WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Congrats Manyoo

As the season draws to an end, we are getting close to the (temporary) end of the weekly version of the WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World rankings. As England and Portugal drew to a close this weekend, and Germany, France, Italy and Spain all finish up in a flurry of action next weekend, there won’t be enough movement in the rankings to justify running the stats every week. I anticipate publishing weekly rankings through the end of the Champions League, with additional rankings after the completion of the Copa Libertadores semifinals (early June) and championship (early July). Then, perhaps, a pre-season ranking to take place in early August before the rankings return to being a weekly fixture in September. During the break, I will continue publishing Annual Rankings from 1969 to 2006 (probably at a rate of a few a week). I may be experimenting with other features. If there’s anything else you’d like to see, let me know. I’m always looking for new ideas.

Now, to the rankings. Congratulations to Manchester United for winning another Premier League title. Manyoo remains at the top of the rankings and deservedly so. Other teams that were hoping to wrap things up this weekend weren’t as fortunate as Inter Milan stumbled in its match against Siena to have its Serie A lead cut to one and Bordeaux kept pace with Lyon to stay within striking distance with one fixture to go. Should make for an exciting weekend next weekend.

Most of the changes in the rankings this week take place because of things going on in South America. The quarterfinals are now set in the Copa Libertadores and it seems that some clubs did well in that tournament and some clubs did well domestically, but very few (save, perhaps LDU Quito) managed to do well in both. This resulted in teams moving around the rankings and a few teams being completely knocked out. This makes room for additional European teams who have been playing well recently such as Atletico de Madrid and Werder Bremen.

The most exciting matches of the upcoming week will likely be this weekend as championships will be determined in Serie A and La Championnat and European spots and relegations will be determined. Besides this, there are two matchups between Top 25 teams this week. The first takes place Wednesday as Sao Paulo hosts Fluminense in the first leg of a Copa Libertadores quarterfinal. The other takes place on Sunday as Porto and Sporting CP face off in the finals of the Portuguese Cup competition.

Now on to the rankings.

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World – May 12, 2008

1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – I’m guessing you already know this by now, but Manyoo defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 to win yet another Premier League title. The best team in the world now has only one test to go, but that test is more than a week away, so we’ll discuss that another time.

2. Chelsea (Eng) (2) – Only managed a draw with Bolton this weekend, giving up a late goal. As it turned out, Manyoo was doing its job, so Chelsea’s result didn’t matter in the big picture. Still, it would have been for the ol’ confidence to have a victory going into its match against Manyoo in the Champions League final. But, again, another story for another blog entry.

3. Internazionale (Ita) (3) – Defeated Lazio in Rome to advance to the final of the Coppa Italia, but the big news of the week was Inter’s failure to defeat Siena, leaving Inter with a mere one-point lead over Roma for the Serie A title.

4. Sao Paulo (Bra) (4) – Defeated Nacional 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores. They didn’t fare as well in their Brasileiro debut, losing 0-1 to Gremio. This week, Sao Paulo faces another tough opponent in Libertadores actions, hosting Fluminense. This weekend, Sao Paulo plays Atletico-PR as it tries to get back on track of its Brazilian Championship defense.

5. Real Madrid (Esp) (5) – Real is once again the highest ranked team without a meaningful game remaining. Humiliated Barcelona 4-1 at midweek last week before following that up with a 2-2 draw against Real Zaragoza. Finish up their La Liga championship season this weekend against Levante.

6. Porto (Por) (6) – Defeated Naval 2-0 this weekend to finish off its bwin Liga season. This weekend, Porto goes for the domestic double as they face Sporting CP in the final of the Portuguese Cup.

7. Roma (Ita) (7) – Defeated Atalanta 2-1 to take advantage of Inter Milan’s stumble and move within a point of the top spot of Serie A. Also moved past Catania to move on to the finals of the Coppa Italia where they will be facing, of course, Inter Milan. Close out the Serie A season this weekend, once again facing Catania, and hoping for a little help.

8. Arsenal (Eng) (8) – Finished off their season this week defeating Sunderland 1-0. Thus ends another cupless season for the Gunners.

9. Bayern Munchen (Ger) (11) – Defeated a pair of teams in Bundesliga action this week, defeating Arminia Bielefeld 2-0 and Duisburg 3-2, dooming the latter to relegation. Host Hertha Berlin this weekend to finish off the season.

