After this week, the WCR Top 25 will go through its most radical change of the season. The reason for this is that until each club in a given domestic league has played five matches, the prior season’s results are factored in to preserve some sense of continuity and to give the new season time to mature. As a result, last season’s results will drop off in many of the world’s top domestic leagues, including the English Premiership, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Division and German Bundesliga. (Last season’s results already have been purged from French Ligue Un statistics.) The effect of this will be apparent immediately as clubs that you are used to seeing in the rankings will disappear (like Manchester United, who currently are mired in the bottom half of the Premiership – I blame AIG), while others that you haven’t seen before will make a strong debut, benefitting from a strong start to the season. At the moment, it is nearly impossible for me to predict what the chart will look like next week.
But that’s next week. What about this week? There There were international tournaments, like the UEFA Champions League, but those results have very little affect on the rankings until the group stages conclude. The group stages are six match tournaments, so it is unfair to judge them until completed. So, while they are reference here, don’t expect to see CFR Cluj on the charts until such time as they have advanced to the knockout stage – not that I’m predicting that.
The big match of the week, of course, took place in London, where Chelsea and Manchester United played to a 1-1 draw. The result had no affect on Chelsea, who remains in the top slot, but hurt Manchester United by allowing it to be caught and passed by Arsenal in the composite table. In other chart movements, this weekend’s results resulted in the exit of Sevilla, Everton and UNAM Pumas from the Top 25, replaced by Atletico de Madrid, San Lorenzo and AC Milan. Whether they will survive next week’s shuffle is up to next week to tell.
There was a lot of action last week as most ranked clubs played multiple matches. The same is true this week as we are in one of the busiest times of the season. Let’s get started.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – September 22, 2008
1. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – Chelsea got off to a great start in the Champions League with a 4-0 thrashing of Bordeaux. Of course, Chelsea’s biggest match was against Manchester United and Chelsea fought hard at the end for a 1-1 draw. This week sees Chelsea taking on Portsmouth at midweek in League Cup action and Stoke City over the weekend in the Premiership.
2. Inter Milan (Ita) (2) – Internazionale continued its winning ways under the Special One with a 3-0 victory over Panithinaikos in the Champions League and a 3-1 victory over Torino in Serie A play. This week, Inter plays two Serie A matchups with a warmup against Lecce on Wednesday before taking on archrival AC Milan in the main event on Sunday.
3. Real Madrid (Esp) (3) – A pair of 2-0 victories are making Real Madrid look more like the defending Primera Division champions that they are. The first was over BATE Barisov in the Champions League and the second was against Racing Santander. This week, Real faces two Primera division opponents, Sporting de Gijon at midweek and Real Betis over the weekend.
4. Arsenal (Eng) (6) – Arsenal moves up to its highest point in several months after a 3-1 victory over Bolton. This follows a disappointing 1-1 draw against Dynamo Kyiv in continental action. This week, Arsenal hosts Sheffield United in the League Cup and will host surprising Hull City in its Premiership match.
5. Bayern Munich (Ger) – This is the first club in the countdown that will suffer when last season’s results are disregarded after this week. After starting the week well enough with a 1-0 win against Steaua Bucuresti, Bayern was completely humiliated by Werder Bremen in Bundesliga play on Saturday. It should get a little easier this week for Bayern as they take on Nurnburg in DFB Pokal action and Hannover 96 in Bundesliga play.
6. Manchester United (Eng) (4) – The mighty have fallen and will fall much further next week when last season’s results are erased from consideration. Counting the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup, Manchester United has played six competitive matches and have walked away with one, count them, one victory. Ronaldo’s return is more than welcomed, but sitting near the bottom of the Premiership is United’s current lot. This week, Manchester United participate in two draws, one at home against Villarreal and one away against Chelsea. Coming up, United will try to change its luck against Middlesbrough in the League Cup and against Bolton Wanderers in league play.
7. Roma (Ita) (7) – I don’t even know what to say about Roma’s Champions League performance. There’s no reason why this club should lose at home against CFR Cluj. Roma did bounce back, scoring its first Serie A victory of the season, against Reggina 3-0. Roma’s two Serie A opponents this week will be Genoa and Atalanta.
8. Lyon (Fra) (8) – The expected classic between Lyon and Fiorentina at midweek did not disappoint, with Lyon holding on to a 2-2 draw at home. Lyon scored a 1-0 victory over the weekend to extend its lead in Ligue Un. Unlike most of the clubs in the rankings, Lyon will not have to play again until next week, when it will host Nancy Lorraine.
9. Gremio (Bra) (9) – With a goalless draw this weekend against Atletico Paranaense this weekend, Gremio’s lead in the Brasileiro Serie A, and thus its spot in the WCR Top Ten, is becoming more and more precarious. The slumping Gremio will try to hold on to its one-point league lead this weekend when it takes on the club that knocked it out of the Copa Sudamericana, Internacional.
10. Juventus (Ita) (12) – Juve moved up two notches, into the WCR Top Ten, with 1-0 victories over Zenit St. Petersburg and Cagliari. Juve will face two Serie A opponents this week in league action, Catania and Sampdoria.
11. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (10) – PSV demonstrated that they likely are overrated this week, falling to both Atletico de Madrid in the Champions League and AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie. We’ll see where PSV lands after losing last season’s results, which is still a few weeks away in the Eredivisie. This week should be much easier as PSV faces Jong PSV in the KNVB Beker and Volendam in league play.
12. Porto (Por) (11) – Oddly, Porto found the going much easier in continental play than in domestic play this week, defeating Fenerbahce 3-1, but managing only a goalless draw against Rio Ave. In bwin liga action this weekend, Porto will face Paco de Ferreira.
13. Villarreal (Esp) (13) – Any week a club can walk into Old Trafford and walk out with a draw is a good week. The Yellow Submarine did just that this week in Champions League play. Villarreal also walked away with a 2-1 victory over Numancia. In upcoming domestic play this week, Villarreal will face Racing Santander and Sporting de Gijon.
14. Liverpool (Eng) (14) – This should be the last week for a while that Liverpool is ranked this low after defeating Marseille 2-1 in CL group stage play. Still, ‘pool has to be disappointed with a scoreless draw at home against Stoke City this past weekend. In League Cup play, Liverpool takes on Crewe Alexandra (who?) before playing a derby match against Everton on Saturday.
15. Barcelona (Esp) (17) – Barcelona moves up two notches after a week of playing like, well, Barcelona. Two big victories this week, 3-1 over Sporting CP and 6-1 over Sporting de Gijon. We’ll see if they can keep it up this week against Real Betis and in a derby of its own against Espanyol.
16. Schalke 04 (Ger) (16) – Relegated to UEFA Cup play after being unfortunate enough to play Atletico de Madrid, Schalke showed that it is the cream of this years crop, defeating APOEL Nicosia 4-1. Schalke also defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0, domestically. This week sees Schalke taking on Hannover 96 in DFB Pokal action and Cologne in the Bundesliga.
17. Ajax (Ned) (18) – Ajax did defeat Borac Cacak 4-1 in UEFA Cup action this week, but managed only a 2-2 draw against Feyenoord, domestically. Ajax will host Utrecht in KNVB Beker play this week and Vitesse over the weekend in the Eredivisie.
18. Marseille (Fra) (15) – Marseille drops three notches after a rough week – losing at home to Liverpool and drawing 0-0 at home against Monaco. This week, Marseille has a midweek Coupe de Ligue match against Sochaux and a weekend Ligue Un match against Le Mans.
19. Werder Bremen (Ger) (19) – This week’s Jeckyll and Hyde award goes to Bremen who could not score a single goal in its draw with Anorthosis Famagusta, but found a way to score five of them against Bayern Munich in its 5-2 Bundesliga slaughter. In cup action this week, Werder Bremen takes on Erzgebirge Aue (I think that’s right), as well as Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
20. San Lorenzo (Arg) (NR) – The highest debut club of the week is San Lorenzo, who defeated Colon 3-0 this past week and further secured its spot at the top of the Argentine Apertura. As it tries to hold on to the top spot, San Lorenzo will face Arsenal de Sarandi.
21. Rangers (Sco) (20) – Rangers defeated Motherwell this weekend to hold on to the top spot of the SPL. In League Cup action at midweek, Rangers will face Partick Thistle. In SPL play, Rangers will face Hibernian over the weekend.
22. Palmeiras (Bra) (24) – Double your pleasure, double your fun. At midweek, Palmeiras defeated Vasco da Gama 3-0 to advance to the Round of Sixteen in the Copa Sudamerican. This weekend, Sao Paulo defeated Vasco da Gama again, this time 2-0, to move within a point of the lead of the Brasileiro Serie A. Palmeiras will take on Sport Ancash from Peru in the Copa Sudamerican this week before taking on Nautico domestically over the weekend.
23. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (NR) –Tremendous week for Atletico this week, defeating PSV Eindhoven 3-0 and Recreativo de Huelva 4-0. We’ll see if they can keep it up with two tough matches in Primera Division play this week against Getafe and Sevilla.
24. Fiorentina (Ita) (23) – A draw for Fiorentina in Lyon is not a bad result. Fiorentina followed that up with a 1-0 victory over Bologna in Serie A. This week, Fiorentina will go to Rome to take on Lazio and head home to host Genoa.
25. AC Milan (Ita) (NR) – Milan returns to the rankings, though it may only be temporary based upon its poor showing thus far in Serie A. This week was good, though, as Milan defeated FC Zurich 3-1 in the UEFA Cup and Lazio by an even wider margin, 4-1, domestically. AC Milan will take on Reggina at midweek, but the real test will come on Sunday when AC will take on its cross-town rival.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Aston Villa (Eng), Cruzeiro (Bra), Everton (Eng), Hamburger (Ger), Heerenveen (Ned)
Next Five UEFA: (31) Sevilla (Esp), (32) Celtic (Sco), (34) Sporting CP (Por), (35) Le Man (Fra), (37) Galatasaray (Tur)
Matches Between Top 25 Clubs This Week:
28 September – (2) Inter Milan at (25) AC Milan
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1 comments:
Again, where is FENERBAHCE?!?! Damn rankings!!!
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