We’re back in the United States for the week while club football returns to action around the world. All of the top clubs were in action this past weekend and most of them play twice in the coming week, so we are back in full force.
The volatility that marked the past few weeks in the rankings has slowed down this week, though top-ranked Chelsea did manage to lose to Aston Villa to give up its place at the top spot both in the Premiership and the rankings. With Valencia forcing a draw with Barcelona, both of the spots vacated by Chelsea were taken by Manchester United.
Among other world leaders, Hamburg and Leverkusen fought to a draw to keep the status quo in Germany. Palmeiras, Barcelona and Lyon all faltered but managed to hold on to their top spots in Brazil, Spain and France, respectively. Meanwhile, Inter Milan and FC Twente scored big wins over top clubs to hold on to the top spots in Italy and the Netherlands. Joining Chelsea in the scrap heap of discarded leaders is Estudiantes, who fell this weekend to Tigre to fall to fifth-place in a tight Argentine Clausura race, currently led by San Lorenzo.
The current rankings are below. We will be joining you next week for the rankings from Buenos Aires, Argentina. For now, enjoy!!!
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – October 19, 2009
1. Manchester United (Eng) (9) – Big jump this week for United this week as neither of the English clubs ahead of it in the last rankings could manage a victory. Meanwhile, Man United was defeating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at Old Trafford to move atop the Premiership table. Coming Up: On Wednesday, Manyoo heads to Russia to take on CSKA Moscow. Perhaps more importantly, it will travel to Anfield on Sunday to take on a struggling Liverpool club.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barca keeps a one-point lead atop the Primera Division standings following a goalless draw with Valencia on Saturday. Coming Up: On Tuesday, Barcelona will host Russian power Rubin Kazan in a Champions League match. Barca will return to action in La Liga with a home match against Real Zaragoza on Saturday.
3. Inter Milan (Ita) (4) – Inter showed some Serie A dominance with a 5-0 thrashing of formerly-ranked Genoa, putting a little space between it and Sampdoria at the top of the Italian table. Coming Up: Inter will try to bounce back from its Champions League doldrums with a match against Dynamo Kiev at the San Siro on Tuesday. Internazionale will host Catania on Saturday in league action.
4. Real Madrid (Esp) (3) – After the upset at the hands of Sevilla a few weeks ago, Real Madrid bounced back this week with a 4-2 victory over Real Valladolid with help by two early goals by Raul. Coming Up: Real Madrid will host a floundering AC Milan club in Champions League action on Wednesday. On Saturday, Madrid will take on Sporting Gijon.
5. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – Once again demonstrating an inability to adjust to success, Chelsea again gave up the top spot in the Premiership and the rankings with a 1-2 loss at the hands of Aston Villa. Coming Up: Chelsea hosts a disappointing Atletico Madrid club on Wednesday in a Champions League match in London. On Saturday, Chelsea will try to bounce back against Blackburn Rovers.
6. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (5) – Nothing changed in Germany as Leverkusen battled Hamburger SV to a goalless draw in Bundesliga play, leaving Leverkusen on top of the table by virtue of goal differential. Coming Up: No European action for Leverkusen, so it will wait until Friday for its next match against Borussia Dortmund.
7. Arsenal (Eng) (13) – Like Manchester United, a quick jump up the table in the Premiership has propelled Arsenal up the rankings following a 3-1 defeat of Birmingham City in league play. Coming Up: On Tuesday, Arsenal heads to the Netherlands to take on an AZ Alkmaar club that hasn’t looked nearly as good this year as last. In league play, Arsenal will head to London to take on West Ham United on Sunday.
8. Sporting Braga (Por) (7) – In Portugal this weekend, the top clubs played in the Taca de Portugal. Sporting Braga won its first match over Sporting Covilha by a 1-0 score. Coming Up: Braga returns to Liga Sagres action on Saturday against Rio Ave.
9. Benfica (Por) (8) – In its Taca de Portugal match, Benfica completely crushed Recreativo de Monsanto by a 6-0 score. Coming Up: In what promises to be an interesting Europa Cup match, Benfica will host Everton on Thursday. In league action, Benfica will host Nacional next Monday.
10. Hamburger SV (Ger) (11) – With a goalless draw against Bayer Leverkusen, HSV stayed tied with Bayer Leverkusen in points atop the Bundesliga table. Coming Up: In another good Europa Cup matchup, Hamburger will head to Scotland to take on Celtic on Thursday. In the only matchup of the weekend between ranked clubs, HSV will take on Schalke 04 on Sunday.
11. Sevilla (Esp) (10) – Not as good of a week for Sevilla this time around as it falls in an away match to Deportiva La Coruna, though it managed to hold on to second place in the Primera Division. Coming Up: Sevilla will be in Germany to take on VfB Stuttgart in a Tuesday Champions League match. Domestically, Sevilla will host Espanyol on Saturday.
