WCR Year-End Top 25 - 2008 Team of the Year is . . .

It’s been a week of vacation here at WCR while we enjoyed holiday festivities and prepare the forty-ninth WCR Annual Top 25. Now that we’re back, here we go.

A week or so ago, I set forth the general guidelines for the annual WCR Top 25s. You can click on that link if you want additional information, but basically, unlike the weekly top 25s, the annual version is not a snapshot of current form but, rather, looks at the last complete season for each league and each continental tournament. Because of this, great deference is paid to the semifinalists and better of the last completed UEFA Champions League, Copa Libertadores and CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Last year’s entry was entitled “You Voted and I Listened” because I set up a poll and the viewers picked the same club that the numbers picked as the Team of the Year – Manchester United. United followed up that “title” by winning the Premiership and UEFA Champions League in 2008, narrowly defeating Chelsea in both. Surprisingly, Manchester United currently is receiving less than 40% of the vote. They won the Premiership, UEFA Champions League and the Club World Cup. What exactly else would you like them to win before you accept them as the club of the year?

In the Copa Libertadores, LDU Quito surprised the world, or at least that part of the world in the southern and western hemisphere, by taking the title from Palmeiras and delivering it to Ecuador. Pachuca, despite a disappointing regular season in Mexico, took a second consecutive CONCACAF Champions Cup title, defeating Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica in the finals. Joining those champions in the Club World Cup were CAF champion Al-Ahly and Asian titlist Gamba Osaka. In the Club World Cup final, the Europeans made it two in a row as Manchester United defeated LDU Quito 1-0 in the final.

Below is the WCR Top 25 of 2008. Along with the rankings, I am providing information on how each club performed in its most recent complete seasons and tournaments. I’m sure there will be some arguments, but I haven’t really cared in any of the past annual rankings and I don’t care much about this one. Please read this prior to bitching and then feel free to bitch away, if you so desire. Enjoy!!!

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – 2008

1. Manchester United (Eng) – Premiership-Champion; Champions League-Champion; Club World Cup-Champion; FA Cup-Quarterfinalist; Twelfth consecutive Top 25; Second consecutive #1 ranking (first time since Bayern Munich in 1999-2001).

2. Chelsea (Eng) – Premiership-Runner up; Champions League-Runner up; FA Cup-Semifinalist; Carling Cup-Runner up; Fifth consecutive Top 10; Second consecutive #2 ranking.

3. Barcelona (Esp) – Primera Division-Third place; Champions League-Semifinalist; Copa del Rey-Semifinalist; Fifth consecutive Top 25.

4. Liverpool (Eng) – Premiership-Fourth place; Champions League-Semifinalist; Carling Cup-Quarterfinalist.

5. Boca Juniors (Arg) – 07 Apertura-Fourth place; 08 Clausura-Second place; Copa Libertadores-Semifinalist; Copa Sudamericana-Quarterfinalist.

6. Inter Milan (Ita) – Serie A-Champion; Champions League-Second Round; Coppa Italia-Runner Up; Seventh consecutive Top 25.

7. Real Madrid (Esp) – Primera Division-Champion; Champions League-Second Round; Ninth consecutive Top 25.

8. Porto (Por) – bwin Liga-Champion; Champions League-Second Round; Portugal Cup-Runner Up.

9. Roma (Ita) – Serie A-Second place; Champions League-Quarterfinalist; Coppa Italia-Champion.

10. Arsenal (Eng) – Premiership-Third place; Champions League-Quarterfinalist; Carling Cup-Semifinalist; Eleventh consecutive Top 25.

11. Lyon (Fra) – Ligue Un-Champion; Champions League-Second Round; French Cup-Champion; Coupe de Ligue-Quarterfinalist; Fifth consecutive Top 25; Highest ever finish.

12. Bayern Munich (Ger) – Bundesliga-Champion; UEFA Cup-Semifinalist; DFB Pokal-Champion.

13. Juventus (Ita) – Serie A-Third place; Coppa Italia-Quarterfinalist.

14. Villarreal (Esp) – Primera Division-Second place; Copa del Rey-Quarterfinalist.

15. Sao Paulo (Bra) – Serie A-Champion; Copa Libertadores-Quarterfinalist.

16. Sporting CP (Por) – bwin Liga-Second place; UEFA Cup-Quarterfinalist; Portugal Cup-Championship.

17. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) – Eredivisie-Champion; UEFA Cup-Quarterfinalist.

18. Bordeaux (Fra) – Ligue Un-Second place. First ranking since 1999.

19. Ajax (Ned) – Eredevisie-Second place; Highest ranking since 1998.

20. Fiorentina (Ita) – Serie A-Fourth place; UEFA Cup-Semifinalist; Coppa Italia-Quarterfinalist; First ranking since 1999.

21. Werder Bremen (Ger) – Bundesliga-Second place; UEFA Cup – Round of sixteen.

22. LDU Quito (Ecu) – Liguilla-Second place; Copa Libertadores-Champion; Cup Winners Cup-Runner Up; First ever ranking; Highest ever ranking for Ecuadorian club.

23. Everton (Eng) – Premiership-Fifth place; UEFA Cup-Round of sixteen; Carling Cup-Semifinalist; First ranking since 1987.

24. Gremio (Bra) – Serie A-Second place.

25. Deportivo Saprissa (Crc) – 07 Apertura-Champion; 08-Clausura-Champion; Champions Cup-Runner Up.

Past Final Season Top 25s: 2007, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970,1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961,1960

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Red Devil Successes Edition

Congratulations to the Red Devils. They entered the finals as heavy favorites, but just out-manning the opponent isn’t enough. You still have to win the games. And the Red Devils did. Of course, I’m talking about America de Cali who defeated Medellin to win Colombia’s Copa Mustang title. And Manchester United had a good weekend too, defeating LDU Quito 1-0 in the Club World Cup final.

Based on comments and hate-mail that I’ve received recently, everybody wants Barcelona to be number one. Hell, I want Barcelona to be number one. I think they are the most consistently great club in the world right now. But they’re not number one in the WCR rankings. Chelsea is. Because they are the best club in England right now. And until an English club can be eliminated from the Champions League by anybody other than another English club (which hasn’t happened since AC Milan beat Liverpool in May 2007), then the top English club likely will sit atop the WCR rankings. Stay tuned until late February / early March for the next big movement in the domestic league rankings.

I anticipate that you’ll also find the Portuguese clubs are overrated. Again, you’re probably right. But they have two clubs in the final sixteen of the Champions League and, until we see what happens to them in the knockout stages, the Portuguese clubs will be overrated in the meantime. The Scottish clubs also returned to the rankings this week, but not quite as high as they were a few weeks ago.

There were some pretty big matches this weekend, none of which was bigger than Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. It wasn’t terribly impressive, but a point at Emirates may prove to be the difference at the end of this close Premiership season. Barcelona continued to roll, defeating Villarreal 2-1 to extend its lead to ten points in the Primera Division, and Real Madrid finally showed a little life for a change, scoring a big 1-0 victory over Valencia.

There’s nothing going on this weekend except in the Premier Leagues of England and Scotland and a lot is going on there. The big matches of this weekend will take place when Aston Villa welcomes Arsenal to Villa Park on Boxing Day and the Glasgow Derby between Rangers and Celtic on Saturday. The biggest match of the following week sees Atletico de Madrid host Valencia in La Liga action.

