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 top 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 this position—or even solidify it—by the end of the 2026-2027 season, and perhaps even close the gap on Germany, who currently hold 4th place. This week’s results have been disastrous.
The top 10 in the UEFA country coefficient rankings (covering the last 5 seasons, including the current one).
Source: Official UEFA website.
PSG paved the way in superb fashion with a 6-0 victory over Villarreal in the Champions League. Unfortunately, what followed was far less encouraging: Lille’s draw away to Bodø/Glimt was underwhelming, and Lens’ 1-9 defeat to Como was nothing short of shameful. Prior to that, in an early Europa League fixture, Rennes could only manage a 0-0 stalemate against Olympiacos.
In the same competition, Olympique Lyonnais also played out a draw—though, given that Real Sociedad are always a difficult side to face, this is not particularly concerning. On a brighter note, Olympique de Marseille pulled off a surprise 0-1 win away to Bayer Leverkusen, while AS Monaco secured a more “expected” 2-0 victory over Nordsjælland in the Europa Conference League.
Meanwhile, FC Porto cruised to an impressive 4-1 win against Napoli in the Champions League, and Sporting CP managed a 0-1 victory in a tricky away encounter against Shakhtar Donetsk. Torreense (from the second division) pulled off a fine result, winning 3-2 against FC Ararat-Armenia—another “smaller” side in the Europa League. Braga, however, were the underachievers, held to a 0-0 draw by Aarhus. All in all, it has been a strong week for Portuguese football, which is now closing the gap on France.
