Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Friday, December 12, 2025, 08:42 / Updated Friday, December 12, 2025 08:44
The results recorded by the Dutch teams in the European cups, incl Feyenoord defeat FCSB (3-4)leaves the Eredivisie vulnerable in the UEFA coefficient ranking. It is an important battle, which makes the difference between having one or two teams qualify directly for the Champions League group.
The Netherlands has six teams in the groups of the European Cups. This week, only two of them won, Ajax (4-2 v Qarabag) and AZ Alkmaar (3-0 v Drita), while PSV (3-4 v Atletico Madrid), Utrecht (1-2 v Nottingham), Go Ahead Eagles (1-2 v Lyon) and Feyenoord (3-4 v FCSB) were defeated.
That meant the Dutch league was only added 0.666 points this week in the odds rankings. In the European groups, each victory is rewarded with two points, but those are divided by the number of representatives of the respective country. In this case, 4 (out of two wins) divided by 6.
The Dutch Championship ranks 6th in the UEFA ranking, a strategic position, because it ensures direct qualification in the Champions League group of the country's champion and vice-champion. In the case of the 7th place league, only the champion goes directly to the group.
The Dutch are worried after Feyenoord's failure with FCSB: “So we have to fear!”
After this week's results, one they describe as mediocre, the Dutch press writes that “now we have to fear for second place in the Champions League”.
“The Netherlands are well behind France. The main goal is to keep Portugal (7th place) and Belgium (8th place) at bay. It is essential, especially since the points from the 2021/2022 super season will be deleted from next season,” explains sportniews.nl. In that season, the Netherlands collected 19,200 points, by far the most successful season in the last 5 years.
This week, Portugal took advantage of the results of the Dutch and came a little closer. Even though Sporting lost (1-3 v Bayern), Benfica (2-0 v Napoli), FC Porto (2-1 v Malmo) and Braga (1-0 v Nice) also won they brought Portugal 1,200 points (6, out of 3 wins, divided by 5, the total number of teams the Netherlands started the European season with).
There are 2,100 points left (the Netherlands has 65,366, Portugal 63,266). Belgium is too far away to realistically hope for a better position (57,750).
22it is the place occupied by the Romanian championship, with 25,000 points