The weekly rankings will not be around next week because of the lack of action in international club play. In its place will be the 2008 Top 25 Clubs of the Year. If you want any information on what those rankings are based upon, click here. If you want to check out other annual rankings dating back to 1960, click here. If you want to see the final weekly Top 25 of the year, don’t click anything, just look below.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – December 22, 2008

1. Chelsea (Eng) (4) – Chelsea returns to the top spot without even playing a game in the past week. The big news of the week for Chelsea was that it paid the price for failing to win its Champions League group by drawing Juventus in the round of sixteen. Next Two Weeks: Chelsea has three Premiership matches in the next week, facing Everton today, West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day and Fulham two days after that.

2. Inter Milan (Ita) (2) – Internazionale continues to lead in Serie A and look almost untouchable in domestic play. This week, the victim was Siena in a 2-1 match. Next Two Weeks: No matches.
3. Barcelona (Esp) (3) – You may just as well end La Liga’s season now. With a ten-point lead, it’s hard to conceive of anybody even making it close. This week, Barcelona spotted a goal to Villarreal, then came back to score a 2-1 victory. Next Two Week: Barcelona returns to action on January 3 against Real Mallorca.

4. Liverpool (Eng) (1) – Another draw knocks Liverpool from the top of the charts in a topsy-turvy Premier League season. In the match of the weekend, Liverpool did manage to hold Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at Emirates Stadium. Next Two Weeks: The Reds’ holiday doubleheader see the club facing Bolton Wanderers on Boxing Day and Newcastle United on Sunday.

5. TSG Hoffenheim (Ger) (5) – No current matches.

6. Juventus (Ita) (6) – Juve defeated Atalanta 3-1 to keep pace with Inter Milan in Serie A. Next Two Weeks: No matches.

7. Benfica (Por) (8) – After losing 0-1 to Metalist Kharkiv and being knocked out of the UEFA Cup, it’s pretty clear that this ranking is too high for Benfica, but the club remains undefeated in the Liga Sagres, which has placed two clubs in the Champions League knockout stage. Next Two Weeks: Later today, Benfica will try to extend its Liga Sagres lead when it hosts Nacional. Benfica will return to Liga action on January 4 against Trofense.

8. Manchester United (Eng) (7) – The Red Devils keep the Club World Cup in Europe for a second consecutive season. After a high-scoring 5-3 victory over Gamba Osaka in the semis, a shorthanded United defeated LDU Quito 1-0 in the finals. Next Two Weeks: Manchester United’s Boxing Day opponent will be Stoke City. The following Monday, United will host Middlesbrough.

9. Bayern Munich (Ger) (19) – No current matches.

10. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (11) – Another Eredivisie match, another shutout as AZ defeated FC Utrecht 2-0 on Friday. Next Two Weeks: The Eredivisie is still in action this weekend and AZ Alkmaar will host NEC Nijmegen.

11. Sevilla (Esp) (16) – A surprising 0-1 loss to Sampdoria eliminated Sevilla from European play. Sevilla did only slightly better against Mallorca with a scoreless draw. That was good enough, however, to lift Sevilla into second place in the Primera Division. Next Two Weeks: Sevilla returns on January 4 to host Osasuna.

12. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (22) – Like Sevilla, Atletico also moved up the Primera Division table with a 3-2 victory over Espanyol. Next Two Weeks: When Atletico comes back, it’ll be fun. It will face Valencia on January 3.

13. Porto (Por) (20) – Porto played a pair of matches in Liga Sagres, picking up four points and moving into second place. After defeating Estrela Amadora 4-2, Porto played Maritimo to a scoreless draw. Next Two Weeks: Porto’s next match will take place the opening weekend of 2009 against Nacional.

14. Sao Paulo (Bra) (12) – No current matches.

15. AC Milan (Ita) (21) – AC Milan drew 2-2 with Wolfsburg in an entertaining UEFA Cup match. In Serie A play, Milan struck Udinese early and often in its 5-1 victory. Next Two Weeks: No matches.

16. Aston Villa (Eng) (14) – Villa was pretty much manhandled by Hamburger in a 1-3 UEFA Cup loss. In the Premier League, Aston Villa gained ground on the leaders with a 1-0 defeat of West Ham United. Next Two Weeks: Boxing Day will be fun at Villa Park when the Gunners come for its annual visit. On the 30th, Aston Villa will take on Hull City.

17. Ajax (Ned) (18) – Ajax kept pace with AZ in the Eredivisie, following up its 2-2 UEFA Cup draw with Slavia Praha with a 6-0 beat down of De Graafschap. Next Two Weeks: Ajax is in Ajaxion this weekend, hosting ADO Den Haag.

18. Olympiakos (Gre) (15) – The current Greek Super League leaders dismantled Hertha Berlin by a 4-0 score in an UEFA Cup match before defeating last place Thrasivoulos Fylis 2-1 in domestic play. Next Two Weeks: Olympiakos doesn’t play this week, but will take on Asteras Tripolis on January 4.

19. Fiorentina (Ita) (25) – La Viola fell 0-1 to Torino in a Coppa Italia match, but rebounded to defeat Sampdoria 1-0 and move into fourth place in Serie A. Next Two Weeks: No matches.

20. Celtic (Sco) (BU) – Celtic maintained its lead over Rangers in the SPL with a 3-0 defeat of Falkirk. Next Two Weeks: This weekend, the only match that matters in the Scottish Premier League takes place when Celtic and Rangers face off on Saturday. The following weekend, Celtic will host Dundee United.

21. Valencia (Esp) (9) – Big drop this week for Valencia as they drop to fourth in the Primera Division following its 0-1 loss to Real Madrid. Earlier in the week, Valencia drew 2-2 with St. Etienne in an UEFA Cup match. Next Two Weeks: Valencia will host new second-place club Atletico de Madrid when the Primera Division season resumes on January 3.

22. Arsenal (Eng) (19) – Shorthanded, Arsenal fought off Liverpool to score a 1-1 draw with the former WCR Number One club. Next Two Weeks: It could be a very telling week for the Gunners as they take on Aston Villa on Boxing Day and Portsmouth on Sunday.

23. Gremio (Bra) (17) – No current matches.

24. Lyon (Fra) (24) – Lyon enters the winter break in France with a three-point lead over Bordeaux following a 1-0 victory over Caen on Saturday. Next Two Weeks: No matches.

25. Rangers (Sco) (NR) – Rangers returns to the rankings following its 1-0 defeat of Hibernian in SPL action. Next Two Weeks: Another Glasgow Derby takes place on Saturday when Rangers faces Celtic in a battle for the lead of the Scottish Premier League. The following weekend, Rangers will take on Inverness.

Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Bayer Leverkusen (Ger), Hertha Berlin (Ger), Napoli (Ita), San Lorenzo (Arg), Twente (Ned).

Other Champions League Clubs: (32) Real Madrid (Esp), (34) Sporting CP (Por), (38) Villarreal (Esp), (40) Panathinaikos (Gre), (96) Roma (Ita).

Matches Between Top 25 Clubs Next Two Weeks:
26 December – (22) Arsenal at (16) Aston Villa
27 December – (20) Celtic at (25) Rangers
3 January – (11) Sevilla at (21) Valencia

2008 WCR Team of the Year - Coming December 29

If you’ve been following this blog since it began in 1960, you know that the primary purpose of the blog originally was to publish the end of the year WCR Top 25.  About half of these rankings have been published in our annual rankings section.  Traditionally (remember, since 1960), these yearly rankings are posted during the last week of the year.  Lo and behold, next week is the last week of 2008. 

