  Semi-local density functional approximations are widely used. None of them
can capture the long-range van der Waals (vdW) attraction between separated
subsystems, but they differ remarkably in the extent to which they capture
intermediate-range vdW effects responsible for equilibrium bonds between
neighboring small closed-shell subsystems. The local density approximation
(LDA) often overestimates this effect, while the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE)
generalized gradient approximation (GGA) underestimates it. The
strongly-constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-GGA often estimates
it well. All of these semi-local functionals require an additive non-local
correction such as the revised Vydrov-Van Voorhis 2010 (rVV10) to capture the
long-range part. This work reports adsorption energies and the corresponding
geometry of the aromatic thiophene (C$_4$H$_4$S) bound to transition metal
surfaces. The adsorption process requires a genuine interplay of covalent and
weak binding and requires a simultaneously accurate description of surface and
adsorption energies with the correct prediction of the adsorption site. All
these quantities must come from well balanced short and long-range correlation
effects for a universally applicable method for weak interactions with chemical
accuracy.
