Recent victories over Bordeaux and Eintracht Franfurt in the group stage of the Europa League have contributed to Maccabi Tel Aviv climbing 53 places in the UEFA rankings since the beginning of the season
Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club continue their upward trend in the UEFA team rankings. After starting the season ranked 176, the Israeli champions saw their position rise 19 places to 157th after their first-round match in the Europa League group stage against APOEL Nicosia. Their subsequent victories against their other group members Bordeaux and Eintracht Frankfurt raised their UEFA coefficient by almost 70%, from 8.075 at the end of last season to 13.575 at the present time, moving them significantly further up the list to 123.
According to the UEFA ranking system, teams receive points for each result in their group stage matches of European competition, as opposed to the knock-out rounds for which they receive points according to the stage at which they are relegated from the competition altogether. After having played four of their six group-stage matches, Maccabi Tel Aviv have accumulated 5.850 points for their ranking coefficient. They received one point for their draw against APOEL Nicosia in the first round and two points for each of their victories against Bordeaux and Eintracht Frankfurt. The extra .850 points are a temporary accumulated total awarded to all of Israel's representatives in European competition representing 20% of the points awarded customarily by UEFA to the football association of the country in question.
Because the UEFA rankings cover a period of five years, in addition to the abovementioned gains Maccabi also lost a small amount of points, 0.350, for the fact that they did not participate in Europe at all in the 2008/2009 season. Ranked at 123rd, Maccabi Tel Aviv have now passed Bnei Yehuda and are just 15 places adrift of Maccabi Haifa ranked 108th. In addition, Maccabi have registered the most significant rise in rankings of all the clubs in their Europa League group F. Eintracht Frankfurt have risen 26 places since the beginning of the season and now stand at 91. APOEL Nicosia are now ranked 55th, ten places higher than at season's start, while Bordeaux are the only club in the group to have dropped in the rankings, having slipped to 38th after starting the season at 34th.
This is Maccabi's best European season both with regard to results and to UEFA coefficients since their appearance in the group stage of the Champions League in the 2004/5 season. That year the club accumulated 6.725 points, just 0.875 points more than their current total with two group stage matches left to play and the prospect of advancing to the last 32. All in all an already successful European season for the club. But if come February we find ourselves still making such calculations, Maccabi Tel Aviv will have opened up a new chapter in their history on the European stage.
