http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/76265.html?CMP=chromeThe Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) has confirmed there will be four Bundesliga entrants in the Champions League for the 2012-13 season. Serie A will only have three places as a result.
After recent disappointment for Serie A teams in Europe - all three Italian sides in the Champions League lost their home ties while Napoli were eliminated from the Europa League - German sides have moved ahead in the UEFA co-efficient rankings. That means that, despite Inter winning the Champions League last season, Italy are now too far behind Germany in the rankings to recover.
A DFL statement read: "As a result of this week's results in Europe, with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen both winning, while Napoli were eliminated, Germany further extended its lead on Italy in the UEFA co-efficients ranking to secure third spot in the ranking behind England and Spain. The German clubs have now accumulated 68,103 points and have extended their lead on Serie A [59,981] to 8,122 points. Italy are consequently no longer able to take over third spot this season. By securing third spot in the UEFA ranking, the Bundesliga will get three places in the Champions League group phase from 2012-13 on, while the fourth German representative starts in the play-offs of the competition."
The change means that, from 2012-13, there will be no place in the Europa League for the team finishing sixth in Serie A.
