2023-12-14 22:50:28
French clubs have further increased their lead over the Dutch in the UEFA index thanks to the victories of Toulouse and Lille. However, the evening could have been better without the defeats of Rennes and Marseille, which deprived them of precious bonus points.
Checkmate and (almost) checkmate? Thanks to a successful evening for the French clubs involved in the Europa League and Europa Conference League, France took a very clear advantage in its duel with the Netherlands for 5th place in the UEFA index. On the evening of this 6th and final day of the group stages of European competitions, France leads by 62.164 to 59.900.
Ligue 1 can therefore go to bed with a smile: its 2024-2025 edition is on track to send its four best teams to the Champions League the following season, barring big losses from the last three Dutch clubs competing in the spring (PSV Eindhoven in the Ligue champions, Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Europa League and Ajax in the Europa Conference League) coupled with a French collective failure.
PSG and Lens started the week
The week had already started well for the French index, since Lens (2 points for its victory against Sevilla) and PSG (1 point for its draw in Dortmund and 5 bonus points for its qualification in the round of 16 of the Champions League) had set a very offensive tone.
And once again, the Thursday gang was quick to contribute to the national jackpot, even if the success was less resounding than on previous days. The great victory of Toulouse against the Austrians of Linz (2-1) and the victory of Lille against the Faroese of Klaskvik (3-0) which gives them first place in their group, thus bring respectively 4 and 3 new points to the France.
A total which could have been higher without Rennes’ home defeat against Villarreal (2-3) which deprives the Bretons of first place in the group and the hexagonal index of the precious associated bonus points. Another disappointment of the evening, OM’s narrow defeat at Brighton (0-1), which sent the Marseillais to the Europa League play-offs.
In total, these 7 additional points are added to the total for the week and must be divided by 6, i.e. the number of French representatives involved in European competitions this season. The French index therefore gained 1.167 this Thursday.
The gap is widening
For their part, the Dutch only picked up 2 new points, thanks to Ajax’s victory against AEK Athens. But above all they are losing a new representative, AZ Alkmaar, 4th in their Europa Conference League group, which will therefore no longer be able to contribute to the Dutch index. The addition for the Dutch evening thus amounts to 0.400.
Thanks to this latest harvest, the French UEFA index is 2,264 units ahead which represents, for Dutch clubs, more than 11 points behind to compensate during the final stages. A hell of a challenge since, as a reminder, a victory is worth two points, a draw one point, and a defeat zero points. In addition, each round spent in the Champions League and the Europa League brings a bonus point, the same reward applying from the semi-finals in the Europa League Conference.
It would therefore take a course rich in victories on the part of the Dutch clubs and a collapse of the French representatives to see the Netherlands regain control in this standoff. One hope, however, for the Dutch: Ajax’s victory puts them in the Europa Conference League play-offs, a competition with a lower pedigree in which the Amsterdammers are capable of shining. For their part, three of the five French clubs involved in the Europa League (Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse) will have to defeat teams from the prestigious Champions League in a play-off. A mission which, if not impossible, promises to be daunting.
One thing is certain, however: with five French clubs lined up in C3 and C4, spring Thursdays promise to be busy. Let’s just hope that Thursday in the sun won’t be something we never have…
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