The season is still in its infancy, but the news for Portugal regarding the UEFA rankings is no longer good.

After the elimination of V. Guimarães from the League Conference, it was Gil Vicente this Thursday who said goodbye to the competition, After losing 4-0 to Alkmaar.

More than losing to a rival from the Netherlands – who are sixth in the standings, ahead of Portugal – the potential elimination of Gil Vicente will have a huge impact.

With this win, Alkmaar gives the Netherlands an extra point – on top of the 0.5 from PSV’s draw on Tuesday, in the Champions League playoff. And it’s not a problem there, not least because Benfica also won a point for Portugal Hit the debt. Kyiv.

But if Gil Vicente’s elimination is confirmed, Portugal will start the group stages in European competitions with only four teams to be able to score – FC Porto, Sporting, Benfica and SB. Braga. These points will always be divided by the total number of teams that qualified for the competitions. This is six.

The Netherlands, which has only qualified five teams, is currently still with all of them in the competition. And only Twente who lost on Thursday in Florence to Fiorentina (2-1), is at risk of deletion.

The Netherlands started the season before Portugal, so if the league does not overtake the Eredivisie by the end of the season, it will drop to seventh place, thereby losing a place in the Champions League and a team in the European Championships. Instead of the current six, it will have five.

France should also be concerned, which sees the Netherlands also close to fifth as a result of the past five seasons.