UEFA Ranking: Germany takes Portugal’s place in the Champions..

Bayer Leverkusen’s victory away to Olympiakos (0-2) on Wednesday allowed Germany to move up to second place in UEFA’s season ranking, overtaking Portugal, which dropped to third place and thus is no longer in a position to secure an extra Champions League spot for the country in 2026/27.

In a week that saw not only Leverkusen’s victory but also Borussia Dortmund’s (2-0 against Atalanta on Tuesday), Germany added another 0.571 points to its UEFA ranking. It now has 16,785 points for the 2025/26 season.

Portugal, which this week already had Benfica in action in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 play-off, has not (and will not) score any points this week because it has no clubs in the Europa League and Conference League play-offs, the first leg of which is played on Thursday. It remains on 16,600 points, now 0.185 less than the Germans, who can still score more points this week: this Thursday, Stuttgart visits Celtic, a tie that could determine the opponent of FC Porto or Sp. Braga in the round of 16 .

Also noteworthy is the Spanish team’s closeness to Portugal in the season rankings, with an additional 0.375 points in these two days of Champions League matches, thanks to Real Madrid’s victory at the Estádio da Luz and Atlético Madrid’s draw away to Club Brugge (3-3). 

Furthermore, in the top 5 of the season, the Italian disaster also stands out, with defeats for Atalanta in Dortmund, Juventus (5-2 in Turkey against Galatasaray), and Inter (3-1 away to Bodo Glimt).

Besides Germany, England follows in the extra qualifying position = and with a large advantage in first place = having added another 0.222 points to the ranking, with Newcastle’s victory over Qarabag (1-6). TOP 10 SEASON RANKING:
1st: England, 21,180 (9/9 clubs) | +0.222 points this week
2nd: Germany, 16,785 (6/7) | +0.571
3rd: Portugal, 16,600 (4/5)
4th: Spain, 15,906 (6/8) | +0.375
5th: Italy, 15,500 (6/7)
6th: France, 14,035 (5/7) | +0.285
7th: Poland, 13,625 (3/4)
8th: Greece, 12,100 (4/5)
9th: Cyprus, 11,906 (2/4)
10th: Denmark, 11,750 (1/4)