Benfica began the season behind Porto and Sporting in the UEFA club ranking, but qualification for the UEFA Europa League league phase allowed the eagles to reduce the gap to their rivals. The club from Luz is now just one point behind Sporting, while the distance to Porto remains somewhat greater.
After finishing last season as the best Portuguese club in the ranking, in 14th place, Benfica was one position ahead of Sporting and six above Porto. However, the loss of points from the 2021/22 season ended up penalizing the eagles and altered the five-year ranking classification, which is used to determine seedings in European competition draws.
In the qualifying rounds, points won count only for the country's ranking and not for individual club rankings. In Benfica's case, the three points already counted correspond to the minimum guaranteed in the Europa League league phase, even if the team does not manage to earn any more points at this stage.
