The biggest news in club action this past week has to be the championships won in South America. At midweek, Brazil’s Fluminense defeated Ecuador’s LDU Quito 3-0 but it wasn’t enough to keep LDU Quito from winning the final 5-4 in aggregate and take home the 2009 Copa Sudamericana. Over the weekend, the top domestic league in the Western Hemisphere, the Brasileirao Serie A, concluded with Flamengo dethroning Sao Paolo as the champions following a 2-1 victory over Gremio. Congratulations to both Liga and Flamengo!!!
The biggest news of the upcoming week has to be the Champions League where eight of the sixteen are still up for grabs (to varying degrees) with on a single matchday left. Many of those still chasing down the final knockout round spots are among the top clubs in the world including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan. It should make for a very exciting midweek of action.
Some of the top clubs stumbled this week and Chelsea and Inter Milan both fell to ranked clubs, but both also held on to the top spots in their respective domestic leagues so their rankings were unaffected. Next week, the Champions League group stage results will be factored into the equations (typically, we don’t apply group stage data until the round has been completed), so there might be a lot of movement next week. Or there might not be. We’ll just have to wait and find out. For now, here are the current rankings.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – December 7, 2009
1. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – After rolling through most of the first half of the season, Chelsea hit some rough waters this week. It started with a 3-3 penalty shot loss to Blackburn Rovers to be eliminated from the Carling Cup. It finished with a missed penalty kick and a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester City. Coming Up: In its final group stage match, Chelsea will host APOEL on Tuesday. Domestically, Chelsea will host Everton on Saturday.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barcelona took six away points in La Liga this week with a 2-0 victory over Deportivo Xerez and a 3-1 victory over a tougher Deportivo La Coruna as it gears up for the Club World Cup in a few weeks. Coming Up: Barcelona needs a positive result in the Ukraine against Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday if it wants to guarantee a spot in the knockout round of the Champions League. Barca will host Espanyol in the Barcelona derby on Saturday.
3. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – Inter Milan finally showed some vulnerability in Italy this weekend by falling 1-2 to Juventus in Turin. Coming Up: Inter welcomes a tough Rubin Kazan club to the San Siro on Wednesday in a match that is for all the marbles as far as Champions League advancement is concerned. Still in first place in Serie A, Internazionale will take on Atalanta on Sunday.
4. Manchester United (Eng) (4) – With a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at midweek, Manchester United has advanced to the semifinals of the Carling Cup. In Premiership play, United moved three points closer to Chelsea with a 4-0 victory over West Ham United in London. Coming Up: Manchester United will take on Wolfsburg on Tuesday, though it has already demonstrated that it’s not too interested in the group stage matches at this point. On Saturday, Manyoo will host Aston Villa in an important Premier League match for both clubs.
5. Benfica (Por) (8) – Although few people believe Benfica should be ranked this high, it is in first place in a tough Liga Sagres with a 35-7 goal differential following its 4-0 victory over Academica de Coimbra this weekend. Earlier in the week, Benfica scored a 2-1 win over BATE Barisov in Europa League action. Coming Up: We’ll see if Benfica maintains this position after the Champions League group stage data is added into the mix, but all it can do is take on Olhanense on Saturday and wait.
6. Real Madrid (Esp) (6) – Real Madrid scored an expected victory over Almeria this weekend by a 4-2 score to keep pace with Barcelona, at least as far as the weekend was concerned. Coming Up: Real Madrid has yet to clinch advancement in the Champions League, though it is in pretty good shape heading into its Tuesday match with Marseille. The European match of the weekend (no offense, Liverpool and Arsenal) likely will take place in Spain this weekend as third-place Valencia hosts second-place Real Madrid on Saturday.
7. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (5) – Leverkusen remains narrowly atop the Bundesliga following its 0-0 draw with Hannover 96 this weekend. Coming Up: On Friday, B.L. should have an easier time against Bundesliga cellar dwellers Hertha BSC.
8. Arsenal (Eng) (7) – Like Chelsea, Arsenal was eliminated from the Carling Cup this week, falling 0-3 to Manchester United. Unlike Chelsea, Arsenal bounced back over the weekend with a 2-0 victory over Stoke City. Coming Up: Arsenal’s goal this week will be to do damage to Olympiakos’ Champions League dreams because Wednesday’s match between the two clubs is of no other importance to the Gunners. On Sunday, Arsenal will head to Anfield to take on the disappointing but potentially dangerous Liverpool.
9. Werder Bremen (Ger) (10) – In a relatively meaningless match, Bremen defeated Nacional 4-1 in its Europa League match at midweek. Domestically, Werder Bremen failed to take advantage of Leverkusen’s draw by scoring only a 0-0 draw of its own against Koln. Coming Up: The Bundesliga match of the weekend will take place on Saturday when Bremen hosts Schalke 04.
10. Valencia (Esp) (17) – Valencia makes a huge jump up the rankings following a 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao that moves Valenica into third place in La Liga’s Primera Division. Coming Up: To keep this position, Valencia may need to do what Sevilla did earlier in the season and beat Real Madrid, who visits the orange club on Saturday.
11. AC Milan (Ita) (13) – Milan moved three points closer to the top of the Serie A table this weekend with a 3-0 victory over a Sampdoria club that started the season red-hot but recently has cooled down. Coming Up: It won’t be revenge that AC Milan will be seeking against Zurich this week but salvation as it attempts to clinch a Champions League spot at Stadion Letzigrund on Tuesday. Domestically, Milan will host Palermo in a Sunday Serie A match.
