For the final time this season, there was a lot of action this past weekend. But does anybody care? Well, some do. The Germans cared and they celebrated the first-ever Bundesliga title for Wolfsburg despite Bayern’s efforts in trying to chase it down. They cared in France. Even though nothing was settled there, Bordeaux did move a little bit closer to the Ligue Un title. They cared in Uruguay. Current league-leaders in Uruguay, Defensor Sporting, scored an upset away victory over Boca Juniors to advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores. They cared in Glasgow. There, Rangers defeated Dundee United to take another Scottish Premier League title in another close race with Celtic.
Okay, so it looks like a lot of people were interested in this past weekend’s excitement, but one still could not help but look ahead to Wednesday’s matchup. You know the one I’m talking about, but I’ll talk a little about it anyway. The two clubs that have spent most of the season in the top two spots of the WCR Top 25 will take each other on in Rome for the official championship of Europe and the unofficial championship of the world. And this is how it should be, even though it is seldom how it is. In fact, this is the first time since Manchester United defeated Bayern Munich in the 1999, the UEFA Champions League final will feature two clubs that won their domestic championships in the same season. Throw on top that the match features, arguably, the two best players in the world in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and we likely are looking at one for the ages.
So, after Wednesday’s championship match, will that be it? Only if you are Manchester United. Hell, even Barcelona has another Primera Division match to play. In addition, we have domestic cup finals in three countries involving four clubs in the Top 25. Rangers will face Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final and Porto and Pacos de Ferreira face off in the Taca de Portugal. Most importantly, of course, will be Saturday’s FA Cup final which will see Chelsea try to win its second title in three seasons against Tim Howard and Everton. In South America, a pair of ranked clubs, Sao Paolo and Cruzeiro, take each other both in the Copa Libertadores quarterfinal matchup and in Brasileirao action.
The rest of what happened and what is coming up appears below in the penultimate weekly WCR Top 25 of the season. Enjoy, and see you in Rome (or in a local pub) on Wednesday.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – May 25, 2009
1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – The Red Devils did their part to keep Newcastle United from being relegated, though the efforts were in vain, by beating Hull City 1-0 in their final Premiership match of the season. This Week: Let’s see. In case you hadn’t heard, Manchester United will face Barcelona in Rome on Wednesday for the UEFA Champions League championship.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – In its meaningless Primera Division match of the week, Barcelona fell 0-1 at home to Osasuna. This Week: That didn’t matter. Wednesday’s match against Manchester United is the only one left that matters. And boy will it matter. The winner of that match likely will spend the rest of the summer atop the WCR Top 25 rankings. Next week’s meaningless Primera Division match of the week will be at Deportivo La Coruna.
3. Chelsea (Eng) (3) – Chelsea finished the Premiership season in third place despite defeating Sunderland 3-2 in the season finale. This Week: Chelsea will take on the best English club outside of the Big Four, Everton, in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
4. Arsenal (Eng) (4) – Arsenal finished its season in style on Sunday by defeating Stoke City 4-1 at Emirates Stadium. This Week: Season over.
5. Liverpool (Eng) (6) – Liverpool moves up a notch after securing the runner-up position in the Premiership with a 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the season finale. This Week: Season over.
6. Inter Milan (Ita) (5) – For all intents and purposes, Inter’s season ended when it secured its fourth consecutive Scudetto. On Sunday, Inter fell to Cagliari by a 1-2 score. This Week: Internazionale will host Atalanta in its season finale on Sunday.
7. Wolfsburg (Ger) (8) – When the heat was on, Wolfsburg sizzled. On Saturday, Wolfsburg crushed the UEFA Cup runners-up, Werder Bremen, 5-1 to win its first Bundesliga title in history. Congratulations, Wolfsburg. It’s a well-deserved championship. This Week: Season over.
8. Sao Paolo (Bra) (7) – In a battle of Copa Libertadores quarterfinalists, Sao Paolo and Palmeiras battled to a scoreless draw in a Brasileirao match. This Week: Sao Paolo and Cruzeiro face off twice this week, first in Copa Libertadores action at midweek and then again on Sunday in the Brasileirao.
9. Real Madrid (Esp) (9) – The end of the season means nothing to Los Blancos and they are playing like it. Real Madrid lost its fourth consecutive match this weekend, falling 1-3 at home to Real Mallorca. This Week: Real Madrid finishes off the season on Sunday against Osasuna. Whatever.
