UEFA ranking: Portugal up to 4th, closing in on Netherlands | OneFootball

Four games, three wins, one draw, and no defeats: it was an almost perfect week for Portuguese clubs in European club competitions (after a disappointing previous round). As expected, this was reflected in the UEFA rankings.

Victories by Benfica over Ajax, Sporting against Club Brugge, FC Porto against Nice, and SC Braga’s draw in Scotland against Rangers allowed Portugal to add 1.400 points to the ranking.

Portugal entered this European round in eighth place in the season ranking—which will grant an extra spot in the 26/27 Champions League to the top two countries—and now leaves in fourth place, with 9.400 points, overtaking Spain (9.250 points) and Cyprus (9.250 points), trailing only Italy (9.571 points), Germany (9.857 points), and England, which remains firmly in first place (10.833 points).

Recovery also in the five-year ranking

In the five-year indicator, which determines the number of teams from each country in European competitions, this week’s results for Portuguese clubs were better than those of the closest nations, closing in on the Netherlands (6th) and pulling away from Belgium (8th).

In the battle for sixth place in the UEFA Ranking, Portugal remains in 7th, having started the week with a 3.367-point deficit to the Netherlands (the coveted 6th place, which guarantees three direct entries into the Champions League) and ends the week with that gap reduced to 2.634. The Netherlands added 0.667 points.

This was due to only adding 0.667 points, the result of two victories (PSV in Liverpool, in the Champions League, and AZ Alkmaar in the Conference League) and four defeats (Ajax against Benfica in the Champions League, and Feyenoord, Utrecht, and Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League).

Right after Portugal, Belgium occupies 8th place, now further behind than at the end of the previous round, after adding 0.800 this week (Union SG’s win in Istanbul against Galatasaray in the Champions League and Genk’s triumph in the Europa League; Club Brugge’s defeat at Alvalade against Sporting).

Portugal’s lead over Belgium was 3.716 points at the start of this week and increased to 4.316.

It is important to note, however, that the points Belgium will “deduct” at the end of this season (referring to 2021/22) will be much lower than those Portugal and the Netherlands will have to remove, so the standings may change at the start of next season.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.