My first day in Buenos Aires turned out to be the day of the superclasico, even though I scheduled it months before the schedule came out. Fate? Perhaps. Unfortunately, fate also worked to have me arrive too late to attend the match. Fate can be fickle. Because of the fickle finger of fate, the only picture I have is a blurry one of a television screen showing the end of the match in a café in Buenos Aires. Oh well, another time.
If I had to pick a top story of the week, it would have to be the upsets at the Champions League. Particularly, the top two Spanish sides both losing at home, Real Madrid losing 2-3 to AC Milan and even more surprisingly, Rubin Kazan making believers out of the world with a 2-1 victory over Barcelona. Liverpool and Rangers also lost at home in the Champions League, while Arsenal could manage no more than a tie against a troubled AZ Alkmaar. I guess that’s why they play the matches.
Domestically, Chelsea went back top of the Premiership after a great week when Liverpool continued its mastery of Manchester United with a 2-0 victory. Bordeaux also regained the top spot in Ligue Un after Lyon went down in a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Nice. In the tight Argentine Apertura, Colon moved to the top of the table following a 2-1 defeat of former leader San Lorenzo.
Coming up this week, we have three league matches featuring WCR Top 25 clubs. At midweek, in a battle for second place in Serie A, Juventus will host Sampdoria. In a highly anticipated London Derby, Arsenal welcomes Tottenham Hotspur to Emirates Stadium. Perhaps the biggest of them all, however, will be on Saturday when Sporting Braga hosts Benfica in a battle of the top two clubs thus far this season in the Liga Sagres.
All this and much more is discussed in the rankings below.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – October 26, 2009
1. Chelsea (Eng) (5) – Chelsea returns to the top of the topsy-turvy rankings after a week that saw it outscore two opponents 9-0 at Stamford Bridge. First, Chelsea dismantled Atletico de Madrid 4-0 in its Champions League match. Next, Chelsea used a four-goal second half to take down Blackburn Rovers 5-0. Coming Up: On Wednesday, Chelsea will host Bolton Wanderers in a Carling Cup fixture. Saturday will see the same two clubs face off in a Premier League match at Bolton.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – The defending champions were shocked in Champions League play, falling at home to Russian champions Rubin Kazan 1-2. Barca fared much better in La Liga play, crushing Real Zaragoza 6-1. Coming Up: Barcelona will take on Cultural y Deportivo Leonesa (who?) in a midweek Copa del Rey match before taking on Osasuna on Saturday in a Primera Division match.
3. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – Inter was no stranger to the midweek Champions League carnage as it could only fight out a 2-2 draw with Dynamo Kyiv. Domestically, Inter held on to its Serie A lead with a 2-1 victory over Catania. Coming Up: There are two Serie A matchdays this week and Inter will take on Palermo on Thursday and Livorno on Sunday.
4. Real Madrid (Esp) (4) – Perhaps the worst week of the season thus far for Real Madrid. It started off with a surprise loss at home to AC Milan in Champions League play. It ended with a goalless draw against Sporting Gijon in a Primera Division match. Coming Up: Madrid’s midweek Copa del Rey match will be against AD Alcoron on Tuesday. On Saturday, Real will try to return to glory against Getafe.
5. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (6) – A 1-1 draw at home against Borussia Dortmund was enough to leave Leverkusen on top of the Bundesliga table, for now. Coming Up: Bayer Leverkusen will face another tough battle on Saturday when it takes on Schalke 04.
6. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – After avoiding the Champions League upsets with a 1-0 victory over CSKA Moscow in Russia, the Red Devils fared much worse at Anfield, falling 0-2 to hated rival Liverpool. Coming Up: The competition should be a little lighter this week as Manyoo takes on Barnsley on Tuesday in a Carling Cup match and hosts Blackburn Rovers on Saturday as both clubs try to rebound from horrible losses.
7. Arsenal (Eng) (7) – This week was a week of draws for the Gunners, drawing 1-1 with AZ Alkmaar in a Champions League match and 2-2 with West Ham United in a Premier League match, both on the road, though the West Ham match could have been attended via the Underground. Coming Up: Arsenal welcomes Liverpool to Emirates Stadium on Wednesday in a marquee Carling Cup matchup and Tottenham Hotspur comes to visit on Saturday in another big London derby.
8. Benfica (Por) (9) – Everton’s 2009-10 woes were highlighted by Benfica’s 5-0 thrashing of the English club in Europa League play. Coming Up: Thanks to its annoying habit of playing on Monday, Benfica will host Nacional later today. On Saturday, Benfica will travel to take on Sporting Braga in a battle for the top of the Liga Sagres.
9. Sporting Braga (Por) (8) – All good things must come to an end and Braga’s winning streak ended with a 1-1 draw against Rio Ave this past weekend. Coming Up: Braga proved its worth earlier this season by defeating Porto at home. On Saturday, it gets a chance to do it again when second-place Benfica comes to visit.
10. Sampdoria (Ita) (12) – Sampdoria kept pace with Inter Milan in their Serie A race with a 4-1 defeat of Bologna. Coming Up: Like Braga, Sampdoria earlier proved its mettle by defeating Inter. It will have another opportunity to shine on Wednesday when it travels to Turin to take on Juventus. On Sunday, Sampdoria will host Bari.
11. Hamubrger SV (Ger) (10) – HSV added to the Scottish Premier League’s misery with a 1-0 victory at Celtic Park in a Europa League match. Domestically, Hamburger fought Schalke 04 to an exciting 3-3 draw. Coming Up: Hamburger is off until Saturday when its hosts Borussia Monchengladbach in a Bundesliga match.
