Not a great deal of change this week in the Top 25 as most of the teams that should have won, won. In fact, only three teams in the Top 25 managed to lose. Ajax and Espanyol are two of them. Their losses pushed them further down their respective league tables and out of the Top 25 completely. The other, of course, was Manchester United who fell to their cross-town rivals for the second time this season. Somehow, this loss did not affect them in the rankings, however, and they remain in the Top 5.
Last week, there were three games among Top 25 teams and they all ended up in draws – PSV/Heerenveen and Bayern/Werder each finished at 1-1 while Chelsea and Liverpool ended up in a scoreless tie. The main beneficiary of these results was Heerenveen, who managed to move up the Eredivisie table by virtue of an Ajax upset.
This week, there are two such matchups, and they both involve Top Eight teams on Saturday. In the FA Cup, the much anticipated match between Arsenal and Manchester United takes place. Also on Saturday, a battle between second-place Roma and third-place Juventus should provide fireworks just as bright. Will they result in any shakeup in the rankings next week? That’s getting ahead of ourselves. First, let’s look at the rankings for this week.
World Club Rankings Top 25 – February 11, 2008
1. Internazionale (Ita) (1) – Continued its Serie A dominance this weekend with a 2-0 victory over Catania. Are they getting help from the referees? A lot of people think so. Face Livorno on Saturday in an attempt to lengthen its lead as the second- and third-place teams face each other.
Last week, there were three games among Top 25 teams and they all ended up in draws – PSV/Heerenveen and Bayern/Werder each finished at 1-1 while Chelsea and Liverpool ended up in a scoreless tie. The main beneficiary of these results was Heerenveen, who managed to move up the Eredivisie table by virtue of an Ajax upset.
This week, there are two such matchups, and they both involve Top Eight teams on Saturday. In the FA Cup, the much anticipated match between Arsenal and Manchester United takes place. Also on Saturday, a battle between second-place Roma and third-place Juventus should provide fireworks just as bright. Will they result in any shakeup in the rankings next week? That’s getting ahead of ourselves. First, let’s look at the rankings for this week.
World Club Rankings Top 25 – February 11, 2008
1. Internazionale (Ita) (1) – Continued its Serie A dominance this weekend with a 2-0 victory over Catania. Are they getting help from the referees? A lot of people think so. Face Livorno on Saturday in an attempt to lengthen its lead as the second- and third-place teams face each other.
2. Arsenal (Eng) (2) – Defeated Blackburn 2-0 today to extend its Premiership lead. Face Manchester United in FA Cup action on Saturday.
3. Real Madrid (Esp) (3) – Which football is this? Scored a touchdown AND an extra point against Valladolid as they put the prior week’s upset behind them. Face Real Betis on Saturday before facing Roma in the Champion’s League.
4. Porto (Por) (4) – Defeated a Portuguese minnow to advance in the Portugal Cup on Sunday. Face Maritimo as they return to BWIN League action this coming weekend.
5. Manchester United (Eng) (5) – What can I say? Went down to Manchester City once again. Can’t say that it made me sad, though seeing Arsenal with an increased lead does. Yet again, though, both Chelsea and Liverpool failed to take advantage. Host Arsenal in FA Cup action on Saturday.
6. Roma (Ita) (6) – Like Real Madrid, got back on track by defeating Reggina 2-0. They better be back on track as their next two games are against Juventus on Saturday and then Real Madrid in Champions League action.
7. Barcelona (Esp) (7) – Manage only a 1-1 draw with Sevilla to fall even further off of the Primera Division lead. Face Real Zaragoza this week as they prepare for their Champions League draw with Celtic.
8. Juventus (Ita) (8) - Continued their winning ways of late by beating a good, but not great, Udinese team 2-1. Host AS Roma on Saturday in a battle for second place in Serie A.
9. Sao Paulo (Bra) (9) – Four points in two games this week in Paulista League action, including an impressive 3-2 defeat of Santos. Play only one game in the Paulista League this week and are inactive in Copa Libertadores action.
10. Benfica (Por) (10) – Defeated Pacos Ferreira to advance in the Portugal Cup this weekend. Play a potentially tough game against Nurnberg in UEFA Cup action this week (my pick: Benfica) before returning to BWIN League actions against Naval over the weekend.