If you recall last year, and why wouldn’t you, for the first time in the then-49 year history of the annual rankings, a single domestic league (the Premiership) had clubs sitting in first, second and third at the end of the year.  What will happen this year?  We’ll see next Monday when the 2008 Annual Rankings are published in lieu of the weekly rankings. 

In preparation for the end-of-the-year rankings, we here at World Club Rankings will do a little explaining.  The annual rankings are based primarily on two factors.  As is the case with the weekly rankings, one of these factors is how each domestic league’s clubs have performed in its continental championship tournament (UEFA Champions League, Copa Libertadores, CONCACAF Champions Cup, etc.) over the past five seasons.  The second factor, and this is unique to the annual rankings, is based on the last complete season for each domestic league.  For leagues that cover two years, like Ligue Un , for instance, that means that the 2007/08 season’s numbers are taken into account.  For leagues that take place in a single year, like the Russian Premier League, it is the 2008 season that is taken into account.  For leagues, mostly Latin and South American, that are divided into two parts, the year leading up to the most recent Clausura period is the relevant period.  After these numbers are crunched, bonus points are given to clubs that reach the semifinals of their most recent continental championship.  

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.  Armed with that knowledge, who do you think should be number one for 2008?  We have a poll on the side for you to vote your opinion.

Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 20/21 December 2008

As the Western Hemisphere clubs close in on the end of their seasons and the Eastern Hemisphere clubs start to go on winter break, the number of games on television get fewer in number. The bad news, of course, is less football. The good news is that I can use the time to catch up on everything I missed this past weekend.

This weekend will pale in comparison to last weekend in the magnitude of the top matches, but there still will be some good ones out there. In London, Arsenal will host Liverpool in the latest matchup of the big four English clubs, though if Arsenal doesn’t pick up its play, it will find itself even further behind Aston Villa for the fourth spot. This also the only match of the weekend featuring a pair of WCR Top 25 Clubs. In Spain, there will be two huge matchups. On Saturday, slumping Real Madrid will try to stay within shouting distance of the top four in the Primera Division when it hosts Valencia. On Sunday, Villarreal will try to stop seemingly unbeatable Barcelona.

There are also three championship-caliber matches. From Japan, on Sunday morning GMT -500 time, the finals of the Club World Cup will take place. The finals will see Copa Libertadores champions LDU Quito take on Manchester United. From Argentina, on Saturday, San Lorenzo will host Boca Juniors in the second leg of a three leg round robin tournament for the championship of the Argentine Apertura. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, from Colombia, we will get the second leg of the two leg Colombian Apertura championship with America de Cali hosting Medellin.

How do those matches rank with respect to each other? What other games are on tap? What other ranked clubs are in action? Why do I ask so many questions? The answers to these questions and many more are below. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. Liverpool at Arsenal (Sunday, 11:00 am, FSC)
2. Barcelona at Villarreal (Sunday, 1:00 pm, GolTV)
3. Club World Cup Championship (LDU Quito vs Manchester United) (Sunday, 5:30 am, FSC)
4. Boca Juniors at San Lorenzo (Saturday, 11:00 pm (Delayed), FSC)
5. Valencia at Real Madrid (Saturday, 2:00 pm, GolTV)

Saturday, December 20, 2008

7:30 am – Motherwell at Setanta Academicals (Setanta USA)
10:00 am – Portsmouth at Bolton Wanderers (FSC)
10:00 am – Sunderland at Hull City (Setanta USA)
12:30 pm – (14) Aston Villa at West Ham United (FSC)
2:00 pm – (9) Valencia at Real Madrid (GolTV)
2:30 pm – (2) Inter Milan at Siena (FSC)
3:00 pm – (24) Lyon at Caen (Setanta USA)
4:00 pm – (22) Atletico de Madrid at Espanyol (GolTV)
4:30 pm – Palermo at Lazio (Delayed) (FSC)
5:00 pm – Middlesbrough at Fulham (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
8:00 pm – Stoke City at Blackburn Rovers (Delayed) (FSC)
11:00 pm – Boca Juniors at (23) San Lorenzo (Delayed) (FSC) (Live at 3:30 pm on FSE)

Sunday, December 21, 2008

2:30 am – Pachuca vs. Gamba Osaka (FSC)
5:30 am – (7) Manchester United vs. LDU Quito (FSC)
8:30 am – (18) Ajax at De Graafschap (ESPN 360)
8:30 am – Manchester City at West Bromwich Albion (Setanta USA)
9:00 am – (13) Napoli at Torino (FSC, ESPN 360)
9:00 am – (6) Juventus at Atalanta (ESPN 360)
10:30 am – Feyenoord at PSV Eindhoven (ESPND, ESPN 360)
11:00 am – (1) Liverpool at (19) Arsenal (FSC)
11:00 am – (16) Sevilla at Mallorca (GolTV)
1:00 pm – (3) Barcelona at Villarreal (GolTV)
2:15 pm – Maritimo at (20) Porto (ESPN 360)
2:30 pm – Udinese at (21) AC Milan (FSC)
3:00 pm – Bordeaux at Monaco (Setanta USA)
5:00 pm – Tottenham Hotspur at Newcaslte United (Delayed) (FSC)
5:30 pm – Medellin at America de Cali (GolTV)

Monday, December 22, 2008

3:00 pm – (4) Chelsea at Everton

Non-Televised Matches Involving Top 25 Clubs

Fri., 2:45 pm – Utrecht at (11) AZ Alkmaar
Sun., 9:00 am – (25) Fiorentina at Sampdoria
Sun., 12 noon – Thrasivoulos Filis at (15) Olympiakos
Mon., 2:45 pm – Nacional at (8) Benfica

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - One Day Late Edition

Sorry for being a day late this week, but the World Club Rankings staff (me) was on vacation in Las Vegas. As a result, I’ve seen very little football from this past weekend, though my DVR is full and I have been trying to catch up while I’ve been crunching the numbers. Fortunately, I can crunch the numbers and put together the WCR Top 25 without having watched many of the games, so it is still below. Unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to comment on much beyond the score if I haven’t seen the match, so the commentary will be less than usual.

There are some major changes in the Top 25 this week. I can comment on that even without seeing a weekend match because it’s based on Champions League performance. Now that the group stage has ended, league coefficients have been adjusted on my charts. Who does that help? Mainly Portugal, who managed to put two clubs in the Champions League knockout stage (Porto and Sporting CP) and Greece, who put a club in the knockout stage (Panathinaikos) for a second consecutive season. Who does it hurt? Scotland, who had a very disappointing European season, as well as the leagues that Portugal passed (France, Netherlands), even if only temporarily.

The Champions League’s sixth week saw a lot of good clubs playing without a lot on the line. Not surprisingly, Chelsea and Roma took two of the final three knockout stage spots, with the final spot going to Greece’s Panathinaikos. Among the weekend matches of note were a fun match in Italy that saw Juventus handle AC Milan 4-2 and a not-nearly-as-fun scoreless draw between Marseille and Lyon in France. In Spain, Barcelona continued its conquest of Spain, defeating archrival Real Madrid 2-0 and Sevilla moved up the table following its 1-0 defeat of Villarreal.

