Villarreal have overtaken Real Madrid in the UEFA rankings for the first time in their history. Marca reports that following the recent round of matches in the Champions League, Manuel Pellegrini’s side have moved above los Blancos, and are now 12th.
Villarreal, who beat Panathinaikos on Tuesday evening, have 17.312 points for this campaign, whilst Madrid have 14.312.
The defending Primera champions will not be able to get any more either as they were defeated by Liverpool earlier in the week.
That defeat meant that Madrid had failed to make it past the last 16 for the fifth consecutive year and that’s the main reason for their slip.
It is the cumulative total of the last five years that are taken into account when determining the total co-efficient ranking used for seeding purposes in European competition.
Over the past five seasons Villarreal have accumulated 79,503 points (with scope to rise in the quarter-finals), whilst Real Madrid have 78,503.
Such a score means that Real Madrid are likely to drop into the second pot of Champions League entrants, if they reach the group stage as expected. This season they were the eighth and final team in the top pot.
Villarreal’s success has come thanks to their semi-final berth, their quarter-final spot in the UEFA Cup and also their progress in the Champions League in recent years.