12. Sampdoria (Ita) (12) – Sampdoria keeps its position in the rankings despite only scoring a 1-1 draw with Lazio this weekend in Rome. Coming Up: There’s nothing going on for Sampdoria in Europe, so it will return to action on Saturday when it hosts Bologna.
13. Porto (Por) (16) – Porto advanced in the Taca de Portugal tournament with a 4-0 victory over Sertanense. Coming Up: With the return of the Champions League this week, Porto will host Cypriot club APOEL on Wednesday. In its return to the Liga Sagres, Porto will host Academica de Coimbra on Sunday.
14. Manchester City (Eng) (6) – Since our last meeting, Man City has played two matches and didn’t win either of them. It followed its 1-1 draw with Aston Villa with another 1-1 draw, this time against Wigan Athletic. Coming Up: Manchester City will host Fulham on Sunday as it tries to get back to its winning ways.
15. Lyon (Fra) (14) – Despite being embarrassed at home, losing 0-2 to Sochaux this weekend, Lyon holds on to a narrow lead over Montpellier in Ligue Un for the moment. Coming Up: Tuesday’s match at Anfield against Liverpool could be the most interesting of the week in the Champions League’s third group stage matchday. Domestically, Lyon returns to action on Saturday at Nice.
16. Juventus (Ita) (17) – Juve gave up two home points this weekend as it could manage only a 1-1 draw against Fiorentina. Coming Up: Juventus will welcome Maccabi Haifa to Turin on Wednesday in a Champions League match. Over the weekend, Juve will take on Siena in Serie A play.
17. Deportivo La Coruna (Esp) (21) – It’s official. Deportivo is a club to be reckoned with in La Liga. It proved it this weekend with a 1-0 defeat of third-place Sevilla. Coming Up: Deportivo’s next match will be in the Primera Division on Sunday at Real Valladolid.
18. Schalke 04 (Ger) (20) – Schalke 04 gained on both Leverkusen and Hamburger this weekend with a 2-1 away victory over VfB Stuttgart. Coming Up: Schalke will try to gain even more ground on Sunday when it will host HSV.
19. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (23) – Unlike Chelsea, Tottenham keeps beating the clubs that it should beat. This week’s victim was Portsmouth in a 2-1 match at Pompey. Coming Up: Tottenham faces another club it should beat this weekend when it hosts Stoke City on Saturday.
20. Ajax (Ned) (25) – Attention all Eredivisie minnows: Ajax is in the habit of running up scores. This week, Ajax demonstrated this to Willem II in a 4-0 drubbing. Coming Up: Ajax will host Dinamo Zagreb in a Europa League match on Thursday. On Sunday, Ajax heads to Alkmaar to take on defending champs AZ in an Eredivisie match.
21. Twente (Ned) (22) – Speaking of defending champions AZ, Twente defeated the club 3-2 to remain atop the Eredivisie table. Coming Up: In Europa League action, Twente will take on Sherriff on Thursday. Twente welcomes FC Groningen to Enschede on Sunday.
22. Werder Bremen (Ger) (BU) – Bremen returns to the rankings for the first time in a few seasons after a 2-0 victory over Hoffenheim moved Werder Bremen into fourth place in the German Bundesliga. Coming Up: Bremen faces Austria Wien on Thursday in a regional Europa League matchup. In Bundesliga action, Werder Bremen will take on VfL Bochum on Sunday.
23. Colon (Arg) (NR) – The only South American club in this week’s rankings is making its first ever appearance on these charts. With a 4-1 victory over Arsenal de Sarandi and a 2-1 victory over Gimnasia La Plata, Colon has moved into second place in the Argentine Clausura. Coming Up: So who’s in first in Argentina? Colon’s next opponent, San Lorenzo, who will take on Colon on Sunday.
24. Panathinaikos (Gre) (BU) – Despite a 2-2 draw with Kavala this weekend, Panathinaikos remains in a dead heat for the top spot in the Greek Super League. Coming Up: In Europa League action, Panathinaikos will host Sturm Graz on Thursday. In league play, Panathinaikos will host PAOK.
25. Olympiakos (Gre) (NR) – And this is the club with whom Panathinaikos is in the aforementioned dead heat. Olympiakos moved into a tie at first in Greece with a 3-0 defeat of Asteras Tripolis this weekend. Coming Up: On Tuesday, Olympiakos will host Belgian club Standard Liege in a Champions League match. On Saturday, Olympiakos will host Ergotelis in Greek Super League action.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Mallorca (Esp), Palmeiras (Bra), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Rangers (Sco), San Lorenzo (Arg).
Next Five: Aston Villa (Eng), Bordeaux (Fra), Fenerbahce (Tur), Fiorentina (Ita), Montpellier (Fra).
Upcoming Matches Between Top 25 Clubs:
Posts
