Betis’ elimination from the Conference further distances the Champions League from Real

Imanol Alguacil They admitted yesterday in a press conference that they are already thinking about the semifinal of the Cup, because they have before them a historic opportunity to play in a final with an audience. Well, the San Sebastian club will also think about another battle that will greatly determine Txuri Urdin’s presence in Europe next year: the battle between the leagues for an extra place in the Champions League. The new format of European competitions will give another place to the two best leagues in terms of results in European competitions in 23-24. These results are measured using the UEFA Coefficient, which is calculated using points for wins, draws, passing the round, etc. If Spain gets one of those two extra places, fifth place in the Liga will go into the Champions League without losing the Europa League and Conference spots. This means that eight clubs will qualify for European competitions and Real will have a better chance of returning to the Champions League and a more difficult chance of missing out on a fifth consecutive European qualification.

The battle between the leagues is on fire, every point, defeat or victory counts. For this reason, yesterday’s departure of Betis from the Conference against Dinamo Zagreb, after not being able to overcome a 1-1 draw, was of almost no benefit to Real. Spain loses the opportunity to score many points in the most affordable competition, the path to the title for Fiorentina and Aston Villa becomes easier, and in addition Betis, a direct rival in the Liga, will have a clean week until the end of the season.

Spain, fifth and further away

The current reality of this ranking between the leagues does not allow us to dream too much about an extra place for LaLiga. After this European week it became the fourth, even surpassed by Ligue 1 which lost three of its participants in the Europa League yesterday. Toulouse, Lens and Rennes were eliminated and only Marseille advanced, but they added two wins and a draw which served to overtake Spain. It wasn’t a particularly bright day for Germany either, losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Conference, where it was a candidate for the title, although Freiburg were saved from the Europa League, knocking out French Lens in extra time . In the Champions League, Dortmund did not go beyond a draw against PSV. England did not participate in the round of 32 of the Europa League or Conference, and in the Champions League they lost to Arsenal, against Porto (1-0). So the big winner of the week, once again, is Italy, which continues to lead the way. Napoli scratched out a draw against Barça and Inter beat Atlético in the Champions League, and Roma and Milan went through to the second round of the Europa League, despite struggling.

At the end of the week in Europe, the update of the calculation of the UEFA coefficient left Italy as the undisputed leader, with 15,571 points, far even from Germany, ranked second with 14.5 points, which now gets also an additional area. England remains third with 13,875 points, and the novelty is in fourth place, which briefly goes to France (13,25), surpassing Spain (13,187). There is still a lot of European competition left, but the distance is starting to get great.

The Champions League could save Spain

The UEFA Coefficient divides the points earned by the number of participating clubs for each country at the start of the season. That is, in Spain and England it is divided between eight, despite the fact that Osasuna hardly participated in a previous one. This is a significant burden. La Liga’s main asset is the Champions League, where Real can also help. It has four living teams in the top competition, more than any other league. Of course, there is only one Villarreal left who crashed out of the Europa League and there is no survivor in the Conference.

Italy keeps its seven tricks alive. Three in the Champions League, three clear candidates in the Europa League (Roma, Milan and Atalanta) and one in the Conference (Fiorentina). They hope to get the additional area. Germany has five teams left of the seven it had, three of them in the Champions League and two in the Europa League, with Leverkusen’s big asset Xabi Alonso. England has six teams alive in the eight (City and Arsenal in the Champions League, Brighton, Liverpool and West Ham in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Conference), and all are favorites to reach the final in their competitions. And France has the worst, with only one team in each of the six competitions where it started.

cross keys

This morning the round of 16 of the Europa League and Conference was drawn. There will be very tough duels in the Europa League, three of them are key due to the two leagues facing each other in the middle of the match. Marseille-Villarreal, Rome-Brighton and Freiburg-West Ham. In the Conference, Aston Villa are out of luck and will face Ajax, while Fiorentina will have an affordable rival in Maccabi Haifa. But, above all, things will be decided in the Champions League. The return of the Italian-Spanish double duel will be key, in addition to PSV or Porto surprising Arsenal and Dortmund. And, of course, that Real got the better of PSG and Spain managed to put three or four teams in the quarterfinals. That will bring back a lot of hope in LaLiga.

All round of 16 matches with the presence of Premier, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga or La Liga teams:

champion:

REAL SOCIETY– PSG

Lazio-Bayern

Copenhagen-Manchester City

PSV-Dortmund

Leipzig-real Madrid

Naples-Barça

inter-Athletic

Porto-Arsenal

Europa League:

Sporting Portugal-Atalanta

Liverpool-Sparta Prague

Marseilles-Villarreal

Qarabag-Leverkusen

Brighton-Rome

Milan-Slavia Prague

Freiburg-West Ham

Conference League:

Ajax-Aston Villa

Sturm Graz-Lille

Maccabi Haifa-Fiorentina