It was a topsy-turvy week at the top over the weekend as all four of the top four teams played and they managed a mere four points among them – three of those belonging to #1 Internazionale because of a blocked penalty kick late in the game. All of this wreaked a little havoc at the top of the rankings, which have been relatively settled in recent weeks.
Three other teams that combined for two points near the bottom of the table saw themselves removed from the rankings altogether. Sporting CP fell 1-0 to Os Belenenses and Villarreal and Atletico de Madrid could manage only draws in their Primera Division matches. Replacing them in the rankings are Espanyol, who has made periodic trips into the rankings throughout the year, and two newcomers – SC Heerenveen and Fluminense. Heerenveen, and American Michael Bradley , have been tearing things up in the Eredivisie as of late. We’ll see if that trend continues this weekend as they travel to play PSV Eindhoven.
Three big games this weekend matching up ranked teams. As mentioned above, (24) Heerenveen plays (14) PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie on Saturday. Sunday sees (15) Liverpool travel to London to face (11) Chelsea and (22) Werder Bremen travel to Munich to play (13) Bayern Munchen . Should be a great week.
World Club Rankings Top 25 – February 4, 2008
1. Internazionale (Ita) (1) – Advanced in the Coppa Italia by defeating Juventus in Turin before escaping with a 1-0 defeat of Empoli over the weekend. It would take a monumental drop for them to lose the Serie A title this year and a nearly-monumental drop to see them lose the top spot in the rankings any time soon. Travel to play Catania this weekend.
2. Arsenal (Eng) (6) – Just as they were starting to slip in the rankings, they pull off two big wins by a combined score of 6-1 and take over the top spot in the Premiership again. Don’t play again until Monday when they host the Blackburn Rovers.
3. Real Madrid (Esp) (3) – Should’ve taken over the number two spot this week, but couldn’t avoid being embarrassed by Almeria 0-2. Suddenly, that nine-point lead is down to six and you have to be concerned about Barcelona once again. Face Valladolid on Sunday. I predict an easy game, but I would’ve predicted that last week, too.
4. Porto (Por) (5) – Bounced back in the BWIN league to defeat Uniao Leiria 4-0 and extend its lead over Benfica. Portugal is the only major nation with cup action this week and Porto plays at Sertanense for the quarterfinals this week.
5. Manchester United (Eng) (2) – Some teams have issues with prosperity. Then again, some teams just have issues with Tottenham. It’s not the end of the world and Tottenswine has been playing very well recently. It doesn’t get much easier, however, as United looks to have some revenge on City this weekend.
6. Roma (Ita) (4) – Talk about issues with prosperity . . . Roma achieved its highest ranking of the season this week and celebrated by being embarrassed by Siena 3-0, although it did fight its way past Sampdoria to advance in the Coppa Italia. Any faint dreams they had of catching Internazionale must be crushed by now. Second place is still Roma’s though and they host Reggina this weekend in its quest to maintain that.
7. Barcelona (Esp) (7) – A pair of 1-0 wins over Villarreal and Osasuna this week allowed Barcelona to advance in the Copa del Rey and move within six points of Real Madrid in the Primera Division. Travel this weekend to play the always-tough, if not victorious, Sevilla.
8. Juventus (Ita) (8) – Just couldn’t catch a break this week. Eliminated from the Coppa Italia at midweek at the hands of Inter Milan and could manage only a 1-1 draw against Cagliari . That just ain’t gonna get it done. Travel to play Udinese this weekend who, like Juventus, is a tough team that has been playing well below the level it is capable of.
9. Sao Paulo (Bra) (9) – Yes, it’s just the Paulista League, but they did manage four points in two games this week. Two interesting games against quality competition this week as they face both Sao Caetano and Santos in Paulista league action.
10. Benfica (Por) (10) – Does my system favor Portuguese teams too much? Probably. Benfica is probably ranked too high after dropping points against Nacional this week, but Chelsea could help me out and displace them from the top ten if they could take advantage of the situation.
