Weekend Top 25 Schedules

No picture and no links this week because I'm sort of in a hurry, but since I hadn't posted since my last Top 25, I wanted to at least put a post up with the weekend schedule of the Top 25. All of the times listed are E.S.T.

Sunday, December 1

7:30 Hearts - (19) Celtic
7:45 (23) Chelsea - West Ham
9:30 (21) Werder Bremen - Hamburger
10:00 Wigan Athletic - (25) Manchester City
11:10 Le Mans - (16) Nancy
12:15 Aston Villa - (2) Arsenal
14:00 (3) Real Madrid - Racing Santander
14:00 De Graafschap - (17) PSV Eindhoven
14:30 AC Milan - (7) Juventus
14:45 (8) Benfica - (4) Porto
16:00 Espanyol - (14) Barcelona

Sunday, December 2

8:30 (12) Ajax - NAC
9:00 (20) Fiorentina - (1) Inter Milan
9:00 (5) Roma - (22) Udinese
10:00 (9) Liverpool - Bolton
11:00 Arminia Bielefed - (13) Bayern Munchen
11:00 Real Valladolid - (15) Villarreal
13:00 Atletico-PR - (10) Sao Paulo
14:15 (18) Sporting CP - Uniao Leiria
15:00 (11) Lyon - Racing Strasbourg
15:10 Boca Juniors - (24) Lanus

Monday, December 3

15:00 (6) Manchester United - Fulham

World Club Top 25 - Inter Still Number One

Wow, has it really been two weeks? Seems like only a fortnight. Since only two teams in the last top twenty lost (Manchester United and Boca Juniors), there hasn't been a lot of change, but these charts are always fun right before a Champions League matchday. Unlike last week, we have a lot of inter-Top 25 games in the coming week.

I'm down to two South American teams in my Top 25, but they keep beating each other up. I have three (I'm including Mexico in that count) from 26 to 30, though, so they're there, just not over the hump.

I'm still trying to improve the site and I thank you for showing up. To that end, I looked up links to official team websites for all of my Top 25 teams and (unless I screw this up) include them below. Enjoy all the linky goodness!!!

World Club Rankings Top 25 -November 26, 2007

1. Inter Milan (Ita) (1) - Victory (again) this weekend over Atalanta. Intriguing matchup this weekend with (20) Fiorentina, who have been faltering as of late.

2. Arsenal (Eng) (2) - Okay, it's Wigan, but they still looked good this weekend. Moved a little closer to the top spot this week. Match on the road against Sevilla has the makings of a good match.

3. Real Madrid (Esp) (3) - Almost dropped out of this spot this week with lackluster performance against Murcia. I'll give them a little credit because it was on the road, but they still should have pulled out a victory. Very fortunate that Villarreal choked against Almeria.

4. Porto (Por) (4) - Won the only game between Top 25 teams this weekend. Battles coming up this week against Liverpool and Benfica. Time to earn this ranking Porto!!!

5.Roma (Ita) (6) - Victory over Genoa over the weekend. Looking forward to Saturday's game against newly-Top 25-inducted Udinese.

6. Manchester United (Eng) (5) - In the words of the great philosopher Nelson Muntz, HA HA.

7. Juventus (Ita) (16) - Huge jump after kicking a little Sicilian tail over the weekend. Palermo is not a bad team, but they looked like it against Juve this weekend. Saturday's game against Milan might be the best game of the week, Champions League games notwithstanding.

8. Benfica (Por) (7) - Are they really this good? Games against Milan and Porto this week should answer that question, though aren't these rankings more fun when questions aren't answered?

9. Liverpool (Eng) (10) - As a football fan, I have to say that you played very well on Saturday and I'm glad I got up early to see it. As a Toon fan, I have to say You Go To Hell!!! You Go To Hell And You Die!!!

10. Sao Paulo (Bra) (8) - I guess that with all of the time off that they are about to have, they have no choice but to hover around this spot for the next several months.

