League coefficient
The league coefficient is used to rank the leagues of Europe, and thus determine the number of clubs from a league that will participate in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
The UEFA ranking determines the number of teams competing in the season after the next, not in the first season after the publication of the ranking. Thus, the 2011 ranking determines the allocation in 201213, not 201112.
This coefficient is determined by the results of the clubs of the leagues in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League games over the past five seasons. Two points are awarded for each win by a club, and one for a draw. Goals scored in extra time do count in determining the outcome of a game, but any penalty kick result does not affect the allocation of points other than the bonus points. The number of points awarded each season is divided by the number of teams that participated for that nation in that season. This number is then rounded to three decimal places (e.g. 2 2/3 would be rounded to 2.667).
For the league coefficient the season's league coefficients 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. (4 bonus points)
Reaching the second round of the Champions League. (5 bonus points)
Reaching the quarter, semi and final of either the Champions League or the Europa League. (1 bonus point)
The bonus points are added to the number of points scored in a season.
Current ranking
The ranking at the end of the 201011 season determines the allocation in 201213 competitions. The rankings are as follows:
Club coefficient
The club coefficient is determined by the results of a club in European club competition in the last five seasons, and the league coefficient. The club coefficient is 20% of the league coefficient plus the number of points earned by the club in the five seasons. Before 2004 the contribution of the country coefficient was 50%. The points earned by a club in the preliminary rounds are not counted.[7]
The clubs get two points for a win, and one point for a draw and no points for a defeat in games of the main stage of European competitions. Qualifying round results are taken into account only for the calculation of the association's coefficient and are halved. Participation in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League is rewarded with four points and another four points rewarded for qualifying to round of 16 for both competitions. Clubs which reach the round of 16, quarterfinals,semi-finals or final of the UEFA Champions League or the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final of the UEFA Europa League are awarded an extra point for each such round.[8] Since the introduction of the UEFA Europa League, clubs participated in the qualifying round and in the play-offs of both competitions.
Also, a guaranteed minimum of two points is introduced for the clubs which participate in the group stage of Europa League. This guaranteed minimum is not added to the points obtained by the clubs concerned during the group stage and is not taken into consideration for the calculation of the coefficient of the national association.
This ranking is used by UEFA to determine which pot the club belongs to in the preliminary and first rounds of the Champions League, and the preliminary, first and second rounds of the Europa League.
Before 1999 a number of strong teams in the UEFA Cup were seeded such that those teams do not meet in the first two rounds. To determine these teams, the sum of, the ratio of the number of points achieved to the number of games played by each team, was calculated for the past five years.
The top 25 clubs currently are as follows:
Source
So, currently, the Bundesliga is ahead of the Italian Serie A...
Do you think Germany will take Italy's fourth place in the champions league ?