With Inter beating Benfica, there is the growing prospect of an Italian side in the Champions League Final, but there could also be a scenario meaning fourth place in Serie A is not enough to qualify for next season’s tournament.
If the Nerazzurri are able to get past Benfica, then it’ll be an all-Italian semi-final against either Napoli or Milan, leading to at least one Italian in the Final.
Considering Juventus and Roma are in the Europa League quarter-finals, it is entirely possible a series of events could coincide to create havoc in qualification for the top tier competition.
Currently, the top four teams in Serie A will qualify for the Champions League, but if an Italian wins this season’s tournament and does not finish in the top four, they too will enter.
If an Italian team also wins the Europa League and is out of the top four, that would mean in theory six clubs gained access to the Champions League in 2023-24.
That is not possible, as the maximum limit is five per country, so if that did happen, only the top three in Serie A would qualify plus the winners of the Champions League and Europa League.
The fourth in Serie A would then only qualify for the Europa League.
As things stand, Napoli, Milan and Roma are in the top four, but Inter and Juventus are not.
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