The first place in the UEFA ranking does not mean much, but it provides some direction to the eternal question – which league is the best in the world? And the answer to this question is likely to change soon. After eight years with a choking grip on first place, Spain will probably lose it to England This season.
After the last round of games in Europe the gap between the two stands at less than a point, or 0.571 to be exact. This means that if the English delegation achieves two victories and draws more than the Spanish delegation, the turnaround will be complete. This is a realistic scenario after the three Englishmen recorded away victories in the Champions League this season, including one in a direct duel against a Spanish opponent.
In any case, even if the English teams collapse and fail to complete the turnaround this season, at the start of next season it will be finally completed, as Spain will lose the 2016/17 season in which they picked up over 5 ranking points more than England. Since that season there has been a steady decline in points accumulation which has made it possible to close the gap. The UEFA ranking, it will be recalled, examines the achievements of the country’s representation in Europe over the past five seasons.
Spain has enjoyed continued dominance in the European factories with winning the Champions League for five consecutive seasons and the Europa League in the last 7 of 9 years. Although Sevilla won the Europa League last season, for the first time no team from Spain has qualified for the Champions League semi-finals since 2007.
This season, Sevilla, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid lost their first games away and only Real Madrid maintained the respect of the Spaniards. The first was eliminated yesterday (Tuesday) by Borussia Dortmund and the second yesterday against PSG. If all are rejected, it will be the first time there has been no representative of the state in the quarter-finals since the 2004/5 season.
And while England and Spain are battling for luxury, there are those who will come out of this season with a real profit. A great season for Rangers in the Europa League could give it a direct place in the home stage of the Champions League after Scotland qualified for 11th place in the rankings. She is currently with 33,125 points, just 0.025 more than Ukraine, which has two representations left in the Europa League. Rangers, it will be recalled, have already secured the Scottish League championship and hold a 20-point gap from runners-up Celtic.
Israel will finish the season in 21st place, a slight increase compared to the 23rd of last season. Greece and the Czech Republic, who still have a representative in Europe, above it, while Norway is a great distance away in 22nd place. The significance for Israel: one place in the first qualifying round of the Champions League and three more places in the second qualifying round of the Conference League.
