With summaryAfter years of pursuit, the Netherlands has finally secured sixth place in the coefficient ranking. The results of the Portuguese participants were favorable this week, allowing Dutch football to send two clubs to the group stage of the Champions League from the 2024/25 season.
Various scenarios sufficed this week for the Netherlands to secure sixth place. If both Portuguese teams lost, it would be the final blow. Benfica lost 0-2 to Inter last Tuesday, while Sporting Portugal also had to take a hit on Thursday evening. The Portuguese team of Jeremiah St. Juste lost 1-0 at Juventus. Because Feyenoord won against AS Roma (1-0), the distance for Portugal became unbridgeable.
This means that the Netherlands may allow six clubs to participate in European football from the 2024/25 season. The numbers one and two in the Eredivisie qualify directly for the group stage of the Champions League. In addition, tickets for the preliminary round of the Champions League, the preliminary round of the Conference League (two) and the group stage of the Europa League are available. The Netherlands was among the top six in Europe for the last time in 2001.
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• Sloppy AZ bites into Anderlecht and is on the verge of elimination in the Conference League
By winning sixth place, the Netherlands has rewarded itself for years of pursuit. It is only five years ago that the Netherlands was in a disappointing fourteenth place and had to tolerate countries such as the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The Netherlands was overjoyed when it was among the top ten again in 2020, so that the champion of the Eredivisie again directly obtained a ticket for the Champions League.
The Netherlands mainly thanks Ajax and Feyenoord for finding out about Portugal. The team from Amsterdam reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019, Feyenoord only fell in the final of the Conference League against AS Roma last season, which nevertheless resulted in a mountain of coefficient points. However, AZ also contributed significantly to winning points.
Khalid Boulahrouz in funny video
To celebrate the joyful fact, the premier league made the video below, starring Khalid Boulahrouz. The former Orange international, nicknamed the Kannibaal, himself played in Portugal at Sporting Lisbon and was one of the four players who received a red card in the infamous 2006 World Cup match against Portugal. Bouhlarouz then kicked Cristiano Ronaldo out of the match, which eventually came to be known as the Battle of Nuremberg.
points this week
Feyenoord got off to an excellent start early on Thursday evening by beating AS Roma 1-0 at home. The team from Rotterdam thus added another 0.400 point to the already great total. It turned out to be enough to keep Portugal permanently at a distance in the coefficient ranking. The defeat of AZ against RSC Anderlecht (2-0) did not change that.
European tickets Netherlands from the 2024/25 season
Two Champions League tickets
One qualifying round Champions League ticket
One Europa League ticket
Two preliminary round Conference League tickets
Thanks to Feyenoord’s victory, the Dutch season total reached 12,900 points. The last five seasons, the Netherlands took a total of 59,300 points, thus securing sixth place. Portugal collected 55,882 points, 3,418 points less than the Netherlands. That gap can no longer be closed, even if Benfica still wins the Champions League and Sporting Portugal can lift the Europa League trophy.
Director Eredivisie CV proud of extra place
Eredivisie CV director Jan de Jong calls the extra place in the group stage of the Champions League a ‘collective achievement of all premier league clubs’. “Together, we have put the importance of European football central by, among other things, agreeing that all clubs in the premier league are obliged to cooperate with requests to postpone matches in the interest of an optimal match schedule for the clubs playing in Europe. The later entry of the European playing clubs into the KNVB Cup and the collective decision to promote playing on natural grass have also contributed.”
De Jong is also positive about the future: “Because of the extra European tickets, the 6th place in the UEFA ranking is extremely important for the attractiveness of the premier league, the commercial growth and financial stability of the clubs, the development and value of players, and the attraction for new talents. Now we have to make sure we hold on to this place together.”
A coefficient party, then. Still, Feyenoord and AZ still have to work for the long term next week. All points that Feyenoord and AZ will collect in the coming weeks can be used as a buffer to defend sixth place from next season. From the next European campaign, Portugal will have the chance to regain sixth place.
Current ranking
5. France 62,164
6. Netherlands 59,300
7. Portugal 55,882
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