Which teams will qualify for Europe in Serie A this season?

Finishing inside the top four or a European place for some clubs in their domestic league is the definition of having a successful season.

It is hard to blame them, considering how tough it can be to achieve any of these and Serie A teams are fighting for a European spot.

The top sides in the country battle for the league title and their fans expect them to at least finish inside the top four.

In Italy, Juventus and Inter Milan have turned the Serie A title race into a two-horse one this term, and no one expects another team to come between them now that we are in the second half of the campaign.

It means two Champions League spots will go to them, but in football, you can never say never.

The other two spots are being contested by several clubs in the league, which means many of them will miss out on a top-four place.

Lazio and Napoli finished inside the Champions League places at the end of last season, with Napoli winning the league and the Rome side finishing ahead of Juventus.

However, both clubs have had very contrasting seasons this term and are hardly in the mix to make the top four, which means their spots could be taken by the end of the campaign.

Serie A fans are still buying match tickets to see their favourite players every weekend in hopes the teams will deliver European football. Which club will make it?

Roma

Jose Mourinho delivered back-to-back European finals for Roma and won the Conference League in 2022, but the Portuguese gaffer has been sacked and replaced with the inexperienced Danielle de Rossi.

Mourinho’s stint in Rome was not one of the best in his managerial career, but he also had the least amount of resources at the club.

Roma has struggled to catch up with other top clubs in the Italian league for a very long time, and their fans craved Champions League football.

It nearly came at the end of last season when they reached the final of the Europa League, but they failed to win it.

With Mourinho gone, it becomes harder to qualify for any European competition because De Rossi is inexperienced and most of the players at the club were signed by Mourinho to carry out his style of play.

The next few weeks will be tough and it will be interesting to see how they will perform.

Napoli

Napoli’s owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has always been a controversial figure, but only a few people will expect him to bungle the decision to replace Luciano Spalletti.

The current Italy manager won Serie A for the Partenopei at the end of last season and asked to leave to spend some time enjoying the victory.

The smartest thing to do was to name a successful manager to carry on the good work that Spalletti did, but De Laurentiis named Rudy Garcia who has not been a successful coach since 2011 and subsequently replaced him with Walter Mazzarri.

This decision means Napoli has failed to defend their title and they may not even finish the season inside the top four or any European place.

After 20 league matches, they are 8th on the league standings and it seems obvious they might not play in Europe next term.

Bologna

Thiago Motta has transformed little-known Bologna into one of the most efficient teams in Serie A this term.

The Red and Blues have come from nowhere to spend some weeks inside the top four while delivering fine attacking football.

Bologna is traditionally one of the Italian clubs that struggle with relegation or finish in midtable at best.

However, this term, they have achieved some huge results and we expect them to make the European places.

They have threatened to break into the top four, but the more experienced teams are waking up and this second half of the term will be more difficult for them.

Nevertheless, we expect them to at least finish in the Conference League spots.

Lazio

Lazio easily finished inside the top four last season after some fine work from Maurizio Sarri who made their fans believe again.

However, after losing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to the riches of Saudi Arabia, they have struggled to fill the void he left behind this season.

The Serbian was the backbone of the club and they had expected him to leave at the end of the last campaign, with Juventus also interested in a move for him.

However, they could not be prepared for how much negative impact his departure would have on their squad.

Lazio also did not strengthen their group well enough to prepare for combining Champions League and domestic commitments.

This has now affected them in the league and they are making a late push to finish the season inside the European places.

They are one of the teams outside the top four now who could make a late push for a place there and more fans will buy their tickets in the coming months, hoping to see their team achieve this.

Atalanta

La Dea overachieved in Serie A for a period, but they have failed to make the top four in the last few seasons.

Following some summer spending, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side is now battling to make a return to the top four again.

After 20 league matches, just a point separates them from Fiorentina who occupy the last Champions League spot.

There are 18 more games to play and we expect Atalanta to remain around the Champions League places.

They have been better than they were in the last campaign and that will count for something, making it easier for them to stay in the race for the top four.

However, finishing in a Europa League spot will not be a bad idea and we expect that to be the worst-case scenario, unless they suffer a catastrophic loss of form.

Fiorentina

Fiorentina has been making good progress since Vincenzo Italiano became their manager, and the 46-year-old keeps building his reputation as one of the underrated managers in the Italian game.

His La Viola side reached the final of the Europa Conference League last season, where they lost to West Ham. They also reached the final of the Coppa Italia and lost to Inter Milan.

They have continued to deliver on the domestic stage and are doing well in Europe, which is impressive, considering that they have constantly lost their best players.

This term, they want to do better in the standings, and La Viola ticket is selling well because a top-four finish is on the cards.

After 20 league matches, Fiorentina is fourth on the league standings and has built consistency into their game.

This is a recipe for success, and it is hard to see them losing that spot before the final weeks of the term ends.

The other clubs challenging them for that spot have not fixed their inconsistency problem, and Fiorentina could pull away in the coming weeks.

With the top two spots gone, Atalanta is the only club likely to beat Fiorentina to a spot inside the top four.

But La Viola must watch out for complacency and not get carried away with the success they are enjoying.