madrid already in the Champions League Round of 16, Spain has a stronger chance to accumulate points, while Italy only has Inter confirmed in the next stage. In the Europa League, Lazio and Roma will fight for progression, but Spain also remains competitive with Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad.
Further complicating Italy’s chase is UEFA’s revised point allocation system, which gives greater weight to Champions League results compared to the Europa League and Conference League. Each victory and qualification round is then divided by the number of participating teams—eight for Italy, seven for Spain. With fewer Italian teams left in contention, catching up in the rankings will be a daunting challenge.
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For Italy to stay competitive and keep its Champions League ambitions alive, the remaining clubs must deliver strong performances in the upcoming rounds. Otherwise, the dream of a fifth team in Europe’s top competition could slip away entirely.
