- Dutch football has lost its automatic place in the Champions League group stage
- The Dutch champions will now have to play in qualifying for the next two seasons
- Dutch interest in this season’s European competitions ended last month
- It comes after Holland’s national team has struggled in tournament qualifying
The startling decline of Dutch soccer was highlighted on Friday when publication of the new UEFA rankings confirmed Holland’s champions would no longer get an automatic place in the group phase of the next two Champions League campaigns.
It followed the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup in Russia for a country who were runners-up in the showpiece tournament in 2010 and third in Brazil four years later.
A loss of points in the UEFA club coefficient – which determine the number of places allocated to a country in the European club competitions – meant the 2018 champions were already condemned to having to go through the preliminaries in next season’s Champions League.
The Dutch champions won’t get a place in the Champions League group stage for two seasons
Now, however, the 2019 champions will suffer the same fate after more poor results for Dutch clubs in this season’s European competitions.
Dutch interest effectively ended last month and, although both Feyenoord (in the Champions League) and Vitesse Arnhem (Europa League) won their final group games, it was the first success for both as they finished bottom of their groups.
From next season, the Dutch champions have to go through two preliminary rounds before competing in the group phase in what is a blow to the pride of a country that has produced three different European champions – Feyenoord, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven and won a total of 11 European Cup, Champions League and UEFA Cup titles.
Holland are now 12th in the UEFA rankings behind the likes of Austria and their neighbours Belgium and the country has become a significant exporter of young talent to richer leagues.
Feyenoord (pictured) and Vitesse Arnhem both finished bottom of their European groups
The Dutch national team have not qualified for both of the last two international tournaments
Dutch football was already reeling from the failings of the national team, who have dropped from the heady heights of a World Cup bronze less than four years ago to miss out on both last year’s European Championship and next year’s World Cup.
Feyenoord were the last Dutch club to win a European title when they beat Borussia Dortmund in the 2002 UEFA Cup final.
Ajax reached this year’s Europa League final but meekly fell out of contention this season as they lost to Nice in the Champions League preliminaries and Rosenborg of Norway in the playoffs for a place in the Europa League groups.