The top ten counties in UEFA’s club ranking makes for surprising reading.
The latest UEFA rankings were released this week and the standings saw Italy’s Serie A shockingly drop out of the top four.
The associations’ or country coefficient rankings are based on the results of each association’s clubs in the five previous UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League seasons. The rankings determine the number of places allocated to an association in forthcoming UEFA club competition. Italy already saw its quota slip from four to three recently Serie A could be in danger of losing another one should the decline continue.
However, it’s good news for Portugal as they climb into fourth spot, as they amassed a further 1,200 points ahead of their Italian counterparts.
England remain in second place just behind Spain at the top of the table as La Liga sides Real Madrid and Sevilla reasserted their dominance in European competitions once again.
Two shocks in the top ten, though, sees Russia and Ukraine rank above the likes of the Netherlands and Belgium.
The top ten is as follows:
1. Spain 1.714 81.499 7/7
2. England 1.714 68.534 7/7
3. Germany 1.714 65.272 7/7
4. Portugal 1.333 53.632 6/6
5. Italy 1.333 52.843 6/6
6. France 1.333 42.833 6/6
7. Russia 0.666 41.498 5/6
8. Ukraine 0.666 35.832 5/6
9. Netherlands 0.666 35.562 5/6
10. Belgium 0.800 28.400 4/5