Co-efficient corner: one week of the Last 16s left to go

We’re definitely at the business end of European competitions now: we’re halfway through the Champions League Last 16 second leg, and the Europa and Conference League Group Winners have rejoined the competition as we’ve got through the first leg of their Last 16 ties.

No movement in the Top 8

There’s been no change in the line-up of teams looking for a top seeding next season: Man City completed their win over Copenhagen, picking up three points (two for the win, plus a bonus point for reaching the Quarter Finals), taking them to 146 points. Bayern Munich redeemed themselves with a 3–0 win against Lazio, giving them three points for a total of 139.

Real Madrid were held to a draw against RB Leipzig, but that was still enough for them to advance: their two points puts them on 127, and PSG’s win at Real Sociedad saw them progress and pick up three points for 113.

Meanwhile, Liverpool demolished Sparta Prague and take 5–1 lead back to Anfield along with an extra two co-efficient points for 109. Inter Milan had the week off so remain on 101 points before their trip to Atlético Madrid on Wednesday. RB Leipzig picked up a point from their draw at the Bernabéu, so they finish their European season on 97 points.

Chelsea remain on 96, and will be overtaken by Roma (currently on 94) next week if they avoid defeat at Brighton following their 4–0 win on Thursday. Man United remain in ninth place on 92 points.

The race for the European Performance Spots

Italy no longer have a full slate of teams in European competition following Lazio’s loss at Bayern, but they remain top of the rankings for 2024: wins for Roma, Milan and Fiorentina, plus a draw for Atalanta added one point to their total. They were matched by Germany: Bayern’s advance to the Champions League Quarter Finals, Freiburg’s win against West Ham and draws for RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen netted Germany one point for their co-efficient.

This allowed Germany to widen the gap ahead of England: Man City and Liverpool managed wins, and Aston Villa’s draw at Ajax picked up points, but defeats for Brighton and West Ham didn’t help. The results meant English clubs bagged 0.75 points for the country co-efficient and are now looking nervously over their shoulder at their French counterparts, who had a 100% week, with wins for PSG, Marseille and Lille winning 1.167 points. Spanish clubs had the worst week of the Big 5: Real Madrid drew and advanced to the Quarter Finals, but Real Sociedad and Villarreal both lost to French opposition, adding just 0.25 points to Spain’s co-efficient.

Scotland v Czechia: The battle for tenth place

With three Czech teams in the Last 16, and just Rangers flying the flag for Scotland, it looked as though Scotland’s automatic place in the League Stage was in real jeopardy, but tough draws for the Prague teams in particular gave Scotland a little hope before this week’s games. And so it proved: Rangers drew at Benfica, netting 0.2 points for the Scottish co-efficient.

By contrast, Sparta Prague’s 5–1 loss to Liverpool, and Slavia Prague’s 4–2 loss at Milan mean it was left to Viktoria Plzeň to pick up points with a 0–0 draw at Servette, meaning the Czech co-efficient only increased by 0.25 points.

Scotland aren’t out of the woods yet, though: the gap between the two countries is now just 0.5 points: Viktoria are the favourites to beat Servette at home and progress to the Quarter Finals, and it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Slavia Prague get some sort of result against Milan at the Fortuna Arena this Thursday.

The good news is, if just Rangers and Viktoria win, that’s a bonus for the Scottish clubs: teams get a bonus point for reaching the Quarter Finals in the Europa League, but not in the Conference League. So a win at Ibrox nets Scotland 0.6 points, while a win at the Doosan Arena will only net Czechia 0.5 points.

Meanwhile, Scotland are 2.05 points behind Türkiye following Fenerbahçe’s 3–0 win at Union Saint-Gilloise.

All to play for this week

We have the final Champions League Last 16 ties to complete this week, as well as the second legs of the Last 16 ties in the Europa and Conference Leagues, so there are co-efficient points up for grabs across the board. Then on Friday, we’ll have the draws for the Quarter and Semi Finals — so we’ll see the path to the three Finals. It’s a big week…