10. Lyon (Fra) (10) – Defeated Nancy Lorraine 1-0, but that wasn’t enough to win the Ligue Un title. They get a chance to clinch the championship if they can defeat Auxerre. Also defeated Sedan to move into the final of the French Cup competition against Paris St.-Germain, who is probably more focused on avoiding relegation.

11. Juventus (Ita) (9) – Could manage only a draw against Catania 1-1. Doesn’t matter though. Finishes off the season this weekend against Sampdoria.

12. Villarreal (Esp) (13) – Finishing off the season in great style by winning two matches this week by a score of 2-0, first Recreativo de Huelva and then Espanyol over the weekend. Finish in second place of the Primera Division. Face Deportivo la Coruna this weekend to finish the season.

13. Liverpool (Eng) (15) – Outlasted Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-0 victory as Liverpool finished off its 2007/08 season. Good luck next year.

14. Barcelona (Esp) (12) – This team has completely turned to crap, especially defensively. Managed to give up seven, yes seven, goals this week, losing 1-4 to Real Madrid and 2-3 to Real Mallorca. Yet another Real opponent this weekend as they play Real Murcia.

15. Sporting CP (Por) (17) – Defeated Boavista 2-1 to finish in second place in the bwin Liga and earn a return trip to next year’s Champions League. Finish the season off next weekend as they try to win the Portuguese Cup in a classic matchup against Porto.

16. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (18) – Moved up two spots even though they haven’t played in weeks. Not bad.

17. Ajax (Ned) (22) – Another beneficiary of the weird stuff going on in South America. Lost the away leg of the Dutch Champions League playoffs 1-2 to Twente. Next Sunday, they get the rematch at home.

18. Bordeaux (Fra) (24) – Defeated Sochaux 2-0 this week to keep pace with Lyon in Ligue Un. This week they face Lens as they hope for Auxerre to defeat Lyon. Unfortunately, a Bordeaux victory also means relegation for Lens and nobody wants to see that.

19. Fluminense (Bra) (14) – Managed only a goalless draw against Atletico-MG in the opening of the Brasileiro, but did advance in the Copa Libertadores, defeating Atletico Nacional of Colombia. It doesn’t get any easier in the quarterfinals as they take on Sao Paulo.

20. River Plate (Arg) (16) – River Plate landed an unfortunate draw in the Copa Libertadores first knockout stage in San Lorenzo and it became River’s only knockout stage in the tournament. To make amends, River defeated Gimnasia La Plata 4-2 on Sunday to move back on top of the Argentine Clausura. Face Independiente next week as they try to maintain that position.

21. Everton (Eng) (25) – Finished the season in a bittersweet way for me, defeating my beloved Newcastle United 3-1. I have to admit that I was rooting against Everton, but they are a quality team and I’m glad they qualified for the UEFA Cup. I just wish somebody had told them that they could have qualified with a draw.

22. Werder Bremen (Ger) (NR) – Bremen returns to the rankings after a long absence after having a tremendous end of the season. They have qualified for a return trip to the Champions League and can qualify for a group stage spot by defeating Bayer Leverkusen.

23. Fiorentina (Ita) (NR) – Returns to the final Champions League spot in Serie A by taking advantage of another AC Milan failure by defeating Parma 3-1. Now it’s time to see if Fiorentina is going to choke. Travel to Turin next week to finish the season off against Torino. It’s never easy playing on the road in Italy, but this is a game that Fiorentina should be able to handle. Unless they choke.

24. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (NR) – Yet another team makes a long awaited return to the rankings. Atletico defeated Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 this weekend to move into a tie for third place with Barcelona in the Primera Division – who saw that coming two months ago – and to guarantee its first crack at the Champions League in a dozen years.

25. San Lorenzo (Arg) (21) – This team is in the opposite boat as River Plate. Successful against River in the Copa Libertadores, but fell to Independiente 0-1 to fall out of the lead of the Clausura. This week, face a good LDU Quito team in the Libertadores quarterfinals and look to rebound in the Clausura against Huracan.

Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Benfica (Por), Chivas de Guadalajara (Mex), AC Milan (Ita), Santos (Bra), Sevilla (Esp)

Other Copa Libertadores Teams + One: (32) Boca Juniors (Arg), (40) LDU Quito (Ecu), (48) Pachuca (Mex), (105) Atlas (Mex), (177) Club America (Mex)

Matches Between Top 25 Clubs This Week:
14 May - (19) Fluminense at (4) Sao Paulo
18 May - (6) Porto vs. (15) Sporting CP