Not many changes in this week’s WCR Top 25. Real Madrid dropped a few points; I’m not sure why because its Copa Del Rey loss doesn’t factor into the ranking process. Lazio and Tottenham dropped a few points, but those both make more sense since both those clubs suffered disappoint domestic league losses during the week. Other than that, nobody else moved more than two spots in the rankings except for Juventus, who dropped completely out after losing a pair of Serie A matches this week, and Inter Milan, who returned to the rankings after a pair of Serie A victories.
The matches involving a pair of ranked clubs in the past week turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment as the match between Napoli and Juventus was over pretty quickly and Real Madrid was able to run away from Villarreal in the second half. Maybe we’ll have better luck this weekend when Dortmund and Leverkusen face off (Friday) and Tottenham hosts Manchester United on Sunday.
As always, or nearly always, or always when I’m not traveling, all of the matches of the past week and upcoming week for the current ranked clubs are discussed below. The Bundesliga and Ligue Un return to action this weekend so we should start to see a little more movement in the rankings in coming weeks. See you then.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – January 10, 2011
1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – Manyoo remained undefeated in Premier League play with a 2-1 midweek victory over Stoke City. The Red Devils also advanced to the next round of the FA Cup by defeating archrival Liverpool 1-0 on Sunday. Coming Up: Man United is off until next Sunday when it travels to North London to take on Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – At midweek, Barça advanced to the next round of the Copa del Rey on away goals by drawing 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao. This weekend, Barcelona once again had Spanish minnows for lunch, crushing Deportivo La Coruña 4-0. Coming Up: Then next round of the Copa del Rey begins on Wednesday for Barcelona at home against Real Betis. Barça returns to Primera Division action on Saturday against Málaga at Camp Nou.
3. AC Milan (Ita) (3) – Milan’s return to Serie A action started fine enough with a 1-0 victory over Cagliari but its 4-4 goalfest draw with Udinese this weekend had to be disappointing. Coming Up: Milan will return to action on Sunday when it takes on Lecce, who defeated Lazio this past weekend.
4. Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (4) – No matches in past week. Coming Up: The Bundesliga returns to action this weekend, or more specifically on Friday, when Dortmund takes on Bayer Leverkusen in an away match on the fourteenth.
5. Mancehster City (Eng) (6) – Like many of the clubs near the top in the Premier League, Mansee struggled at midweek, but considering it was against the Gunners at Emirates Stadium, I’m sure City will settle for a 0-0 draw. More disappointingly, City also had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Leicester City in its weekend FA Cup match. Coming Up: In Premier League action, City will host Wolverhampton on Satruday.
6. Porto (Por) (7) – Porto’s Liga Sagres roll continued this weekend with a 4-1 defeat of Maritimo. Coming Up: Porto plays a Wednesday Taça de Portugal match against – let’s see if I can get this right – Pinhalnovense – and then returns to league action on Sunday at home against Naval.
7. Real Madrid (Esp) (5) – Real Madrid’s 0-2 loss to Levante in its midweek Copa del Rey match was meaningless since it entered the match with an eight-goal lead in the two-match setup. In its Primera League match, a Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick allowed Real to come from behind to defeat Villarreal 4-2. Coming Up: Real Madrid’s next Copa del Rey two-match setup starts on Thursday against cross-town rivals Atlético Madrid. In La Liga, Real Madrid will “battle” with Almeria on Sunday.
8. Arsenal (Eng) (9) – As mentioned above, Arsenal managed only a single point at home against Manchester City in a huge Premier League match at midweek. This weekend, Arsenal fought Leeds United to a 1-1 draw thanks to a late goal, thus assuring that the London club will be playing midweek matches forever. Coming Up: On Tuesday, the Gunners will face Ipswich Town in a Carling Cup match. In the Premier League, arsenal will stay in London to take on West Ham United.
