Back to the UEFA rankings, then. Spain, Italy, England will finish in the top three positions - England can't finish top, and Spain can't finish third, but any other permutation is possible. France and Germany will finish fourth and fifth, Schalke will need to make the UEFA final to take fourth. Portugal will finish sixth, and the Netherlands seventh.
Russia - in the shape of Zenit St Petersburg - needs to win one match (or draw both) to move ahead of Greece for eighth spot. That would entitle Russia to a third spot in the European League. Because her two sides are playing against each other, Romania is now guaranteed tenth place at worst, and could move past Greece and Russia to sneak that eighth position. Scotland will finish 11th, Belgium 12th. Basel and Liteks will need to win their ties for their countries to advance further up the listings.
Main news over the week-end: Gretna's promotion from Division C is assured. We'll find out soon if the side will journey from the Northern League Division I to the UEFA Cup in four years.
South of the border, Fulham knocked Chelsea's unbeaten record on the head, winning their tie 1:0, and recording a 48-point upset, one they may as well record in the club's history books now. This overshadowed Portsmouth's 4:2 win at a depleted West Ham side, a mere 37-point shock. Sheffield Wednesday beat Preston 2:0 (43), Norwich downed struggling Sheffield Utd (31), Santander beat Valencia 2:1 (40), Athletic Bilbao came away from Celta Vigo with the points (34), and AZ Alkmaar proved their strength by beating Feyenoord 1:0 (30).
In the betting, Derby and Auxerre lost, but Osasuna beat Espanyol, so -0.60 on the week-end, -3.6/21 for the month.
The mid-week matches have already begun, with West Ham's main side winning 2:1 at Man City in the FA Cup. Three more Cup matches in England, and it's the last eight in France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey; there's a full league programme in Spain. The bets:
Betis - Santander (3.30 / 3.10)
(3.20 / 3.10) Zaragoza - Real Madrid
PSV - AZ (4.75 / 3.40)
