The very contrasting week of French clubs on the European scene was reflected in the UEFA rankings.
This week will remain quite confusing for forecasters as it would have been difficult, just a few days ago, to imagine the results of French clubs in the various European cups. While Paris Saint-Germain and Racing Club de Lens seemed in an ideal position before their confrontations against AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven, the two representatives of French football in the Champions League lost (respectively 1-2 and 0-1).
Things were therefore off to a bad start for the French clubs, but the trend was reversed on Thursday. Olympique de Marseille, Stade Rennais and – more surprisingly – Toulouse FC performed flawlessly by winning respectively against AEK Athens (2-0), Panathinaikos (3-1) and the ogre of the Europa League Liverpool.
More laborious, Lille had to settle for a parity score on the pitch of Slovan Bratislava in the Europe Conference League (1-1). But overall, the record of French clubs remains quite honorable, with three victories for a draw and two defeats.
Direct consequence of this week: France has further gained ground on the Netherlands in the UEFA coefficient ranking of nations over the last five seasons, despite Lens’ setback in Eindhoven. If France is still 6th, it is quickly returning to the rearview mirror of its main competitor, the Netherlands, which is only 3 points ahead.
The ranking of nations according to the UEFA coefficient:
-1. England 95,053 points
-2. Spain 82,114 points
-3. Italy 78.426 points
-4. Germany 77,338 points
-5. Netherlands 57,500 points
-6. France 57,497 points
-7. Portugal 50,482 points
