Mixed week for French football on the European scene. If Brest and Monaco have almost validated their qualification for the Champions League play-offs thanks to great victories in Prague (2-1) and Bologna (1-0), the other French clubs floundered against opponents normally within their reach. . Nice and Lyon thus failed to overthrow Twente (2-2) and Hoffenheim (2-2) in the Europa League this Thursday.
But it is above all the poor performance of PSG which is causing disorder. Already the author of a very average start to the season in C1, the capital club lost in the very last seconds on its lawn against Atlético Madrid (1-2). This failure caused him to fall to 25th place, the first place among those eliminated, halfway through the “league” phase of the C1.
This average record (2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses) slows down France's progress in the UEFA index, and allows the Netherlands to very slightly reduce the gap. The French clubs, in fact, made it possible to bring back 1 point this week, when their Dutch counterparts, thanks to the victories of PSV over Girona (4-0) and Ajax over Maccabi Tel Aviv (5-0), obtained 1.167 points. Nothing to scare the French, therefore, who retain their 5th place (62,950 pts) and keep their first pursuer at a reasonable distance (57,733 pts).
Fourth, Germany has a very large lead (75,660 pts), but will still have to be careful. Calculated over the last 5 seasons, the UEFA coefficient ranking will see the 2020-2021 edition disappear, i.e. the worst in accounting terms for Ligue 1 clubs.
As a reminder, the ranking of UEFA coefficients is closely scrutinized because it is essential for the distribution of countries in the most prestigious of European competitions. 5th place grants three direct places in the championship phase and one in the third preliminary round for the Champions League. The 6th place only gives access to two direct places and one optional.
The four best nations benefit from four directly qualifying places for C1. These are, in order, England, Italy, Spain and Germany.
