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For the Swiss clubs, Thursday is also about bringing Switzerland forward in the 5-year ranking.
Fingers crossed for Swiss football on Thursday evening. Three representatives from the Super League are in action in Europe. FCZ in the Europa League playoffs, Basel and the Young Boys one step lower in the Conference League playoffs.
Admittedly, the affixes that would be waiting for FCB and YB in the group phase of the Conference League would probably not be particularly exciting. There will be no giants like Real Madrid or Bayern Munich visiting Switzerland. Getting ahead would be extremely important for the local clubs, especially because of the 5-year Uefa ranking.
The goal: among the top 10
Switzerland is in 15th place there, behind nations such as Scotland, Austria and Serbia. The goal is a place in the top 10, because this would mean direct Champions League qualification for the champions.
The consequences: clubs can look forward to sold-out stadiums, players have the opportunity to present themselves on the big stage. This in turn would lead to lucrative transfers and a larger budget for clubs – a positive domino effect.
The Netherlands shows how it’s done
The group stage of the Conference League is interesting from a Swiss point of view because a win there is worth the same for the 5-year ranking as a full success in the Champions League. That’s why the Netherlands were able to collect the second most points behind England last season – even more than Spain.
Ajax Amsterdam was the only Dutch team in the group stage of the “premier class” and later failed in the round of 16. In the Conference League, however, the Dutch turned out to be top scorers par excellence: AZ Alkmaar reached the round of 16, PSV Eindhoven the quarter-finals, and Feyenoord Rotterdam even reached the final.