There isn’t a lot of movement in the rankings this week because there was a lot of consistency in how the WCR Top 25 played. The twenty-five clubs in last week’s WCR Top 25 combined for eighteen wins, six losses and a tie in league matches this week. Of the six losses, four came to clubs that are currently in the Top 25. Only two clubs from last week’s Top 25 lost in surprising fashion, Celtic and Lyon.
Barcelona dropped to third despite playing as well as any club has during the entire season, beating Valencia 4-0. The drop is due, in part, to a move up by Inter Milan following its 3-0 victory over Lazio. This, and much else, may change following this week’s Champions League games. As explained before, a big portion of the WCR rankings are based on league coefficients and rankings. I’m not sure what the effect of the group stage will be on the rankings, but I guess we’ll see next week.
The match of the weekend did not disappoint as Bayern Munich scored an extra time goal to defeat TSG Hoffenheim to move into a tie for first place, though TSG still leads by virtue of goal differential, and therefore still ahead in the WCR rankings. This week will be the final week of the group stage and, though many of the matches are virtually meaningless, there are still some good matchups. The one to which I’m looking most forward probably is Panathinaikos and Anorthosis for a spot that might actually affect the rankings. (Greece could use the help.) There are a trio of classic matchups this weekend when Lyon plays Marseille, AC Milan takes on Juventus and, of course, the Barcelona/Real Madrid classico. I’ll be in Las Vegas. Does anybody know where the best place to watch the matches will be? Any help would be appreciated.
Enough about my problems. I’m not sure if this edition will be immortalized by YouTube, but for what it’s worth, below is the list of the WCR Top 25 clubs in the world.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – December 8, 2008
1. Liverpool (Eng) (1) – Liverpool remains on top of the Premiership table and the WCR rankings after defeating Blackburn Rovers 3-1. Next Week: In Champions League play, Liverpool travels to Holland to take on disappointing PSV Eindhoven. On Saturday, Liverpool hosts Hull City.
2. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – A 3-0 victory over Lazio knocks the club from Rome out of the rankings and cements the club from Milan’s lead in the Italian Serie A. Next Week: Having clinched advancement, Inter will head to Germany to take on Werder Bremen in its Champions League match before hosting Chievo Verona on Sunday.
3. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Possibly the best club in the world, okay, probably the best club in the world, but it is ranked third because it’s been a while since a Spanish club has excelled in the Champions League. Barcelona and Thierry Henry certainly excelled in Spain this weekend, though, scoring a 4-0 victory over a good Valencia club. Barcelona will host Shakhtar Donetsk in a meaningless Champions League matchup and Real Madrid on Sunday in a meaningful Primera Division matchup.
4. Chelsea (Eng) (4) – Chelsea defeated Bolton Wanderers 2-0 to stay hot on Liverpool’s heels in the Premiership. Next Week: Chelsea still needs to earn its way into the Champions League knockout stage, but it should be able to accomplish this task when it hosts CFR Cluj. Domestically, Chelsea will host West Ham United on Sunday.
5. TSG Hoffenheim (Ger) (5) – TSG played well but suffered a heartbreaking last minute loss to Bayern Munich, 1-2, in its biggest match of the season so far for the newly promoted club. Next Week: With no space for comfort at the top of the Bundesliga table, TSG Hoffeneheim will host Schalke 04 on Sunday.
6. Juventus (Ita) (6) – It took a late-game goal, but Juventus came on strong to defeat Lecce 2-1. This Week: After hosting BATE Barisov in its Champions League match, Juve will host the match of the weekend as AC Milan pays a visit.
7. Manchester United (Eng) (7) – Man United got advanced in the Carling Cup with a 5-3 victory over Blackburn Rovers and then did what it had to do, but little more, to keep up with Liverpool, beating Sunderland 1-0. Next Week: Coming up for the Red Devils is Aalborg in the Champions League and Tottenham Hotsupr in EPL play.
8. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (8) – AZ defeated Heracles 2-0 to maintain its lead in the Eredivisie. Next Week: The next opponent for AZ will be Feyenoord, who is fiddling around in the middle of the table so far this season.
9. Bayern Munich (Ger) (9) – Bayern scored a huge, if fortunate, 2-1 victory over TSG Hoffenheim to move into a virtual tie atop the Bundesliga table. Next Week : Even though it has already advanced, Bayern’s match against Lyon should be one of the best of the final group league match for both clubs. As it finishes chasing down TSG Hoffenheim, Bayer heads to Stuttgart for its next league match.
10. Sao Paulo (Bra) (10) – Sao Paulo finished off its Serie A season with a 1-0 victory over Goias and a third consecutive Serie A title. Next Week: No matches.
