WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - CL Quarterfinals Edition

Welcome to the pre-Champions League quarterfinals (or pre-CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals) edition of the World Club Rankings Top 25. For the first time all season, all of the European quarterfinalists are in the Top 25 as Schalke makes its debut by moving into third place in the Bundesliga to go along with its quarterfinalist spot in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Manchester United continued to solidify its spot at the top of the charts, defeating Aston Villa by something like 27 to nothing.

Lots of great action in Europe as we reach the home stretch. PSV and Porto, even with a draw this weekend for PSV, are within spitting distance of winning the Eredevisie and bwin Liga, respectively. Meanwhile, Real Madrid extended its own lead in the Primera Division de La Liga as Bayern Munchen, Manyoo and Lyon continue to reign in their respective leagues. Fenerbahce also put a little room between themselves and second place and Rangers may have ended the hopes of Celtic in Scotland.

It was a lighter week in the Copa Libertadores, as far as the huge teams were concerned, but that should make for a great week this week as ranked teams Estudiantes, River Plate, Sao Paulo and Cruzeiro all see action in South America’s premier competition.

Enough background. On to the rankings . . .

World Club Rankings – March 31, 2008

1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – Not only are they at the top of their league, they are playing phenomenal football right now. Humbled Aston Villa this week 4-0. Travel to Rome to face Roma in a tough matchup in Champions League action before playing Middlesbrough on the road on Sunday.

2. Inter Milan (Ita) (2) – Drew with Lazio 1-1 in Rome this weekend, but did not suffer because second-place Roma could manage no more than a draw themselves. Since their European dreams are over, play only one game this week, facing Atalanta on the road.

3. Chelsea (Eng) (3) – Defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 to maintain their recently-attained second place position in the Premiership. Will face a tougher time this weekend as they travel to Manchester to play City. In the meantime, they travel to Turkey to face Fenerbahce in the Champions League quarterfinals.

4. Roma (Ita) (4) – Failed to take advantage of Inter’s stumble by scoring only a draw against Cagliari. Host top-ranked Manchester United without Totti in the Champions League tomorrow (CAN’T WAIT!!!) and host Genoa this weekend as they continue to try to track down Internazionale.

5. Arsenal (Eng) (5) – Did something they’ve been having difficulty with recently by winning a game in the Premiership, defeating Bolton 3-2. This week, they play their first two of three consecutive games against Liverpool, both at Emirates Stadium, once in the Champions League and once in domestic action.

6. Sao Paulo (Bra) (7) – May be the highest ranking of any South American team all year (I don’t really keep track of things like that). Won two games in the Paulista League, including a victory over Bragantino this weekend. Appear to be in good shape to make the Paulista League playoffs, facing Juventus (not THAT Juventus) this weekend after facing Sportivo Luqueno in Copa Libertadores action at midweek.

7. Barcelona (Esp) (6) – Loss to Real Betis not only virtually eliminates Barcelona’s title hopes, it helped to drop them to third place in the Primera Division. Still alive in Europe, however, and Barcelona travels to Germany to play Schalke tomorrow before hosting giant-killer Getafe over the weekend.

8. Liverpool (Eng) (8) – Took a huge step towards playing in next year’s Champions League by defeating Everton and securing fourth place in the Premiership. This week, travel to London, where they can stay for a while, as they begin their string of playing nobody but Arsenal for the foreseeable future. (Okay, just three games in eight days.)

9. Estudiantes (Arg) (9) – Still playing well in the Clausura, defeating Velez Sarsfield 1-0 this weekend. Two tough road matches this week as they play Apertura champion Lanus in Copa Libertadores action and play Copa Sudamericana champion Arsenal de Sarandi in Clausura action.

10. Real Madrid (Esp) (11) – Defeated Sevilla pretty handily yesterday as they extended their Primera Division lead. Having been eliminated from the Champions League, their next game is against Real Mallorca this weekend.

11. River Plate (Arg) (NR) – Moving to the top of both the Clausura and their Copa Libertadores group this week. Potentially great games this week as they travel to Mexico to play Club America in Copa Libertadores action this week and play a road match against Lanus over the weekend.

