The Netherlands has completed the group stages of the European tournaments in a perfect way. In the last round of play, all Dutch participants won their match, bringing in the perfect score. That also resulted in a lot of bonus points.
Points obtained
Rarely has the coefficient yield in recent years been as high as this week, which already started well thanks to Ajax’s victory against Rangers. The leader of the Eredivisie gave the start of a sublime week and won 0.400 points with the victory over Ibrox. With this, the team from Amsterdam also assured themselves definitively of a sequel in the Europa League. After the turn of the year, Feyenoord and PSV are also active in this.
The Rotterdammers fought their way past Lazio and even secured group wins at the last minute. The victory over the Italians was, as always, rewarded with 0.400 points, while the lead in the Europa League also yielded a full point. PSV ended thanks to a win at Bodø/Glimt on the second place. That did not result in extra points, since PSV was already certain of second place last week. AZ did receive a bonus. The Alkmaarders defeated FC Dnipro-1 in the Conference League and successfully defended first place in the group stage. That victory yielded 0.400 points, plus a bonus of 0.200 points.
It made the top week complete. Together Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord and AZ scored no less than 2,800 points this week. The Netherlands thus repaired the damage from last week, in which Portugal partly brushed away the arrears.
Portugal points
The Portuguese once again had a great week in Europe. Benfica lashed out against Maccabi Haifa and memorably passed Paris Saint-Germain in the battle for group win in the Champions League, which FC Porto also succeeded in thanks to a victory over Atlético Madrid a day earlier. Sporting CP lost the last group match in the billion-dollar ball, but will continue in the Europa League after the turn of the year.
On Thursday evening, SC Braga brought Portugal’s weekly yield to exactly 1,000 points by beating Malmö FF. That victory did not yield bonus points, as Braga finished third in the Europa League. As a result, the Portuguese sub-topper now focuses on the Conference League, in which it must first survive an intermediate round to reach the last sixteen. Ajax and PSV will also have to secure a place in the main tournament in a play-off match.
The draw will be held on Monday at 12 noon. Look at here who can draw against whom in the Europa and Conference League.
Current state
The Netherlands thus ran no less than 1,800 points on Portugal this week, which must seriously fear losing the two permanent Champions League tickets. The gap with the Netherlands is 2,984 points after this week. This means that the Netherlands will start the knockout phases of the European tournaments with a substantial buffer.
The four Dutch clubs must keep the chasing number seven Portugal at a distance. If that succeeds, the two best clubs in the Eredivisie are guaranteed to play in the group stage of the Champions League from the 2024/2025 season. In addition, in that case, the number three may try to force a place in the billion-dollar ball through the preliminaries.
5. France – 59.497
6. Netherlands – 56,700
7. Portugal – 53,716
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