11. Villarreal (Esp) (11) – After spotting Getafe three quick first half goals, Villarreal fought back for a 3-3 draw to stay in place position in La Liga’s Primera Division. Next Week: In one of the tougher weeks of action, the Yellow Submarine play two ranked opponents in away matches, Celtic in the Champions League and Sevilla in La Liga.
12. AC Milan (Ita) (13) – Milan was eliminated from the Coppa Italia by Lazio at midweek, but was able to bounce back against Catania for a 1-0 victory. Next Week: I hope it enjoyed Catania because things will get a lot tougher on Sunday when Milan heads to Turin to take on Juventus.
13. Valencia (Esp) (12) – I still think they are one of the better clubs in Europe, but Valencia got its butt handed to it by Barcelona in a 0-4 thrashing. This Week: Without European matches, Valencia can sit at home and think about what went wrong until Espanyol comes to town this weekend.
14. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (20) – With a 3-1 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, Leverkusen moved back up into third place in the Bundesliga. Next Week: This week should be a little lighter when Energie Cottbus comes to town, but you never know in the Bundesliga.
15. Arsenal (Eng) (16) – Arse moves up a notch despite being eliminated by Burnley from the Carling Cup. The Gunners did manage to stay above Aston Villa after defeating Wigan Athletic 1-0. Next Week: Arsenal faces two away matches this week, first against Porto in Europe and then against ‘Boro in England.
16. Celtic (Sco) (14) – The Bhoys finally livened up the SPL a little bit by dropping a match, 0-2 to Hibernians, and allowing Rangers to get a little closer. Next Week: In its final match in European competition this season, Celtic will host Villarreal on Wednesday. Celtic returns to domestic play against Hearts on Saturday.
17. Benfica (Por) (19) – Benfica rose to the top of the table this week with a 6-0 beat down of Maritimo. Next Week: No matches.
18. Gremio (Bra) (18) – Gremio beat Atletico Mineiro 2-0, but it wasn’t good enough to catch up to Sao Paulo as Gremio has to be satisfied finishing the Brazilian Serie A season in second place. Next Week: No matches.
19. Lyon (Fra) (15) – After it looked like Lyon might move away from the rest of Ligue Un, recent poor form, including its 1-2 loss to Nantes this weekend, have allowed the rest of the league to catch up. Next Week: Lyon welcomes two guests this week and both are doozies. First up is Bayern Munich in the Champions League. On Sunday, Lyon will host second-place Marseille in the French match of the season, thus far.
20. Rangers (Sea) (22) – Rangers moves a little closer to Celtic in the SPL after teaching a lesson to the Hamilton Academicals in a 7-1 match. Next Week: Coming up, Rangers will take on Dundee United.
21. Marseille (Fra) (NR) – Marseille moves up to second place in Ligue Un and back into the rankings following its 2-1 defeat of Nice this weekend. Next Week: Marseille faces a tough Atletico de Madrid club in UEFA Cup action, but that’s just a warm-up for its match with Lyon on Sunday.
22. Ajax (Ned) (21) – Ajax had to come from behind to beat last place Volendam 2-1 to stay in second place in the Eredivisie. Next Week: Ajax will host recently ranked NAC Breda on Friday.
23. Napoli (Ita) (23) – Napoli took care of business with a 2-0 victory over Siena on Tuesday. Next Week: Napoli still should be pretty safe when it hosts Lecce.
24. Aston Villa (Eng) (24) – In one of the bigger upsets of the UEFA Cup, Aston Villa lost 1-2 to MSK Zilina on Thursday. In one of the most exciting finishes of the season, Aston Villa let up a match-tying goal, but scored a minute later at the end of the match to beat Everton 3-2. Next Week: As Aston Villa tries to keep up with England’s big four, it will host Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
25. Sevilla (Esp) (BU) – Good week for Sevilla as they scored a 3-0 UEFA Cup victory over FK Partizan and a 4-3 victory over Real Madrid to move into fourth place in the Primera Division. Next Week: It’s not getting any easier for Sevilla as they go from Real Madrid last week to Villarreal this week.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Fiorentina (Ita), Leixoes (Por), Real Madrid (Esp), San Lorenzo (Arg), Twente (Ned).
Next Five CONMEBOL: (32) Cruzeiro (Bra), (39) Flamengo (Bra), (41) Boca Juniors (Arg), (42) Tigre (Arg), (43) Palmeiras (Bra).