12. Porto (Por) (10) – Defeated Os Belenenses this weekend to move within a whisper of the bwin Liga title. Face Amadora this weekend as they move towards clinching the championship, without European action to distract them.

13. Fenerbahce (Tur) (13) – Managed to get a little breathing room in the Turkish Ligi this week, defeating Besiktas 2-1. Should be exciting for all Turkish fans as they host Chelsea on Wednesday before playing Kayserispor in domestic action this weekend.

14. Lyon (Fra) (12) – Kept on pace to win their 298th consecutive title in Ligue Un (don’t quote me on that) by defeating Valenciennes 2-1. Being relieved of their European duties, travel to the second largest city in France to face Marseille in one of the most anticipated matches of any season.

15. Benfica (Por) (14) – Defeated Pacos Ferreira 4-1 to maintain its tenuous spot in second place in the bwin Liga. Play Boavista this weekend as they attempt to maintain that position.

16. Juventus (Ita) (15) – Game against Parma cancelled this weekend due to yet another senseless act of violence. This really needs to end! Return to action at the site of some of last year’s most notorious violence as they play Palermo.

17. Bayern Munchen (Ger) (16) – Could only manage a draw against Nurnberg this past weekend, but still sit atop the Bundesliga. Host Getafe in UEFA Cup action on Thursday in a matchup that could provide a surprise. Host VfL Bochum in domestic action this weekend.

18. Villarreal (Esp) (20) – Defeated Atletico de Madrid 3-0 over the weekend to take advantage of Barcelona’s stumble to take over second place in the Primera Division. How this team fell out of the UEFA Cup so quickly amazes me. Play a road game against a solid Sevilla team as they try to maintain their newfound status.

19. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (17) – Could manage only a scoreless draw against NEC Nijmegen this weekend, but it doesn’t really matter. It would take a collapse of epic proportions for PSV to blow the Eredevisie at this point. Play Fiorentina in the best matchup of the next round of the UEFA Cup this week. Host Heracles Almelo this weekend as they streak towards the domestic title.

20. Ajax (Ned) (22) – Defeated Michael Bradley and Heerenveen 4-2 to stay alive in the Dutch Eredevisie. Their slim hopes to stay alive are at home this weekend against De Graafschap.

21. Schalke 04 (Ger) (NR) – I am not putting them in here strictly because they are in the Champions League quarterfinals. In addition to that, Schalke took over third place in the Bundesliga to earn their spot here. Host Barcelona tomorrow as they attempt to advance in Europe and host Hansa Rostock in Bundesliga action over the weekend.

22. Everton (Eng) (19) – Everton’s hopes for a Champions League spot took a big kick in the crotch this weekend as they fell to Torres, and the cross-town rivals, 1-0. Host Derby County as they face their uphill battle back their fourth place in the Premiership.

23. Deportivo Saprissa (CRC) (21) – Saprissa finally fell in domestic action , losing to Puntarenas 1-0 this weekend. Perhaps they were looking forward to their trip north to face the Houston Dynamo in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals. We’ll see. After that battle, they will face Universidad de Costa Rica in domestic action.

24. Fiorentina (Ita) (23) – Hit by a ton of bricks better known as Udinese, losing 3-1. Although the battle is tightened, they still hold the final Champions League position in Serie A. Host PSV Eindhoven in a great UEFA Cup mathcup at midweek before hosting Reggina this weekend.

25. Cruzeiro (Bra) (25) – Still lead their group in the Copa Libertadores. Put that league to the test this week when they face Argentine power San Lorenzo on Thursday.

Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Atletico de Madrid (Esp), Bordeaux (Fra), La Equidad (Chi), Libertad (Par), River Plate (Uru)

Next Five (not alphabetically): Hamburger (Ger), Rangers (Sco), Sporting CP (Por), Boca Juniors (Arg), Fluminense (Bra)

Games Between Ranked Teams This Week:
1 April – (1) Manchester United at (4) Roma
1 April – (7) Barcelona at (21) Schalke 04
2 April – (3) Chelsea at (13) Fenerbahce
2 April – (8) Liverpool at (5) Arsenal
3 April – (19) PSV Einhoven at (24) Fenerbahce
5 April – (8) Liverpool at (5) Arsenal