UEFA Rankings: Portugal closes in on Netherlands after Sporting win

In this season's accounts, which are worth an extra place in European competitions in 25/26, Portugal remains in second place.

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Even taking into account Benfica’s defeat in Munich (1-0), Sporting’s 4-1 victory over Manchester City helped Portugal move closer to the Netherlands in the UEFA rankings.

This week in Europe, Portugal has so far recorded one win and one loss (each win is worth two points). Now, dividing this score between the five clubs in the competition (Sporting, Benfica, SC Braga, V. Guimarães and FC Porto), the country managed to add another 0.400 points to the UEFA ranking.

The Dutch also had one win and one loss. PSV thrashed Girona at home (4-0), while Feyenoord was defeated in Salzburg. In other words, the two points shared between the six Dutch teams in the competition meant the Netherlands ended up with 0.333 points.

In the five-year ranking since 2020/21, Portugal started this round in seventh place, with a coefficient of 54,216 points, compared to the Netherlands’ 57,400, which placed sixth. Portugal currently has 54,616, and the Dutch have 57,733, reducing the difference to 3,117.

As for this season’s ranking, Portugal remains in second place, having reduced the gap to English clubs, having gone from 8,200 points to 8,600. England rose from 8,571 to 8,857.

This coefficient refers to the 43 points collected by Portuguese clubs this season and which are divided between the five teams. There were 41 before this matchday, with Sporting’s two points, and divided between the five teams, Portugal adds another 0.400 to the season’s coefficient.

Still, Benfica’s defeat allowed Italy to close in on this season’s tallies, after triumphs for Inter and Atalanta, with the Italians now totaling 8,375.

Remember that the two teams that finish in the top two places will earn an extra place in the European competitions in 2025/26.