Are Serie A sides underperforming in the Champions League league phase, and will it hurt their coefficient?

The 2025-26 UEFA Champions League season is now entering its key moment and looking at the tables across European competitions, the Italian teams haven't had the best start. Right now, only Inter are currently in the top eight of the Champions League league phase with three wins in three matches. However, if we compare the performances of the Serie A sides to the ones of the past season, things are not that different. In fact, at this stage last season, before the fourth matchday, the Nerazzurri were among the top eight teams with seven points from three matches, standing as the only Italian side in the tournament's upper tier. Looking below, things are not that different. Atalanta, despite the managerial change, find themselves in a similar position to last season, one point worse off, sitting 17th with four points from three games compared to five at the same stage last year. 

UEFA Champions League Matchday 4 storylines, schedule, live stream: How to watch UCL on Paramount+

Pardeep Cattry

Juventus have performed noticeably worse than they did last season under Thiago Motta and are now preparing for their first match under new coach Luciano Spalletti against Sporting CP. The change comes after the dismissal of Igor Tudor, who replaced Motta last season, but managed to collect only two points from the opening three games. The Bianconeri are currently sitting in 25th place, outside of the playoff spots compared to the six points they had last year at this point of the competition. And then we have Napoli, currently sitting in 23rd place with three points. Antonio Conte's team need to improve their results in the coming weeks if they want to at least qualify for the playoffs. Compared to last season, the first under the new Champions League format, there are only four Italian Serie A teams participating this year, whereas last season there were five, thanks to the strong performances of Italian clubs in the previous campaign. Despite reaching the Champions League final last season with Inter, Italian teams were not able to retain the fifth spot for the current season and as of today thing are not looking great for the coming year, also looking at the other teams involved in the Europa and Conference League. Let's take a look at the current UEFA Country Coefficients, knowing that only the first two spots will be granted of an additional spot in the next Champions League: 

It's too early to tell whether Italian clubs will be able to secure an additional Champions League spot for next season, but they'll certainly need to improve their results to make it possible. Fiorentina have been the best one so far, winning both of their Conference League games, while Bologna and AS Roma have struggled to find consistency. Gian Piero Gasperini's side have only managed one win and two defeats, and Bologna currently sit on four points after three matches. They all need to improve before it will be too late and the upcoming week of European soccer will tell us more. 

Matchday 4 TV schedule

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