I’ve been going back and forth on what to call this entry, but after two months in Argentina, this will be the final WCR Top 25 from here and it seems fitting to commemorate that fact. This time next week, I’ll be back in the United States for a few weeks and the rankings will be based there.
I thought about commemorating more Western Hemisphere championships with the title. Here in Buenos Aires, the big news is that Banfield took home the Argentine Apertura title today despite losing to Boca Juniors at La Bombonera. In Mexico, the final of the Apertura is taking place as I write this and Monterrey is about five minutes from winning the championship. I will go ahead and congratulate them in hopes of invoking a jinx because I am rooting for Cruz Azul.
I thought about commemorating the historic nature of this particular edition of the rankings because it is the first countdown in which all of the WCR Top 25 clubs are European. With Banfield and Flamengo backing into championships in the two best non-European leagues in the world, no club from this continent made it into the rankings this week. Let’s hope it’s just a temporary glitch.
I thought about commemorating the fact that this week’s ranking is very different from the prior rankings of the season. The reason for this is that now that the Champions League group stage is over, the data from those matches finally has been included in the data set. (BTW, Monterrey just scored in the 90th minute against Cruz Azul as is pretty much assured the Mexican Apertura title.) The effect of this inclusion is to provide help to clubs from certain domestic leagues (France, Greece, Russia) while hurting clubs from other leagues (Portugal, Netherlands, Scotland). This fact and the fact that there was significant movement in some of the top leagues in the world (Aston Villa jumping from sixth to third in the Premiership comes to mind) means that there is a lot of movement in this week’s rankings. How were your favorite clubs affected? Check it out below.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – December 14, 2009
1. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – It’s now been a while since Chelsea won a game and it’s wiggle room at the top of the rankings is getting rather small. In a meaningless Champions League match, Chelsea finished with a 2-2 draw against Cypriot club APOEL. Domestically, Chelsea could manage only a 3-3 draw with Everton. Coming Up: This non-winning streak almost has to end this week as Chelsea takes on cellar dwellers Portsmouth and West Ham United in this week’s Premier League action. If not, Chelsea may not be in this spot next week.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barcelona finally qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv at midweek. In Primera Division play, Barcelona won its city’s derby with a 1-0 victory over Espanyol. Coming Up: Up next for Barcelona is a trip to the Middle East to play in the Club World Cup. The tournament begins for Barca with a matchup with CONCACAF Champions League winners Atlante on Wednesday.
3. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – Like the club just above it in the rankings, Inter had to wait until the final match of the group stage to clinch advancement in the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Rubin Kazan. Domestically, although a 1-1 draw with Atalanta was disappointing, it allowed Inter to pick up a point on both AC Milan and Juventus. Coming Up: Inter Milan has a midweek Copa Italia match against Livorno. On Sunday, Inter will welcome Lazio to the San Siro for a Serie A match.
4. Manchester United (Eng) (4) – Manyoo holds onto this spot despite losing at Old Trafford to Aston Villa 0-1. In its Champions League matchup, United eliminated Wolfsburg with a 3-1 victory. Coming Up: The Red Devils’ two Premiership matches this week are against lighter competition as it faces the Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham.
5. Real Madrid (Esp) (6) – With two matches against clubs currently in the rankings, both away matches, Real Madrid scored two victories, first 3-1 over Marseille in the Champions League and then 3-2 over Valencia in La Liga. Coming Up: Real Madrid returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Real Zaragoza.
6. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (7) – Leverkusen picks up a spot despite scoring only a 2-2 draw against Bundesliga bottoms Hertha BSC. Coming Up: The Bundesliga has been up for grabs all season and every match is important, including Leverkusen’s match against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.
7. Benfica (Por) (5) – Benfica and Sporting Braga can now smell Porto heading to the top of the Liga Sagres after Benfica drew 2-2 this week with Olahense. Coming Up: Benfica’s Euorpa League future is already settled before its midweek matchup with AEK Athens. Domestically, the European match of the weekend should take place in Lisbon when Benfica hosts Porto on Sunday.
8. Arsenal (Eng) (8) – It didn’t matter much, but for the record, Arsenal fell in Pireaus to Olympiakos 0-1 at midweek in a Champions League group stage match. Domestically, The Gunners piled on Liverpool’s pain with a 2-1 victory over the Reds on Sunday. Coming Up: Arsenal’s Premiership matches this week should be manageable ones against Burnley and Hull City.
9. Bordeaux (Fra) (13) – Bordeaux shoots into the top ten this week following two impressive away victories. First, Bordeaux scored a 1-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa in Israel. Perhaps more impressively, Bordeaux extended its Ligue Un lead with a 1-0 victory over Lyon. Coming Up: Like the Premiership, Ligue Un has two matches this week. Bordeaux’s first match will be another away match against surprise second-place club Montpellier. Over the weekend, Bordeaux will finally play at home again against Lorient.
10. Sevilla (Esp) (17) – Sevilla finished up its Champions League group stage with a 1-0 victory over disappointing Rangers. Domestically, Sevilla picked up three away points with a 1-0 victory over Sporting Gijon to move back into third place in the Primera Division. Coming Up: The only match for Sevilla this week will be a Saturday matchup against Getafe.
