France UEFA coefficient ranking Portugal gap, Digi Mart USA News: This was a week of two faces for French football, with good results alongside a deeply troubling one. France recorded three wins and three draws, with Paris Saint-Germain thrashing Villarreal 6-0 at home in the Champions League.
Lille drew 0-0 away at Bodø/Glimt in Norway, while Marseille, coached by Bruno Genesio, beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 away in the Europa League. Lyon held Real Sociedad to a 1-1 draw, and Monaco beat Nordsjaelland 2-0 in the Conference League without convincing.
The major blow came from RC Lens, who suffered a crushing 9-1 home defeat to Como of Italy in the Champions League. Stade Rennais also failed to beat Olympiakos, drawing 0-0 at home in the Conference League.
Portugal had a nearly perfect week, winning four matches and drawing one across its five representatives. Sporting CP beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0, and FC Porto defeated Napoli 4-1, their first win of the season in the competition.
Benfica beat Lech Poznan 3-1 in the Europa League. Second-division side Torreense scored twice in stoppage time to beat Ararat-Armenia 3-2, while Braga drew 0-0 with Aarhus in the Conference League.
As a result, France’s lead has shrunk considerably. The gap was 3,660 points last week and now stands at 3,146 points, with France at 72,296 points and Portugal at 69,150 points over the five-season period.
On the current season alone, Portugal has 8,900 points against 7,214 for France. French clubs have also already used up part of the 4,832 starting points they had this summer, and the gap was already reduced in the offseason.
France has already secured its quotas for the 2027-2028 season, but the 2028-2029 season is at stake. Keeping fifth place would give France seven European representatives, including three direct Champions League entries and one place in the third preliminary round.
Falling to sixth would cost a direct Champions League spot.
Looking ahead, Germany holds fourth place with a 12,677-point lead, and Belgium sits seventh, 8,246 points behind. The battle is therefore set to play out between France and Portugal until the end of the season.
