Croatian Champions in the 1st Round of CHL qualifiers starting 2007/08
Platini's promotion for the “Small UEFA Countries” demotes Croatia one year before schedule...
06.02.2007 by JadranSport
It was already a known fact that due to the poor results in the
European Cups by Croatian clubs the Champions of 1.HNL would have to
play in the 1st Round of Champions League Qualifications starting
2008/09 season. However, with the election of Michel Platini on the
position of UEFA president earlier this winter, this “demotion” has
been forwarded for next season, 2007/08 as the Frenchman promoted his
plan for the “Small UEFA Countries” that allow the Champions of
Andorra, Montenegro and San Marino to play in CHL qualifiers.
1.HNL ranked as the 25th League in Europe
Out
of 53 European Leagues, 1.HNL is ranked as the 25th due to the results
of their representatives in the European Cups. By the present count
they will have one representative in the CHL Qualifications 1st Round,
two representatives in the UEFA Cup Qualifications 1st Round and one in
the Intertoto Cup 1st Round. Some weaker leagues than the Croatian top
flights are the championships of Sweden, Slovakia and Cyprus while the
stronger ones are of Hungary, Denmark and Poland.
Serbian league best ranked out of all Former Yugoslav championships
At
the present moment the best ranked Ex-Yu league is the Serbian Super
League. The Serbs Champions will play in the CHL Qualifiers 2nd Round
next season while they will also have three representatives in the UEFA
Cup Qualifiers 1st Round and one in the Intertoto Round 2. The Serbs
are ranked on the 21st place while ahead of them are leagues of
Austria, Norway, Israel and even Bulgaria. Slovenian League is 29th,
Bosnia & Herzegovina Premier League is 30th with Macedonia stand on
36th place. The worst ranked is Montenegro who are 53rd as they are
currently playing their first season in their history as an independent
nation.