Germany head the UEFA Champions League nations’ table, Ukraine a surprise second
We at GSN just love ranking the sporting nations of the world… almost as much as we love all sports.
We must confess we have a special spot in our heart for football though,
and we can’t resist applying our passion for ranking to what is arguably the tournament offering the best footballing quality in the world, year after year: the UEFA Champions League (UCL).
So here’s the situation after 4 matchdays in the 2014-2015 UCL group stage. There are only 2 matchdays to go, 25-26 November and 9-10 December, before the group stage ends, and the top 2 teams from each of the 8 groups will enter the thrilling knock-out stage in early February 2015.
We’ve ranked the nations in terms of points per competing team (3 pts for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for defeat), and total overall points.
FIFA World Champions Germany are ahead in both rankings, with the other European footballing giant, Spain, up there with them. But there are a few surprises, beleaguered Ukraine the main one, thanks to their national champions last season, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Watch out for an update after the next matchday!
| UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2014/2015 | after matchday 4 | |||
| rank | nation | no. teams | points | pts/team |
| 1 | Germany | 4 | 38 | 9.5 |
| 2 | Ukraine | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | Spain | 4 | 31 | 7.75 |
| 4 | France | 2 | 15 | 7.5 |
| 5 | Portugal | 3 | 18 | 6 |
| 6= | Switzerland | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 6= | Greece | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | England | 4 | 20 | 5 |
| 9 | Italy | 2 | 10 | 5 |
| 10 | Russia | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| 11= | Sweden | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 11= | Belarus | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 11= | Bulgaria | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 11= | Slovenia | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 15= | Holland | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 15= | Belgium | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 17= | Turkey | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 17= | Cyprus | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| rank | nation | no. teams | points | pts/team |
| 1 | Germany | 4 | 38 | 9.5 |
| 2 | Spain | 4 | 31 | 7.75 |
| 3 | England | 4 | 20 | 5 |
| 4 | Portugal | 3 | 18 | 6 |
| 5 | France | 2 | 15 | 7.5 |
| 6 | Italy | 2 | 10 | 5 |
| 7= | Ukraine | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| 7= | Russia | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| 9= | Switzerland | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 9= | Greece | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 11= | Sweden | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 11= | Belarus | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 11= | Bulgaria | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 11= | Slovenia | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 15= | Holland | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 15= | Belgium | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 17= | Turkey | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 17= | Cyprus | 1 | 1 | 1 |
