*“We are not at the level in the European Cup. I’ve been talking about high standards since I’ve been here, daily work, not falling as soon as there’s a duel. Many players fall as soon as there is a duel! It’s the same in training. Stop falling! And then when you start playing, you have to continue. Why are we stopping? When you train at 80%. We need to be at 110%. (…) If they don’t understand that. We have to be at 110%! If you don’t put in more, you get blown up”, Franck Haise’s scathing exit following Nice’s umpteenth defeat in the European Cup gives a foretaste of what the Gym players had to endure in their locker room after their fourth defeat in as many Europa League matches against Fribourg.
Having become the laughing stock of French and even European football, the Riviera team, although 8th in Ligue 1 but only 35th out of 36 in the league phase, shines with its mediocrity on the continental scene. Lack of desire, of involvement, the team coached by Franck Haise is incapable of raising its level against opponents who are often more modest or in difficulty in their championship like Friborg this Thursday evening. And the way in which the Gym scuttled itself once again after having, once is not customary in the European Cup, opened the score is symptomatic of the illness which has affected Nice for more than two years on the continental scene with no victory in the European Cup in the last 14 matches.
Eliminated in the Champions League play-off and unable to win for 12 Europa League matches…
Enough to clearly wonder about the interest in seeing Nice in the European Cup, especially since it must be remembered, the Gym sank in the Champions League play-off (2-0, 2-0) this season (which deprived France of a fourth club in the Champions League and significant bonus points in the UEFA index) against one of the weakest Benfica teams in recent seasons, currently last in the C1 league phase and who did not score a single point. It is an understatement to say that France is bearing the brunt of Nice’s mediocrity in the European Cup. So of course, Nice was not the only one to sink this week, but this sequence since the summer of 2024 is literally weighing down France, which does not currently need that.
Because the week was trying with 5 defeats in 7 matches. In the Champions League, only AS Monaco managed to bring back a victory for Bodo Glimt while PSG lost against Bayern (1-2) at the Parc des Princes while OM lost in the last moments against Atalanta following an arbitration decision which has still not been passed on the Canebière. But it is in the Europa League that French clubs have had the most difficulty. After Nice which lost to Friborg at home (1-3), Lille lost big in Serbia against Red Star Belgrade (1-0) while a revamped OL logically lost in Spain against Real Betis (2-0). Special mention to Strasbourg which won in Sweden (1-2) against Hacken despite a big turnover.
Despite generally disappointing results, France is not currently worried about its fifth place. It must be said that the Netherlands achieved the feat of having a European season even worse than that of France. However, the dream of catching up with Germany, currently second in the current season and with impressive consistency, did not last long. To tell the truth, given the performances of French clubs this week, fifth is already not so bad…
Ranking of nations according to the UEFA coefficient for the 2025/26 season (in parentheses, the number of clubs remaining in competition and the number of clubs qualified this season for European competitions) as of 07/11/2025:
-1. England 9,944 points (9/9)
-2. Germany 7.285 points (7/7)
-3. Spain 8.375 points (7/7)
-4. Cyprus 8,250 points (3/4)
-5. Italy 8,142 points (7/7)
-6. Portugal 8,000 points (4/5)
-7. Poland 7.875 points (4/4)
-8. Denmark 7.625 points (2/4)
-9. France 6,642 points (7/7)
-10. Türkiye 6,200 points (3/5)
…
-13. Netherlands 6.083 points (6/6)
Ranking of nations by UEFA coefficient over the last five seasons (between 2021 and 2026):
-1. England 100,783 points
-2. Italy 89.088 points
-3. Spain 83.328 points
-4. Germany 79,974 points
-5. France 71,819 points
-6. Netherlands 64.033 points
-7. Portugal 60,666 points
-8. Belgium 56,350 points
-9. Türkiye 47,000 points
-10. Czech Rep. 43,100 points