10. AC Milan (Ita) (10) – Milan let Juventus back into the race for second place in Serie A after losing to Roma by a 2-3 score. This Week: AC Milan will finish off the season on Sunday against Fiorentina, who still is fighting for the final Champions League spot from Italy.
11. Porto (Por) (11) – Porto finished its Liga Sagres championship season with a 1-1 draw against Sporting Braga. This Week: Porto will go for the domestic double this week, playing the Taca de Portugal final on Sunday against Pacos de Ferreira.
12. Bordeaux (Fra) (12) – A 2-1 victory over AS Monaco on Saturday wasn’t enough to clinch the Ligue Un title for Bordeaux, but it was close. This Week: Any result other than a loss against Caen this coming Saturday will secure Girondins de Bordeaux its first Ligue Un championship since the 1998/99 season.
13. Gremio (Bra) (13) – Gremio’s only match of the past week was a 2-0 victory over Botafogo in its Brasileirao match. This Week: Two matches in the upcoming week for Gremio. First up is a Copa Libertadores quarterfinal match in Venezuela against Caracas FC. On Sunday, Gremio will take on Vitoria in domestic league play.
14. Bayern Munich (Ger) (14) – Bayern scored an impressive 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart, but Wolfsburg kept Bayern at bay in the race for the Bundesliga title. This Week: Season Over.
15. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (15) – Season over.
16. Juventus (Ita) (16) – Juve put serious pressure on AC Milan for second place in Serie A, for what it’s worth, with a 3-0 thrashing of Siena. This Week: Juventus will finish off its season on Sunday at home against Lazio.
17. Marseille (Fra) (17) – Marseille’s title hopes are faint, at best, but they are still alive following a 2-1 away victory against Nancy Lorraine. This Week: Marseille will host Stade Rennes in its season finale on Saturday. All it can do is win. The rest is up to Caen.
18. Sevilla (Esp) (18) – Sevilla clinched a Champions League spot this week with a narrow 1-0 defeat of Deportivo La Coruna. This Week: Sevilla will finish off another moderately successful season on Sunday against Numancia.
19. Rangers (Sco) (19) – Congratulations are in order for Glasgow Rangers who, with a 3-0 victory over Dundee United, who won its first Scottish Premier League title since 2005. This Week: Rangers will be seeking its first domestic double since 2003 on Saturday when it takes on Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final.
20. Cruzeiro (Bra) (20) – Cruzeiro continued as the most successful club of the Brazilian Copa Libertadores group in domestic play with a 2-0 victory over Vitoria. This Week: Its Sao Paolo week for Cruzeiro as the two clubs face off in both midweek Copa Libertadores action and weekend domestic play.
21. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (22) – Another huge victory for Atletico this weekend, pounding Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in its penultimate Primera Division match. This Week: A victory at home against lowly Almeria on Sunday will put Atletico in the qualifiers in next season’s Champions League.
22. VfB Stuttgart (Ger) (21) – A 1-2 loss to Bayern Munich on Saturday was disappointing, but a loss by Hertha Berlin guaranteed that Stuttgart will return to the qualifiers of the Champions League next season. This Week: Season over.
23. Sporting CP (Por) (24) – It mattered little, but Sporting CP finished off its season in second place in the Liga Sagres following a 3-1 victory over Nacional. This Week: Season over.
24. Everton (Eng) (23) – Everton finishes the season in fifth place in the Premiership after a 2-0 defeat of Fulham in London. This Week: The big one for Everton in London this season will be on Saturday when Everton takes on Chelsea at Wembley for the FA Cup.
25. Defensor Sporting (Uru) (NR) – I haven’t had an opportunity to double check this, but this may be the first time in the two-year history of the weekly rankings that a club from Uruguay to enter the charts. Defensor gets here after a surprise 1-0 victory (that was predicted here on WCR) over Boca Juniors put the club into the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. Domestically, Defensor defeated Rampla Juniors 4-1 to maintain its lead in the Uruguay Clausura. This Week: After defeating Boca Juniors, Defensor will take on the only remaining Argentine club, Estudiantes, in midweek Copa Libertadores quarterfinal play. Domestically, Defensor will host Tacuarembo on Sunday.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Celtic (Sco), Fiorentina (Ita), Lyon (Fra), Palmeiras (Bra), Twente (Ned).
Next Five (also alphabetically): Ajax (Ned), Benfica (Por), Olympiakos (Gre), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Velez Sarsfield (Arg).
Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs This Week:
27 May – (1) Manchester United vs. (2) Barcelona
27 May – (8) Sao Paolo at (20) Cruzeiro
30 May – (3) Chelsea vs. (24) Everton
31 May – (20) Cruzeiro at (8) Sao Paolo
Okay, so it looks like a lot of people were interested in this past weekend’s excitement, but one still could not help but look ahead to Wednesday’s matchup. You know the one I’m talking about, but I’ll talk a little about it anyway. The two clubs that have spent most of the season in the top two spots of the WCR Top 25 will take each other on in Rome for the official championship of Europe and the unofficial championship of the world. And this is how it should be, even though it is seldom how it is. In fact, this is the first time since Manchester United defeated Bayern Munich in the 1999, the UEFA Champions League final will feature two clubs that won their domestic championships in the same season. Throw on top that the match features, arguably, the two best players in the world in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and we likely are looking at one for the ages.
So, after Wednesday’s championship match, will that be it? Only if you are Manchester United. Hell, even Barcelona has another Primera Division match to play. In addition, we have domestic cup finals in three countries involving four clubs in the Top 25. Rangers will face Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final and Porto and Pacos de Ferreira face off in the Taca de Portugal. Most importantly, of course, will be Saturday’s FA Cup final which will see Chelsea try to win its second title in three seasons against Tim Howard and Everton. In South America, a pair of ranked clubs, Sao Paolo and Cruzeiro, take each other both in the Copa Libertadores quarterfinal matchup and in Brasileirao action.
The rest of what happened and what is coming up appears below in the penultimate weekly WCR Top 25 of the season. Enjoy, and see you in Rome (or in a local pub) on Wednesday.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – May 25, 2009
1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – The Red Devils did their part to keep Newcastle United from being relegated, though the efforts were in vain, by beating Hull City 1-0 in their final Premiership match of the season. This Week: Let’s see. In case you hadn’t heard, Manchester United will face Barcelona in Rome on Wednesday for the UEFA Champions League championship.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – In its meaningless Primera Division match of the week, Barcelona fell 0-1 at home to Osasuna. This Week: That didn’t matter. Wednesday’s match against Manchester United is the only one left that matters. And boy will it matter. The winner of that match likely will spend the rest of the summer atop the WCR Top 25 rankings. Next week’s meaningless Primera Division match of the week will be at Deportivo La Coruna.
3. Chelsea (Eng) (3) – Chelsea finished the Premiership season in third place despite defeating Sunderland 3-2 in the season finale. This Week: Chelsea will take on the best English club outside of the Big Four, Everton, in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
4. Arsenal (Eng) (4) – Arsenal finished its season in style on Sunday by defeating Stoke City 4-1 at Emirates Stadium. This Week: Season over.
5. Liverpool (Eng) (6) – Liverpool moves up a notch after securing the runner-up position in the Premiership with a 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the season finale. This Week: Season over.
6. Inter Milan (Ita) (5) – For all intents and purposes, Inter’s season ended when it secured its fourth consecutive Scudetto. On Sunday, Inter fell to Cagliari by a 1-2 score. This Week: Internazionale will host Atalanta in its season finale on Sunday.
7. Wolfsburg (Ger) (8) – When the heat was on, Wolfsburg sizzled. On Saturday, Wolfsburg crushed the UEFA Cup runners-up, Werder Bremen, 5-1 to win its first Bundesliga title in history. Congratulations, Wolfsburg. It’s a well-deserved championship. This Week: Season over.
8. Sao Paolo (Bra) (7) – In a battle of Copa Libertadores quarterfinalists, Sao Paolo and Palmeiras battled to a scoreless draw in a Brasileirao match. This Week: Sao Paolo and Cruzeiro face off twice this week, first in Copa Libertadores action at midweek and then again on Sunday in the Brasileirao.
9. Real Madrid (Esp) (9) – The end of the season means nothing to Los Blancos and they are playing like it. Real Madrid lost its fourth consecutive match this weekend, falling 1-3 at home to Real Mallorca. This Week: Real Madrid finishes off the season on Sunday against Osasuna. Whatever.
10. AC Milan (Ita) (10) – Milan let Juventus back into the race for second place in Serie A after losing to Roma by a 2-3 score. This Week: AC Milan will finish off the season on Sunday against Fiorentina, who still is fighting for the final Champions League spot from Italy.
