Serie A Champions League race, schedule: AC Milan, Juventus close to clinching while Roma, Atalanta battle

With only five Serie A games left before the end of the 2023-24 season, there are a lot of things that still need to be assessed in the Italian league. Inter have already officially won the Scudetto and they also became the first team to qualify for the next edition of the UEFA Champions League. There are four other spots available for the major European competition, plus the Europa League and the Conference League. 

Due to the European results of the current season, Italy’s Serie A and one more of Europe’s domestic leagues will receive additional Champions League places as part of the incoming expansion to a 36-club competition. Four more clubs will qualify than is currently the case and two of those four spots will be awarded to the domestic leagues which have fared best across Europe this season. There is also a possible scenario where six Italian teams end up in the next Champions League. If AS Roma or Atalanta were to win the current Europa League while not ending up in the top five of the domestic league, Italy will have six teams representing their country in the next Champions League. 

No matter what happens, two Italian teams will also qualify for the next edition of the Europa League, sixth place of the Serie A table and also the winner of the Coppa Italia. However, with both finalists, Juventus and Atalanta, likely to end up in the top six, that’s why the seventh place should be also valid for the Europa spot, with the eight place becoming valid for the Conference League qualification. 

Let’s now take a look at the schedule for the remaining five matchdays: 

2. AC Milan – 69 pointsJuventus (A), Genoa (H), Cagliari (H), Torino (A), Salernitana (H)

3. Juventus – 64 points AC Milan (H), AS Roma (A), Salernitana (H), Bologna (A), Monza (H)

4. Bologna – 62 pointsUdinese (H), Torino (A), Napoli (A), Juventus (H), Genoa (A)

5. AS Roma – 58 pointsNapoli (A), Juventus (H), Atalanta (A), Genoa (H), Empoli (A)

6. Atalanta – 54 points*Empoli (H), Salernitana (A), AS Roma (H), Lecce (H), Torino (A), Fiorentina (H)

7. Lazio – 52 pointsVerona (H), Monza (A), Empoli (H), Inter (A), Sassuolo (H)

8. Napoli – 49 pointsAS Roma (H), Udinese (A), Bologna (H), Fiorentina (A), Lecce (H) 

9. Fiorentina – 47 points*Sassuolo (H), Verona (A), Monza (H), Napoli (H), Cagliari (A), Atalanta (A)

10. Torino – 46 pointsInter (A), Bologna (H), Verona (A), AC Milan (H), Atalanta (A)

*Atalanta and Fiorentina have one game in hand