UEFA coefficient: A disappointing week for French football | OneFootball

The UEFA ranking is somewhat like the goose that lays golden eggs for the different leagues. There are clubs from each country that need to perform well to maintain top positions. France has often faced challenges in Europe but managed to climb to 5th place by the end of the 2023-2024 season, securing 7 spots in Europe (4 for the Champions League, including 3 direct entries, 2 for the Europa League, and 1 for the Europa Conference League). The goal was to at least maintain this rank by the end of the 2025-2026 season, or even catch up with Germany. This week's results are quite poor.

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

Source: Official UEFA website.

Indeed, France has had a very challenging week. However, in the Champions League, PSG performed well with a 0-3 victory against Chelsea and qualified for the quarter-finals. The Europa League results were the opposite: defeats for Olympique Lyonnais and Lille against Celta Vigo and Aston Villa (2-0 each time), leading to eliminations. Strasbourg remains in the Europa Conference League, but their qualification against Rijeka was secured with a 1-1 draw in the return leg following a 1-2 victory in the first leg.

Few points were accumulated this week and with fewer opportunities for the future, it will be difficult to catch up with Germany and its 3 clubs: Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Freiburg in the Europa League, and Mainz in the Europa Conference League. The latter will face Strasbourg, a very important duel.

Portugal also needs to be watched closely as Braga and Porto have advanced to the Europa League quarter-finals (with victories against Ferencvaros and Stuttgart). The 2021-2022 season will no longer count next season, which currently favors France, so the gap will narrow. There's no time to waste.

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