11. Porto (Por) (11) – Porto finished its Liga Sagres championship season with a 1-1 draw against Sporting Braga. This Week: Porto will go for the domestic double this week, playing the Taca de Portugal final on Sunday against Pacos de Ferreira.
12. Bordeaux (Fra) (12) – A 2-1 victory over AS Monaco on Saturday wasn’t enough to clinch the Ligue Un title for Bordeaux, but it was close. This Week: Any result other than a loss against Caen this coming Saturday will secure Girondins de Bordeaux its first Ligue Un championship since the 1998/99 season.
13. Gremio (Bra) (13) – Gremio’s only match of the past week was a 2-0 victory over Botafogo in its Brasileirao match. This Week: Two matches in the upcoming week for Gremio. First up is a Copa Libertadores quarterfinal match in Venezuela against Caracas FC. On Sunday, Gremio will take on Vitoria in domestic league play.
14. Bayern Munich (Ger) (14) – Bayern scored an impressive 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart, but Wolfsburg kept Bayern at bay in the race for the Bundesliga title. This Week: Season Over.
15. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (15) – Season over.
16. Juventus (Ita) (16) – Juve put serious pressure on AC Milan for second place in Serie A, for what it’s worth, with a 3-0 thrashing of Siena. This Week: Juventus will finish off its season on Sunday at home against Lazio.
17. Marseille (Fra) (17) – Marseille’s title hopes are faint, at best, but they are still alive following a 2-1 away victory against Nancy Lorraine. This Week: Marseille will host Stade Rennes in its season finale on Saturday. All it can do is win. The rest is up to Caen.
18. Sevilla (Esp) (18) – Sevilla clinched a Champions League spot this week with a narrow 1-0 defeat of Deportivo La Coruna. This Week: Sevilla will finish off another moderately successful season on Sunday against Numancia.
19. Rangers (Sco) (19) – Congratulations are in order for Glasgow Rangers who, with a 3-0 victory over Dundee United, who won its first Scottish Premier League title since 2005. This Week: Rangers will be seeking its first domestic double since 2003 on Saturday when it takes on Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final.
20. Cruzeiro (Bra) (20) – Cruzeiro continued as the most successful club of the Brazilian Copa Libertadores group in domestic play with a 2-0 victory over Vitoria. This Week: Its Sao Paolo week for Cruzeiro as the two clubs face off in both midweek Copa Libertadores action and weekend domestic play.
21. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (22) – Another huge victory for Atletico this weekend, pounding Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in its penultimate Primera Division match. This Week: A victory at home against lowly Almeria on Sunday will put Atletico in the qualifiers in next season’s Champions League.
22. VfB Stuttgart (Ger) (21) – A 1-2 loss to Bayern Munich on Saturday was disappointing, but a loss by Hertha Berlin guaranteed that Stuttgart will return to the qualifiers of the Champions League next season. This Week: Season over.
23. Sporting CP (Por) (24) – It mattered little, but Sporting CP finished off its season in second place in the Liga Sagres following a 3-1 victory over Nacional. This Week: Season over.
24. Everton (Eng) (23) – Everton finishes the season in fifth place in the Premiership after a 2-0 defeat of Fulham in London. This Week: The big one for Everton in London this season will be on Saturday when Everton takes on Chelsea at Wembley for the FA Cup.
25. Defensor Sporting (Uru) (NR) – I haven’t had an opportunity to double check this, but this may be the first time in the two-year history of the weekly rankings that a club from Uruguay to enter the charts. Defensor gets here after a surprise 1-0 victory (that was predicted here on WCR) over Boca Juniors put the club into the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. Domestically, Defensor defeated Rampla Juniors 4-1 to maintain its lead in the Uruguay Clausura. This Week: After defeating Boca Juniors, Defensor will take on the only remaining Argentine club, Estudiantes, in midweek Copa Libertadores quarterfinal play. Domestically, Defensor will host Tacuarembo on Sunday.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Celtic (Sco), Fiorentina (Ita), Lyon (Fra), Palmeiras (Bra), Twente (Ned).
Next Five (also alphabetically): Ajax (Ned), Benfica (Por), Olympiakos (Gre), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Velez Sarsfield (Arg).
Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs This Week:
27 May – (1) Manchester United vs. (2) Barcelona
27 May – (8) Sao Paolo at (20) Cruzeiro
30 May – (3) Chelsea vs. (24) Everton
31 May – (20) Cruzeiro at (8) Sao Paolo
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