The French representatives in the European Cups had a successful first week. Enough to reduce the gap with the Netherlands in the capital race for fifth place in the UEFA index.
Until the end, there was no false note. The six French clubs involved in the European Cups launched hostilities perfectly. PSG set the tone on Tuesday by dominating Borussia Dortmund (2-0) at the Parc and on Wednesday, Lille, in the Europa Conference League and Lens, for its reunion in the Champions League, followed, with the Mastiffs winning at home (2-0) and the Sang et Or brought back a draw from their trip to Seville (1-1).
And on Thursday, the three clubs involved in the Europa League completed the table. Rennes won 3-0 at home against Maccabi Haifa and Toulouse and Olympique de Marseille drew away, respectively against Union Saint-Gilloise (1-1) and Ajax Amsterdam (3-3).
Dutch clubs are struggling
With three wins and three draws in six matches, the results of the French clubs are most satisfactory. With 1.5 points, France recorded the best performance of the week, tied with the Czech Republic. Above all, the Netherlands had a much more complicated start. Because if Feyenoord had dominated Celtic (2-0) on Tuesday, PSV took on water the next day at Arsenal (4-0) and on Thursday, while Ajax had to be content with a draw against OM, AZ Alkmaar lost in Mostar in Bosnia (4-3) after leading 3-0. The Netherlands therefore only scored 0.6 points this week.
However, the Netherlands, who scored a total of 4,400 points this season thanks to the preliminary rounds compared to 3,250 points for France, are still in fifth place. But the gap has narrowed since the Netherlands have 55,700 points over the last five seasons compared to 53,831 for France. While the gap between French clubs was 2,769 points before this first day, it is now only 1,869 points.
UEFA index by country:
1. England 90,178 points (8 clubs still in the running/8 clubs qualified at the start of the season)
2. Spain 76.864 points (7/8)
3. Italy 73,141 points (7/7)
4. Germany 71.195 points (7/7)
5. Netherlands 55,700 points (4/5)
6. France 53,831 points (6/6)
7. Portugal 48,982 points (4/6)
8. Belgium 39,200 points (5/5)
9. Türkiye 33,850 points (3/4)
10. Scotland 32,050 points (3/5)
