Portugal lost to France fifth place in the European Football Association, which it rose to after the qualifying rounds, after a first round of the group stage of the European Cups without a victory.
The Portuguese advantage was very short (44.216 points to 43.748) and the French only needed one round to return to fifth, because if the four Portuguese teams did not win, the six French teams did not lose.
Portugal had two draws, for Benfica (0-0 at Dynamo Kiev) and Porto (0-0 at Atlético Madrid), in the Champions League, and several other defeats, one of them also in the Champions, by the Sporting average (1-5). with Ajax).
Today, Thursday, the only Portuguese representative in the European League, Sporting de Braga, continued the start of the season accumulating poor results, as it lost 2-1 to Estrella Vermelha in Serbia.
On the other hand, the French national team was in a good plan, not exactly in the Champions League, as the great Paris Saint-Germain managed to draw only in Bruges (1-1), while Lille drew at home against Wolfsburg (0-0). ).
In Thursday’s matches, Monaco (1-0 against Sturm Graz) and Lyon (2-0 against Rangers) won the European League, and Marseille with a 1-1 draw at Lokomotiv Moscow, while in the European League. , from which Santa Clara and Pacos de Ferreira fell, Rennes tied 2-2 with Tottenham.
In this way, France outperformed Portugal by calculating 45.081 points compared to 44,549 points, and taking into account the opponents of the two groups and the number of teams, it is likely that the difference will increase quickly.
If Portugal finish fifth at the end of the 2021/22 season, they could have three direct entries into the 2023/24 Champions, a scenario that will only happen if the 2022/23 Europa League winner manages to qualify for the Champions League. across the tournament.
In addition to this potential bonus, a move up from sixth to fifth place would equal two direct teams in the Europa League group stage (Portugal Cup winners and fourth place in the league in 2022/23) and one in the Europa League. Playoff match (5th in the same tournament).
Portugal is barely fifth, but on the other hand, it will not fall from sixth place, which this season has allowed it to own three teams in the Champions League, Benfica after beating Spartak Moscow and PSV Eindhoven.
The Portuguese representation has an insurmountable advantage (44,549 vs. 34,900) over the Netherlands, even considering that in 2021/22, the Dutch points were more valuable and Portugal, moreover, has a lower team in competition.
The points added by the Portuguese national team (two points for a win and one for a draw) are divided by six points (0.333 for a win and 0.166 for a draw), while the Dutch, who have not lost a representative, just have to divide them. by five (0.4 and 0.2).
Next season, Portugal already knows that, like this one, they will have two direct participations in the Champions League and one in the third preliminary round, one team in the group stage of the Europa League, and two in the Europa League qualifying round.
Thus, the 2021/22 league runner-up qualifies for the Champions Group stage, the third into the third preliminary round, the Portuguese Cup winner goes to the European League, and the fourth in the tournament goes to Europe III. The League, Fifth and Second Qualifiers Conference.
classification
1- England 89498 (7/7)
2- Spain: 81 713 (7/7)
3- Italy, 64616 (7/7)
4- Germany 62641 (7/7)
5 – France, 081 45 (6/6)
6 – Portugal, 44.549 (4/6)
7- Netherlands, 34900 (5/5)
8- Austria 250 32 (4/5)
9 – Scotland 300 31 (2/5)
10- Russia, 30,882 (3/5)
