Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 12:58• Mart Oude Nijeweeme

Due to Ajax’s result at Sporting Portugal (1-5) and the upcoming matches in the Europa League and the Conference League, the Netherlands can make a very important blow on the coefficient list with a view to an extra Champions League ticket. Direct competitors France and Portugal completely failed in the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday and feel the hot breath of the Netherlands in the neck. It is up to PSV, AZ and Vitesse on Thursday evening to take seventh place even more firmly.

France had a disappointing week in the billion-dollar ball and saw Lille OSC (0-0 against VfL Wolfsburg) and Paris Saint-Germain (1-1 against Club Brugge). The Portuguese clubs also had little success. Benfica got stuck at 0-0 at Dinamo Kiev, FC Porto achieved the same result on a visit to Atlético Madrid and Sporting Portugal also did not contribute. The French can still make up for the damage, as the country will see four more clubs in action in a European context on Thursday evening: Stade Rennais, Olympique Marseille, AS Monaco and Olympique Lyon. In Portugal, hopes are pinned on Sporting Braga, who will visit Red Star Belgrade.

The deficit at number six France has been reduced to 1,381 points due to Feyenoord’s draw against Maccabi Haifa (0-0). The fifth place on the coefficient list would be the ultimate culmination of the European successes of the Dutch clubs, since in that case the Netherlands is assured of a second direct place for the Champions League. In addition, the fifth place entitles you to one ticket for the preliminary round, as it was now allocated to PSV. Compared to France and Portugal, the Netherlands also has the advantage that the results have to be divided by five, given the number of participants in Europe. France and Portugal both have six clubs.

The advance on the coefficient list in recent years is mainly due to Ajax. In the 2017/18 season, the Netherlands had dropped to fourteenth place. A few years later, however, a permanent place in the top ten is a fact. Ajax was in the final of the Europa League in 2017, while two years later, in 2019, the semi-final was the final station in the Champions League. New success in the highest European club tournament brings fifth place ever closer.