UEFA Rankings: Greece in danger of dropping to 18th
With Olympiacos on the way out of Europe and Basel’s big win over APOEL, Greece are in danger of dropping to 18th in the UEFA Association Club Coefficient Rankings. AGONAsport’s Sarantos Kaperonis takes a closer look after the first leg matchups in the UEFA Europa League.
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Olympiacos put up a good fight against Arsenal on Thursday but fell on the wrong end of a 0-1 result as a late goal from Alexandre Lacazette gave the English side a one-goal lead heading into next week’s second leg in London. The result means Olympiacos are on their way out of Europe and Greece will likely lose their final representative in UEFA competitions for the season, putting Greece in a tough position in the UEFA Association Club Coefficient Rankings.
Switzerland, who sit in 20th place and are the only country that can overtake Greece in 17th, saw their only representative, Basel defeat APOEL 0-3 on the road to practically book their place in the last 16 of the competition. The win gave Switzerland 0.400 points and they now sit on 24.800 points in 20th place, while Greece sit on 25.700 points.
Ahead of Greece are Denmark, Scotland, the Czech Republic, and Cyprus with all countries having at least one representative in Europe (Scotland have two) except for the Czech Republic. Scotland assured their grip on a minimum 15th-place finish with Celtic drawing away to Denmark’s Copenhagen 1-1 while Rangers came from behind to defeat Braga 3-2 at home. Cyprus’ sole representative, APOEL, will bow out after a 0-3 thrashing at home to Basel.
With Olympiacos expected to bow out of Europe next week, Greece will not overcome any of these countries and will settle for 17th place. The focus going forward, if Olympiacos are eliminated in London, will be to hold onto 17th place and hope Basel will be eliminated before Switzerland can overtake Greece in the rankings.
Seventeenth place is slightly better than 18th place as it affects the Super League champions’ starting point in UEFA Champions League qualifying (see below).
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. However, as it stands now, Greece’s new goal is to hold onto 17th place.
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, Scotland, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic for 15th place. Denmark 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-18th.
13. Denmark: 27.750 (1 active team out of 4 original teams)
FC Copenhagen drew Celtic 1-1
Denmark received 0.250 points this week
Greece gained 0.250 points on Denmark
14. Scotland: 27.375 (2 active teams out of 4 original teams)
Celtic drew Copenhagen 1-1, Rangers defeated Braga 3-2
Scotland received 0.750 points this week
Greece gained 0.750 points on Scotland
15. Czech Republic: 27.300 (0 active teams out of 5 original teams)
The Czech Republic have no active teams in Europe.
16. Cyprus: 26.750 (1 active team out of 4 original teams)
APOEL lost to Basel 0-3
Cyprus received 0.000 points this week
Cyprus gained 0.000 points on Greece
17. Greece: 25.700 (1 active team out of 5 original teams)
Olympiacos lost to Arsenal 0-1
Greece received a total of 0.000 points this week
18. Serbia: 25.500 (0 active teams out of 4 original teams)
Serbia have no active teams in Europe.
19. Croatia: 24.875 (0 active teams out of 4 original teams)
Croatia have no active teams in Europe.
20. Switzerland: 24.800 (1 active team out of 5 original teams)
Basel defeated APOEL 0-3
Switzerland received 0.400 points this week
Switzerland gained 0.400 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
