Feared for months, now it seems that there is no doubt that Portugal will finish the season ahead of France in the UEFA rankings despite http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127’s efforts in the Champions League
At the end of the 2010/2011 season, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 had 15 more points than Portugal in the UEFA Index. It was unclear how the Portuguese would catch up with the French. However, the growing number of French below-par performances made it possible.
At one side French teams failed to progress from the group stages while the Portuguese sides kept on winning. In the Europa League, there is no French team in the knockout stages while Olympique de Marseille remain the only French representative in the Champions
League.
The French now chase Portugal by 0.333 points in the UEFA and it is difficult to see how OM will help the Ligue 1 overhaul Portuguese sides. Marseille play against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals which makes this task even more impossible than it already
is.
Sporting Lisbon and Benfica are the two Portuguese sides in Europe which means that the third preliminary round for the Champions League next season will probably take an extra turn.
For the past two seasons, French clubs have given disastrous results. Lyon’s defeat at the hands of APOEL Nicosia was also a major fiasco. Moreover, not a single French side progressed beyond the group stages of the Europa League this term.
Other countries have had a hard time this campaign too. While English clubs dominated the European scene for several seasons, this term, only http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 are still in Europe. Last night Manchester United and Manchester City crashed out. However, the English
clubs are still in good position in the UEFA Index.
Spanish teams have been excellent in Europe this season with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 still in Europe.
Germany on the other hand, will have four teams in the Champions League next season.
Here’s a look at how countries rank in the UEFA Index.
1) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011
2) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749
3) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904
4) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Netherlands-c753
5) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926
6) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Portugal-c2984
7) France
8) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Belgium-c2850
9) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Russia-c2991
10) http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cyprus-c2881
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