Few divisions in European football seem to thrive on chaos as much as Serie B, where plot twists and shocks go hand in hand with a strangely convoluted promotion and relegation system.

At the end of the Serie B season, three teams are promoted to Serie A and four teams are relegated to Serie C. So far, so straightforward. But the path to determine the third team going up and the fourth team going down is complicated, as play-offs in Serie B are a possibility, rather than a certainty.

The post-season only takes place if the gap between third and fourth is smaller than 15 points – with two games left, third-placed Spezia are five points clear of Cremonese in fourth – otherwise the third-placed team is automatically promoted with the top two.

Similarly, the relegation play-off is only contested if the gap between 16th and 17th does not exceed four points. Otherwise, the team finishing 17th is automatically relegated with the three teams below them.

If all of the above sounds as clear as mud, this guide should help you navigate the vagaries of the play-offs in calcio‘s second tier.

Promotion play-offs

The promotion play-offs in Serie B include six teams, with third down to eighth taking part.

Much like the NFL and Australian sports where the highest-placed teams receive a bye into the second round, the third and fourth-placed teams in Serie B progress straight to the semi-finals where they will have home advantage in the second leg.

The remaining four teams, meanwhile, get to slug it out in the first round, with fifth hosting eighth and sixth hosting seventh. If the season were to end now, that would see Juve Stabia entertaining Bari with Catanzaro welcoming Palermo.

The first round is a single-elimination tie, with extra-time to follow the 90 minutes in the event of a draw. Significantly, there is no penalty shootout, so if there is nothing to separate the teams after 120 minutes, the highest-ranked side goes through.

The winner of the two first-round ties progress to the semis, with the third-placed team in the regular season facing the winner of sixth against seventh, and the fourth-placed team taking on the winner of fifth against eighth.

The semi-finals are contested over two legs, with the highest-ranked team playing away first. There is no extra-time and no penalties if the tie is level on aggregate. If it is all square after two legs, the highest-ranked team goes through to the final.

Like the semis, the final is also contested over two legs, with the highest-ranked team playing away first, no extra-time and no penalties. Should nothing separate the teams after 180 minutes, the highest-ranked team is promoted to Serie A.

Relegation play-offs

The relegation play-off, or play-out as it is referred to in Italy, is a more streamlined affair than the promotion path. The bottom three teams fall through the Serie B trapdoor, with those finishing 16th and 17th facing off in a survival shootout.

If the season ended now, Cittadella and Sampdoria would go straight down with Cosenza, while Salernitana and Brescia, who are level on points, would square off in the relegation play-off.

As is the case for the play-offs, the play-out is contested over two legs, with the lowest-ranked team playing the first leg at home and the winner on aggregate securing Serie B status for another season. Should the tie be level after 180 minutes, the team that finished the season in 16th survives.

However, if the two teams finished the season level on points, extra-time and potentially a penalty shootout will be required to determine a winner.