Is The Eredivisie The Most Underrated League In Europe?

Everyone knows that the top five European leagues are the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, right? According to the UEFA coefficient ranking this is the case, however there is another league that is close behind the French league in their eyes and it could overtake them at the start of next season.

Dutch Teams In Europe This Season

This season has seen the new format of UEFA competitions for the first time, and it seems to have benefitted Dutch teams. Before, they would have probably been knocked out in the Group Stage because they would have been forced to play four out of their six games against teams from the top five leagues, however now they have more matches and more possible opponents than before, allowing them to progress further into their competitions.

On top of that, Dutch teams also seem to be just playing better. They still have four of their original six teams still in European competitions. Go Ahead Eagles were knocked out of the UEFA Europa Conference League by Brann in the second round of qualifying, while FC Twente were defeated by Bodo/Glimt in the knockout phase of the Europa League just a few weeks ago.

🇭🇷🗣️ PSV's Ivan Perišić on playing Arsenal in the Champions League…

"Over the last years they are always missing something to step up and win something."

"We have to be ready. I know we are going to have a good chance to beat them tomorrow. I really believe in my team." pic.twitter.com/NazE10j37j

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 3, 2025

Meanwhile all of the remaining Dutch teams have massive Round of 16 ties. PSV face Arsenal in the Champions League while Feyenoord travel back to the San Siro after knocking out AC Milan to face Inter. In the Europa League, Ajax have Eintracht Frankfurt, who are one of the competition favourites, while AZ Alkmaar have been drawn against Tottenham. In two weeks time, the Eredivisie might not have any teams left in the competition, but I wouldn’t count any of their sides out.

Competition At The Top

Unlike a lot of the so-called ‘top five’ leagues, the Eredivisie is competitive at the top. Ajax go into most seasons as obvious favourites, as they have won the title the most times, but Feyenoord and PSV make up the rest of the ‘big three’. Outside of those teams, AZ Alkmaar have won the title twice and FC Twente have won it once, back in 2010.

Even though there are only three teams that win the title regularly, there are more who have been in a position to fight for it in recent years. Vitesse, NEC, Go Ahead Eagles, Utrecht and Willem II have all earned European spots in recent times, and while they don’t tend to perform well, there is the odd occasion where they get far. Vitesse, who are now rock bottom of the Dutch second division, knocked Tottenham out of the Group Stage of the Conference League in 2021-22 before being beaten by Roma in the Round of 16.

Is There A Gap Between The First And Second Divisions?

One issue that Dutch football fans have with the structure of the sport in their country, is that there seems to be a growing gap between the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. Two of the teams relegated from the division last year are in the top four currently, and the year prior to that saw Willem II, who had spent just two years in the second division, and Groningen, who spent just one, promoted.

Willem II have been relegated to the Keuken Kampioen Divisie despite a 3-0 win over Utrecht. #wilutr pic.twitter.com/NcsX71jbJ5

— Football 24/7 (@Foet247Benelux) May 16, 2022

Each year, the relegation battle in the Eredivisie tends to be tight, as the clubs outside of the top six or seven are pretty evenly matched. Sometimes there are some real shock relegated teams, such as Willem II and FC Twente which makes the league even more exciting. Mid table mediocrity is not a position that you can get trapped in in the Eredivisie, as the league is constantly evolving and teams are often selling their best players and unearthing new talents.