Despite a complicated Thursday, France increased its lead over the Netherlands in the fight for fifth place in the UEFA Index.
French clubs did not shine on the European front on Thursday. The day after the victory won by PSG in their first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League, none of the five competing teams managed to win.
The tone was set by Olympique de Marseille, who had to settle for a draw (2-2) against Shakhtar Donetsk after leading twice, including the second time in the 89th.e minute. In the process, Stade Rennais was shattered on the pitch of AC Milan (3-0), Toulouse was crucified in the final moments of the match at Benfica (2-1) and Lens escaped cheaply with a draw (0-0) against Fribourg.
The gap widens against the Netherlands
But despite these poor results recorded in the Europa League, the week was once again profitable for French football: France has in fact widened the gap over the Netherlands, its main rival in the race for fifth place. in the UEFA Ranking, and is now 2,531 points ahead of its Batavian rival.
The Netherlands, who lost two representatives before the start of the final phase, saw Ajax Amsterdam have to settle for a draw against the Norwegians of Bodo/Glimt, and Feyennoord also conceded the draw , against AS Roma (1-1). Enough to do the business of France.
As a reminder, fifth place would allow Ligue 1 to have four representatives for the Champions League in 2025-2026.
