Despite AZ and Feyenoord victories, the Netherlands lost ground on the UEFA coefficient list this week. Portugal, the main contender in the battle for sixth place and with those two direct tickets to the Champions League, managed to narrow the gap slightly.
Three of the four Portuguese teams have won their European match this week. Benfica and Sporting CP defeated Juventus (1-2) and Tottenham Hotspur (2-0) in the Champions League respectively and SC Braga was too strong for 1. FC Union Berlin (1-0) in the Europa League. Only FC Porto have lost – in the Champions League with 0-4 against Club Brugge – and have not taken any points.
On behalf of the Netherlands, Feyenoord won 6-0 against Sturm Graz in the Europa League and AZ contented themselves in the finals with FC Vaduz (4-1). That’s it, because Ajax fell against Liverpool on Tuesday (2-1). The Netherlands thus took 0.8 points, 0.2 less than Portugal.
A win is worth two points for the coefficient standings, but that number has yet to be divided by the number of clubs a country has started the European season with. To the disadvantage of Portugal: “our” competitor started with six clubs and has only four left. The Netherlands are also represented with four teams, but have started the European campaign with five teams.
The 10 best UEFA coefficients of the period 2018-2023
- 1. England – 91,570
- 2. Spain – 81,998
- 3. Germany – 70.106
- 4. Italy – 64,069
- 5. France – 52,331
- 6. Netherlands – 50,900
- 7. Portugal – 49,049
- 8. Scotland – 35,800
- 9. Belgium – 33,200
- 10. Austria – 32,000
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AZ took a hard-fought victory against FC Vaduz on Thursday evening.
AZ took a hard-fought victory against FC Vaduz on Thursday evening. Photo: Professional shots
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PSV did not play this week
Despite Portugal’s good European week, there is still little to do for the Netherlands, who still have a firm grip on sixth place. If that position is maintained, the champion and number two of the Eredivisie 2023/2024 season will directly qualify for the Champions League group stage.
Furthermore, PSV failed to score points for the Netherlands this week. The Eindhoven side will play against Arsenal in the Europa League on Thursday, but that match was postponed to 20 October because there were too few police officers available due to the death of British Queen Elizabeth.
While the lead over Portugal has narrowed slightly, the bridging gap over France’s number five has narrowed slightly. Only Paris Saint-Germain managed to win their European match this week. The Parisians were 1-3 too strong for Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League.
The advantage for the Netherlands is that Champions League wins are as good as a Europa League or Conference League victory. Due to the international match period, the next European round is not next week, but only in the first week of October.
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