La Liga looked unlikely to be in the running for a fifth Champions League spot this year, after fifth-qualified Villarreal and Athletic Club crashed out of the league phase this year in disappointing fashion. However a successful week in the play-off rounds of the Europa League and Champions League have drawn Spain within touching distance of Germany in the race for an extra European place.
Real Madrid made their way past Benfica on Wednesday, while Atletico Madrid secured victory at the Metropolitano against Club Brugge the night before. Celta Vigo also progressed through to the Europa League, beating PAOK 3-1 on aggregate, while Barcelona, Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano all had byes through to the next rounds of their respective competitions.
La Liga close in on Bundesliga in coefficient ranking
It leaves La Liga with six out of their eight sides still in European competition, and as reported by Diario AS, they are now just 165 coefficient points behind Germany. At the end of the league phases, La Liga was sitting behind Portugal and Italy – the latter remain close behind La Liga too. Serie A have the least remaining sides, with four, while the Bundesliga still has five sides still in. Mainz, Stuttgart and Bayern Munich are all among the favourites for the Conference League, Europa League and Champions League though.
European draws
One drawback of Friday’s draws is that Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are on course to meet in the quarter-final of the Champions League if they qualify, which would halt the progression of one. Similarly, should Celta Vigo and Real Betis get that far, they will meet in the semi-finals of the Europa League.
On the positive side for La Liga, Bayer Leverkusen drew Arsenal, and Stuttgart face Porto, which represent two of the tougher draws in the Champions League and Europa League.