Italy · Tier 1 · 20 clubs
Serie A
In US-sports termsThe chess league — Italy's top flight is where tactics are religion and defending is an art form. Winning it earns you the Scudetto, a little shield your club wears on its jersey all next season.
What it is
Italy's top flight — 20 clubs, home of Juventus, the Milan giants (AC and Inter), and Napoli. The championship is called the Scudetto, 'little shield,' worn on the champion's shirts the following year.
How you get in
Stay clear of the bottom three, or come up from Serie B.
What it feeds
Top 4 → Champions League. 5th → Europa League (plus the Coppa Italia winner). 6th → Conference League via the cascade. Bottom 3 → Serie B.
The Milan derby is two ancient rivals sharing one stadium — imagine the Jets and Giants situation, except both teams are actually good and hate each other beautifully.