12. Sporting Braga (Por) (9) – Braga’s white-hot start to the season is history, but it still is battling with Benfica for the top spot in the Liga Sagres. Braga lost that position this weekend after drawing 1-1 with Leixoes in league play. Coming Up: Braga will return to Liga Sagres action on Sunday when it hosts Naval.
13. Bordeaux (Fra) (12) – With a 1-0 victory over Paris St.-Germain this weekend, Bordeaux remains on top of the Ligue Un table. Coming Up: Having already clinched its group, Bordeaux’s trip to Israel to take on Maccabi Haifa is pretty much meaningless. On the other hand, Bordeaux’s weekend matchup against Lyon has a lot of meaning for the defending Ligue Un champions.
14. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (14) – Not a good week for the Spurs. It started off with a 0-2 loss to Manchester United to be eliminated from the Carling Cup. Domestically, a late missed penalty kick allowed victory to elude the Spurs as Tottenham finished with a 2-2 draw against Everton. Coming Up: Next up for Tottenham will be a Saturday matchup with Wolverhampton at White Hart Lane.
15. Juventus (Ita) (15) – This weekend saw Juventus bring Internazionale a little closer to the rest of the Italian pack with a 2-1 victory over the several-time defending champions. Coming Up: Juventus needs a draw or better on Tuesday when it hosts Bayern Munich if it wants to advance to the next Champions League round. Domestically, Juventus will face Bari on Saturday.
16. Twente (Ned) (16) – Twente fell 0-1 to Fenerbahce, keeping it from clinching a spot in the knockout round of the Europa League. Domestically, Twente maintained its narrow lead over PSV with a 4-3 victory over NEC Nijmegen. Coming Up: Saturday, Twente will host NAC Breda in its next Eredivisie match.
17. Sevilla (Esp) (11) – Following a surprising 1-1 draw with Real Valladolid, Sevilla finds itself dropping to fourth place in Spain’s Primera Division. Coming Up: Sevilla will try to clinch the top spot in Group G this week when it hosts Glasgow’s Rangers on Wednesday. On Saturday, Sporting Gijon will host Sevilla in league play.
18. Porto (Por) (18) – As Benfica and Sporting Braga fight it out at the top of the Liga Sagres, Porto is slowly moving within shooting distance as it gained ground on Braga this week with a 4-1 victory over Vitoria Guimaraes. Coming Up: Porto already has secured second place in Group D, so its match against Atletico de Madrid will matter little to anybody outside of Spain. On Sunday, Porto will host Vitoria Setubal in the Liga Sagres.
19. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (19) – With a 1-0 victory over Sparta Praha at midweek, PSV clinched advancement to the knockout stage of the Europa League. Domestically, PSV defeated RKC Wallkwijk 2-0 to keep pace with Twente in the Eredivisie. Domestically. On Saturday, PSV welcome defending Eredivisie champions AZ Alkmaar to Eindhoven.
20. Banfield (Arg) (25) – Banfield moved back to the top of the Argentine Apertura this week with a 1-0 win over Huracan. Coming Up: Banfield enters the final week of the Apertura season with championship dreams in its head. In its final two matches, Banfield will host Tigre on Tuesday and finishes its season at La Bombonera on Saturday against Boca Juniors.
21. Schalke 04 (Ger) (20) – This weekend was Schalke’s turn to beat up on the club from the capital as it defeated Hertha BSC Berlin 2-0 to stay in third place in Germany. Coming Up: In one of the bigger matches of the weekend, Schalke 04 will take on second-place Werder Bremen on Saturday.
22. Ajax (Ned) (21) – Like PSV Eindhoven, Ajax clinched a trip to the Europa League’s knockout stage with a 2-1 victory over Timisoara at midweek. In Eredivisie action, Ajax was shocked by a 0-2 smackdown at the hands of Utrecht. Coming Up: Ajax will try to get back on track on Friday when it hosts NEC Nijmegen in its next Eredivisie match.
23. Rangers (Sco) (BU) – Okay, I don’t agree with this one either, and it’ll probably change next week when the Champions League group stage results are applied, but for now Rangers returns to the rankings following a 3-1 victory over Falkirk. Coming Up: Rangers will head to Spain to take on Sevilla on Wednesday in a match that cannot save the season for Rangers. Domestically, Rangers will host St. Johnstone in a Saturday SPL matchup.
24. Olympiakos (Gre) (22) – Over the weekend, Olympiakos was able to keep its spot atop the Greek Super League with a 1-0 defeat of Xanthi. Coming Up: If Olympiakos can secure a point against Arsenal, and maybe even if it doesn’t, it will advance to the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League. In Greek action, Olympiakos will host Panthrakikos on Sunday.
25. Manchester City (Eng) (23) – The rankings are a fickle thing and I have no explanation why Man City drops two notches despite beating Arsenal and Chelsea this week. City’s victory over Arsenal moved it into the semifinals of the Carling Cup. This weekend, Manchester City staked a claim as a club to be reckoned with in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea. Coming Up: City will take on Bolton Wanderers on Saturday in its next league match.
Bubbling Under: Aston Villa (Eng), Bayern Munich (Ger), Celtic (Sco), Flamengo (Bra), Internacional (Bra).
Next Five: Deportivo La Coruna (Esp), Hamburger SV (Ger), Mallorca (Esp), Newell’s Old Boys (Arg), Panathinaikos (Gre).
Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs This Week:
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