12. Sevilla (Esp) (11) – Sevilla held up the Spanish banner in the Champions League this week, defeating VfB Stuttgart 3-1. It had a little more trouble over the weekend, scoring a goalless draw with Espanyol. Coming Up: Sevilla’s midweek Copa del Rey match will be against Ciudad de Lorqui. In Primera Division play, Sevilla will take on Deportivo Xerez on Saturday.
13. Bordeaux (Fra) (NR) – Bordeaux returns to the rankings after defeating Bayern Munich 2-1 in their Champions League matchup. It also returns to the top of the Ligue Un table following a 3-0 victory over Le Mans. Coming Up: The top two clubs in the Ligue Un table take on each other on Saturday when Bordeaux hosts AS Monaco.
14. Werder Bremen (Ger) (22) – A big jump for Werder Bremen this week despite scoring only a 2-2 draw against Austria Wien in a Europa League match. The big jump comes as a result of a 4-1 victory over VfL Bochum and moving into third place in the Bundesliga. Coming Up: As one of the few top clubs remaining in the DFB Pokal, Bremen has a midweek match against Kaiserslautern. In Bundesliga play, Werder Bremen will take on Nurnberg on Saturday.
15. Porto (Por) (13) – Porto looks to be on its way to the knockout stage of the Champions League following a 2-1 defeat of APOEL at midweek. It also continued to chase down Braga and Benfica with a 3-2 defeat of Academica de Coimbra in Liga Sagres action. Coming Up: Porto’s next match will be a Liga Sagres match against Os Belenenses on Friday.
16. Manchester City (Eng) (14) – Man City has begun to slip from early form, pulling only a single point at home from a 2-2 draw with Fulham. Coming Up: In its early-round Carling Cup match, Manchester City will host Scunthorpe United on Wednesday. On Sunday, Man City will take on Birmingham City in its Premier League match.
17. Twente (Ned) (21) – After being upset by Sheriff by a 0-2 score in a Europa League match, Twente did what the rest of the clubs at the top of the Eredivisie did and won big. Twente’s victim was Groningen by a 4-0 score. Coming Up: Twente faces Capelle in a midweek KNVB Beker match before taking on Roda JC on Saturday in an Eredivisie matchup.
18. Colon (Arg) (23) – Colon has taken over the top spot in the Argentine Apertura by virtue of a 2-1 victory over San Lorenzo, who had been leading the group heading into the weekend. Coming Up: Colon faces two Apertura opponents this week; Independiente on Wednesday and Huracan on Saturday.
19. Juventus (Ita) (16) – Juventus managed to win its Champions League match this week, but only by a 1-0 score over Maccabi Haifa. 1-0 was also the score of Juventus’ victory over Siena in league play. Coming Up: Both of Juve’s Serie A matches are at home this week, but both are against tough opponents with Sampdoria coming to town on Wednesday and Napoli on Saturday.
20. Valencia (Esp) (NR) – David Villa and the boys return to the rankings after defeating Almeria 3-0 and moving into fourth place in the Primera Division. This made up for a disappointing 1-1 draw against Slavia Praha earlier in the week in a Europa League match. Coming Up: On Tuesday, Valencia will face CD Alcoyano in a Copa del Rey match. In La Liga action, Valencia will take on Malaga on Sunday.
21. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (BU) – PSV also returns, after a much shorter absence, after a two-victory week. PSV defeated Kobenhavn 1-0 to take three points in its Europa League group and followed it up with a 4-0 crushing of NEC Nijmegen. Coming Up: PSV will take on familiar Roda JC in its midweek KNVB Beker match. Over the weekend, PSV will welcome Vitesse to Eindhoven.
22. Ajax (Ned) (20) – Like PSV, Ajax also pulled off two victories this week, defeating Dinamo Bucuresti 2-1 in the Europa League and defending champions AZ Alkmaar 4-2 in the Eredivisie. Coming Up: Ajax faces Dordecht in its midweek cup match. On Sunday, Ajax will host Feyenoord in an interesting Eredivisie matchup.
23. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (19) – After a hot start, Tottenham received a slap in the face this week at the hands of Stoke City in a 0-1 home loss. Coming Up: It won’t get any easier for the Spurs this week. Everton visits White Hart Lane for a Tuesday Carling Cup match. On Saturday, the Spurs will head across town to Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal.
24. Panathinaikos (Gre) (24) – Panathinaikos remains in a dead heat for the lead of the Greek Super League after a 2-1 defeat of PAOK this past weekend. Earlier, Panathinaikos defeated Sturm Graz 1-0 in a Europa League match. Coming Up: Panathinaikos is off until Sunday when it will take on Panionios.
25. Olympiakos (Gre) (25) – If Panathinaikos won 2-1, Olympiakos had to do it also, against Ergotelis, to maintain the dead heat at the top of the league. Olympiakos also scored a 2-1 victory over Standard Liege in its Champions League matchup. Coming Up: Olympiakos has a Tuesday cup match against Panserraikos. In league play, Olympiakos will take on Atromitos on Saturday.
Bubbling Under: Celtic (Sco), Estudiantes (Arg), Fenerbahce (Tur), Palmeiras (Bra), Schalke 04 (Ger).
Next Five: Aston Villa (Eng), Liverpool (Eng), Mallorca (Esp), Monaco (Fra), Palermo (Ita).
Matches This Week Between WCR Top 25 Club:
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