WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Let's Do It Again

Champions League games, UEFA Cup games, CONCACAF Champions Cup game, all played in the past week and what have we decided? Not a damned thing. Five games, five draws. Nevermind. Now, we’re playing all of them as one-game series. Let’s do it all over again!!! (For the WCR Predictions, click here.) One game that actually had a victor this week made the two teams that played in it, you guessed it, tied. Number two Chelsea defeated number one Manchester United to move into a tie in the Premiership, though with Manyoo’s overwhelming goal differential lead, Chelsea will still need help to overtake Manyoo.

On the other side of the world, the Copa Libertadores group stage came to an end and the teams have been seeded for the knockout rounds. (Official WCR Predictions can be found here.) Sao Paulo and River Plate moved to the tops of their respective groups and Boca Juniors slided into the Round of Sixteen by the skin of Riquelme’s teeth. Throw in Santos and Estudiantes, this will be one of the most star-studded Copa Libertadores and the next round begins on Tuesday on Fox Sports Espanol.

This weekend, as you’re coming off of your Champions League, UEFA Cup, Copa Libertadores and Champions Cup highs, there are plenty of great games to help you mellow slow. The only battle among Top 25 teams will be the battle between Arsenal and Everton. Even more important, however, are the two great matchups between Internazionale and AC Milan and, in Argentina, between Boca Juniors and River Plate. If you can’t get up for those matches, then why in the hell are you reading this?

Same Top 25 as last week; different order. Here we go:

World Club Rankings Top 25 – April 28, 2008

1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – Played road games against the numbers two and three teams in the world last week and couldn’t come away with a victory. Did manage a road draw against Barcelona, which is always a good Champions League result, but did not score a goal, which could come back to haunt them. Fell 1-2 to Chelsea to fall even, but they still hold the advantage in the Premiership, so they still hold the advantage here. In addition to the Barcelona rematch this week, host West Ham United on Saturday to maintain their domestic league.

2. Chelsea (Eng) (2) – Like Manyoo, Chelsea scored a road draw in the Champions League, which is always nice. Unlike Manyoo, Chelsea scored an away goal, which is even nicer. Also unlike Manyoo, Chelsea won the Chelsea/Manchester United game, which is the nicest of all. Play the rematch against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, though I hope they aren’t going to wait for another own goal to score this time. As they chase down Manyoo in the Premiership, they travel to play my beloved Newcastle United.

3. Barcelona (Esp) (3) – Just doesn’t seem fair to rank them this high the way they’ve been playing in the Primera Division. Rested a lot of their best players this weekend in losing to Deportivo La Coruna 0-2. It would seem that they are willing to surrender second place in La Liga to Villarreal for a chance to defeat Manchester United in the Champions League. We’ll see if the sacrifice works out on Tuesday. This weekend they host Valencia, which could be a good game if both teams bother to try this week.

4. Sao Paulo (Bra) (11) – Defeated Colombia’s Atletico Nacional 1-0 to win their group and gain home field advantage in the first round of the Copa Libertadores knockout rounds. Plays on the road on Wednesday in Uruguay against Nacional, which is a really tough draw for my pre-knockout stage favorite to win it all.

5. Liverpool (Eng) (4) – A 94th minute own goal is all that kept Liverpool from heading to London with a lead in its Champions League draw with Chelsea. That’s gotta hurt. Could manage only a draw with Birmingham City this weekend, but the domestic matches are second stage at this point. Face Chelsea on Wednesday and they must be hoping that Saturday’s match against Manchester City won’t be their last match this season against a team from Manchester.

6. Internazionale (Ita) (5) – Defeated Cagliari 2-1 to move closer to their second consecutive (more if you count the ones abandoned by the cheating bastards) Serie A championship, but it’s not clinched yet. Just to make it interesting, Inter faces cross-town rival AC Milan on Sunday in what would be the most anticipated game of the weekend if it wasn’t for the next one I’m going to talk about.

7. River Plate (Arg) (8) – Defeated Argentios Juniors 4-2 to stay tied atop the Clausura with Estudiantes de la Plata. Like Sao Paulo, River Plate got an unfortunately tough draw in the Copa Libertadores, having to face fellow Argentine San Lorenzo, who defeated Boca Juniors this weekend, on Wednesday. Speaking of Boca, the game of the weekend will be when River goes on the road this weekend to face Boca Juniors in the Superclasico. Wish I could be there.

8. Porto (Por) (6) – You’ve got to hand it to Porto. They’ve already clinched the bwin Liga and this weekend they went on the road to play the second-place team in Portugal and they didn’t only come to play, they came to kick ass and take names, defeating Vitoria Guimaraes 5-0. Host Nacional in domestic action this weekend.

9. Real Madrid (Esp) (7) – Moved to within a Ruud Van Nistelrooy (sp?) nose hair of clinching the Primeral Division title, defeating Athletic de Bilbao 3-0. It helps that nobody in Spain other than Villarreal seems to give a damn about winning, and even Villarreal cares only every other week. Should clinch this weekend against Osasuna, or even sooner if everybody else loses again.

