Only Fradi are left: Hungary's European record looks bleak next to its neighbours

After ETO FC Győr were knocked out of the Conference League on Thursday, it became final that Ferencváros will once again be the only Hungarian club in European competition this autumn. Compared with neighbouring countries the picture is bleak: while Slovakia and Slovenia are fighting for a Champions League place, Austria still have four teams alive and even Serbia have two.

One in the league phase, three early exits

The statistics are clear: Ferencváros reached the European league phase for the eighth season in a row, while every other Hungarian entrant fell in qualifying. Defending champions Győr first lost in the Champions League to Iceland's Vikingur and then went out to Latvian side Riga in the Conference League this week, winning just one of six matches. Paks fought hard against Greek side Panathinaikos and were close to extra time away from home, but also went out. Debrecen were beaten heavily by Denmark's Köbenhavn, 8-1 on aggregate.

A Slovak-Slovenian tie in the Champions League

The regional picture is very different. In the Champions League play-off round Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava face Slovenia's Celje, guaranteeing one of the two countries a place in the main competition. In another play-off, Hapoel Beer Sheva meet Azerbaijan's Sabah Baku, coached by Valdas Dambrauskas, who previously left DVTK in stormy circumstances.

For Slovan it would be a second Champions League appearance in three years. The club was taken over this summer by former star Yaya Touré, with Robbie Keane's name also mentioned for the job. Slovan eliminated the Georgian and Swedish champions, while Celje knocked out the Albanian and Armenian title holders.

Romania, like Hungary, has only one team left. It is not star club FCSB - they lost 7-3 on aggregate to Latvia's Auda in the Conference League - but Universitatea Craiova, who face Armenia's Ararat-Armenia for a Europa League place. Ukraine also have one club standing, though Shakhtar Donetsk qualify automatically for the Champions League league phase. In Croatia, Dinamo Zagreb are still alive and face Norway's Viking.

Austria dominate the region

The region's most successful nation is Austria, where four of five clubs are still standing. LASK Linz play Celtic for a Champions League place, Salzburg, who have Damir Redzic in their squad, are in the Europa League, while Rapid Wien - with Bendegúz Bolla - and Austria Wien are chasing Conference League places.

Serbia still have two clubs alive, Crvena zvezda and Partizan, though Zvezda's Champions League exit against Hapoel Beer Sheva caused considerable tension. The Belgrade side lost 2-0 at home and coach Dejan Stankovic was sent off along with former Fradi player Abu Fani. Stankovic resigned immediately afterwards, without even waiting for the Europa League tie against Plzen.

Hungary's coefficient problem

Although Ferencváros's progress leaves Hungarian football level with Romania, the runs enjoyed by Slovakia and Slovenia highlight the shortcomings. Győr's exit is especially painful, because the qualifying system favours champions: had ETO not fallen against the Icelanders, they would have been seeded throughout the following rounds and faced significantly weaker opponents on the way to the league phase.

The Győr squad also went through major changes: after the departures of Milán Vitális and Márk Csinger, World Cup participant Nadil Benbouali could also move to Egypt. Across the entire qualifying campaign Győr managed one win and three draws, which brought the country barely any coefficient points - a qualifying win is worth one point and a draw half a point, divided by the number of entrants.

So the situation remains unchanged: the burden of collecting national coefficient points rests almost entirely on Ferencváros.