Only two of the five Belgian clubs in Europe managed to win this week, but our country once again performed well in the world rankings. Belgium closed the gap on Portugal and continued to pull away from Türkiye.
look. There is no points coefficient for Antwerp after the loss to Shakhtar
The European week began on Tuesday with Antwerp’s trip to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. The ‘Great Old Man’ lost 1-0 in Hamburg, thus also losing in their fifth group match at the Champions Stadium. Therefore, the national champion has no points left in the group at the moment. Antwerp is not contributing anything to the Belgian coefficient at the moment, but the Champions League is the Champions League.
Our country is in better shape in the conference league. AA Gent won 4-1 over Zorya Luhansk at home and managed to add 0400 points. The certainty of qualifying to the next round added another 0,200 points. On the final day, the Buffaloes can increase the coefficient if they are also crowned group winners, which entails a bonus of 0200 points.
Club Brugge also won convincingly in the Conference League: 0-5 on the pitch against Besiktas. A nice additional victory, because Belgium is trying to keep Turkey, which is ranked ninth in the world rankings. The Blue and Black earned 0400 points thanks to the win – they had already won the winter on the previous match day. Just as with AA Gent, the club can guarantee the group’s victory in the last match and, in addition to the points for a potential win, can add a bonus of 0,200 points.
Genk was unable to gain any points in the Conference League due to the loss to Fiorentina. In the Europa League, Union collected 0,200 points in a draw with Toulouse, although that could certainly have been a victory.
Belgium achieved a total of 1,200 points this week. This means that our country is in a good position again, because despite the two defeats, it ranks seventh with Portugal, which collected 0.834 points, and is further away from Turkey, which collected only 0.250 points.
In two weeks, the curtain will fall on the group stages of European competitions. Club Brugge and AA Gent can add extra value to Belgium’s coffers by also topping the group. Union and Genk can also still score points, but they will have to work hard to advance. Maybe Antwerp will pull a trick against Barcelona?
Current position in the UEFA coefficient rankings
5. France – 59,664 points
6. Netherlands – 59,300 points
7. Portugal – 51,316 points
8. Belgium – 44,200 points
9. Türkiye – 35,600 points
10. Scotland – 33,650 points
Belgium also has the highest new year for labs. Last season, our country had its best season ever with no fewer than 14,200 points – thanks to Club Brugge’s Champions League Final Eight and the European Quarter-Final between Union, Anderlecht and Gent. So far this season the counter stands at 9,400 points, which is already better than many previous European seasons. In fact, Belgium is the country with the most goals so far this year, although that may change after the final round of the group stage. The major powers of Germany, England and Italy are breathing seriously down our necks.
Whether Belgium can dream of a new record season will depend on how many clubs reach the knockout stage. Union and Genk know what they have to do in two weeks. In any case, the champion’s direct Champions League ticket seems certain once again in the coming years. The top ten in the UEFA rankings are entitled to at least one direct representative. Other European tickets will also be upgraded from next season.
Read also.
What a pimp! Sterk Club Brugge makes firewood from Besiktas in Turkey: “I never dared to dream of this”
look. ‘He hasn’t had experience for 50 years’: Gent coach Vanhaysbrouck also badly affected after Nardi suffers open leg fracture
Genk is on the verge of elimination, and Union also has to work hard: this is the situation of our Belgian clubs in Europe
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