As the Christmas season approaches, the Bundesliga begins its winter break and other national leagues will follow, making for fewer and fewer big matchups for a few weeks. Nevertheless, there will be a big one this weekend in the Premier League, when Arsenal hosts top-ranked Liverpool in a match that Arsenal cannot lose if it holds out any hope for a Premiership title. The rest of the WCR Top 25 action can be found below in the rankings. Finally, I’d like to pass on congratulations to Toluca for winning the Mexican Apertura championship.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – December 15, 2008

1. Liverpool (Eng) (1) – Liverpool was one of only a few top clubs that actually looked like they cared about winning in the Champions League final group stage match, defeating PSV Eindhoven 2-1. Domestically, Liverpool came from behind to pull off a 2-2 draw with Hull City in the Premiership to maintain its lead in the EPL. This Week: In what should be one of the best matches of the weekend, Liverpool heads to Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal.

2. Inter Milan (Ita) (2) – Inter’s disappointing Champions League play continued with a 1-2 loss at the hands of Werder Bremen. It’s Serie A prosperity continued, however, with a 4-2 victory over Chievo Verona. This Week: Inter’s next Serie A match will be Saturday against Siena.

3. Barcelona (Esp) (3) – In a virtually meaningless Champions League match, Barcelona fell 2-3 to Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk. Barca bounced back, however, against its biggest Primera Division rival with a 2-0 victory over Real Madrid. Next Week: The Yellow Submarine has been sinking recently and Villarreal will face its toughest match of the season thus far when it hosts Barcelona on Sunday.

4. Chelsea (Eng) (4) – With a 2-1 victory over CFR Cluj, Chelsea managed to avoid embarrassment by advancing to the Champions League knockout stage. Chelsea then failed to take advantage of a Liverpool hiccup and only drew 1-1 with West Ham United to remain in second place in England. Next Week: Chelsea will head to Goodison Park to take on Everton on Monday.

5. TSG Hoffenheim (Ger) (5) – TSG Hoffenheim heads into the Bundesliga winter break atop the table despite only scoring a 1-1 draw with Schalke 04 over the weekend. Next Week: No matches.

6. Juventus (Ita) (6) – Juve managed no more than a scoreless draw in its Champions League match against BATE Barisov. In the biggest match of the weekend, however, Juventus defeated AC Milan in a 4-2 thriller in Turin. Next Week: With no European action this week, Juventus will face only Atalanta in Serie A play.

7. Manchester United (Eng) (7) – Two matches, two draws for Manchester United as the Red Devils left this week with a 2-2 match against Aalborg and a scoreless match against Tottenham Hotspur. Next Week: Manchester United is in Japan to play a pair of matches in the Club World Cup. First up for United will be Asian champions Gamba Osaka from Japan.

8. Benfica (Por) (17) – A big move up for the current top club in the Liga Sagres, made possible more due to Portugal’s success in the Champions League and less to Benfica’s penalty-kick loss to Leixoes in Portugal’s cup competition. Next Week: Benfica will take on Metalist Kharkiv in UEFA Cup play at midweek and then return to league play, hosting Nacional.

9. Valencia (Esp) (13) – Another UEFA Cup competitor returns to the Top Ten this week as Valencia defeated Espanyol 2-1 to move into second place in La Liga’s Primera Division. Next Week: In its UEFA Cup match, Valencia will head to Spain to take on St. Etienne. Domestically, Valencia will face a slumping Real Madrid in an attempt to prove that it is currently the second best club in Spain.

10. Bayern Munich (Ger) (9) – Bayern could have entered the second half of the Bundesliga season in first place, instead of tied and behind in goal differential, but it could manage no more than a 2-2 draw with VfB Stuttgart. This followed an impressive 3-2 victory over Lyon in Champions League play. Next Week: No Matches.

11. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (8) – AZ Alkmaar continued its current form, refusing to give up any goals in a 1-0 victory over Feyenoord in Rotterdam. Next Week: AZ will host FC Utrecht in this week’s Eredivisie match.

12. Sao Paolo (Bra) (10) – No current matches.

13. Napoli (Ita) (23) – In a match I just finished watching, Napoli moved into third place in Serie A with a 3-0 manhandling of Lecce. Next Week: Napoli will hit the road for its Serie A match on Sunday against Torino.

14. Aston Villa (Eng) (24) – In a match that I’m watching right now, (there goes the drama) Aston Villa defeated Bolton Wanderers 4-2 to move into fourth place in the Premiership. Next Week: Villa will play two away matches this week, first against Hamburger in an UEFA Cup match and, over the weekend, against West Ham United in the Premier League.

15. Olympiakos (Gre) (NR) – The top team in Greece makes its first trip to the rankings this season based upon the ascension of the Greek league’s ranking. Olympiakos thus has Panathinaikos to thank for its move up the rankings and not its 1-1 draw with AE Larisa. Next Week: Coming up, Olympiakos will face bubbling-under Hertha Berlin in its UEFA Cup match and will take on last place Throsivoulos Fylis in domestic league play.

16. Sevilla (Esp) (25) – With a 1-0 victory over Villarreal in the Primera Division, Sevilla moved into third place in the league table and up nine notches in the WCR rankings. Next Week: A pair of matches for Sevilla this week see the club head to Italy to face Sampdoria in the UEFA Cup and a match against Mallorca domestically.

17. Gremio IBra) (18) – No current matches.

18. Ajax (Ned) (22) – Ajax kept place with first place AZ by scoring a 3-0 victory over NAC Breda in its Eredivisie match. Next Week: In the UEFA Cup, Ajax will welcome Slavia Praha to Amsterdam. Domestically, Ajax will take on De Graafschap.

19. Arsenal (Eng) (15) – Another disappointing week for the Gunners, falling 0-2 to Porto in the Champions League and scoring a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough to fall to fifth place in the Premiership. Next Week: It doesn’t get easier for Arsenal this weekend when it hosts top-ranked Liverpool in Europe’s match of the weekend.

20. Porto (Por) (NR) – The ascension of the Liga Sagres allows Porto to return to the rankings after a 2-0 Champions League defeat of Arsenal and a 4-1 defeat of Cinfaes in domestic cup play. Next Week: Porto will return to Liga Sagres action this week in full force, playing a makeup match against Estrela Amadora at midweek and hosting Maritimo over the weekend.

21. AC Milan (Ita) (12) – Milan dropped to fourth place in Serie A and nine notches in the rankings following its 2-4 away defeat to Juventus. Next Week: Both of Milan’s matches this week are at the San Siro, first against Wolfsburg in the UEFA Cup and then against Udinese in Serie A.

22. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (NR) – Despite a scoreless draw against Marseille in the Champions League, Atletico returns to the rankings with a 2-0 victory over Real Betis and a move up the Primera Division table. Next Week: Atletico will head to Barcelona to take on Espanyol in its weekend La Liga match.

23. San Lorenzo (Arg) (BU) – With a 1-0 victory over Argentino Juniors, San Lorenzo finished in a three-way tie with Boca Juniors and Tigre to force a three-match round robin tournament for the Apertura championship. Next Week: The first two matches for the Argentine Apertura championship both involve San Lorenzo, who will take on Tigre at midweek and host Boca Juniors on Saturday.

24. Lyon (Fra) (19) – After a disappointing 2-3 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Lyon played a disappointing (not to mention relatively boring) 0-0 draw with Marseille to remain atop the Ligue Un standings. Next Week: Lyon will face Caen in the weekend’s Ligue Un match.