Matches Between Top 25 Clubs This Week:
10 December – (9) Bayern Munich at (19) Lyon
10 December – (11) Villarreal at (16) Celtic
14 December – (12) Juventus at (6) AC Milan
14 December – (21) Marseille at (19) Lyon
14 December – (11) Villarreal at (25) Sevilla
Barcelona dropped to third despite playing as well as any club has during the entire season, beating Valencia 4-0. The drop is due, in part, to a move up by Inter Milan following its 3-0 victory over Lazio. This, and much else, may change following this week’s Champions League games. As explained before, a big portion of the WCR rankings are based on league coefficients and rankings. I’m not sure what the effect of the group stage will be on the rankings, but I guess we’ll see next week.
The match of the weekend did not disappoint as Bayern Munich scored an extra time goal to defeat TSG Hoffenheim to move into a tie for first place, though TSG still leads by virtue of goal differential, and therefore still ahead in the WCR rankings. This week will be the final week of the group stage and, though many of the matches are virtually meaningless, there are still some good matchups. The one to which I’m looking most forward probably is Panathinaikos and Anorthosis for a spot that might actually affect the rankings. (Greece could use the help.) There are a trio of classic matchups this weekend when Lyon plays Marseille, AC Milan takes on Juventus and, of course, the Barcelona/Real Madrid classico. I’ll be in Las Vegas. Does anybody know where the best place to watch the matches will be? Any help would be appreciated.
Enough about my problems. I’m not sure if this edition will be immortalized by YouTube, but for what it’s worth, below is the list of the WCR Top 25 clubs in the world.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – December 8, 2008
1. Liverpool (Eng) (1) – Liverpool remains on top of the Premiership table and the WCR rankings after defeating Blackburn Rovers 3-1. Next Week: In Champions League play, Liverpool travels to Holland to take on disappointing PSV Eindhoven. On Saturday, Liverpool hosts Hull City.
2. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – A 3-0 victory over Lazio knocks the club from Rome out of the rankings and cements the club from Milan’s lead in the Italian Serie A. Next Week: Having clinched advancement, Inter will head to Germany to take on Werder Bremen in its Champions League match before hosting Chievo Verona on Sunday.
3. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Possibly the best club in the world, okay, probably the best club in the world, but it is ranked third because it’s been a while since a Spanish club has excelled in the Champions League. Barcelona and Thierry Henry certainly excelled in Spain this weekend, though, scoring a 4-0 victory over a good Valencia club. Barcelona will host Shakhtar Donetsk in a meaningless Champions League matchup and Real Madrid on Sunday in a meaningful Primera Division matchup.
4. Chelsea (Eng) (4) – Chelsea defeated Bolton Wanderers 2-0 to stay hot on Liverpool’s heels in the Premiership. Next Week: Chelsea still needs to earn its way into the Champions League knockout stage, but it should be able to accomplish this task when it hosts CFR Cluj. Domestically, Chelsea will host West Ham United on Sunday.
5. TSG Hoffenheim (Ger) (5) – TSG played well but suffered a heartbreaking last minute loss to Bayern Munich, 1-2, in its biggest match of the season so far for the newly promoted club. Next Week: With no space for comfort at the top of the Bundesliga table, TSG Hoffeneheim will host Schalke 04 on Sunday.
6. Juventus (Ita) (6) – It took a late-game goal, but Juventus came on strong to defeat Lecce 2-1. This Week: After hosting BATE Barisov in its Champions League match, Juve will host the match of the weekend as AC Milan pays a visit.
7. Manchester United (Eng) (7) – Man United got advanced in the Carling Cup with a 5-3 victory over Blackburn Rovers and then did what it had to do, but little more, to keep up with Liverpool, beating Sunderland 1-0. Next Week: Coming up for the Red Devils is Aalborg in the Champions League and Tottenham Hotsupr in EPL play.
8. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (8) – AZ defeated Heracles 2-0 to maintain its lead in the Eredivisie. Next Week: The next opponent for AZ will be Feyenoord, who is fiddling around in the middle of the table so far this season.
9. Bayern Munich (Ger) (9) – Bayern scored a huge, if fortunate, 2-1 victory over TSG Hoffenheim to move into a virtual tie atop the Bundesliga table. Next Week : Even though it has already advanced, Bayern’s match against Lyon should be one of the best of the final group league match for both clubs. As it finishes chasing down TSG Hoffenheim, Bayer heads to Stuttgart for its next league match.
10. Sao Paulo (Bra) (10) – Sao Paulo finished off its Serie A season with a 1-0 victory over Goias and a third consecutive Serie A title. Next Week: No matches.
