Portugal still a long way from having three teams in the Champions League | OneFootball

Portuguese teams are starting slightly behind compared to a year ago - they had 4,284 points then and now have 4,400 - and to make matters worse, they will have to catch up with two fewer teams (four instead of six), due to Santa Clara's elimination from the Conference League.

Sporting and Benfica compete in the Champions League, while FC Porto and Sporting de Braga represent the country in the Europa League. This time there will be no Vitória de Guimarães scoring in the third competition - 10 victories in 2024/25, six of them in the preliminary rounds, in addition to three draws.

On the other hand, the Netherlands, which by ranking guarantee one more spot, maintain the six teams with which they started the season: PSV and Ajax in the 'Champions', Utrecht, Feyenoord and Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League and AZ Alkmaar in the Conference League.

The only positive data for Portugal - which needs to add another 10 victories - is that the points won by its teams are divided by five (0.4 per victory and 0.2 per draw), while those of the Dutch formations are divided by six (0.333 and 0.166).

Just below, in eighth place in the ranking, Belgium (2,515) is closer to Portugal than Portugal is to the Netherlands, but the Belgians have already lost two teams and only have three clubs to score points.

Thus, the Portuguese goal is to close the gap with the Dutch, knowing that a possible sixth place will only take effect in 2027/28: in 2026/27 there will only be two spots in the 'Champions', with only one guaranteed, for the national champion, in the league phase.

In the club ranking, Benfica's 10th place stands out and the fact that Sporting (24th) starts 2025/26 ahead of FC Porto (28th). If the season ends like this, it will be the first time in history that Sporting finishes a season above the 'dragons'.

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