11. Chelsea (Eng) (11) – Fall to Pompey this weekend after squeaking past Reading at mid-week. It’s a shame that can’t do a better job of taking advantage of Manchester United’s weekend troubles. Great team, but they just don’t have the look of a championship team this season. Of course, that can still change as they host Liverpool in Premiership action this weekend.
12. Lyon (Fra) (12) – Beat Croix Savoie on Sunday. Do you care? Return to action in La Championnat this weekend when they face Sochaux.
13. Bayern Munchen (Ger) (13) – Successful return to competition this week as they advance in cup action and defeat Hansa Rostock to extend their lead in the Bundesliga. A clash of the titans (or the German equivalent of titans) takes place on Saturday as Bayern hosts Bremen .
14. PSV Eindhoven ( Ned ) (14) – Looked like the future Eredivisie champions this week as they handed 2-0 losses to both Ajax and AZ Alkmaar. It doesn’t get much easier this week as they host red-hot SC Heerenveen and Michael Bradley .
15. Liverpool (Eng) (19) – Jump up the rankings despite falling to West Ham at midweek by defeating Sunderland 3-0 on Saturday and taking back fourth place (effectively) from Everton to become the best team in town once again. Let’s see if they can keep it up at Stamford Bridge where they will face an opponent a tad tougher than Blunderland . . . or even West Ham.
16. Fiorentina (Ita) (15) – Eliminated from the Coppa Italia by Lazio and then fell over the weekend to AC Milan 0-1. Why didn’t they fall further? Still in fourth in Serie A , so they get some credit. If they want to keep that credit, they may have to beat Atalanta on Saturday.
17. Lanus (Arg) (17) – Lost this week in the Copa Libertadores , as did every other road team in the first leg of the qualifiers. They get a chance to redeem themselves in the second leg against CD Olmedo tomorrow night. Follow that up with their opening match of the Clausura, when they host the Copa Verano-winning Independiente.
18. AC Milan (Ita) (25) – A pair of victories this week move them within four points of fourth-placed Fiorentina, with a game in hand. Face Roma-crushing Siena at home on Sunday.
19. Espanyol (Esp) (NR) – Reclaim a spot in the rankings by virtue of passing Villarreal and Atletico de Madrid in the Primera Division standings. Will they keep their spot this time? First test is Sunday against Recreativo de Huelva .
20. Rangers (Sco) (21) – Scored a victory and draw this week in Cup action. Return to action in the Scottish Premiership this weekend against Falkirk .
21. Ajax ( Ned ) (20) – Dropped a spot in the rankings by losing to PSV, despite crushing Feyenoord over the weekend 3-0. Hopefully, they will receive a little bit of a break this week as they face Roda JC , though anything is possible on the road.
22. Werder Bremen (Ger) (22) – Eliminated in Cup action and then fell to late goals against Bochum . Probably should’ve dropped, but they are still in second place in the Bundesliga. Get a shot at redemption this weekend against Bayern Munchen .
23. Everton (Eng) (16) – Two games last week, two 0-0 draws. Look to rebound against Reading this weekend. Even if they don’t “rebound,” a goal would be nice.
24. SC Heerenveen ( Ned ) (NR) – A trip to third-place in the Eredivisie gives Heerenveen a trip into the Top 25 for the first time all season. It won’t be easy to maintain that position, though, as they must face PSV Eindhoven on the road on Saturday.
25. Fluminense (Bra) (NR) – For the first time this season, we have two Brazilian teams on the charts. Currently playing in the Carioca League as they warm up for the Copa Libertadores . This week’s matches include games against America RJ and Flamengo.
Bubbling Under (Alphabetically): Atletico de Madrid (Esp), Bayer Leverkusen (Ger), Celtic (Sco), Sporting CP (Por), Villarreal (Esp)
Numbers 101 - 105: DC United (USA), Mallorca (Esp), Herediano (CRC), Internacional (Bra), Valenciennes (Fra)
Games Between Top 25 Teams:
9 February - (24) SC Heerenveen at (14) PSV Eindhoven
10 February - (15) Liverpool at (11) Chelsea
10 February - (22) Werder Bremen at (13) Bayern Munchen
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