25. Fiorentina (Ita) (BU) – La Viola scored a pair of victories this week, defeating Steaua Bucuresti 1-0 in the Champions Leaue and Catania 2-0 in Serie A. Next Week: Fiorentina faces two more Italian clubs this week, hosting Torino in a Coppa Italia match on Wednesday and taking on Sampdoria in Serie A weekend action.


Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Bayer Leverkusen (Ger), Celtic (Sco), Hertha Berlin (Ger), Marseille (Fra), Villarreal (Esp).

Next Five UEFA: (31) Rangers (Sco), (32) Twente (Ned), (33) Leixoes (Por), (35) Sporting CP (Por), (36) Bordeaux (Fra).

Matches Between Top 25 Clubs This Week:
21 December – (1) Liverpool at (19) Arsenal

Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 13/14 December 2008

This weekend will be a fantastic weekend for football and I’m afraid I’m going to miss most of it. I’ll be in Las Vegas, and I’m renewing my request for info. If you know of a good place to watch any of the matches below in Las Vegas, please drop a comment.

As is customary here at WCR, I’ve reserved the top of the list on the Top Five Matches of the Weekend for those matches involving two WCR Top 25 Clubs. Since there are three of them, and Real Madrid is currently “bubbling under,” the Real Madrid/Barcelona match is listed fourth. This weekend is THAT good.

The top two matches could be instant classics. In Turin, there is a battle for second place in Serie A as AC Milan visits Juventus. Concurrently, in Lyon, there is a battle for first place in Ligue Un as the Olympique clubs of Marseille and Lyon face off. I suggest watching Milan/Juventus on the big screen while playing Marseille/Lyon on Setanta Broadband.

Let’s not forget, however, that Sevilla is hosting Villarreal, which may actually be the best match of the weekend in Spain, unless Real Madrid can step it up a few notches and Barca comes back down to earth when the two clubs play. Finally, in Mexico, the second leg of the Apertura championship, between Cruz Azul and Toluca, is on Telemundo. It’s going to be a crazy four hours on Sunday for fans all over the world.

Of course, there are other matches. They are listed below. One that jumps out at me is that Leixoes is hosting Benfica in the Portuguese Cup Round of Sixteen. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. AC Milan at Juventus (Sunday, 2:30 pm, FSC)
2. Marseille at Lyon (Sunday, 3:00 pm, Setanta USA)
3. Villarreal at Sevilla (Sunday, 1:00 pm, GolTV)
4. Real Madrid at Barcelona (Saturday, 4:00 pm, GolTV)
5. Cruz Azul at Toluca (Sunday, 1:00 pm, Telemundo)

Friday, December 12, 2008

2:45 pm – NAC Breda at (22) Ajax

Saturday, December 13, 2008

3:00 am – Sydney FC at Central Coast Mariners (ESPN 360)
7:40 am – (15) Arsenal at Middlesbrough (Setanta USA)
10:00 am – Everton at Manchester City (FSC)
10:00 am – Hull City at (1) Liverpool (Setanta USA)
11:30 am – (9) Bayern Munich at VfB Stuttgart (Delayed) (GolTV)
12:30 pm – (7) Manchester United at Tottenham Hostpur (FSC)
2:00 pm – Espanyol at (13) Valencia (GolTV)
2:30 pm – Lecce at (23) Napoli (FSC, ESPN 360)
3:00 pm – Nantes at Rennes (Setanta USA)
4:00 pm – Real Madrid at (3) Barcelona (GolTV)
4:30 pm – Torino at Bologna (Delayed) (FSC)
5:00 pm – Bolton Wanderers at (24) Aston Villa (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
6:45 pm – Fulham at Stoke City (Delayed) (SetantaUSA)
8:00 pm – Blackburn Rovers at Wigan Athletic (Delayed) (FSC)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

1:00 am – Newcastle Jets at Queensland Roar (FSC)
6:30 am – PSV Eindhoven at Vitesse (ESPND, ESPN 360)
8:30 am – Newcastle United at Portsmouth (Setanta USA)
9:00 am – Chievo Verona at (2) Inter Milan (FSC)
9:00 am – Cagliari at Roma (ESPN 360)
11:00 am – Schalke 04 at (5) TSG Hoffenheim (GolTV)
11:00 am – West Ham United at (4) Chelsea (FSC)
1:00 pm – (11) Villarreal at (25) Sevilla (GolTV)
1:00 pm – Cruz Azul at Toluca (Telemundo)
2:00 pm – Colon at Boca Juniors (FSE)
2:30 pm – (12) AC Milan at (6) Juventus (FSC)
3:00 pm – Real Betis at Atletico de Madrid (GolTV)
3:00 pm – (21) Marseille at (19) Lyon (Setanta USA)
5:30 pm – Pereira at America de Cali (GolTV)
10:00 pm – Nacional at Penarol (Delayed) (GolTV)

Non-Televised Matches Involving Top 25 Clubs:

Sat., 7:30 am – (20) Rangers at Dundee United
Sat., 9:30 am – Energie Cottbus at (14) Bayer Leverkusen
Sat., 10:00 am – Hearts of Midlothian at (16) Celtic
Sat., 2:45 pm – (8) AZ Alkmaar at Feyenoord
Sat., 3:45 pm – (17) Benfica at Leixoes

Eredivisie, Liga Sagres Review/Preview

NETHERLANDS

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been lamenting the lack of goals in several of the top European leagues. Thank goodness for the Eredivisie, where 37 goals were scored in nine matches this weekend, including eight in the Twente/Sparta match. Even the lowest scoring match saw AZ Alkmaar defeat Heracles Almelo 2-0. Also of note is that this was a week of upsets in Holland. Perhaps none was bigger than NAC’s 0-4 crushing at home at the hands of ADO. Others included NEC falling at home to Utrecht and Feyenoord falling to De Graafschap at home. Ajax narrowly avoided this fate by coming from behind to defeat lowly Volendam 2-1. In the most fun match of the week, PSV spotted two goals to Groningen before unleashing for four goals in fifteen minutes to win 4-2.

There are some matches in the Eredivisie this weekend that promise to be great. The most notable on will NAC Breda at Ajax on Friday, when both clubs will try to bounce back from sub-par performances to stay within striking distance of AZ. Speaking of AZ, it will travel to Rotterdam to take on Feyenoord on Saturday.