11. Schalke 04 (Ger) (21) – Schalke takes a huge jump in the rankings this week by moving into second place in the tight Bundesliga following a 2-0 away victory over Werder Bremen. Coming Up: As it moves closer to Leverkusen in the table, Leverkusen will host Mainz 05 on Friday.
12. Aston Villa (Eng) (BU) – This week marks a big move up the rankings for the club from Birmingham, and deservedly so. Not only did Villa move into third place in the Premiership, it did so by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford 1-0. Coming Up: Villa’s next two Premiership matches should be even easier as it faces Sunderland on Tuesday and Stoke City on Saturday.
13. AC Milan (Ita) (11) – Milan blew a golden opportunity to gain ground on its cross-town rials by losing 0-2 at home to Palermo. In its Champions League match earlier in the week, Milan drew 1-1 with Zurich. Coming Up: In one of the few intriguing weekend matches coming up, Milan will take on Fiorentina on Saturday.
14. Bayern Munich (Ger) (BU) – This was a good week for Bayern. First, it defeated Juventus 4-1 in Turin to advance to the knockout round of the Champions League. Its second away match of the week saw it score a 5-1 victory over VfL Bochum to move into third place in the German Bundesliga. Coming Up: Bayern will host Hertha BSC on Saturday, hoping to fare better against the last-place club than Bayer Leverkusen did last week.
15. Olympiakos (Gre) (24) – With a 1-0 victory over Arsenal, Olympiakos clinched advancement to the knockout stage of the Champions League. Domestically, Olympiakos maintained the top spot in the Greek Super League with at 3-0 victory over Panthrakikos this weekend. Coming Up: Olympiakos will take on Aris in a Sunday Super League match.
16. Valencia (Esp) (10) – Its trip to the top ten was short-lived as Valencia fell at home to Real Madrid by a 2-3 score in a hard-fought battle. Coming Up: Valencia heads to Italy to take on Genoa as it tries to clinch advancement in the Europa League in its final group stage match. Domestically, Valencia will take on Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.
17. Juventus (Ita) (15) – As good a week as it was for Bayern Munich, it was that bad for Juve. First, Juventus lost 1-4 at home to Bayern to be eliminated from the Champions League for this season. Domestically, Juventus fell again, 1-3 to Bari, failing to take advantage of slip-ups by Milan and Internazionale. Coming Up: Juventus will host Catania on Sunday as it looks to bounce back from recent disappointments.
18. Twente (Ned) (16) – Twente was able to maintain its lead in the Eredivisie with a 3-1 victory over NAC Breda. Coming Up: Twente will need a positive result against Steaua Bucuresti if it wants to guarantee advancement to the knockout stage of the Europa League. Domestically, Twente will take on Utrecht on Sunday.
19. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (19) – PSV kept hot on Twente’s heels in the Eredivisie with a 1-0 victory over defending Eredivisie champions AZ Alkmaar. Coming Up: PSV will take on CFR Cluj in a Europa League match that means nothing to PSV. Over the weekend, PSV will take on Roda JC in an Eredivisie match.
20. Werder Bremen (Ger) (9) – A big drop in the rankings for Bremen in a week in which it lost at home to Schalke 04 by a 0-2 score and dropped to fourth place in the German Bundesliga. Coming Up: Bremen will take on Athletic Bilbao in Spain in a match for the top spot of the Europa League’s Group L. Domestically, Werder Bremen will take on Hamburger on Sunday.
21. Porto (Por) (18) – It turned out not to matter for either club, but Porto added to Atletico Madrid’s misery with a 3-0 victory to close out the UEFA Champions League group stage. Domestically, Porto defeated Vitoria Setubal 2-0 to gain ground on both Benfica and Braga. Coming Up: Porto has a chance to make up even more ground on Sunday when it heads to Lisbon to take on Benfica on Sunday.
22. Sporting Braga (Por) (12) – Speaking of Braga, its scoreless draw with Naval this weekend didn’t help the cause. Coming Up: Braga will return to action on Friday when it takes on Pacos de Ferreira in a Liga Sagres matchup.
23. Montpellier (Fra) (NR) – Montpellier returns to the rankings as the surprising club moves to second place in Ligue Un following a 1-0 victory over Toulouse. Coming Up: The glory might be short-lived again for Montpellier as it faces Bordeaux and Nancy Lorraine this week in Ligue Un play. The good news for Montpellier is that both matches are at home.
24. Rubin Kazan (Rus) (NR) – Here is the “Russian Love.” Even though its only match of the week was a 0-2 loss to Inter Milan that eliminated the Russian champions from the Champions League, Rubin Kazan moves into the rankings because of the points brought to the Russian Premier League by CSKA Moscow’s Champions League advancement. Coming Up: No upcoming matches.
25. Marseille (Fra) (NR) – Marseille also returns to the rankings despite a 1-3 loss to Real Madrid that eliminated it from the Champions League. Domestically, Marseille fared better, defeating Boulogne 3-0. Coming Up: Marseille faces two Ligue Un opponents this week, both away. First up is Lorient on Wednesday, followed by St. Etienne on Saturday.
Bubbling Under: Ajax (Ned), Banfield (Arg), Internacional (Bra), Mallorca (Esp), Manchester City (Eng).
Next Five: Flamengo (Bra), Hamburger (Ger), Panathinaikos (Gre), Rangers (Sco), Tottenham Hotspur (Eng).
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