Hibs Ladies face uphill task to qualify for UEFA Champions League after Scotland's coefficient drops

Hibs Ladies face the prospect of missing out on Champions League football after Scotland dropped two places in the UEFA coefficient rankings.
Hibs Ladies line up ahead of their Champions League clash with Sparta PragueHibs Ladies line up ahead of their Champions League clash with Sparta Prague
Hibs Ladies line up ahead of their Champions League clash with Sparta Prague

Scotland were ranked 11th in the Women's Association Club Coefficients at the end of the 2017/18 season, level on points with Austria and marginally ahead of the Netherlands and Kazakhstan.

As a result of UEFA guaranteeing two Champions League places for the top 12 nations, Grant Scott's side entered at the qualifying stage of the 2019/20 competition after finishing second in the 2018 Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) behind Glasgow City who, as champions received a bye to the first knockout round, where they defeated Chertanovo Moscow 5-1 on aggregate to set up a last 16 tie with Brondby of Denmark.

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But with Scotland now out of the top 12 in the Club Coefficient ranking after Glasgow's defeat to Barcelona in last season's competition, Hibs would have to win the SWPL to reach the qualifying stages of the Champions League, with the nation guaranteed just a single European spot.

At the time of writing, Glasgow sit top of the SWPL, 11 points clear of Hibs in second and with just five rounds of fixtures remaining, including a clash between the top two at the end of this month, Scott Booth's side are in pole position to reach the Champions League qualifying stages.