:focal(995x618:1005x608):watermark(cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/6LJWAO74QZHR7KW5AX2LGSOHQQ.png,0,-0,0,100)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/BRC2XAZQSBDUPE7LXAUKOO5FV4.jpg "The dream of a second direct ticket to the Champions League is about to disappear")
As of this season, the top two leagues get an extra ticket to the next edition of the Champions League which will see the number of participants increased from 32 to 36. In this small match, Germany are now in the lead after their six-way success this week. Four of its representatives qualified for the rest of the competitions. Italy follows thanks to its five victories. After falling to fifth place, Belgium is not a disabling delay on paper, but it may clearly forget its dream while owing, in part, its very good standing to the performance of its representatives during the preliminary rounds.
If we only take into account the points earned during the groups without bonus points because a large portion of them have not yet been awarded, Belgium ranks sixth in the standings behind Germany, Italy, England, France and Spain. If this logic is respected, these countries will see their best representatives go very far in top competitions that are more profitable in terms of bonus points than the Conference League where Belgium earns the majority of its eggs. A 5th or 6th place finish in the year’s coefficient would be a more realistic goal but still great.
The eighth position is well protected
In the overall standings, Belgium is clinging stronger than ever to its eighth place, which guarantees it a direct ticket to the Champions League groups within the top ten. Turkey, which is ranked ninth, gradually declined, and did not receive the slightest qualification. This week’s point gives more margin to our competition, which has a big lead in this regard. The difference with the Turks (7,650 points) is now greater than the difference with Portugal, seventh (7,482 points).
This gap is equivalent to more than 18 wins, we should not hope for this position this season but Belgium already regained the points last year, continue to do so this year and can hope to repeat that in the coming seasons since the points were awarded during the season. The 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons were much better for the Portuguese, who will eventually lose this advantage. In a couple of years, dreaming of a better place in the labs doesn’t seem entirely illusory even if it would require very strong performance every year.
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