European  Football
Champions-League / UEFA-CUP (incl. scorers) ~
UEFA Coëfficiënts and rankings

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This seasons:   Champions-League | UEFA-CUP | Team-coëfficiënts | Country-coëfficiënts

Updated on 16-12-05                                                                       CL & UC - Draws

On this site you can find everything about European Football. The latest results (with scorers) in Champions - League and UEFA-CUP, top goal scorers in the Champions-League, the UEFA-coëfficiënts and rankings and some stadiums of the biggest clubs in the world. Maybe in the future the results of  Intertoto-Cup, European Super-Cup and World Club Cup comes available and maybe also some player-statistics and Club logo's.

There is also an explanation of the format of the different European-competitions:
        - Champions - League format
        - UEFA - CUP format
        - Overview of the number of participating teams for the different countries
        - Explanation of the UEFA Country-coëfficiënts
        - Explanation of the UEFA Team-coëfficiënts 

Champions-League format

The Champions-League is the most lucrative club competition in Europe. In the past (till 1996-'97) this competition was only for the champions of the different competitions in Europe. Depending on the Country - coëfficiënts of the different countries, the teams must play a qualification round or could directly participate the 1st round.

In 1997-'98 the format changed and the 8 runners-up of the first 8 countries on the Country-ranking list may participate (in the 2nd qualification round).

That format existed only for two seasons and in 1999-'00 the format was changing again.

In 2003-'04 the format was changing the last time (2nd Group-stage round was reduced to a knock-out round).
This format is still the current and is shown below.

 

1 st Qualification round	Involving 24 teams: * 24 champions of countries 26 or lower on the country-ranking list
2 nd Qualification round	Involving 28 teams: * 12 winners of the 1 st Qualification round * 10 champions of countries 16-25 on the country-ranking list * 6 runners-up of countries 10-15 on the country-ranking list
3 rd Qualification round	Involving 32 teams: * 14 winners of the 2 nd Qualification round * 6 champions of countries 10-15 on the country-ranking list * 3 runners-up of countries 7-9 on the country-ranking list * 6 third-placed teams of countries 1-6 on the country-ranking list * 3 fourth-placed teams of countries 1-3 on the country-ranking list
Group-stage round	Involving 32 teams (in eight groups): * 16 winners of the 3 th Qualification round * 9 champions of countries 1-9 on the country-ranking list * 6 runners-up of countries 1-6 on the country-ranking list * 1 title-holder
2 nd round (knock-out)	Involving 16 teams (in knock-out system): * 8 numbers 1 of the eight groups in the Group-stage round * 8 numbers 2 of the eight groups in the Group-stage round
Quarter finals	8 winners of the 2 nd round (knock-out)
Semi Finals	4 winners of the Quarter finals (knock-out)
Final	2 winners of the Semi Finals (knock-out)

The following rules are applied to determine the ranking in the group-stage rounds:

1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches between the teams in question
2. Superior goal difference from the matches between the teams in question
3. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches between the teams in question
4. Superior goal difference from all group matches played
5. Higher number of goals scored
6. Coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five
    seasons.

If the Title-holder is already qualified for the tournament by the results in his domestic league there are some changes in the format, simplified you can say that each team on the boundary is participating the next round. So: The champion of country ranked 26 goes to the 2 nd qualification round, etc... There are a lot of exceptions so I will not explain all of them but there will be an explanation in the results pages if it happens. (example: season 2002-03)

UEFA-CUP format

This is the european competition for clubs who don't play Champions-League, has lost the 3 th Qualification (CL) or has finished as third in the 1 st Group-stage round (CL). In addition the 3 winners of the Intertoto-Cup, 3 winners of the Fair-Play award and since the Cup-Winner's Cup is ceased in 1998-'99, the Cup winners of each country contest the competition.

As with other club competitions, the number of clubs that can be entered by an association and their entry point in the competition depends on the association's position in UEFA's country-ranking list.

The current format is shown in the table below.

If the Cup-winner of a country also qualifies for the Champions League, then the losing team of the cup final is qualified for the UEFA Cup. If both cup finalists qualify for the Champions League, an additional team based on league position will be qualified.

Overview of the number of participating teams per country

UEFA Coëfficiënts

Country-Coëfficiënts

The UEFA coëfficiënts are important to know how many teams can participate in the different European leagues for a specific country. Logically a strong country has more participants then a weak country. The UEFA introduced a system with points so that they can mathematical separate the different countries.

Every country is collecting points during the 'European' season. In the qualification rounds, there is 1 point for a win and 0.5 point for a draw. In the main tournament, there are 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. So every team is collecting his own points. At the end, all points (of all teams) of a specific country are added and divided by the number of teams that participate for that country. Then you get the "Country-coëfficiënt". The "Country-ranking list" is calculated by taking the sum of 5 coefficients in the last 5 years. (Sorted descending) (example: Country-ranking of season 2002-03)

Team-Coëfficiënts

Once you know the teams to participate in the European leagues, it's necessary to sort these teams descending because the UEFA wants to create matches with a strong and a weak team. For example with the draw for the 1 st Qualification round of the Champions-League, there are 22 teams placed in two bowls, one contains the first eleven teams and another one the last eleven.

To sort the teams they need to have a "Team-coëfficiënt". This coëfficiënt is calculated as the country-coëfficiënt with the exception of the qualification rounds, this means that the points earned in the qualification rounds are not taken into acount by the calculation of the team-coëfficiënt. Then, 50% of the country-coëfficiënt is added to this coëfficiënt. Finally you have the "Team-coëfficiënt" of a specific year. The "Team-ranking list" is calculated by taking the sum of 5 coefficients in the last 5 years. (Sorted descending) (example: Team-ranking of season 2002-03)

mailto:europeanfootball2002@yahoo.co.uk

Fair-Play competition: UEFA's ranking list based on all matches played in the UEFA competitions between 1 June 200X and 31 May 200X+1. Marks are awarded to club and national teams for, among other things, positive play, conduct of players, team officials and spectators, red and yellow cards, and respecting of the referee.

The clubs are nominated after either winning their domestic Fair Play competition, or finishing behind clubs which were in the leading positions in the national Fair Play competition, but which have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup.