Sporting Braga also won their first qualifying match on Thursday night, and while Vitoria Guimaraes were unimpressed by Zrinjski Mostar in the early stages of the Conference League on Wednesday, Rapid Vienna lost to Portugal the following day despite taking an early lead.
The Austrian visitors started with 10 men early on due to a red card for midfielder Lukas Grgic, but then took the lead midway through the first half through former Schalke striker Guido Burgstaller. However, Braga restored the lead with goals from Vitor Carvalho and Rodrigo Zalazar, meaning the main stage of the Europa League is now closer to last season's fourth-placed team.
The chances of Portugal, like the Netherlands, participating in the main tournaments with five teams are therefore very high. The 3-0 win over Guimarães gives confidence in particular. After all, defeat in the Conference League playoffs is fatal, as it happened to the Go Ahead Eagles. If Braga are stranded in Vienna next week, they will at least go to the Conference League and can collect points there.
Portugal have an advantage over the Netherlands in that they can divide their score by five (total number of participants), while the Netherlands divide their score by six. The gap between them and the current number seven, by more than four points, is still reassuringly large. Portugal are currently the best performing nation of the European season so far. If this is a harbinger of the rest of the year, the Netherlands can start working.
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