Although everything changes quickly in times with few moments for reflection, football is on another level. The ups and downs that this sport has been experiencing in recent years, some motivated by the COVID pandemic, affect all levels. The regulations continue to adapt, without success, to the ‘VAR era’, while the competitions also wage war on their own. If the Super League wanted to burst into the calendar without prior notice, UEFA took revenge by changing the format of a Champions League that has always worked wonderfully. Now, the Champions League will have four more teams than the ones it currently presents in its final phase and two of them will come from the countries that have the best performance in their tournaments this season.
Explaining the organization and development of the new operation of the top continental competition can be left for another time, but what can be assured at this point in the course, with the group stages of the continental championships having just ended, is that Italy has the upper hand, as it has a score of 14,000, above Germany (13,642), which is second and would place five teams in the next continental tournament.
Behind, contrary to what it might seem due to the power of the Leagues, are England (13,625) in third position and Spain (12,687) is in fourth place. These merits are calculated through a series of scales that come from the games played, won, goals scored, received… by the national blocks in each of the European tournaments (Champions, Europa League and Conference League, granting greater merits everything harvested in the first).
This somewhat abstract situation can be exemplified in a simple way. If Spain ends up as one of the best two countries, in LaLiga the top five finishers would qualify for the top continental competition and not the four as to date. In this way, the two places that grant the right to go to the Europa League would become sixth and seventh, with the eighth place being that of the Conference League.
It is precisely the performance of Osasuna in that tournament, for which it did not obtain a ticket for the final phase, which is penalizing the national teams when it comes to occupying a higher place in the UEFA ‘ranking’, since Jagoba Arrasate’s men have hardly added any points.
Currently, the position of the LaLiga teams in the classification by country does not yield a static conclusion, since it will change completely when the qualifying rounds of the respective competitions begin and, with Spain placing four teams at the top of their groups, they start with an advantage to obtain a good amount of points in a hypothetical pass to the quarterfinals.
In fact, Real Madrid is one of the most reliable assets in the national tournament for this type of event. With 14 ‘Orejonas’ behind them, the meringues always have a prominent role in the club championship. It does not seem that Barcelona will have a similar performance, which went without pain or glory through an affordable group stage. The best for the culés? There’s plenty of time left until February.
On the other hand, Atlético and Real Sociedad are having a great season that they promise to extend in the Champions League. With Sevilla already eliminated from all European competition, Villarreal will have to resolve the ballot in the Europa League with the help of Marcelino who usually dominates the knockout events. Finally, Betis fell back to the Conference League after losing to Rangers and in this championship they can surprise smaller teams.
2023-12-26 19:39:31
#Spain