11. Lyon (Fra) (11)

12. Ajax (Ned) (13)

13. Bayern Munchen (Ger) (12)

14. Barcelona (Esp) (14)

15. Villarreal (Esp) (15)

16. Nancy Lorraine (Fra) (17)

17. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (20)

18. Sporting CP (Por) (NR)

19. Celtic (Sco ) (19)

20. Fiorentina (Ita) (9)

21. Werder Bremen (Ger) (22)

22. Udinese (Ita) (NR)

23. Chelsea (Eng) (21)

24. Lanus (Arg) (24)

25. Manchester City (Eng) (NR)

Dropped out: Boca Juniors (Arg), Vitoria Setubal (Por), Vitoria Guimaraes (Por)

Next Five (Alphabetically): Atletico de Madrid (Esp), Boca Juniors (Arg), Espanyol (Esp), Santos (Bra), Santos Laguna (Bra)

Five others of interest: (31) Atletico Nacional (Col), (33) Rangers (Sco), (33) Hamburger (Ger), (34) Milan (Ita), (49) Cerro Porteno (Por)

Games Between Top 25 Teams This Week

Nov. 27 - (18) Sporting CP at (6) Manchester United

Nov. 27 - (14) Barcelona at (11) Lyon

Nov. 28 - (3) Real Madrid at (21) Werder Bremen

Nov. 28 - (4) Porto at (9) Liverpool

Dec. 1 - (4) Porto at (8) Benfica

Dec. 2 - (1) Inter Milan at (20) Fiorentina

Dec. 2 - (22) Udinese at (5) Roma

Weekend Top 25 Schedule

Since it's the Friday after a holiday and I have the day off, I decided to look up the schedules for all of the Top 25 teams and post them here. Since it's unlikely that my boss will continue to give me Fridays off, it is unlikely that I'll continue to post these on Fridays, but you never know. I've been fired before and I'll . . .

Weekend Top 25 Schedule (all times E.S.T.)

Saturday, Novmeber 24

7:45 am - (10) Liverpool at Newcastle United

9:30 am -Wolfsburg at (12) Bayern Munchen

9:30 am - (22) Werder Bremen at Energie Cottbus

10:00 am - (5) Manchester United at Bolton Wanderers

10:00 am - Wigan Athletic at (2) Arsenal

10:00 am - Aberdeen at (19) Celtic

11:10 am - (11) Lyon at Stade Rennes

12:00 noon - (6) Roma at Genoa

12:15 pm - (21) Chelsea at Derby County

2:00 pm - Recreativo at (14) Barcelona

2:00 pm - (20) PSV Eindhoven at Excelsior

2:00 pm - Lille at (17) Nancy Lorraine

2:30 pm - Atalanta at (1) Inter Milan

4:00 pm - (3) Real Madrid at Murcia

4:15 pm - (7) Benfica at Academica Comibra

Sunday, November 25

8;30 am - Vitesse at (13) Ajax

9:00 am - (9) Fiorentina at Reggina

11:00 am - Almeria at (15) Villarreal

1:15 pm - (23) Vitoria Setubal at (4) Porto

2:30 pm - Palermo at (16) Juventus

4:00 pm - Botafogo at (8) Sao Paolo

5:00 pm - (18) Boca Juniors at Arsenal Sarandi

7:30 pm - Argentinos Juniors at (24) Lanus

Monday, November 26

2:45 pm - (25) Vitoria Guimaraes at Boavista

I grabbed these times off of television schedules that I found online. I make no guarantees, but I believe they should be pretty accurate. Come back on Monday for the next Top 25.

World Club Rankings - 1962

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!!! Unless, of course, you're English, in which case (a) it's not Thanksgiving and (b) you're probably not happy. As somebody who was relatively disinterested, I have to say that yesterday's game with Croatia was as exciting a game as I had hoped it would be. After Crouch's goal, I thought the momentum in England's favor was going to be too much for Croatia to overcome, but I was wrong. At least it looks like you won't have Steve McClaren to kick around anymore.

This is the third in my series of annual rankings. With club football returning this weekend, the blog will return to weekly Top 25s. The current incarnation can be found here. This is the next-to-final chart that features only European teams. Sorry for that, but I just didn't have enough data to include South America until the 1964 season.

Enjoy and, as always, comments/concerns/questions/insults are welcomed.

World Club Rankings - 1962

1. Real Madrid (Esp) (RU - Champions Cup)

2. Sporting CP (Por) (QR - CC)

3. Benfica (Por) (Winner - CC)

4. FC Koln (FRG) (1R - Inter Cities Fairs Cup)

5. Barcelona (Esp) (RU - ICFC)

6. Porto (Por)

7. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (SF-CC)

8. AC Milan (Ita) (1R - ICFC)

9. Standard Liege (Bel) (SF-CC)

10. Servette (Sui) (1R-CC)

11. FK Austria (Aut) (1R-CC)

12. Ipswich Town (Eng)

13. Burnley (Eng)

14. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (Winner - Cup Winners Cup)

15. Anderlecht (Bel)

16. Dukla Praha (Tch) (QF-CC)

17. Internazionale (Ita) (QF - ICFC)

18. Real Zaragoza (Esp)

19. Linzer ASK (Aut)

20. Stade Reims (Fra)

21. Eintracht Frankfurt (FRG)

22. Esbjerg (Den)

23. Fiorentina (Ita) (RU - CWC)

24. RC Paris (Fra)

25. Everton (Eng)

For Annual Rankings from past years, see: 1960, 1961.

