Okay, the travel has ended for a few weeks so we are going back to a full schedule of entries starting now. Of course, now isn’t the best time to be at a full schedule because there’s really not a hell of a lot going on. Oh, sure there’s a lot of domestic cup action but those are just glorified exhibitions, at least for the top clubs and at least until the semifinals. We’re still almost a month away from the renewal of the continental championship tournaments. Really, the only thing of much worth going on is the weekly trudge through the domestic seasons as clubs try to put themselves in position to make a run for a title or a Champions League position or to avoid relegation. Of course, those matches are very important, though it’s often hard to see how important they are until you’re granted the gift of hindsight later in the season.
Adding to the drudgery of this point of the season is the fact that no WCR Top 25 Clubs played each other last week or are going to be playing each other in the coming week. It’s basically just a period in which the favorites try to avoid being damaged in the minefields that are their seasons. But since not all of the top clubs are able to avoid these mines, the rankings are still semi-fluid and we continue having to re-rank the clubs.
I don’t have anything of particular interest to add to the brief summaries that I’ll have below, so I’ll just skip to those summaries now.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – January 24, 2011
1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – Another Berbatov hat trick and another United blowout as United took out Birmingham City 5-0 this weekend for another Premier League victory. Coming Up: The Red Devils will make up an earlier cancelled match on Tuesday against Blackpool in league action. On Saturday, Manyoo’s FA Cup run will continue in an away match against Southampton.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – Barça suffered a rare defeat this week, 1-3 to Real Betis is a Copa Del Rey match, but that wasn’t enough to keep Barcelona from advancing to that tournament’s semifinals. In league action, Barcelona won yet again, victimizing Racing Santander 3-0 this week. Coming Up: Barcelona will face its next Copa Del Rey opponent, Almeria, at home on Wednesday. On Saturday, Barcelona will take on Hércules in Primera Division play.
3. AC Milan (Ita) (3) – Milan advance in the Coppa Italia with a 3-0 midweek victory over Bari. Over the weekend, Milan maintained its Serie A lead with a 2-0 victory over Cesena. Coming Up: On Wednesday, Milan faces its next Coppa Italia test in Sampdoria. In league play, Milan will take on Catania on Saturday.
4. Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (4) – A 1-1 draw with VfB Stuttgart put only a slight dent in Dortmund’s huge Bundesliga lead. Coming Up: Borussia Dortmund is off until Saturday when it will take on VfL Wolfsburg in an away match.
5. Arsenal (Eng) (8) – The Gunners defeated Leeds United 3-1 to advance in the FA Cup. Meanwhile, Arsenal used a 3-0 victory over Wigan Athletic to move back into second place in the Premier League. Coming Up: Two cup matches for Arsenal this week as it takes on Ipswich Town on Tuesday in the second leg of the Carling Cup semifinals and hosts Huddersfield Town on Sunday in its next FA Cup match.
6. Porto (Por) (6) – Two matches against Beira-Mar this week resulted in two victories for Porto as the Liga Sagres leaders defeated its opponent 3-0 in a midweek League Cup match and 1-0 in a weekend league match. Coming Up: On Wednesday, Porto will host Nacional in its next Liga Sagres match. Porto’s League Cup season continues on Saturday against Gil Vicente.
7. Real Madrid (Esp) (7) – Real Madrid completed a sweep of Atlético Madrid with a 1-0 victory to advance to the Copa Del Rey semifinals. In league action, Real Madrid kept pace with Barcelona with a 1-0 win over Mallorca. Coming Up: On Wednesday, Real Madrid continues in the Copa Del Rey, this time against Sevilla. In the Primera Division, Real Madrid will take on Osasuna on Sunday.
8. Napoli (Ita) (9) – Napoli’s great season continued as it advanced in the Coppa Italia with a 2-1 victory over Bologna and maintained its second-place spot in Serie A with a 2-0 victory over Bari. Coming Up: Napoli’s next Coppa Italia opponent will be defending champions Inter Milan on Wednesday. In league action, Napoli will host Sampdoria on Sunday.
9. Lille (Fra) (10) – Ligue Un leaders Lille continued its successes with a 3-0 thrashing of Nancy Lorraine early in the week. This weekend, Lille defeated Wasquehal 1-0 in its Coupe de France match. Coming Up: Lille returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Lens in a Ligue Un match.