9. Napoli (Ita) (8) – With a chance to demonstrate that it deserves to be at the top of the Serie A, Napoli failed against Inter Milan at midweek, losing 1-3, but accepted the challenge in smothering Juventus 3-0. I guess that means that the jury’s still out. Coming Up: Napoli will be at home on Saturday when it faces Fiorentina.
10. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) (10) – No current matches.
11. København (Den) (11) – No current matches.
12. Lille (Fra) (12) – Lille returned to action this weekend with a 3-1 victory over Forbach in a Coupe de Ligue match. Coming Up: Ligue Un returns this weekend and Lille will take on Nice in its 2011 Ligue Un debut.
13. Mainz 05 (Ger) (14) – No matches this week. Coming Up: When the Bundesliga returns this week, Mainz 05 will face off against VfB Stuttgart.
14. Villarreal (Esp) (13) – Villarreal defeated Valencia 4-2 at midweek to advance to the next round of the Copa del Rey. On the weekend, the result was the opposite as Villarreal fell 2-4 to Real Madrid. Coming Up: The Yellow Submarine returns to Copa del Rey action on Wednesday at home against Sevilla. In league play, Villarreal will host Osasuna on Sunday.
15. Benfica (Por) (16) – Benfica continued to play well in the Liga Sagres, defeating União de Leiria 3-0 on Sunday. Coming Up: This week, Benfica will face Olhanense in a Wednesday Taça de Portugal match and Académica on Sunday in the Liga Sagres.
16. Olympiakos (Gre) (17) – The club from Piraeus picked up six points in the Greek Super League this week defeating Iraklis 2-0 and then doing the same to Kerkyra by the same score. Coming Up: Only one match for Olympiakos this week when it hosts Panserraikos on Saturday.
17. Lazio (Ita) (15) – Lazio could only manage one point in two Serie A matches this week, following up a 0-0 draw against Genoa with a 1-2 home loss against Lecce. Coming Up: Lazio will look for redemption on Sunday at home against Sampdoria.
18. Inter Milan (Ita) (NR) – The defending world champions return to the rankings following a week that saw it defeat Serie A second-place Napoli 3-1 at midweek and then come from behind to beat Catania by a 2-1 score. Coming Up: Internazionale starts its week at the San Siro on Wednesday in a Coppa Italia match against Genoa. Its Serie A match will be on Saturday against Bologna.
19. Chelsea (Eng) (20) – Chelsea’s troubled times continued at midweek with a 0-1 upset loss at the hands of Wolverhampton. The club looked better this weekend in an FA match against Ipswich Town in which (ips which?) it scored a 7-0 victory. Coming Up: The Blues are on vacation until Saturday when it will host Blackburn Rovers at Stamford Bridge.
20. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (21) – No matches this week. Coming Up: In one of the matches of the weekend, Leverkusen will host Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund on Friday.
21. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (19) – The Spurs went to Liverpool at midweek and walked away with a 1-2 loss to Everton for its troubles. At home over the weekend, however, Tottenham was able to score a 3-0 victory over Charlton Athletic in FA Cup competition. Coming Up: The Spurs will host top-ranked Manchester United at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
22. Fluminense (Bra) (22) – No current action.
23. Trabzonspor (Tur) (23) – No matches this week. Coming Up: Trabzonspor’s 2011 begins with a pair of cup matches this week, against Konya Sekuspor on Tuesday and Manisaspor on Sunday.
24. Paris St.-Germain (Fra) (24) – PSG’s 2011 began this weekend with a 5-1 victory over Lens in a Coupe de France match. Coming Up: Paris St.-Germain will host Sochaux on Saturday when Ligue Un returns to action.
25. Estudiantes (Arg) (25) – No current matches.
Bubbling Under: Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr), Metalis (Ukr), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Valencia (Esp), Zenit St. Petersburg (Rus).
Next Five: Bayern Munich (Ger), Palermo (Ita), Sporting CP (Por), Stade Rennes (Fra), Vélez Sarsfield (Arg).
Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs This Week:
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