Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 11:12 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 23:22

The rise of the Netherlands on the coefficient ranking is beginning to take on absurd forms. In record time, the Dutch participants have managed to overtake Portugal on the position that will apply from 1 July 2022. There is still a long way to go, but if that lead is still in place after the 2022/23 season, the Netherlands will insure itself. of two direct Champions League tickets for the 2024/25 season.

The story of the coefficient ranking for the Netherlands is (probably) known: the country is now seventh and has to go to at least sixth place for two direct Champions League tickets. That is impossible this season, because the gap to Portugal and France is simply too great. However, as of July 1, 2022, the dramatic 2017/18 season for the Netherlands will disappear (because the position is always calculated over the last five seasons), and from that moment Portugal and France can be permanently threatened. On that ranking as of 1 July 2022, the Netherlands has passed Portugal this week. The lead is now 0.2 points, while France is 1.3 points above the Netherlands.

The Netherlands hit a huge blow this week thanks to Ajax, which qualified for the last sixteen of the Champions League with the victory against Borussia Dortmund (1-3). The team from Amsterdam received two points for the victory plus another five (!) bonus points for wintering in the billion-dollar ball. For the Netherlands, those seven points are divided by the number of participants: no less than 1.4 points for the country. Thanks to the victories of AZ (+0.4) and Feyenoord (+0.4) and the draw of PSV (+0.2), the Netherlands scored a total of 2.4 in this round. point. Portugal only collected 0.8 points, while France added 2.3 points.

The current position gives a somewhat distorted picture, because Ajax has already credited its bonus points, and the Portuguese Champions League participants, for example, are still waiting for that. Sporting Portugal, Benfica and FC Porto, for example, are still fully involved in their own group to reach the first two places. Moreover, Sporting Braga is very likely to continue in the Europa League. In that tournament, the group winner also receives five bonus points, while the runner-up has three bonus points. The Portuguese will therefore also receive bonus points and then probably run out again. France has been performing much better than Portugal this season across the board: Olympique Lyon placed as group winner in the Europa League and France received a truckload of points. For the time being, Portugal is absolutely the target for the Netherlands.

After the draw against AS Monaco (0-0), PSV is not in a good position to collect those bonus points in its Europa League group, although it could still be possible. If the Eindhoven team finishes third, Roger Schmidt’s team will continue in the Conference League without bonus points. In the remainder of that tournament, PSV can of course still get points. The Netherlands still has plenty of opportunities in the Conference League: in that tournament, two bonus points can be obtained for wintering. AZ and Feyenoord will almost certainly add those extra points, while it will be very difficult for Vitesse to make it to the next round.