Table:

1. AZ Alkmaar (10-2-2) 32 +22
2. Ajax (9-2-3) 29 +12
3. Twente (8-3-3) 27 +12
4. NAC Breda (8-2-4) 26 +4
5. PSV Eindhoven (8-1-5) 25 +12
6. Groningen (7-2-5) 23 +13.
7. Heerenveen (6-5-3) 23 -1
8. NEC Nijmegen (6-4-4) 22 +7
9. Utrecht (6-3-5) 21 +2
10. Willem II (6-3-5) 21 E
11. Feyenoord (4-4-6) 16 +4
12 Heracles (4-4-6) 16 -8
13. Sparta Rott. (4-3-7) 15 -12
14. ADO Den Haag (4-1-9) 13 -4
15. Roda JC (3-4-7) 13 -8
16. De Graafschap (3-3-8) 12 -14
17. Vitesse (2-5-7) 11 -15
18. Volendam (2-1-11) 7 -26


Recent Matches:

PSV Eindhoven 4-2 Groningen
(Bakkal 54, 57, Lazovic 61, 69; Berg 31, Lovre 45)

Roda JC 3-0 Vitesse
(Yulu-Matondo 32, Janssen 49, Hadouir 56)

Twente 6-2 Sparta
(Perez 21, N’kufo 31, 38, Slijngar 43 (og), Arnautovic 79, Hersi 90; Poepon 81, Slot 85)

AZ Alkmaar 2-0 Heracles
(A. da Silva 19, el Hamdaoui 85)

Volendam 1-2 Ajax
(Sheotahul 41; Suarez 44, Verthongen 62)

NAC Breda 0-4 ADO Den Haag
(Hoogendorp 9, Knopper 68, 80, Soltani 85)

NEC Nijmegen 1-2 Utrecht
(Ntibazonkiza 32; Cziommer 78, van der Gun 90)

Feyenoord 1-3 De Graafschap
(Hofland 79; Oost 11, Ouden 51, 69)

Willem II 1-3 Heerenveen
(Demouge 65; Smarason 45, Grindheim 70, Vayrynen 90)


Upcoming Matches:

NAC Breda at Ajax
Roda JC at ADO Den Haag
De Graafschap at Heerenveen
NEC Nijmegen at Willem II
AZ Alkmaar at Feyenoord
PSV Eindhoven at Vitesse
Volendam at Utrecht
Twente at Groningen
Sparta at Heracles



PORTUGAL

We have a new leader in the Liga Sagres this week thanks to a 6-0 victory by Benfica over Maritimo and Guimaraes’ 1-0 defeat of Leixoes. The victory allowed Guimaraes to move from eleventh in the league standings to eighth. Also of note this week, a 3-0 Porto victory over Veitoria Setubal moved Porto from fifth to fourth as it attempts to chase down the leaders and reclaim its traditional spot at the top of the table.

The Liga Sagres takes the weekend off this week for cup competition.


Table:


1. Benfica (7-4-0) 25 +14
2. Leixoes (7-2-2) 23 +5
3. Sporting CP (7-1-3) 22 +7
4. Porto (6-2-2) 20 +9
5. Nacional (6-2-3) 20 +5
6. Maritimo (5-3-3) 18 +2
7. Sp. Braga (4-5-2) 17 +6
8. Guimaraes (3-4-4) 13 -3
9. Naval (3-3-5) 12 -2
10. Academica (3-3-5) 12 -4
11. V. Setubal (3-2-6) 11 -6
12. Amadora (3-2-5) 11 -7
13. Rio Ave (2-4-5) 10 -3
14. Pacos Fer. (2-3-6) 9 -6
15. Trofense (2-2-7) 8 -7
16. Belenenses (1-4-6) 7 -10


Recent Matches:

Amadora 1-3 Sporting CP
(Anselmo 6; Izmailov 9, Liedson 50, Vukcevic 77)

Nacional 4-2 Os Belenenses
(Nene 22, 37, Mateus 83, Cleber 87; Silas 59, Porta 80)

Academica Coimbra 2-1 Pacos Ferreira
(Lito 12, Orlando 88; William 60)

Veitoria Setubal 0-3 Porto
(Alves 66, Guarin 68, Gonzalez 79)

Rio Ave 2-0 Naval
(Semedo 43, Livramento 72)

Maritimo 0-6 Benfica
(Reyes 20 (p), Suazo 42, 85, Luisao 66, Gomes 87, 90)

Vitoria Guimaraes 1-0 Leixoes
(Fajardo 88)

Trofense 0-0 Braga Sporting


Upcoming Matches:

No Matches for Week of December 15

Brazilian Serie A, French Ligue Un Review/Preview

BRAZIL

Sao Paulo clinched its third consecutive Brazilian Serie A title this weekend with a 1-0 victory over Goias. Gremio kept pace with a 2-0 victory over Atletico-MG, but it was too little too late. As far as the top four Copa Libertadores spots go, Palmeiras and Flamengo both slipped up, Palmeiras falling 0-1 to Botafogo and Flamengo losing 3-5 to Atletico-PR. These losses dropped Flamengo from the Copa Libertadores spot because Cruzeiro scored a 4-1 victory over Poruguesa. Palemiras held onto its spot by the skin of its teeth. As far as the four relegation positions, those remained unchanged and belong to Figueirense, Vasco Da Gama, Portuguesa and Ipatinga as the season comes to an end.

Table:

1. Sao Paulo (21-12-5) 75 +30
2. Gremio (21-9-8) 72 +24
3. Cruzeiro (21-4-13) 67 +15
4. Palmeiras (19-9-10) 65 +10
5. Flamengo (18-10-10) 64 +19
6. Internacional (15-9-14) 54 +1
7. Goias (14-12-12) 53 +10
8. Coritiba (14-11-13) 53 +7
9. Botafogo (15-8-15) 53 +7
10. Vitoria (15-7-16) 52 +4
11. SPORT (14-10-14) 52 +3
12. Atletico-MG (12-12-14) 48 -11
13. Fluminense (11-12-15) 45 +1
14. Santos (11-12-15) 45 -9
15. Atletico-PR (12-9-17) 45 -9
16. Nautico (11-11-16) 44 -10
17. Figueirense (11-11-16) 44 -24
18 Vasco Da Gama (11-7-20) 40 -16
19. Portuguesa (9-11-18) 38 -22
20. Ipatinga (9-8-21) 35 -30


Recent Matches:

Vasco Da Gama 0-2 Vitoria
(Domingos 23, Adriano 74)

SPORT 4-3 Coritiba
(Wilson 7, 45, Durval 12, 88; Marlos 17, Keirisson 31, Mancha 78)

Santos 0-0 Nautico

Palmeiras 0-1 Botafogo
(Paulista 50)

Gremio 2-0 Atletico-MG
(Tcheco 63, Soares 83)

Goias 0-1 Sao Paulo
(Borges 23)

Fluminense 1-1 Ipatinga
(Washington 79; Adeilson 60)

Figueirense 3-1 Internacional
(Marquinho 53, Coelho 69, Xavier 72; Talles 23)

Cruzeiro 4-1 Portuguesa
(Ribeiro 58, Vanderlei 59, Fernandinho 83, 86 (p), Athirson 35)

Atletico-PR 5-3 Flamengo
(Toro 12 (og), Moura 27, Cesar 40, Ze Antonio 74, Bahia 88; Paraiba 35, 43, 90)


Upcoming Matches:

END OF SEASON



FRANCE

Ligue Un saw four draws this weekend. One of them, a 1-1 match between Caen and Rennes, knocked the former from second place, making room for Marseille in that spot as OM defeated Nice 2-1. Bordeaux and Paris St. Germain passed by Nice with victories over Valenciennes (2-1) and Le Man (3-1) respectively.

On the agenda for Sunday is the biggest match of the season thus far in Ligue Un as leaders Lyon will host second-place Marseille. Already ahead in goal differential, a victory will put Marseille in first place for the first time all season. At midweek, Nice hosts its makeup match with Grenoble. None of the other French matches appear to be nearly as important as the big one on Sunday.


