Will Germany invade Italy for fourth UEFA spot?

The demise of Italian football could be rubber-stamped at the end of the forthcoming season.

Should the Serie A teams competing in European football fail to out-perform those of the Bundesliga, the fourth Champions League qualification spot will be stripped from them and awarded to the Germans.

The number of European places are determined by the UEFA League Coefficient. It ranks the leagues of Europe by the results of their teams in the Champions League and the Europa League (previously UEFA Cup) over the past five seasons.

Points awarded each season – two for a win, one for a draw – are divided by the number of teams that participated for that nation in that season. For the league coefficient the season's point totals for the last five seasons must be added up. In the preliminary rounds of both the Champions League and Europa League, the awarded points are halved.

Bonus points are allocated for: qualifying for the Champions League group phase and Europa League round of 16 (4 bonus points); Reaching the second round of the Champions League; and reaching the quarter, semi and final of both Champions League and Europa League.

Only three nations possess four Champions League spots - England, Spain and Italy. As it stands, Italy have 62.91 points. Germany are now trailing them by just under seven points, at 56.69.

Dropping out of the top three would serve as a huge embarrassment to the notoriously proud Italians.

The level of quality in Serie A has been questioned continuously over the past five or six years. The quality in Germany, however, has increased remarkably in the last couple of seasons.

The previous Bundesliga campaign proved surprisingly enticing. In a highly competitive year, Wolfsburg historically claimed the club’s first league title, trouncing Bayern Munich 5-1 on the way. The side boasted the most successful strikeforce in the league’s history. Bosnian hotshot Edin Dzeko and Brazilian Grafite racked up a 54 goal-haul – littered with outrageous efforts.

Serie A, in contrast, was won by Inter for a fourth consecutive season. Their closest competitors, Juventus and AC Milan, jointly finished ten points behind Mourinho’s side.

Since then, both the former World Player of the Year - Kaka - and the league’s top scorer - Inter’s Ibrahimovic - have left for Spain.

There is still hope for the Italians. The deal that saw Ibrahimovic’s departure to Barcelona has brought the explosive Samuel Eto’o to Serie A. The Bundesliga’s second-hottest talent (behind Franck Ribery), Diego, has left Germany in favour of Italian side Juventus.

Another ‘green shoot’ for Serie A is the intriguing incident that occurred on an AC Milan team-bonding session.

Club owner (and Italian PM) Silvio Berlusconi, is rumoured to have demanded jaded superstar Ronaldinho to stand on a table in front of his teammates and promise to ‘live right’ and rediscover the form that resulted him in becoming the biggest attraction in world football. A potentially patronising experience that is said to have emotionally-touched the Brazilian.

If the former great keeps his promise, Italian football might just be rescued.