Wolrd Club Rankings - 1961

I'd like to take a second and congratulate the Houston Dynamo on their victory over the Revolution this afternoon to take the MLS Cup at RFK. I have to admit that it was nice to see a team from New England finally lose a game in ANY sport, for a change. The day was sunny, but it was a little cool at the stadium. I think that if I had to predict which memory will stick in my mind the longest, it'll probably be the orange Che Guevera flag in the Dynamo section (which is usually the Barra Brava section). It seemed a little contradictory to me (viva la revolucion?), but it worked.

As a reminder, I will not be publishing a new weekly Top 25 this week since there were no significant club games this week. To see the most recent WCR Top 25, click here.

To tide my legions of followers over while they patiently await a new weekly Top 25, I'm continuing my series to final Top 25s for years past. This entry takes us to 1961, when Benfica broke Real Madrid's stranglehold on the Champions Cup by defeating Barcelona (who eliminated Real Madrid in the first round) in the Finals. Italian teams did well in other competitions as Fiorentina took the Cup Winners Cup and Roma won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Results of the tournaments can be found here. FYI - South American teams aren't factored into my rankings until 1964, so this is my second of four all-European lists. Don't worry, this will change soon.

World Club Rankings - 1961

1. Benfica (Por) (Winner - Champions Cup)

2. Real Madrid (Esp) (1R - CC)

3. Eintracht Frankfurt (FRG)

4. Hamburger (FRG)

5. Barcelona (Esp) (RU - CC; QF - Inter Cities Fairs Cup)

6. Juventus (Ita) (QR - CC)

7. Sporting CP (Por)

8. Atletico de Madrid (Esp)

9. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng)

10. FK Austria (Aut) (QF - Cup Winners Cup)

11. Servette (Sui)

12. Porto (Por)

13. Monaco (Fra)

14. Milan (Ita)

15. Kickers Offenbach (FRG)

16. Vasas SC (Hun)

17. Internazionale (Ita) (SF-ICFC)

18. Sheffield Wednesday (Eng)

19. SK Rapid (Aut) (SF-CC)

20. RC Paris (Fra)

21. Young Boys (Sui) (1R-CC)

22. Partizan Beograd (Yug)

23. Dukla Praha (Tch)

24. FIrst Vienna (Aut)

25. Real Zaragoza (Esp)

Past Seasons can be found here: 1960

World Club Rankings - 1960

I've applied my formulas for world clubs for each year going back to 1960. Unfortunately, I don't have enough South American data to adequately rank those teams until 1964, so from 1960-1963, the list consists of European teams only. Lots of people think those are the only ones that matter. Those people are wrong, but at least for the first four years of these charts, those wrong people are happy.

The system for ranking the past teams is identical to my system for ranking current teams, with one major difference - teams get bonus points for finishing in the top four in their continental championship.

Since there won't be a Top 25 for world clubs this week because of the lack of competition, I'll add one or two of these old Top 25s to tide you over.

1960 World Club Top 25

1. Real Madrid (Esp) (Winner -Champions Cup)

2. Barcelona (Esp) (SF - Champions Cup, Winner - Inter-Citiies Fairs Cup)

3. Juventus (Ita)

4. Stade Reims (Fra)

5. Hamburger (FRG)

6. Rangers (Sco) (SF - Champions Cup)

7. Fiorentina (Ita)

8. Hearts of Midlothian (Sco)

9. Young Boys (Sui) (1R - Champions Cup)

10. Nimes (Fra)

11. Athletic de Bilbao (Esp)

12. RC Paris (Fra)

13. SK Rapid (Aut)

14. Wolverhampton Wanderers (Eng) (QF - Champions Cup)

15. FC Koln (FRG)

16. AC Milan (Ita) (1R - Champions Cup)

17. Burnley (Eng)

18. Werder Bremen (FRG)

19. Sevilla (Esp)

20. IFK Norrkoping (Swe)

21. Ajax (Ned)

22. Red Star (Yug) (1R - Champions Cup)

23. Dinamo Zagreb (Yug)

24. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng)

25. Atletico de Madrid (Esp)

National Team Matchups

If you've been following this blog since its inception in 1939, you realize that even though I love international football, it's not really a priority here. More than anything else, it gives me a break from computing the World Club Top 25.

