An unbeaten week for Dutch football in Europe once again provided a nice addition to the already high coefficient total. Virtually, the hunt for number six Portugal and with it two direct Champions League tickets was continued. All Dutch clubs are still participating in March.
Points obtained
Not a perfect score for Dutch football this week, but all participating clubs still managed to collect points. Ajax and PSV each scored 0.200 points with draws against Benfica (2-2) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (1-1), while Vitesse did step off the field with a victory: the 2-0 against Rapid Wien was good for a place in the main tournament of the Conference League and 0.400 point for the coefficient ranking. That brought the total weekly yield to 0.800.
Bonus points
Although Vitesse and PSV advanced to the next round in the Conference League, that did not provide an extra. Reaching the next round in the third European club tournament does not come with bonus points. That is the case if Ajax manages to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Benfica. That decision will be made in Amsterdam in three weeks. FC Porto, of Portugal’s main coefficient competitor, gave Benfica a good example by reaching the next round and scored a bonus point.
Check out how the coefficient ranking works exactly here:
Still, there was cause for cheer among the Dutch clubs. Both PSV and Vitesse can be admired in the next round in addition to Feyenoord and AZ, so that Dutch football has at least eight more matches to work on the beautiful coefficient total. Ajax can turn that into ten duels with a win over Benfica. AZ and Feyenoord did not have to take action because they were allowed to skip a round as group winners.
Current state
Of course, it’s tempting to look at number six Portugal after every European round. The fact is that the Netherlands is in a no man’s land this season. The backlog of the top-6 is still too big for this campaign, while a free fall in the rankings thanks to a huge lead is also out of the question. Everything therefore points to the Netherlands consolidating its neat seventh place this season.
This has to do with the dramatic 2017/18 season, in which the Dutch teams shrank and collected only 2,900 points. In comparison: the current season is still in full swing, but has already yielded no less than 15,000 points. Apart from France and England, there is no country that has performed better across the borders this season.
5. France – 57,081
6. Portugal – 51.382
7. NETHERLANDS – 45,700
8. Austria – 38,450
9. Scotland – 34,900
Virtual rankings
A look at the virtual ranking is even more cheerful than the current ranking. After this season, the results from the 2017/18 season will be deleted, as a result of which the Netherlands even skips over Portugal. Over the last four seasons, the Netherlands has been the number six, which will be rewarded with two tickets for the group stage of the Champions League in the 2023/24 season. For that, the Netherlands must of course keep the Portuguese behind next season.
Where the Netherlands still has five irons in the fire, the Portuguese hope is still based on four clubs. Sporting CP needs a miracle of this in the return against Manchester City (0-5), but FC Porto and SC Braga survived the knockout phase. In three weeks Ajax can make a double blow: not only can the team from Amsterdam secure a place in the quarterfinals, Portugal can also be hit again with the elimination of Benfica.
5. France – 45,581
6. NETHERLANDS – 42,800
7. Portugal – 41,716
Watch our football videos here:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.