Serie A (Italy)

Serie A (Italy) (Serie A, founded in 1898 as the Italian championship and in the Serie A format since 1929) - the top professional club division in Italy organised by Lega Serie A. Regulations: 20 clubs take part, the season is usually played from August to May in a double round-robin, each team plays 38 matches, home and away against every opponent. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. Teams are ranked by points, if level on points the tie-breakers are applied in order using the head-to-head mini-table among the tied teams, then head-to-head goal difference, then overall goal difference, then overall goals scored, then drawing of lots. If two teams finish level on points in 1st place, the title is decided by a single play-off match hosted by the team ranked higher under the head-to-head criteria, and if level after 90 minutes the winner is decided directly by a penalty shoot-out. If two teams finish level on points in 17th and 18th place, a two-legged play-off is played home and away, the winner is decided by aggregate goals and, if still level on aggregate, a penalty shoot-out is taken in the second leg. At the end of the season the bottom three clubs are relegated to Serie B, and UEFA club competition places are allocated via the final league positions and the Coppa Italia outcome under the UEFA access list, with places typically allocated to the UEFA Champions League for the top league finishers and additional places to the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League via league and cup routes, with cup-related places passing down the league table if the cup winner has already qualified through the league, while the overall number of places for the association can increase under UEFA rules, for example via an additional place from the seasonal association ranking mechanism or via a European titleholder route if not qualified through the league.