Nevertheless, some people follow international football closely. Since there's not much going on in club football over the next week or so, I thought I'd apply my tradition of listing games among Top 25 teams to international football. The rankings below are based on FIFA's official ranking. (You may not like it, I don't like it, but I already do my own club list, so I'll use theirs for this purpose.)

Upcoming Games Between World Top 25 Nations:

17 Nov. - (3) Italy at (13) Scotland

17 Nov. - (24) Sweden at (6) Spain

20 Nov. - (17) Uruguay at (2) Brazil

20 Nov. - (1) Argentina at (25) Colombia

21 Nov. - (4) France at (22) Ukraine

21 Nov. - (10) Croatia at (11) England

Live and Learn

Every week I put these together and things occur to me. For instance:

One Way To Move Up The Charts: Playing well is one way, but that's boring. Another way is to be the beneficiary of a formula change. In an effort not to harm teams that have had games postponed or rescheduled (which became a big deal this week), some tinkering has been done. The primary beneficiaries were Liverpool and Roma.

One Way To Move Down The Charts: Have your butt handed to you by an inferior team. Barcelona, Sporting CP, Bayern Munich . . . I'm looking at you.

Speaking of Sporting: Call me Dr. Empshel because I've named a syndrome. I call it the Sporting syndrome. A few Portuguese teams entered my charts because Sporting dropped to fifth in the league. They wouldn't have entered had they not passed Sporting, but it still feels a little wrong that they benefit from others troubles rather than their own efforts.

What About Next Week: Since there are only minimal games in the next week because of international play, next weeks countdown will be a little special. I'm thinking about posting for the 1960 season. More info next week.

Anyway, on to the countdown:

World Club Rankings - November 12, 2007

1. Internazionale (Ita) (1) - Sunday's game would have been fun had it taken place. Have to be satisfied with watching them come back to beat CSKA 4-2.

2. Arsenal (Eng) (2) - So-so performance in Prague. Looked much better this afternoon against Reading.

3. Real Madrid (Esp) (3) - Thought they were going down to Mallorca this week. Following tie against Olympiakos, they could probably use a little break.

4. Porto (Por) (4) - Every year, my computer seems to fall in love with some random European nation. Last year, it was Holland. This year, it's Portugal. Can't wait to see who it is next year.

5. Manchester United (Eng) (6) - Held back still because they are a second-place team (and my computer doesn't like second-place teams), but were probably the most impressive team in the world this week.

6. Roma (Ita) (11) - Tied twice and moved up five spots. If they keep drawing, maybe they'll be numver one soon. (Actually benefitted from Fiorentina's loss.)

7. Benfica (Por) (13) - See what I said about my fickle computer? Actually moves up because of a 6-1 victory over Boavista. I don't believe this, though. Hopefully, it's just temporary.

8. Sao Paulo (Bra) (8) - Staying steady. Did this team really lose to Millonarios? Really?

9. Fiorentina (Ita) (5) - When they hit my Top 5, people said "Too High." After watching them against Udinese, my computer agrees. I wish my computer would stop watching television.

10. Liverpool (Eng) (NR) - Looked great this week, for a healthy change. It's a shame they are going to lose badly to Newcastle United. (Wake up!!!) Sorry about that.

11. Lyon (Fra) (10)
12. Bayern Munchen (Ger) (9)
13. Ajax (Ned) (12)
14. Barcelona (Esp) (7)
15. Villarreal (Esp) (18)
16. Juventus (Ita) (14)
17. Nancy Lorraine (Fra) (16)
18. Boca Juniors (Arg) (22)
19. Celtic (Sco) (21)
20. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (20)
21. Chelsea (Eng) (17)
22. Werder Bremen (Ger) (NR)
23. Vitoria Setubal (Por) (NR)
24. Lanus (Arg) (NR)
25. Vitoria Guimaraes (Por) (NR)

Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Atletico Nacional (Col), Feyenoord (Ned), Manchester City (Eng), Santos (Bra), Santos Laguna (Mex)

Games between Top 25 Teams in the next Two Weeks:

11/25 (23) Vitoria Setubal at (4) Porto

Yes, that's it. Seriously.