11. Villarreal (Esp) (11) – After spotting Getafe three quick first half goals, Villarreal fought back for a 3-3 draw to stay in place position in La Liga’s Primera Division. Next Week: In one of the tougher weeks of action, the Yellow Submarine play two ranked opponents in away matches, Celtic in the Champions League and Sevilla in La Liga.
12. AC Milan (Ita) (13) – Milan was eliminated from the Coppa Italia by Lazio at midweek, but was able to bounce back against Catania for a 1-0 victory. Next Week: I hope it enjoyed Catania because things will get a lot tougher on Sunday when Milan heads to Turin to take on Juventus.
13. Valencia (Esp) (12) – I still think they are one of the better clubs in Europe, but Valencia got its butt handed to it by Barcelona in a 0-4 thrashing. This Week: Without European matches, Valencia can sit at home and think about what went wrong until Espanyol comes to town this weekend.
14. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (20) – With a 3-1 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, Leverkusen moved back up into third place in the Bundesliga. Next Week: This week should be a little lighter when Energie Cottbus comes to town, but you never know in the Bundesliga.
15. Arsenal (Eng) (16) – Arse moves up a notch despite being eliminated by Burnley from the Carling Cup. The Gunners did manage to stay above Aston Villa after defeating Wigan Athletic 1-0. Next Week: Arsenal faces two away matches this week, first against Porto in Europe and then against ‘Boro in England.
16. Celtic (Sco) (14) – The Bhoys finally livened up the SPL a little bit by dropping a match, 0-2 to Hibernians, and allowing Rangers to get a little closer. Next Week: In its final match in European competition this season, Celtic will host Villarreal on Wednesday. Celtic returns to domestic play against Hearts on Saturday.
17. Benfica (Por) (19) – Benfica rose to the top of the table this week with a 6-0 beat down of Maritimo. Next Week: No matches.
18. Gremio (Bra) (18) – Gremio beat Atletico Mineiro 2-0, but it wasn’t good enough to catch up to Sao Paulo as Gremio has to be satisfied finishing the Brazilian Serie A season in second place. Next Week: No matches.
19. Lyon (Fra) (15) – After it looked like Lyon might move away from the rest of Ligue Un, recent poor form, including its 1-2 loss to Nantes this weekend, have allowed the rest of the league to catch up. Next Week: Lyon welcomes two guests this week and both are doozies. First up is Bayern Munich in the Champions League. On Sunday, Lyon will host second-place Marseille in the French match of the season, thus far.
20. Rangers (Sea) (22) – Rangers moves a little closer to Celtic in the SPL after teaching a lesson to the Hamilton Academicals in a 7-1 match. Next Week: Coming up, Rangers will take on Dundee United.
21. Marseille (Fra) (NR) – Marseille moves up to second place in Ligue Un and back into the rankings following its 2-1 defeat of Nice this weekend. Next Week: Marseille faces a tough Atletico de Madrid club in UEFA Cup action, but that’s just a warm-up for its match with Lyon on Sunday.
22. Ajax (Ned) (21) – Ajax had to come from behind to beat last place Volendam 2-1 to stay in second place in the Eredivisie. Next Week: Ajax will host recently ranked NAC Breda on Friday.
23. Napoli (Ita) (23) – Napoli took care of business with a 2-0 victory over Siena on Tuesday. Next Week: Napoli still should be pretty safe when it hosts Lecce.
24. Aston Villa (Eng) (24) – In one of the bigger upsets of the UEFA Cup, Aston Villa lost 1-2 to MSK Zilina on Thursday. In one of the most exciting finishes of the season, Aston Villa let up a match-tying goal, but scored a minute later at the end of the match to beat Everton 3-2. Next Week: As Aston Villa tries to keep up with England’s big four, it will host Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
25. Sevilla (Esp) (BU) – Good week for Sevilla as they scored a 3-0 UEFA Cup victory over FK Partizan and a 4-3 victory over Real Madrid to move into fourth place in the Primera Division. Next Week: It’s not getting any easier for Sevilla as they go from Real Madrid last week to Villarreal this week.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Fiorentina (Ita), Leixoes (Por), Real Madrid (Esp), San Lorenzo (Arg), Twente (Ned).
Next Five CONMEBOL: (32) Cruzeiro (Bra), (39) Flamengo (Bra), (41) Boca Juniors (Arg), (42) Tigre (Arg), (43) Palmeiras (Bra).
Matches Between Top 25 Clubs This Week:
10 December – (9) Bayern Munich at (19) Lyon
10 December – (11) Villarreal at (16) Celtic
14 December – (12) Juventus at (6) AC Milan
14 December – (21) Marseille at (19) Lyon
14 December – (11) Villarreal at (25) Sevilla
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