Serie A , also called
Serie A TIM due to
sponsorship by
Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for
football clubs located at the top of the
Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since the 1929–30 season. It had been organized by
Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new league, the Lega Serie A, was created for the 2010–11 season. Serie A is regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world and it is often depicted as the most tactical national league. Serie A is the world's second strongest national league according to
IFFHS and has produced the highest number of
European Cup finalists: Italian clubs have reached the final of the competition on a record twenty-six different occasions, winning the title twelve times. Serie A is ranked 4th among European leagues according to
UEFA's league coefficient behind
La Liga,
Bundesliga and
Premier League, which is based on the performance of Italian clubs in the
Champions League and the
Europa League during the last five years. Serie A led the UEFA ranking
from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1999.