Calling All Rankers

Does your life require order and structure? Do you feel compelled to pass judgment on the skills of others? Are you a geek? Do you spend way too much time watching / living / breathing the beautiful game? If you answered yes to any of these questions, congratulations. You have personal attributes to work on and I've now given you a goal in life. If you answered yes to ALL of these questions, then you may be interested in my request.

Based on an idea received from the people (person?) at Soccer Source , I'm testing to see if we can find a handful of bloggers with my annoying habit of ranking things to put together a consensus Top 25 ranking for world club football. If it sounds like something that might interest you, leave a comment and let me know.

Inter Milan retains top spot.

It was a rough week at the top, with Inter Milan tying Juventus and Arsenal drawing Manchester United, not to mention Real Madrid following up a big win over Valencia with a weekend loss. With all of the turmoil, not much changed at the top. Below, enjoy the CL Matchday 4 edition of the Top 25:

1. Internazionale (Ita) (1) - You always expect the number one team to win, but a draw in Turin against Juventus is always a result to be proud of.

2. Arsenal (Eng) (2) - Fortunate to get away from Manchester United with a point. For my money, Manchester United was the better team.

3. Real Madrid (Esp) (3) - Not sure which Real team is the real team. The good one better show up against Olympiakos.

4. Porto (Por) (4) - Four spots down, four spots haven't changed. Maybe I should've just cut and pasted last week's rankings.

5. Fiorentina (Ita) (9) - There's a change!! Surprised, aren't you? Honestly, if I had to put money on it, I probably would bet on ManU if they played each other.

6. Manchester United (Eng) (5) - C'mon!!! I only root for you two games the entire year and you end up not winning one of them?!?!? Be that way. I'm glad you dropped.

7. Barcelona (Esp) (7) - Ronaldinho, Henry, Messi . . . it just doesn't seem fair. All they need is Tom Brady at Quarterback and they'd be undefeated.

8. Sao Paulo (Bra) (10) - Making up for disappointing Copa Sudamerica performance by slapping around all of its Brazilian competition.

10. Lyon (Fra) (11) - As has been the case for the past few years, they should be dominant in Ligue 1, but they don't seem as impressive on the pitch as they do on paper.

11. Roma (Ita) (6)

12. Ajax (Ned) (16)

13. Benfica (Por) (3)

14. Juventus (Ita) (14)

15. Sporting (Por) (17)

16. Nancy Lorraine (Fra) (16)

17. Chelsea (Eng) (18)

18. Villarreal (Esp) (24)

19. Manchester City (Eng) (21)

20. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (12)

21. Celtic (Sco) (19)

22. Boca Juniors (Arg) (NR)

23. Feyenoord (Ned) (NR)

24. Portsmouth (Eng) (NR)

25. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (22)

On the bubble (alphabetically): Hamburger (Ger), Independiente (Arg), Lanus (Arg), Santos (Bra), Santos Laguna (Mex)

Scary nonetheless: Rangers (Sco), Liverpool (Eng), Werder Bremen (Ger), Atletico Nacional (Col), Cruzeiro (Bra)

Games between Top 25 teams this week:

11/6: (13) Benfica at (21) Celtic

11/7: (11) Roma at (15) Sporting

11/11: (12) Ajax at (23) Feyenoord

11/11: (19) Manchester City at (24) Portsmouth

Beautiful Game, MY ASS!!!

Okay, that was a little harsh and I apologize to the fans. Just got home from RFK after watching my beloved DC United get knocked out of the MLS playoffs.

We were down 1-0 in aggregate coming into this game and went down 2-0 in this game in the first half due to some poor, poor defending. Turns out kicking the ball straight up in your own box ISN'T a good idea. We didn't challenge until late in the second half. Clyde Simms kicked in a beautiful shot at around 71 minutes to make it 2-1. A few minutes and a few deflections later, a second ball goes over the line and the game is tied!!! Now, we're excited. The action slows down, but we can still feel the series-tying goal was just around the corner. A
minute into extra time, the series tying shot goes in. We go wild. I high-five the person to my left. I high-five the person to my right. I turn to high-five the person behind me and he is just shaking is head and pointing at the scoreboard. I didn't even need to turn around. I knew they had taken it off the board. I'm still not even sure why. Hand ball? I don't know. I'm not going to do the post-mortem until I mourn a little longer. I'll check the stories later.

Right now, I'm just pissed. And sad. And pissed.

New top 25 will come on Monday night. El fuego de Chicago will NOT be on it.

Damn.