If you are a fan of a team in a top tier European League it is no longer good enough to just keep track of your team’s fortunes but also the Championship races in other countries.

Particularly at this time of year – the reason?  Welcome to the wonderful world of UEFA Coefficients. For it is country and club coefficients that will dictate what rounds clubs will be dropped into (country coefficients) and the seeding that the club will attract when the various draws are made – the club coefficients. for the two European competitions next season 

So if you are a Celtic fan for example you are checking the results from Germany this week in the hope that Stuttgart can maintain a lead on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and eventually take one of the three CL spots to the exclusion of Bayern.

 If Bayern usurp Stuttgart them Celtic will be more likely not to be seeded in pot 2 which means when they enter the third round of Champions League they are more likely to face a strong team such as the likes of Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Arsenal or AC Milan. The site that I linked to is maintained by Bert Kassie who does an incredible job of staying on top of the constant changes in the UEFA Coefficients.

Last weekend we saw Celtic, Inter Milan and Lyon wrap up their respective titles and all by the proverbial country mile. The Dutch title will be decided this weekend but the contrast with the title processions in Scotland, Italy and France could not be more marked.

A few weeks ago it looked as if PSV were going to stroll to the title but over the last six games they have stumbled badly with only one win and three draws. Even going into the final few minutes of the game last week against Utrecht it looked as if they would at least enter the last round of play with a two point lead over AZ Alkmaar and Ajax.

But, with four minutes left Utrecht equalized and AZ Alkmaar took over top spot on goal difference with Ajax second and PSV trailing in third.  All the teams have 72 points but AZ have a goal difference of 53, Ajax 47 and PSV 46. If AZ take the title it will be only their second all time – that last was in 1981 – and they will be the first time that a side outside of the big three in Holland (PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord) has one the championship in 26 years.

For the second and third place sides a play off for the other Champions League spot. awaits. AZ plays Excelsior who are currently 16th, Ajax plays 15th placed Willem II and for PSV it will be Vitesse who are sitting in 12th spot. AZ and Ajax are both going for the domestic double and will face each other in the Dutch Cup Final.

In France, Italy and Portugal it is a case of the second place team playing the team right behind them in the table.

At stake in both France and Portugal are automatic group spots for the league runners up and in the case of Portugal there remains a faint hope that Porto might still be caught. Lens still leads Bordeaux by a point in France even though a win last week was their first in six matches. Bordeaux are riding a crest at the moment and are unbeaten in their last eight games (four wins and four draws). They have also scored five goals in their last two wins which constitutes an attacking explosion for a side that has only hit the back of the net 35 times in 33 games.

Benfica and Sporting Lisbon could both be considered in-form teams with the Eagles unbeaten in 17 games (12 wins and 5 draws) and Sporting have not tasted defeat in their last 14 games (9 wins and 5 draws). Benfica’s last loss was back on November 18 while Sporting’s last loss was to their great city rivals by a score of 2-0 when they last met. Porto enters the weekend with a four point lead and also face a derby encounter against Boavista who are struggling in a lower mid-table position.

The Rome derby is the match of the weekend in Italy with Lazio looking to complete the double over Roma. After falling one game short of matching a club record on nine straight wins Lazio fans will be concerned that the team is running out of gas with two draws and a loss in their last three games. It could be a more noteable occasion than normal for Roma’s Francesco Totti and Lazio keeper Angelo Peruzzi. If Totti plays he will set a new record of 23 appearances in this derby rivalry while for Angelo Peruzzi it may be his last as he contemplates a season’s end retirement.

In the UK the battle at the top and bottom of the Premiership will demand attention but in the Championship and Scottish League there will be some compelling match ups. In Scotland, Gretna needs to beat bottom of the table Ross County in the last game of the season to secure promotion to the SPL for next season. They currently lead St. Johnstone by a single point and what makes this remarkable is that it will mean that Gretna will have achieved three successive promotions.

In the second tier of English football two of Sunderland, Derby and Birmingham will gain automatic promotion and a massive payday to the Premiership. The side that misses out will have another chance together with three other teams in the play offs. The problem is that is far from clear who the other three teams will be. With two games left only three points separate seven teams. Fans of Preston, West Brom, Wolves, Southampton, Stoke, Colchester and Sheffield Wednesday will be sweating ever moment this weekend.

The FSC MLS Game of the Week is the LA derby with Chivas playing LA Galaxy. You would think that if any team can use the media attention showered on the Galaxy the last few months to their own advantage it would be Chivas. I have yet to see Galaxy this season but have watched Chivas twice. They were well in control of the game against Toronto FC and thought that were unlucky to lose to Houston Dynamo. Maykel Galindo’s seering pace is going to create a lot of chances for him this season and I could see him making a big impact during his first year in the league.

Toronto FC opens their new stadium (BMO) this weekend against the Kansas City Wizards the team that convincingly beat them 3-0 on Wednesday night. The trades that Mo Johnston made to acquire Kevin Goldthwaite and Marvell Wynne looked to have improved the defense although the central pairing of Jim Brennan and Marco Reda didn’t inspire confidence. Centre back is not the position for Brennan who was probably Toronto’s best player over the first two games when he occupied the left side of the defense in a 3-5-2 formation.

Toronto desperately needs a player with presence in the centre of the defense and there is no indication that such a player is presently on the roster. The midfield is struggling to string more than two passes together and rarely get into positions to support the two strikers. Up front Alecko Eskandarian is constantly tearing down blind alleys but at least he is giving honest effort. We will see if home support of 20,000 can help Toronto to their first goal and win.