The UEFA coefficient is, in a sense, the goose that lays the golden eggs for the various national leagues. Clubs from each country must perform as well as possible in European competitions to ensure their league maintains a high ranking. France has struggled in Europe on several occasions, but managed to climb to 5th place by the end of the 2023-2024 season—securing 7 spots in European competitions (4 for the Champions League, including 3 direct entries; 2 for the Europa League; and 1 for the Europa Conference League). The goal is to at least maintain, if not strengthen, this position by the end of the 2026-2027 season—or perhaps even close the gap on Germany, who currently hold 4th place. This week’s results, however, have been rather disappointing.
The top 10 in the UEFA national coefficient rankings
(based on the last 5 seasons, including the current one).
Source: Official UEFA website.
In the Champions League, PSG secured an impressive victory against FC Barcelona (4-2), but they were very much on their own. Lille fell 2-4 at home to Galatasaray, while Lens—despite creating good chances in the first half—lost 3-0 away to Club Brugge.
Even more dishearteningly, the results in the Europa League were even worse. The best outcome—which was by no means a poor performance—was Stade Rennais’ 2-2 draw away to Juventus in a hard-fought contest. Conversely, Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais both suffered away defeats, losing to Sturm Graz (1-0) and Hoffenheim (3-0), respectively. Fortunately, AS Monaco managed to salvage the evening somewhat on Thursday with a 3-0 win over Freiburg.
At the very least, Portugal fared no better. In the Champions League, there were home defeats for Porto against PSV Eindhoven (1–0) and for Sporting Portugal against LASK (2–3). In the Europa League, Torreense suffered a 4–1 loss to Ferencváros. Benfica—who secured a 4–1 away win against Omonia—and Braga—who claimed a 2–0 victory over Gent in the Europa Conference League—helped salvage the week.
At the same time, however, this represents another missed opportunity for French football to pull ahead, especially given that the gap has narrowed so far this season.