Table:

1. Lyon (10-4-3) 34 +10
2. Marseille (8-7-2) 31 +12
3. Rennes (7-9-1) 30 +10
4. Bordeaux (8-5-4) 29 +9
5. Paris S.G. (9-2-6) 29 +6
6. Nice (8-4-4) 28 +5
7. Toulouse (7-6-4) 27 +2
8. Lille (6-8-3) 26 +6
9. Le Man (7-3-7) 24 E
10. Monaco (6-5-6) 23 +2
11. Lorient (6-5-6) 23 +1
12. Caen (5-7-5) 22 +3
13. Grenoble (5-6-5) 21 -3
14. Auxerre (5-5-7) 20 -2
15. Nancy Lor. (4-8-5) 19 -4
16. Nantes (5-3-9) 18 -10
17. St. Etienne (5-1-11) 16 -13
18. Sochaux (1-9-7) 12 -7
19. Le Havre (3-3-11) 12 -16
20. Valenciennes (2-5-10) 11 -11


Recent Matches:

Bordeaux 2-1 Valenciennes
(Chamakh 34, Cavenaghi 46; Pujol 42)

St. Etienne 2-0 Le Havre
(Payet 75, Gomis 80)

Marseille 2-1 Nice
(Echouafni 13 (og), Niang 45 (p); Bamogo 48)

Lille 1-1 Toulouse
(Bastos 90; Cetto 64)

Caen 1-1 Rennes
(Nivet 45; Sow 76)

Paris St. Germain 3-1 Le Man
(Hoarau 22, 38, Luyindula 85; Cerdan 30)

Monaco 1-1 Sochaux
(Alonso 20; Pitau 9)

Lorient 1-0 Nancy Lorraine
(Gameiro 83)

Grenoble 0-0 Auxerre

Nantes 2-1 Lyon
(Klasnic 59, 89 (p); Piquionne 44)


Upcoming Matches:

Grenoble at Nice (Wed.)
Monaco at Valenciennes
St. Etienne at Toulouse
Caen at Sochaux
Grenoble at Nancy Lorraine
Bordeaux at Le Man
Paris St. Germain at Auxerre
Nantes at Rennes
Lille at Nice
Lorient at Le Havre
Marseille at Lyon

Spanish La Liga / German Bundesliga Review/Preview

SPAIN

Now that they reached the tough part of their schedules, Barcelona and Real Madrid continue to roll, however, they are rolling in opposite directions. Barcelona looked nearly unstoppable as they crushed third-place Valencia 4-0 with a hat trick from Thierry Henry. Real Madrid, on the other hand, fought back valiantly, but let up too many in falling at home 3-4 to Sevilla, with whom it traded places in the table. At the other end of the table, Recreativo de Huelva took three points at Real Mallorca in a 3-2 victory to move out of the bottom, where they were replaced by Osasuna, who drew 3-3 with Valladolid.

Once again, due to the uneven Primera Division schedule, there are two huge matches involving clubs at the top of the schedule. Of course, the biggest is the Spanish Derby, in which Barcelona will host Real Madrid. The other big match may be more competitive, as resurgent Sevilla hosts second-place Villarreal. In a battle for the bottom, nineteenth place Recreativo de Huelva will host last place Osasuna.

Table:

1. Barcelona (11-2-1) 35 +35
2. Villarreal (8-5-1) 29 +8
3. Valencia (8-3-3) 27 +10
4. Sevilla (8-3-3) 27 +8
5. Real Madrid (8-2-4) 26 +9
6. Atletico (7-3-4) 24 +12
7. Deportivo (7-3-4) 24 +2
8. Valladolid (6-2-6) 20 -1
9. Real Betis (5-3-6) 18 +2
10. Getafe (4-6-4) 18 -2
11. Malaga (5-4-5) 18 -4
12. Sporting G (6-0-8) 18 -9
13. Racing San. (4-4-6) 16 -4
14. Almeria (4-3-7) 15 -8
15. Numancia (4-2-8) 14 -11
16. Athletic (3-4-7) 13 -8
17. Mallorca (3-4-7) 13 -9
18. Espanyol (3-4-7) 13 -9
19. Recreativo (2-4-8) 10 -13
20. Osasuna (1-6-7) 9 -8


Current Matches:

Sporting Gijon 2-5 Atletico de Madrid
(Bilic 4, Barral 60; Aguero 5, 41, Forlan 57, 81, Rodriguez 69)

Villarreal 3-3 Getafe
(Pires 54, Eguren 83, Rossi 85; Esteban 10, Leites 16, Paredes 30)

Barcelona 4-0 Valencia
(Henry 20, 28, 79, Alves 47)

Real Mallorca 2-3 Recreativo de Huelva
(Corbacho 16, Marin 35; Ruben 25, Perez 42, Fuego 53)

Osasuna 3-3 Valladolid
(Gomes-Dady 17, 56, Nekounam 42; Goitorn 59, Flano 64, Ogbeche 84)

Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 Malaga
(Castillo 65, Brao 69)

Numancia 2-1 Almeria
(Gonzalez 19, Etxebarria 51; Solari 11 (p))

Racing de Santander 1-1 Athletic de Bilbao
(Colsa 82; Yeste 49)

Real Betis 1-1 Espanyol
(Emana 56; Corominas 70)

Real Madrid 3-4 Sevilla
(Gonzalez 18, Higuain 67, Gago 69; Correia 3, Romanic 21, Kanoute 38, Renato 85)


Upcoming Matches:

Villarreal at Sevilla
Real Mallorca at Getafe
Osasuna at Recreativo de Huelva
Deportivo La Coruna at Valladolid
Numancia at Malaga
Racing de Santander at Almeria
Sporting Gijon at Athletic de Bilbao
Real Betis at Atletico de Madrid
Espanyol at Valencia
Real Madrid at Barcelona



GERMANY

As expected, the Bundesliga match of the weekend took place on Friday, when Bayern Munich, with a late Toni goal, scored a 2-1 victory over TSG Hoffenheim to move into a tie atop the Bundesliga table. Hoffenheim played well, however, and should hold its head up high as it remains in first place by virtue of goal differential. The big surprise of the weekend saw Karlsruher move out of the Bundesliga basement and out of the relegation zone, for now, after upsetting Werder Bremen by a 1-0 score.

The matches that I’m anticipating most this weekend involve a pair of clubs that have been underachieving thus far in Bundesliga play, Schalke 04 and Stuttgart. These two clubs, currently seventh and ninth in the table, respectively, will take on the leagues top two clubs. Hoffenheim hits the road to take on Schalke 04, while VfB Stuttgart will host Bayern Munich. This will be the final week of matches in the Bundesliga before the traditional winter break.