11. Lyon (Fra) (12) – The first change from last week occurs here, as Lyon managed to beat Sochaux 4-1. Face Le Man over the weekend as they prepare for Manchester United in the Champions League.
12. Chelsea (Eng) (11) – Fall one notch after a scoreless draw at home against Liverpool. Just couldn’t take advantage of Manchester United’s stumble. Face Huddersfield Town in FA Cup action in a game we’ve all been waiting for . . .
13. Bayern Munchen (Ger) (13) – Held on to the top spot in the Bundesliga with a draw against second-place Werder Bremen. Face Aberdeen in UEFA Cup action this week before travelling to Hannover over the weekend.
14. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (14) – Actually extended its lead over Ajax (now third place) with a draw against red-hot SC Heerenveen. Face Helsingborg in UEFA Cup action this week and Willem II in Eredivisie action this weekend.
15. Fiorentina (Ita) (16) – Managed only a 2-2 draw against Atalanta this weekend as they start to fall into another slump. Barely hanging on to fourth place in Serie A over AC Milan and it will not last that long if they don’t pick it up quickly. Play Rosenborg in UEFA Cup action and host Catania on Sunday.
16. Everton (Eng) (23) – Back in fourth place in the Premiership by virtue of its defeat of Reading and Liverpool’s draw. Face Brann in UEFA Cup action and then get the weekend off to think about how nice it would be to still be alive in the FA Cup.
17. Lanus (Arg) (17) – Defeated Olmedo to advance to the group stage of the Copa Libertadores and then defeated Independiente in their opening Clausura match. Face a tough Danubio team from Uruguay in Copa Libertadores action this week and Huracan in Clausura action over the weekend.
18. Heerenveen (Ned) (24) – Big jump up by virtue of its draw on the road over PSV Eindhoven, which brought them up to second place in the Eredevisie. Yes, of course, Michael Bradley scored again. Face Heracles over the weekend.
19. AC Milan (Ita) (18) – Dropped a spot this week despite defeating Roma-killer Siena 1-0 this weekend. Have two matches this week against Livorno and Parma. Winning both will put them in fourth place in Serie A and shoot them considerably higher in the rankings.
20. Liverpool (Eng) (20) – A draw against Chelsea dropped them back to fifth place in the Premiership. Can’t do anything about it this week as they play Burnsley in the FA Cup and prepare for playing top-ranked Inter Milan in the Champions League.
21. Villarreal (Esp) (NR) – A victory this week coupled with an Espanyol defeat delivers the Yellow Submarine back into the rankings. Face Zenit St. Petersburg in UEFA Cup action this week and Racing Santander in La Liga action this weekend.
22. Rangers (Sco) (20) – Solidified top spot in the Scottish Premiership with a 2-0 defeat of Falkirk. Play a tough Panathinaikos team in UEFA Cup action and Kilmarnock in Scottish Premiership action this week.
23. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (NR) – Another team that coupled a win with Espanyol’s loss to move up the Primera Division standings and return to the rankings. Play in the UEFA Cup match of the week against the Bolton Wanderers before hosting Athletic de Bilbao on Sunday.
24. Werder Bremen (Ger) (22) – Managed only a draw at home against rival Bayern Munchen, but held on to second place in the Bundesliga. Play Portuguese team Sporting Braga in the UEFA Cup this week and UEFA Cup competitor Nurnberg on Saturday.
25. Celtic (Sco) (NR) – Return to the rankings by virtue of an impressive victory over the weekend. Play Hearts this weekend as they prepare for Barcelona in Champions League action.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Ajax (Ned), Bordeaux (Fra), Fluminense (Bra), Santos (Bra), Sporting CP (Por)
Assorted other UEFA Cup teams: (59) Hamburger (Ger), (73) Tottenham Hotspur (Eng), (77) AEK Athens (Gre), (80) Galatasaray (Tur), (83) Panathinaikos (Gre)
Matches Between Top 25 Teams:
16 February – (2) Arsenal at (5) Manchester United (FA Cup)
16 February – (6) Roma at (8) Juventus
Posts