10. Manchester City (Eng) (5) – City was successful in its FA Cup rematch with Leicester City, scoring a 4-2 victory. Mansee was much less successful in its Premier League match, being upset 0-1 by Aston Villa in Birmingham. Coming Up: City is off until Sunday when its FA Cup quest will continue against Notts County.
11. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) (11) – No current matches.
12. København (Den) (12) – No current matches.
13. Villarreal (Esp) (13) – At midweek, the Yellow Submarine was eliminated from the Copa Del Rey by losing 0-3 to Sevilla in the second leg of the quarterfinal matchup. In La Liga, Villarreal maintained its third-place lead over Valencia by defeating Real Sociedad 2-1. Coming Up: Villarreal returns to action in the Primera Division on Sunday against Espanyol.
14. Chelsea (Eng) (14) – Earlier today, Chelsea put a 4-0 butt-kicking on Bolton Wanderers as it begins to bounce back to early-season form, albeit against weaker competition. Coming Up: On Saturday, Chelsea will be in out west to take on Everton in its next FA Cup match.
15. Benfica (Por) (15) – The boys from Lisbon pulled off two victories this week, defeating Olhanense 3-2 in a League Cup match and beating Nacional 4-2 in its Liga Sagres match. Coming Up: Benfica has two cup matches scheduled for this week, against Rio Ave on Wednesday in the Taça de Portugal and Desportivo Aves on Sunday in the League Cup.
16. Olympiakos (Gre) (16) – In a Greek Cup match, Olympiakos drew 1-1 with PAOK at midweek. In Super League action, Olympiakos defeated Asteras Tripolis 1-0 over the weekend. Coming Up: In a battle of Olympiakoses (Olympiaki?), Olympiakos Piraeus (the ranked one) will take on Olympiakos Valos (the unranked one) on Sunday.
17. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (NF) – Leverkusen returned to second place in the German Bundesliga and back into the rankings with a 3-1 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach. Coming Up: Leverkusen will host third-place Hannover 96 in its next Bundesliga match on Friday.
18. Roma (Ita) (NR) – AS Roma returns to the rankings after a lengthy absence following a week in which it eliminated Lazio from the Coppa Italia with a 2-1 victory and then dislodged its cross-town rival from third place in the Serie A table by defeating Cagliari 3-0. Coming Up: Roma will head to Torino to take on Juventus in its next Coppa Italia match on Wednesday. In league action, Roma will face Bologna on Sunday.
19. Bayern Munich (Ger) (NF) – Bayern also returns to the rankings after a substantial vacation from the list. Bayern’s return comes on the heels of a 5-1 mugging of Kaiserslautern. Coming Up: Bayern will take on Alemannia Aachen in a DFB Pokal match on Wednesday. In the Bundesliga, Bayern will take on archrival Werder Bremen on Saturday.
20. Estudiantes (Arg) (23) – No current matches.
21. Fluminense (Bra) (22) – The Carioca 1 League began in easy enough fashion for Fluminense this week as it was able to score a 1-0 victory over Bangu and another by a 6-2 score over Olaria. Coming Up: Fluminense has two more matches this week in the Carioca League, taking on Macaé on Thursday and Cabofriense on Sunday.
22. Trabzonspor (Tur) (20) – Despite dropping a few points in a 1-1 draw against Ankaragücü, Trabzonspor remains on top of the Turkish Super League table. Coming Up: This week, Trabzonspor takes on the big names of Turkish football, facing off against Besiktas in a Turkish Cup match on Wednesday and going against Fenerbahce in league action on Sunday.
23. Paris St.-Germain (Fra) (21) – In a week of cup action for PSG, it fell in extra time to Montpellier to be eliminated from the Coupe de la Ligue, but advanced in the Coupe de France with a 3-2 victory over Agen. Coming Up: Paris St.-Germain will be a heavy favorite when it takes on Arles on Saturday.
24. Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr) (25) – No current matches.
25. Valencia (Esp) (24) – In one of the most exciting matches of the weekend, Valencia escaped with a 4-3 victory over Málaga. Coming Up: Next up for Valencia will be Racing Santander in a Monday away match.
Bubbling Under: Inter Milan (Ita), Lazio (Ita), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Tottenham Hotspur (Eng), Zenit St. Petersburg (Rus).
Next Five: Juventus (Ita), Metalist (Ukr), Sporting CP (Por), Stade Rennes (Fra), Vélez Sarsfield (Arg).
Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs This Week:
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