Table:

1. Hoffenheim (11-1-4) 34 +19
2. Bay. Munich (10-4-2) 34 +15
3. Leverkusen (10-1-5) 31 +15
4. Her. Berlin (9-3-4) 30 +3
5. Hamburger (9-3-4) 30 +1
6. Wolfsburg (7-5-4) 26 +11
7. Schalke 04 (7-5-4) 26 +8
8. B. Dortmund (6-8-2) 26 +7
9. Stuttgart (7-3-6) 24 +3
10. W. Bremen (6-5-5) 23 +10
11. E. Frankfurt (5-4-7) 19 -5
12. Cologne (6-1-9) 19 -7
13. Hannover 96 (4-4-8) 16 -12
14. A. Bielefeld (2-7-7) 13 -12
15. Karlsruher (4-1-11) 13 -13
16. En. Cottbus (3-3-10) 12 -17
17. VfL Bochum (1-8-7) 11 -10
18. M’Gladbach (3-2-11) 11 -16


Recent Matches:

Bayern Munich 2-1 TSG Hoffenheim
(Lahm 60, Toni 90; Ibisevic 49)

Borussia Monchengladbach 1-3 Bayer Leverkusen
(Jantschke 61; Kiessling 25, 37; Helmes 54)

Arminia Bielefed 0-0 Borussia Dortmund

Energie Cottbus 0-3 VfB Stuttgart
(Hilbert 4, Simak 63, Khedira 68)

Karlsruher 1-0 Werder Bremen
(Kennedy 83)

Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 VFL Bochum
(Lyberopoulos 7, 43, Steinhofer 62, Russ 64)

Schalke 04 1-0 Hertha Berlin
(Asamoah 65)

Cologne 1-2 Hamburger
(Novakovic 83; Petric 15, 31)

Wolfsburg 2-1 Hannover 96
(Zaccardo 32, Stajner 63 (og); Stajner 59)


Upcoming Matches:

Borussia Monchengladbach at Borussia Dortmund
Karlsruher at Hertha Berlin
Cologne at VFL Bochum
Bayern Munich at VfB Stuttgart
Arminia Bielefed at Hannover 96
Energie Cottbus at Bayer Leverkusen
Eintracht Frankfurt at Hamburger
Wolfsburg at Werder Bremen
Schalke 04 at TSG Hoffenheim

English Premiership, Italian Serie A Review/Preview

ENGLAND

Each of the top six clubs in the Premiership table won this weekend, preventing any major movement up and down the positioning. Many of the matches were close, with only three matches decided by two goals or more – those won by Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal. As far as the tables are concerned, the most significant match took place on Monday, where Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 victory over West Ham United caused Spurs to move from 16th to 15th and West Ham to drop from 13th to 16th. The most exciting match was definitely Aston Villa’s 3-2 defeat of Everton, which saw a pair of late goals decide the see-saw match.

Once again, there are no marquee matches in the Premiership this week, but there is one match between top clubs in the top six as Liverpool hosts Hull City. ‘Pool shouldn’t have a huge problem with the overachieving Hull City, but you never know in this league.

Table:

1. Liverpool (12-3-1) 37 +15
2. Chelsea (11-3-2) 36 +29
3. Man United (9-4-2) 31 +17
4. Arsenal (9-2-5) 29 +9
5. Aston Villa (8-4-4) 28 +7
6. Hull City (7-5-4) 26 -1
7. Portsmouth (6-5-5) 23 -4
8. Everton (6-4-6) 22 -3
9. Fulham (5-5-5) 20 +1
10. Bolton (6-2-8) 20 -1
11. Wigan (5-4-7) 19 -2
12. Midd’brough (5-4-7) 19 -7
13. Stoke City (5-4-7) 19 -10
14. Man City (5-3-8) 18 +6
15. Tottenham (5-3-8) 18 -2
16. West Ham (5-3-8) 18 -7
17. Newcastle (3-7-6) 16 -5
18. Sunderland (4-3-9) 15 -12
19. Blackburn (3-4-9) 13 -14
20. West Brom (3-3-10) 12 -16


Recent Matches:

Fulham 1-1 Manchester City
(Bullard 27; Mwaruawari 6)

Arsenal 1-0 Wigan Athletic
(Adebayor 16)

Blackburn Rovers 1-3 Liverpool
(Cruz 86; Alonso 69, Banayoun 79, Gerrard 90)

Bolton Wanderers 0-2 Chelsea
(Anelka 9, Deco 21)

Hull City 2-1 Middlesbrough
(Turnbull 82 (og), King 85; Sanli 79)

Newcastle United 2-2 Stoke City
(Owen 8, 24; Sidibe 60, Faye 90)

Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland
(Vidic 90)

West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Portsmouth
(Greening 39; Crouch 58)

Everton 2-3 Aston Villa
(Lescott 30, 89; Sidwell 1, Young 54, 90)

West Ham United 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
(King 68, O’Hara 89)


Upcoming Matches:

Arsenal at Middlesbrough
Bolton Wanderers at Aston Villa
Hull City at Liverpool
Everton at Manchester City
Fulham at Stoke City
West Bromwich Albion at Sunderland
Blackburn Rovers at Wigan Athletic
Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur
Newcastle United at Portsmouth
West Ham United at Chelsea



ITALY

There were no elite matches in Serie A this past weekend, but there was some movement up and down the table. Atalanta scored a 3-0 victory over Udinese, helping the club to move up three places, from tenth to seventh. Moving in the other direction is Lazio, who also played in a 0-3 match, but was on the losing side to Inter Milan in a match that helped Lazio fall from the WCR Top 25. AC Milan, Juventus and Napoli all scored victories this weekend to keep pace with first place Internazionale.

There may not have been a premier matchup last week, but there certainly is this weekend, when AC Milan heads to Turin to take on Juventus in a battle of the clubs tied for second in Serie A. In a battle between the metaphorical David and Goliath, first place Inter Milan will take on last place Chievo Verona as it tries to extend its lead over at least one of second place clubs. Of the other matches, perhaps the one between Genoa and Atalanta will be the most entertaining.

Table:

1. Inter Milan (11-3-1) 36 +17
2. Juventus (9-3-3) 30 +13
3. AC Milan (9-3-3) 30 +8
4. Napoli (8-3-4) 27 +7
5. Fiorentina (8-2-5) 26 +8
6. Genoa (7-4-4) 25 +6
7. Atalanta (7-2-6) 23 +4
8. Lazio (7-2-6) 23 +3
9. Catania (6-4-5) 22 -1
10. Udinese (6-3-6) 21 +3
11. Palermo (6-2-7) 20 -1
12. Cagliari (6-2-7) 20 -1
13. Roma (6-2-6) 20 -2
14. Siena (5-4-6) 19 -2
15. Sampdoria (4-4-6) 16 -4
16. Lecce (2-8-5) 13 -7
17. Torino (3-3-9) 12 -9
18. Reggina (3-3-9) 12 -16
19. Bologna (2-5-8) 11 -11
20. Chievo Ver. (2-3-10) 9 -15


Recent Matches:

Chievo Verona 0-1 Roma
(Menez 24)

Lazio 0-3 Inter Milan
(Samuel 2, Diakhite 45 (og), Ibrahimovic 55)

Torino 1-4 Fiorentina
(Rosina 77 (p); Mutu 3, Gilardino 43, 84, Kuzmanovic 75)

Napoli 2-0 Siena
(Maggio 62, Denis 72)

Atalanta 3-0 Udinese
(Valdes 19, Doni 78, Vieri 88)

Reggina 2-2 Bologna
(Corradi 38, Edgar 56; Valiani 53, DiVaio 62)

AC Milan 1-0 Catania
(Kaka 65)

Lecce 1-2 Juventus
(Cacia 83; Giovinco 58, Carvalho 90)

Cagliari 1-0 Palermo
(Fini 34)

Sampdoria 0-1 Genoa
(Milito 50)



Current Matches:

Bologna x-x Torino
Napoli x-x Lecce
Fiorentina x-x Catania
Genoa x-x Atalanta
Inter Milan x-x Chievo Verona
Palermo x-x Siena
Reggina x-x Sampdoria
Roma x-x Cagliari
Udinese x-x Lazio
Juventus x-x AC Milan

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Barcelona Looks Good Edition

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