UEFA Rankings: Greece in dire need of Olympiacos' progression
UEFA Rankings: Greece in dire need of Olympiacos' progression
Greece need Olympiacos to progress past Wolverhampton Wanderers in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 to not drop below 18th in the UEFA Association’s Ranking and to potentially fight for a much-important 15th place finish. AGONAsport’s Sarantos Kaperonis takes a closer look at the Rankings after the first leg matchups in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16.
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Olympiacos came away with an important 1-1 draw at home to Wolves in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 on Thursday evening. Considering the circumstances of Olympiacos playing behind closed doors, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and falling to 10 man after Ruben Semedo’s red car on the half-hour mark, Olympiacos will be content with the draw.
The Reds’ draw keeps Greece in 17th place of the UEFA Association’s Ranking with 26.300 points. However, with Switzerland’s sole representative, Basel, thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 on the road in the first leg, the 18th-placed Swiss now pose a threat of overtaking Greece in 17th. The Swiss moved up to 25.600 points and are practically guaranteed a representative in the Europa League quarter-finals with Basel’s emphatic first-leg victory.
For Greece to firmly keep a grip on 17th place, Olympiacos will need to progress past Wolves in the Round of 16. A place in the quarter-finals will also give Greece an additional bonus point (0.200 points in the coefficients).
If Olympiacos do surpass Wolves, Greece will either surpass 16th-placed Cyprus or come within 0.050 points of Cyprus (if Olympiacos advance with a draw away to Wolves) with two additional matches guaranteed in the quarter-finals.
In this case, Greece could potentially fight for the glorious 15th place, which will keep Greece with five representatives in Europe for the 2021/22 UEFA season (see below for more information). Currently, the Czech Republic are in 15th place with 27.300 points, but without a representative. The one coefficient point difference from Greece (26.300) equates to five points from Olympiacos, Greece’s final representative. A win yields two points while a draw yields one point. A reminder, qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Europa League includes one bonus point.
If Greece and the Czech Republic tie on 27.300 points, the country with the higher coefficient in the most recent season (in this case 2019/20) will finish ahead in the tie-breaker. Greece have a higher coefficient than the Czech Republic this campaign and would finish ahead of the Czech in the case of a tie.
Further ahead of Greece are Denmark and Scotland and look to be well out of reach for this season. Both nations have one representative in the Europa League.
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 Conference League. 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 Conference League meaning Greece will have just one Champions League representative, three Europa Conference League 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: 28.250 (1 active team out of 4 original teams)
FC Copenhagen lost to Basaksehir 1-0
Denmark received 0.000 points this week
Denmark gained 0.000 points on Greece
14. Scotland: 27.875 (1 active team out of 4 original teams)
Rangers lost to Bayer Leverkusen 1-3
Scotland received 0.000 points this week
Scotland gained 0.000 points on Greece
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 (0 active teams out of 4 original teams)
Cyprus have no active teams in Europe.
17. Greece: 26.300 (1 active team out of 5 original teams)
Olympiacos drew Wolves 1-1
Greece received a total of 0.200 points this week
18. Switzerland: 25.600 (1 active team out of 5 original teams)
Basel defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3
Switzerland received 0.400 points this week
Switzerland gained 0.200 points on Greece
19. Serbia: 25.500 (0 active teams out of 4 original teams)
Serbia have no active teams in Europe.
20. Croatia: 24.875 (0 active teams out of 4 original teams)
Croatia have no active teams in Europe.
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: UECL second qualifying round
2021 Super League 4th place: UECL 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: UECL second qualifying round
2021 Super League 4th place: UECL second qualifying round
16th or 17th place
2021 Super League champion: UCL second qualifying round
2019/20 Cup Champion: UECL second qualifying round
2021 Super League runner-up: UECL second qualifying round
2021 Super League 3rd place: UECL second qualifying round
18th place below
2021 Super League champion: UCL first qualifying round
2019/20 Cup Champion: UECL second qualifying round
2021 Super League runner-up: UECL second qualifying round
2021 Super League 3rd place: UECL second qualifying round
by Sarantos Kaperonis
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