UEFA coefficient: Another mixed week for French football | OneFootball

The UEFA coefficient is somewhat of a golden goose for the various leagues. Each country has clubs that must perform as well as possible to remain among the top spots. France has often struggled in Europe, but managed to climb to 5th place by the end of the 2023-2024 season, thereby earning 7 European qualification spots (4 for the Champions League, including 3 direct entries, 2 for the Europa League, and 1 for the Europa Conference League). The goal was at least to maintain this ranking by the end of the 2025-2026 season, or even to catch up with Germany. This week’s results, however, are rather poor. 

The top 10 UEFA coefficient rankings by country (over the last 5 seasons, including the current one).

Source: Official UEFA website.

Indeed, France has just come out of another average week. In the Champions League, there were no wins as PSG (1-1 against Newcastle) and Monaco (0-0 against Juventus) both drew, while Olympique de Marseille lost 3-0 to Club Brugge. This result was all the more frustrating as it led to Marseille’s elimination.

In the Europa League, OGC Nice, already eliminated, returned to its old habits with a 1-0 defeat against Ludogorets. Fortunately, Lille (1-0 against Freiburg) and Olympique Lyonnais (4-2 against PAOK) managed to secure victories. Two wins snatched at the end of the match, which were much needed. So, two French clubs have been eliminated, while Strasbourg had already qualified for the Europa Conference League (there were only 6 matchdays). Another piece of bad news for France is that PSG and AS Monaco will face each other in the playoffs, meaning one club will inevitably be eliminated. Even though this also guarantees at least one qualifier.

The good news for France comes from the Netherlands, with another poor week for one of its close competitors and bad results leading to 5 eliminations, leaving only one club still in the running: AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League. Portugal has taken 6th place and will have to be taken seriously, with 4 out of 5 clubs qualified for the next round. Not to mention that next year, the 2021-2022 season, which was very favorable for France, will drop out of the calculation. Ahead, the gap will be difficult to close, with Germany pulling away and having 6 out of 7 clubs qualified.

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