Official name: Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A (Serie A)
Number of participants: 20.
Each participant plays 38 matches. In the first lap (andata) matches are carried out on the field of the first competitor, in the second lap (ritorno) – on the field of another one. At the same time sequence of contests is identical in both laps.
The teams that take the last three places in the standings, move down to the next division of the country – Serie B. Consequently, three clubs from the Serie B go up to the top division of the Italian championship.
The team application for the season should not exceed 25 people, while 4 footballers must be Italy-raised, and 4 players must be trainees of the club academy. From the 2015/16 season it has become harder for players from states-nonmembers of EU to enter the Serie A teams, because of stiffening of relevant regulations.
Victory in a match brings 3 points to a club, a draw – 1 point, defeat brings nothing. If two or more teams have an equal score, additional rates are to be considered under regulations. Most prioritized among them (after the number of points) is the amount of goals in games played between these teams. In case this index coincides, the following factors are taken into account:
The goal difference in matches between each other
The number of goals scored in matches between each other
The total goal difference in all matches
The number of goals scored in all matches
The number of goals scored in all away matches
Draw
When speaking about the tournament winner determination, this rule does not apply. The “golden match” score defines the national champion. At the same time, one more condition must be fulfilled: the Italian national team should not in parallel take part in major international competitions.
As of the end of the 2016/17 season three places are assigned to Italian teams in the UEFA Champions League. First two of them get directly to the group round, and one club starts from the third qualifying round. The 4th and the 5th places in the championship standings provide teams with tickets to the Europa League (the 4th place brings a direct way to the group round, the 5th team begins from the 4th qualifying round). Another place in the Europa League qualification is given to the Coppa Italia winner or to the finalist of this tournament. If both of these teams go to the Champions League, the club, ranked 6th in the Serie A standings, receives a ticket to the Europa League.
Serie A got its current format in 1929. And the threshold of 20 teams as participants of the competition was established in the 2004/05 season. The championship of Italy is often called “scudetto”. During all next season the national champion wears on the uniform a badge with a national flag. For every ten titles the club is awarded a star above the emblem. “Juventus” has three stars of a kind, “Inter” and “Milan” – one for each (both teams have two wins left to the second award, each of them has 18 wins at the moment). “Genoa” needs one more win to receive a star, however, the Genoese have not won the championship title since 1924. On the completion of the 2015/16 season, “Crotone” made its way to Serie A for the first time over history.
