If Olympiacos or PAOK are crowned Greek champions, they have a chance to find themselves directly in the revised Champions League group, avoiding the playoffs range. The two methods are more realistic.
The group stage of this year's European competitions is over…for good. The new season will see an overhaul of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, with a pool of 36 teams and plenty of variations at each level.
One of them concerns qualification to the group (league stage), which could favor the Greek champion, if it is Olympiacos or PAOK.
The two teams are the representatives of Greece with the highest coefficient in the UEFA classification and are ranked 50th and 51st in the standings, respectively, and they can dream of a miracle and their direct participation in the Champions League group, without qualifying.
Normally, the Greek champion would compete in the second qualifying round of the Champions Path, but there are two instances where they could find themselves in the group directly. The first is decided by this year's Champions League winner and the second by this year's Europa League winner.
The European champion vacates his place
If the team that wins this year's Champions League receives a place from its league to organize the new season, as is usually the case, the European champion's ticket… remains.
Until this year, this ticket went to the representative of the top country in the UEFA classification which did not have a representative in the group, and then a rebalancing process was created in favor of the other qualified teams, who won a round. This treaty has favored Greece several times, but the situation began to change starting this year.
If the European Champion does not need the relevant ticket, it will be awarded to the club competing in the Champions Path with the best five-year ranking, regardless of their country's position or the qualifying round in which they are competing. This ticket can be awarded to a team in the qualifiers or even to a team in the first qualifying round, the only criterion being its coefficient in the UEFA classification for the last five years.
Olympiacos has 36,000 points and PAOK 35,000 points, so they can dream of winning the Stokesman Super League compared to, for example, AEK with 10,000 points, Aris with 9,000 points, and Panathinaikos, OFI and Atrometo who do not have their own coefficient and adopt the Greek one (5,925). In fact, the 'Red and White' and 'Black and White' have the potential to increase their points, as they are the two Greek teams continuing their European run this year.
But it is not enough for the European champion to qualify for the qualifiers and win the tournament, in order to be in the group. There is a third condition, which is no less important. The winning team should participate in the playoffs with the highest coefficient, that is, teams with more points are not on the path to champions.
The Champions Path includes teams from countries 11th and below in the Europa League standings, so the Giants will certainly be avoided. There are six clubs belonging to countries from 11th to 55th place (excluding sanctioned Russia) and have a better coefficient than the two Greek teams, that is, they are above the 50th and 51st places in the European club rankings.
They are Shakhtar (Ukraine) with 63,000 spectators, Slavia (Czech Republic) with 53,000 spectators, Basel (Switzerland) with 52,000 spectators, Copenhagen (Denmark) with 51,500, Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) with 48,000, and Red Star ( Serbia) for 40 thousand. Greek teams can't get past any of them this year even if they win the European Conference League, so to avoid that, they'll have to hope none of those six win the domestic league (and Copenhagen won't win the Champions League, so they don't get that ticket).
None of them currently top the domestic standings, but with the exception of Basel in the Swiss relegation zone, the rest are all in contention for the title and close to the leaders. If the standings remain as they are until the end of the season, Olympiacos or PAOK will get a place in the Champions League group for the new season if they win the Greek League.
Naturally, there are also four teams chasing them who can overtake them under certain conditions. Ferencvaros poses the greatest threat, as he has the same points as PAOK, and even faces Olympiacos in the round of 16 qualifiers of the European League. The Hungarians are the only team out of the next four clubs who are not at the top of the league, but being just one point behind Pakse, they have the potential to continue their domestic dominance.
Young Boys, with 34,500 points, is also relatively close to the Greek duo, but they have a difficult task ahead of them in the round of 16 of the Europa League against Sporting. Maccabi Tel Aviv is the leader in Israel but with 33,500 points can only get past a Greek team if it reaches the final of the European Conference League, while Garabakh, which has the Azerbaijan championship in its pocket, can only get past PAOK if it reaches the final of the Europa League with only victories. .
Europa League can be sent to the group
The second path that could send Olympiacos or PAOK straight to the Champions League group is linked to the winner of this year's Europa League. If through the tournament he secures a place in the next Champions League groups, he does not need the ticket that conquest of the UEFA Second Division gives and passes to the Champions League qualifiers.
The difference is that in this particular case there are no restrictions on the hero's path. The group ticket will go to the team with the best coefficient from all qualifiers.
Therefore, all of the above applies, but the teams that do not participate in the tournament, i.e. second, third or fourth from the leagues between fifth and tenth in the UEFA standings, are also added to the equation, as well as the runners-up from the leagues between eleventh and 11th. And fifteenth place. As a result, the groups that Greek representatives… want to get out of the way, in order to be at the top of the rankings, are increasing.
In this particular case, Greek teams want their opponents (since they can't realistically get past any team, except LASK) not to finish in certain positions in their leagues, which is not always the same. For example, if Feyenoord remains in second place or wins the tournament, it leaves the source of danger in Greece, because from the Netherlands it is only threatened by third place, which is currently occupied by the weak in the UEFA classification Twente.
Given the current data, the biggest problem comes from Portugal, as our country does not want any of Sporting, Porto, Benfica and Braga to finish second, which seems impossible. Likewise, Rangers must either win the championship or drop to third place and the same must happen with Slavia, on more realistic terms. If Portugal's 'thorn' were not there, it would be possible (but by no means likely) that Olympiacos or PAOK could look to get a ticket from this source. The chances are now slim and that is why their eyes are focused on the first case, where their opponents are only six teams.
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