10. Roma (Ita) (9) - It got ugly quickly this weekend in Rome as Roma manhandled Torino 4-1 to keep Inter Milan in their sights. While Inter is facing AC Milan this weekend, Roma won’t exactly have it easy, playing a road match against Sampdoria.

11. Estudiantes (Arg) (12) – Defeated Rosario Central 3-1 on Friday to keep pace with River Plate atop the Argentine Clausura. Begin their Copa Libertadores knockout stage in Ecuador, facing a tough LDU Quito team. This weekend, they are on the road playing the Argentinos Juniors club that fell this weekend to River Plate.

12. Arsenal (Eng) (10) – At the time that I am typing this up, Arsenal has not yet played their match against Derby County. Whatever happens, though, they are in third place and don’t have anything else of any importance going on. Play in the only game this weekend between two ranked teams as Everton comes to Emirates Stadium for what should be a good game, if Arsenal shows up.

13. Lyon (Fra) (14) – Could manage only a 2-2 draw against Caen this weekend as they remain four points clear of second-place Bordeaux. The Ligue Un title still appears inevitable, but they should probably win one of these games sooner or later, just to be safe. Travel to Nice this weekend to play the team that drew with Bordeaux this weekend.

14. Juventus (Ita) (13) – Not sure why they moved down after crushing Lazio 5-2 at home this weekend, but these things happen. On Sunday, they travel to play Siena as they play the season out.

15. Fluminense (Bra) (16) – Fluminense had the week off to begin preparing for their Copa Libertadores matchup with Atletico Nacional. Not much else to add.

16. Bayern Munchen (Ger) (15) – Moved within an Oliver Kahn ear hair from its first consecutive Bundesliga title, handily defeating defending champion VfB Stuttgart 4-1. Their luck wasn’t as good at home in the UEFA Cup, where they could manage only a 1-1 draw against surprising Zenit St. Petersburg. They should be focusing on that as they travel to Russia for the rematch on Thursday. Play at Wolfsburg in domestic action this weekend, when they should be crowned as Bundesliga champions.

17. Villarreal (Esp) (17) – Held off Real Betis 1-0 to solidify their second place spot in the Primera Division, as Barcelona appears distracted. As you know, there are no easy games in La LIga and Villarreal hosts a dangerous Getafe team this weekend.

18. Sporting CP (Por) (22) – Big move up for Sporting as they defeated Maritimo 2-1 to move into second place in the bwin Liga. Still a tight race behind Porto for the final two Champions League (corrected) spots, so Sporting will not be able to take it easy this weekend against Paco Ferreira.

19. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (18) – Since their season is over, there’s not much to say beyond see you next year in the Champions League group stage.

20. Deportivo Saprissa (Crc) (19) – Could manage only a 1-1 draw against Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. Now they have to face the elevation in the return match – and DC United can tell them how difficult that can be, especially in the second half. Final game is on Wednesday night. Don’t miss it!!! Could only score a draw against Herediano in domestic action, where Saprissa has been pretty ordinary recently. Play San Carlos this weekend regardless of what happens against Pachuca.

21. Cruzeiro (Bra) (24) – Took the week off as they had already won their group in the Copa Libertadores. They ended up with the toughest draw of any ranked team in the Copa Libertadores as they have to travel to Argentina on Wednesday to face defending champion Boca Juniors in the Round of Sixteen. Should be a great matchup.

22. Ajax (Ned) (20) – I’m glad to hear that the Eredivisie is doing away with their convoluted playoff system to determine Champions League and UEFA Cup spots. Unfortunately for Ajax, those changes don’t go into effect until next year. This year, Ajax still has to win a four-team tournament to qualify for next year’s Champions League. Up first for Ajax is Michael Bradley and Heerenveen. Ajax plays the away match on Thursday and the home match on Sunday.

23. Bordeaux (Fra) (21) – By managing only a goalless draw against Nice this weekend, Bordeaux blew a golden opportunity to move within a whisper of Lyon in La Championnat. They have, however, already clinched a spot in next year’s Champions League and this week they travel to Marseille to play Cisse and a team that is trying to do the same.

24. Fiorentina (Ita) (25) – Played Rangers to a scoreless draw in Glasgow in the UEFA Cup semifinals. At home, this weekend, they gave up a late goal to Sampdoria to finish tied at 2-2. They are only two points clear of AC Milan for the final Italian Champions League spot and will need to pick up all three points this weekend when they hit the road to play Cagliari.

25. Everton (Eng) (23) – Couldn ‘t get past Aston Villa this weekend, drawing 2-2. It doesn’t get any easier this week, as Everton tries to hold on to fifth place in the Premiership, because they have to go to London to play Arsenal.

Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Atletico de Madrid (Esp), Benfica (Por), Flamengo (Bra), AC Milan (Ita), River Plate (Uru)

Next Five: Chivas de Guadalajara (Mex), Rangers (Sco), Aston Villa (Eng), Werder Bremen (Ger), Santos (Bra)

Games This Week Between Top 25 Teams:
29 April – (3) Barcelona at (1) Manchester United
30 April – (5) Liverpool at (2) Chelsea
4 May – (25) Everton at (12) Arsenal