It’s always a catch… On the gridiron after a summer during which the Portuguese threat became more and more pressing, Ligue 1 has all in all succeeded in its entry into the most prestigious of European competitions, thus managing to regain some air in the UEFA index.
The first day of the Champions League ended with two victories and only one defeat. PSG perfectly held its entry rank by outclassing Slovan Bratislava (6-1) at the Parc des Princes. An offensive festival completed by the very good operation of Lens: by winning on the tricky pitch of Slavia Prague (3-2), the Sang et Or brought back three precious points for qualification as well as for the national coefficient. Only Lille missed the mark by losing at home to Real Betis (2-3) in a spectacular but frustrating match.
On the Portuguese side, the results are somewhat more mixed. If Sporting did the job by dominating Galatasaray (3-1), FC Porto gave in on their lawn against the steamroller of Manchester City (0-2). With two successes against only one for Portugal, the French balance sheet leans in favor of France.
The advance has (a little) increased
Direct consequence of these results: the gap between France (5th) and Portugal (6th) has increased slightly. Down to just 3,603 points at the end of August, the French lead rose to 3,774 points. A breath of fresh air, even if vigilance remains essential.
If France had entered the summer with a comfortable cushion of 10,332 points in advance, the UEFA coefficient mechanism – smoothed over five years – erased the prolific 2021-2022 season (18,416 points collected by French clubs compared to 12,916 for the Portuguese). France thus lost most of its lead and in the current season, Portugal (4,700 points) also did better than the French clubs (3,642 points).
But the soap opera has only just begun. As a reminder, fifth place guarantees four tickets for the Champions League (three direct qualifications and one in the preliminary round) as well as seven entries in total in the European Cups. Slipping to 6th place would mean losing a European ticket and only offering two places in C1 (including only one direct), a disaster scenario for the attractiveness of the championship.
The rest promises to be thrilling. Marseille and Lyon in the Europa League, Monaco in the Conference League and the three C1 residents will have to maintain this pace. But all eyes are already turning towards next Tuesday October 13: Lens will host Sporting Portugal in Bollaert. A direct confrontation with the appearance of a shock at the top in the race for fifth place.
