This article contains adult content that may be inappropriate for minors. Please confirm that you are 18 years or older to continue. This article contains images or details that some readers may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. The Portuguese vice-champion this season could gain direct access to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League next season, avoiding the preliminary rounds. For this to happen, the winner of this year's UEFA Europa League must qualify through their league for the prestigious tournament. If this occurs, the club with the best ranking among those that secured spots in the Champions League preliminary rounds will advance directly to the group stage, taking the place left vacant by the Europa League holder. The second-placed team in the Portuguese league would then enter the third preliminary round. Whether it is Sporting, FC Porto, or Benfica, it is virtually guaranteed that the best ranking will be Portuguese. By surpassing Club Brugge last week in the European club rankings, FC Porto entered the top 20 and positioned itself as the third best outside the big five leagues, behind Benfica and Sporting. The only chance that the spot, if it exists, would not go to a Portuguese club would be if it went to France, where the fourth-placed team also enters the Champions League preliminary rounds. However, even there, only PSG is ahead of the three major Portuguese clubs, and the likelihood of finishing Ligue 1 in fourth place is very low. Mathematically, Lille could still surpass Sporting and FC Porto, and Lyon could finish the season ahead of the Dragons (but not the Lions), but that would require them to win almost all their matches on the way to winning the Europa League, which seems unlikely. In the 2024/2025 season, in the first season with the new format of European competitions, Benfica benefited – Atalanta won the Europa League the previous season but secured a spot in the Champions League thanks to their fourth place in Serie A. This season, Benfica once again had the best ranking in the preliminary rounds, but there was no spot available: Tottenham occupied it after winning the Europa League but had a disappointing campaign in the Premier League. This year, among the teams still competing in the Europa League, only Aston Villa and Stuttgart, in addition to FC Porto, are in a position to qualify for the Champions League through their own league (Roma, Lyon, and Lille are not far behind), but the English teams are considered the main favorites to win the second European competition. Regardless of whether the second-placed team in the league goes directly to the Champions League, it is still possible for the third-placed team to also compete in the prestigious tournament. For this to happen, Portugal would need to finish the season as one of the two best countries in the UEFA annual ranking. Sporting's thrashing of Bodo/Glimt and their qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals keeps this possibility alive, but Real Madrid's victory over Manchester City did not help. England, currently with 23.236 points, will finish in first place, despite the elimination yesterday of Manchester City and Chelsea – today, at least Tottenham will join them, and possibly Liverpool and Newcastle as well. Spain follows in second place with 18.843 points, and according to Football Meets Data's calculations on X, they have an 82 percent chance of finishing in that position and securing the other extra spot in the Champions League. Germany, with 18.142 points, has a 13 percent chance – the scenario of Stuttgart's elimination against FC Porto, for example, harms the Bundesliga's calculations. Italy, with 17.928 points but no clubs in the Champions League, is out of the race. Portugal, with 17.700 points after the 0.700 added yesterday by Sporting, has a 4 percent chance, but before the Lions' qualification, that figure was only 1 percent.
Portuguese Vice The Portuguese remains central to this story.
Portuguese Vice The Portuguese remains central to this story.
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