Quick Review on the calculation: UEFA Country Coefficients 2003/2004 UEFA Country Ranking 2004 For Austria to regain a 2nd CL spot for 2005/2006, they need to be in ranked at least 15th in the 2004 Uefa country ranking... Austrian Teams hunting for points this year*: Austria Wien GAK Salzburg Kärnten *Should Pasching be victorious against Schalke in the Intertoto Cup finals, they will be added to the list.
First points for Austria... GAK gained Austria 2 pts. with 2 qualification wins over SK Tirana. Current Coefficient: 0.500
Austria Wien - Olympique Marseille 0:1 (qualification loss) = 0 points GAK - Ajax 1:1 (qualification draw) = 0.5 point Kärnten - Grindavík 2:1 (qualification win) = 1 point Total Points: 3.5 Current Coefficient: 0.875
Olympique Marseille - Austria Wien 0:0 (qualification draw) = 0.5 point Ajax - GAK 2:1 (qualification loss) = 0 points Grindavík - Kärnten 1:1 (qualification draw) = 0.5 point Total Points: 4.5 Current Coefficient: 1.125 Country Ranking: 12. Belgium (25.125) 13. Super League (21.375) 14. T-Mobile Bundesliga (20.125) 15. Israel (19.999) ---------------------------------- 16. Ukraine (19.125) 17. Poland (19.000) Austria is on track of getting back that 2nd CL spot...
This is how Uefa uses the country ranking to allocate Champions League spots: Champions League 1. Four Teams, GP <CH & RU>, Q3 <N3 & N4> 2. Four Teams, GP <CH & RU>, Q3 <N3 & N4> 3. Four Teams, GP <CH & RU>, Q3 <N3 & N4> 4. Three Teams, GP <CH & RU>, Q3 <N3> 5. Three Teams, GP <CH & RU>, Q3 <N3> 6. Three Teams, GP <CH & RU>, Q3 <N3> 7. Two Teams, GP <CH>, Q3 <RU> 8. Two Teams, GP <CH>, Q3 <RU> 9. Two Teams, GP <CH>, Q3 <RU> 10. Two Teams, Q3 <CH>, Q2 <RU> 11. Two Teams, Q3 <CH>, Q2 <RU> 12. Two Teams, Q3 <CH>, Q2 <RU> 13. Two Teams, Q3 <CH>, Q2 <RU> 14. Two Teams, Q3 <CH>, Q2 <RU> 15. Two Teams, Q3 <CH>, Q2 <RU> 16. - 25. One Team, Q2 <CH> 26. - 52. One Team, Q1 <CH> GP = Group Phase Q# = Qualifying Round 1, 2, or 3 CH = Champion RU = Runner-up N3 = 3rd Placed Club N4 = 4th Placed Club Note: There can't be more than 4 teams from a particular country in the Champions League, meaning that if the Titleholder is from one of the top three leagues, the 4th placed team in that league misses out...
With today's draw, things just got a lot more difficult for Austria. The Austrian teams will have to play their hearts out to fight off Israel, the Ukraine, Poland, and maybe even Serbia & Montenegro to stay in the first 15.
Vålerenga - GAK 0:0 (draw) = 1 point Salzburg - Udinese 0:1 (loss) = 0 points Austria - Dortmund 1:2 (loss) = 0 points Feyenoord - Kärnten 2:1 (loss) = 0 points Total Points: 5.5 Current Coefficient: 1.375 12. Belgium (25.625) 13. Super League (22.125) 14. Israel (20.499) 15. T-Mobile Bundesliga (20.375) ---------------------------------- 16. Ukraine (19.875) 17. Poland (19.750) Not looking good guys, not looking good at all. Hopefully at least GAK will make it to the 2nd round, otherwise this year's coefficient could possibly be one of the worst ones ever. The Ukraine will push hard for that 15th place...
GAK - Vålerenga 1:1 (draw) = 1 point Dortmund - Austria 1:0 (loss) = 0 points Udinese - Salzburg 1:2 (win) = 2 points Kärnten - Feyenoord 0:1 (loss) = 0 points Total Points: 8.5 Current Coefficient: 2.125 12. Belgium (26.375) 13. Super League (22.375) 14. T-Mobile Bundesliga (21.125) 15. Israel (20.999) ---------------------------------- 16. Ukraine (20.875) 17. Poland (20.750) Compared to last time, things are looking better... Let's see what Salzburg can do in the next round.
Salzburg - Parma 0:4 (loss) = 0 points Total Points: 8.5 Current Coefficient: 2.125 14. Ukraine (21.375) 15. Poland (21.250) ---------------------- 16. Israel (21.249) 17. T-Mobile Bundesliga (21.125) 18. Norway (20.400) There goes the 2nd CL spot for 2005/2006. Sorry guys, with Salzburg basically being done, I see no way for you to go back up to 15th...
Austria needs a Salzburg win (or even a draw) in the 2nd leg, mainly because Parma will perhaps be primarily focused on winning the tie in aggregate. Then, they would also have to have losses by both of Poland's UEFA Cup teams, as well as a loss by Maccabi Haifa (Isr). I know Austria has drawn their own fate by having the 3rd worst current coefficient in the Top 25 (behind Sweden and Switzerland), but is it too much to ask to have the La Liga leading squad (Valencia) do better than a 0-0 draw with Maccabi Haifa in Spain?