UEFA Rankings: Cyprus and Scotland increase lead over Greece
UEFA Rankings: Cyprus and Scotland increase lead over Greece
Both Cyprus and Scotland increased their lead over Greece in the UEFA Association Club Coefficient Rankings as Greece maintained their position in 17th. AGONAsport’s Sarantos Kaperonis takes a closer look after matchday five in the UEFA Champions and Europa League.
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Despite taking a 0-2 lead in London, Olympiacos recorded a fourth consecutive defeat in the UEFA Champions League after they fell on Tuesday evening 4-2 against Tottenham. The result left Greece without a point for yet another European week as Greece’s hopes of claiming 15th place in the UEFA Association Club Coefficient Rankings took a severe hit. Greece’s inevitable drop below 15th place came on matchday four and with Olympiacos being the only Greek representative in Europe, they remain Greece’s only hope of salvaging a 15th-place finish by the end of the season.
Scotland, who are the new holders of the magical 15th place, increased their lead over Greece after gaining 0.750 points this week. Celtic clinched first place in their UEFA Europa League group with a 3-1 win over Rennes while Rangers are in pole position to advance after playing to a 2-2 draw on the road against Feyenoord.
Cyprus dropped to 16th despite APOEL’s 0-2 win in Luxembourg over Dudelange. With their victory, the Cypriot champions booked their ticket to the knockout stages of the Europa League and also helped Cyprus increase their lead over Greece in the rankings.
Serbia inched closer to Greece after Partizan played to a 2-2 draw away to AZ Alkmaar. The result gave Serbia 0.250 points, but thankfully eliminated Partizan in the Europa League. Olympiacos can also eliminate Serbia’s second representative, Red Star, on matchday six of the Champions League with the Greek club needing a win to secure third place in the group. If Olympiacos do eliminate Red Star and advance to the Europa League, Greece will surely finish ahead of Serbia in the UEFA rankings and will keep Greece’s slim hopes for a 15th-placed finish alive.
Croatia did not accumulate points this week with Dinamo Zagreb losing in Italy against Atalanta while Switzerland remain just under 2.000 points behind Greece.
Ahead of Greece are the Czech Republic and Denmark. The Czechs received zero points with Slavia Prague’s loss at home to Inter Milan and they were officially eliminated from Europe (last in their UCL group). Denmark’s sole representative, FC Copenhagen, recorded a key win away to Lugano and sit first in their Europa League group heading into the final matchday.
Greece’s hopes for a 15th place finish look minimal at the moment with one matchday left in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. Cyprus and Scotland have already overtaken Greece and are pulling ahead while Croatia are close behind. Scotland are the clear favorites for a 15th place finish with two representatives in the group stages and one, if not both, will continue in Europe past the new year.
If Greece are to have any hopes of a 15th place finish, Olympiacos will have to claim at minimum third place in Group B of the Champions League (a win over Red star on matchday six), continue in the Europa League, and make a deep run in the competition. Anything short of that and a 15th-placed finish is mathematically impossible. In fact, a drop to 19th place could to be on the cards. At an absolute minimum, Greece will need to hold onto 17th place to give the 2021 Super League champions a better position in UEFA Champions League qualifying for the 2021/22 season (would start in sceond qualifying round as opposed to the first qualifying round).
Greece’s goal for the 2019/20 UEFA Association’s Ranking
Greece’s goal for this season is simple: to finish at a minimum in 15th place. A 15th-placed finish means Greece keep five representatives in Europe, two in the Champions League, one in the Europa League, and two in the new Europa League 2.
If Greece fall to 16th or below, one Champions League representative will be lost, resulting in just four Greek teams in UEFA's competitions. To make matters worse, the sole Europa League representative will be demoted to the Europa League 2 meaning Greece will have just one Champions League representative, three Europa League 2 representatives, and ZERO teams in the Europa League.
As it stands now, it will be a fight between Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Serbia, and Scotland for 15th place. Denmark and the Czech Republic look to be well ahead the rest of the pack and out of reach.
*Each win in the group stages offers 2.000 points while each draw offers 1.000 points. These points are divided by the number of original representatives for each country and is added to their coefficient total. Since Greece had five representatives in Europe this season, their points tally will be divided by five. For more information on how the UEFA Coefficients are calculated visit here.
The full breakdown of Greece’s goal finish in this year’s UEFA Associations’ rankings is explained in depth here.
Summary of Results for Those Fighting for 15th
13. Denmark: 27.500 (1 active team out of 4 original teams)
FC Copenhagen defeated Lugano 0-1
Denmark received 0.500 points this week
Denmark gained 0.500 points on Greece
14. Czech Republic: 27.300 (1 active team out of 5 original teams)
Slavia Prague lost to Inter Milan 1-3 and were mathematically eliminated from the Champions and Europa League.
The Czech Republic received 0.000 points this week
The Czech Republic gained zero points on Greece
15. Scotland: 26.375 (2 active teams out of 4 original teams)
Celtic defeated Rennes 3-1; Rangers drew Feyenoord 2-2
Scotland received 0.750 points this week
Scotland gained 0.750 points on Greece
16. Cyprus: 23.250 (1 active team out of 4 original teams)
APOEL defeated Dudelange 0-2
Cyprus received 0.500 points this week
Cyprus gained 0.500 points on Greece
17. Greece: 25.300 (1 active team out of 5 original teams)
Olympiacos lost to Tottenham 4-2
Greece received a total of 0.000 points this week
18. Serbia: 25.000 (2 active teams out of 4 original teams)
Red star lost to Bayern Munich 0-6, Partizan drew AZ Alkmaar 2-2 and were eliminated from the Europa League.
Serbia received 0.250 points this week
Serbia gained 0.250 points on Greece
19. Croatia: 24.875 (1 active team out of 4 original teams)
Dinamo Zagreb lost to Atalanta 2-0
Croatia received 0.000 points this week
Croatia gained 0.000 points on Greece
20. Switzerland: 23.600 (3 active teams out of 5 original teams)
Basel lost to Krasnodar 1-0; Young Boys lost to Porto 1-2; Lugano lost to Copenhagen 0-1 and were eliminated from the Europa League.
Switzerland received 0.000 points this week
Switzerland gained 0.000 points on Greece
What each in the UEFA Rankings placement means
13th or 14th place
2021 Super League champion: UCL third qualifying round
2021 Super League runner-up: UCL second qualifying round
2021 Cup Champion: UEL third qualifying round
2021 Super League 3rd place: UEL2 second qualifying round
2021 Super League 4th place: UEL2 second qualifying round
15th place
2021 Super League champion: UCL second qualifying round
2021 Super League runner-up: UCL second qualifying round
2021 Cup Champion: UEL third qualifying round
2021 Super League 3rd place: UEL2 second qualifying round
2021 Super League 4th place: UEL2 second qualifying round
16th or 17th place
2021 Super League champion: UCL second qualifying round
2019/20 Cup Champion: UEL2 second qualifying round
2021 Super League runner-up: UEL2 second qualifying round
2021 Super League 3rd place: UEL2 second qualifying round
18th place below
2021 Super League champion: UCL first qualifying round
2019/20 Cup Champion: UEL2 second qualifying round
2021 Super League runner-up: UEL2 second qualifying round
2021 Super League 3rd place: UEL2 second qualifying round
by Sarantos Kaperonis
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