If you compare this week’s rankings to last week’s rankings (and you don’t really have to since I sort of do that myself below), you’ll see that things are kind of stagnant at the moment. That’s typical for this time of the season, though things should start moving around again once Super Bonus Points are awarded for the Copa Libertadores, but that’s getting ahead of ourselves.
To the extent there are changes, most are due to the movement of clubs within their own domestic leagues. In the past week, Chelsea has passed Arsenal into second place in the English Premier League, Inter Milan has done the same to Napoli in Serie A and Bayern Munich has dropped to fourth in the Bundesliga. All of those clubs remain in the rankings, but in different positions. One other change is that the MLS’s Real Salt Lake has dropped out of the rankings (down to number 27) for the moment for reasons outlined here, only to be replaced by another club that is taking advantage of a strong start in its Spring-beginning league, CSKA Moscow. For the most part, not much else has changed.
As a reminder, two-leg matchups are factored into the rankings only after both matches have been played. That’s just a little warning in case Real Madrid beats Barcelona on Wednesday – that victory won’t be represented in the rankings unless Real Madrid were able to hold on and eliminate Barcelona from the tournament.
There are several important continental tournament matches this week to which you should be looking forward. In addition to the UEFA Champions League semifinals on Tuesday and Wednesday, the knockout rounds of the Copa Libertadores begin this week and the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final takes place on Wednesday evening in Salt Lake City, Utah. A victory for Real Salt Lake may return it to the rankings. Or it may not. You’ll have to check in next week to find out. For now, here is the current WCR Top 25.
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – April 25, 2011
1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – Manyoo was embarrassed a bit at midweek by settling for a scoreless draw against Newcastle United but its 1-0 victory over Everton over the weekend has moved it that much closer to another Premiership title. Coming Up: United will head to Germany for its Champions League semifinal matchup with Schalke 04 on Tuesday. On Sunday, the Red Devils will be in London to take on slumping Arsenal.
2. Barcelona (Esp) (2) – No treble this season for Barcelona (or anybody else for that matter) as Barça fell 0-1 in extra time to Real Madrid in the finals of the Copa del Rey. In La Liga action, Barcelona scored another victory, of course, beating Osasuna 2-0. Coming Up: The first leg of the matchup everybody has been waiting for in the Champions League between Barcelona and Real Madrid will take place at the Bernabeu on Wednesday. In league action, Barcelona will take on Real Sociedad on Saturday.
3. Real Madrid (Esp) (3) – In case you skipped past the Barcelona summary, Real Madrid did in fact defeat Barcelona 1-0 on a Cristiano Ronaldo header in extra time to win the Copa del Rey. Over the weekend, it also demonstrated that there really is no other competition for it and Barcelona in Spain by defeating the Primera Division’s third place team, Valencia, 6-3 in an away match. And it wasn’t really even that close. Coming Up: Yes, Real Madrid will host Barcelona on Wednesday in the first leg of the two clubs’ UEFA Champions League semifinal. Everybody knows that already. Did you also know that Real Madrid will host Real Zaragoza in a Primera Division match on Saturday? If so, gold star for you.
4. AC Milan (Ita) (4) – Despite having to settle for a 2-2 draw with Palermo in its Coppa Italia match, Milan moved closer to its first scudetto in a while with a 1-0 Serie A victory over Brescia. Coming Up: Next up for Milan will be Bologna at the San Siro on Sunday.
5. Chelsea (Eng) (8) – It was a good week for the Blues as they demonstrated that, to the extent Manchester United has any competition in England, it is Chelsea. This demonstration included a 3-1 victory over Birmingham City as well as a 3-0 win over West Ham United. Coming Up: Chelsea’s next match will be at Stamford Bridge when it hosts Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
6. Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (5) – A 0-1 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach allowed Leverkusen to get within five points of the Bundesliga leaders, but time is running short. Coming Up: On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund will host Nürnberg.
7. Porto (Por) (7) – With a 3-1 away victory over Benfica, Porto advanced to the finals of the Taça de Portugal. Coming Up: Next up for Porto will be a home match against Villarreal on Thursday in the semifinals of the Europa League. On Sunday, Porto will take on Vitória Setúbal in the Liga Sagres.
8. Arsenal (Eng) (6) – Only one point from two Premier League matches this week doesn’t bode well for the Gunners. Arsenal followed up a 3-3 draw with the Spurs with a 1-2 loss at Bolton. Coming Up: It’s not going to get any easier for Arsenal as it is due to host Manchester United in its next Premier League match on Sunday.
9. Inter Milan (Ita) (18) – Much better week for Internazionale, though, as it followed up a 1-0 away victory over Roma in the Coppa Italia with a 2-1 victory over Lazio to move into second place in the Italian Serie A. Coming Up: Inter Milan will look to maintain its spot in the Italian table on Saturday against Cesena.
10. Lille (Fra) (9) – Lille has advanced in the Coupe de France with a 2-0 victory over Nice. It’s shot at the Ligue Un title was put in peril, however, when it drew 1-1 with Lorient over the weekend. Coming Up: Lille will look to bounce back on Saturday at home against Arles.
12. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (12) – As mentioned above, Leverkusen moved to within five points of Borussia Dortmund this weekend with a 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim. Coming Up: Leverkusen will look to continue its roll on Saturday against Cologne.
13. Benfica (Por) (14) – After winning the first leg 0-2 in Porto, Benfica fell 1-3 to Porto this week to be eliminated from the Taça de Portugal by virtue of away goals. The week did get better for Benfica, however, as it defeated Paços de Ferreira 2-1 to win the Portuguese League Cup. Coming Up: Like Porto, Benfica will be in action on Thursday in the Europa League where it will host yet another Portuguese club, Sporting Braga. In the process of playing out the Liga Sagres season, Benfica will take on Olhanense on Sunday.
14. Valencia (Esp) (13) – What’s the difference between second-place and third-place in Spain’s Primera Division? Well second-place Real Madrid crushed third-place Valencia 6-3 in Valencia. It’s that big. Coming Up: Valencia will take on Osasuna on Sunday in an effort to gain back a little pride.
15. Manchester City (Eng) (16) – No matches in past week. Coming Up: Later today, Mansee will take on Blackburn Rovers. On Sunday, West Ham United will come to Manchester to take on City.
16. Napoli (Ita) (10) – Disappointment abounds in southern Italy (though not as far south as Sicily) as Napoli lost 1-2 to Palermo to drop to third in the Italian Serie A. Coming Up: Napoli will host Genoa on Saturday as it looks to bounce back.
17. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) (17) – Shakhtar moved to within an inch of the Ukranian title with a 2-1 victory over Metalist. Coming Up: Shakhtar Donetsk can clinch the style in grand fashion this weekend when it heads to Kyiv to take on Dynamo.
18. Marseille (Fra) (19) – With a 1-0 victory over Montpellier, Marseille won France’s Coupe de Ligue title on Saturday. Coming Up: OM can move into first place in Ligue Un this week with victories over Nice on Wednesday and Auxerre on Sunday. (Technically, a victory over Nice will do it, at least for the time being.)
19. Fluminense (Bra) (21) – a 4-2 victory over Argentino Juniors in the Copa Libertadores allowed Fluminense to squeak into the knockout stage of the South American tournament by the smallest of margins. On the downside, Fluminense lost on penalty kicks to archrival Flamengo following a 1-1 match to be eliminated in the semifinals of the Carioca tournament. Coming Up: Fluminense’s opponent in the Copa Libertadores Round of Sixteen will be Libertad, which it will host on Thursday.
20. Cruzeiro (Bra) (20) – Cruzeiro had better luck in its state tournament, in which it beat América TO 8-1 in the away leg of the series. Coming Up: The home leg of the series takes place on Sunday and I’m sure Cruzeiro is nervous about that. First, though, Cruzeiro will head to Colombia to take on Once Cadas on Wednesday in the Copa Libertadores knockout round.
21. CSKA Moscow (Rus) (NR) – Despite drawing 1-1 with Tom Tomsk this weekend, CSKA Moscow is off to a hot start in the Russian Premier League, which finally has played enough matches for consideration on its own in the rankings. Coming Up: The hot start will be put to an even tougher test at home on Saturday against Spartak Moscow.
22. Bayern Munich (Ger) (15) – Bayern dropped to fourth place in the German Bundesliga this week following a 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt. Coming Up: In a battle of barely-ranked Bundesliga clubs, Bayern will welcome Schalke 04 to Allianz Arena on Saturday.
23. Lyon (Fra) (23) – Lyon stays put in the rankings and in third place in Ligue Un despite losing 0-1 to Paris St.-Germain this weekend. Coming Up: Like Marseille, Lyon will take on two Ligue Un opponents this week; Montpellier at home on Wednesday and away at Toulouse on Sunday.
24. Villarreal (Esp) (25) – The Yellow Submarine remains in fourth place in Spain despite falling 2-3 to Sevilla this weekend. I sense a pattern here. Coming Up: Villarreal will head west to take on Porto on Thursday in its Europa League semifinal away match. Domestically, Villarreal will host Getafe on Sunday.
25. Schalke 04 (Ger) (24) – Only by virtue of Super Bonus Points does Schalke remain in the rankings. Schalke managed to lose at home 0-1 to Kaiserslautern this weekend. Coming Up: After hosting Manchester United in the Champions League semifinal on Tuesday, Schalke will return to the Bundesliga, where it has presumably already quit playing, at Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Bubbling Under: Fenerbahce (Tur), Lazio (Ita), LDU Quito (Ecu), Real Salt Lake (USA), Tottenham Hotspur (Eng).
Next Five: Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr), Liverpool (Eng), Panathinaikos (Gre), Udinese (Ita), Vélez Sarsfield (Arg).
Matches This Week Involving WCR Top 25 Clubs:
26 April – (1) Manchester United at (25) Schalke 04
27 April – (2) Barcelona at (3) Real Madrid
28 April – (24) Villarreal at (7) Porto
30 April – (25) Schalke 04 at (22) Bayern Munich
1 May – (1) Manchester United at (8) Arsenal
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