Polish Clubs Exit Europe: Ekstraklasa Ranking & Champions League Impact

Polish clubs Raków Częstochowa and Lech Poznań both exited European competition on Thursday, marking the end of the country’s involvement in this season’s UEFA club tournaments. Raków lost their two-legged tie against Fiorentina in the Conference League, failing to register a win across both matches. Lech Poznań secured a 2-1 victory in the second leg of their Conference League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk, but the result was insufficient to overturn the first-leg deficit.

The outcome concludes a season where Polish clubs collectively earned 15.750 points in UEFA’s five-year coefficient ranking, securing 12th place with a total coefficient of 46.750. This performance falls short of the goal to reach 10th place, a position that would guarantee the Polish champion direct entry into the group stage of the Champions League.

Currently, Greece occupies the 10th position, with AEK Athens still competing in the Conference League. The Czech Republic and Poland, having no remaining teams in European competition, can only observe. The next opportunity for improvement will reach with the 2022-2027 ranking cycle.

A key factor for future success will be increasing the number of Polish teams participating in European competitions. The PKO Ekstraklasa hopes to have five teams qualify, rather than the current four, with a minimum of two guaranteed to reach the group stages of either the Champions League, Europa League, or Conference League.

Looking ahead to 2027, the Polish champion will enter the Champions League in the fourth qualifying round of the champions path. The Polish Cup winner will too enter the Europa League in the fourth qualifying round. The league’s second-place team will begin their Champions League campaign in the second qualifying round via the non-champions path, while the third-place team will enter the Europa League in the second qualifying round. The fourth-place team will compete in the Conference League, also starting in the second qualifying round.

The current UEFA ranking standings are as follows: 10. Czech Republic (48.525), 11. Greece (48.012), 12. Poland (46.750), 13. Denmark (42.106), 14. Norway (41.237), 15. Cyprus (35.693), and 16. Switzerland (34.700).