We will start off this edition by issuing a congratulatory
message to Brazil’s Corinthinas on becoming the first non-European club to win
the Club World Cup in several years by knocking off Chelsea 1-0 in the
final. Of course, the tournament
is seen as a glorified exhibition my most European fans, and they may have a
point, but it is a source of pride here in South America when one of its clubs
demonstrates that it can compete with the top clubs in Europe.
The Club World Cup can sometimes have an effect on the
rankings, but it doesn’t this time around. One thing that did have an effect, however, was Benfica’s
move into first place in Portugal’s Liga Sagres, which allowed the club to move
into the Top Ten despite being eliminated from UEFA’s Champions League. With two Ligue 1 victories, including
one over Lyon, Paris St.-Germain also made a move into this week’s Top Ten.
With the Club World Cup complete, it is now a good time to
bring up our World Club Rankings Annual Top 25. We’ve compiled these since 1960, having posted all but about
a dozen of them. (For the record,
we recently saved a file with the remaining unpublished rankings and we will be
posting those throughout the season.)
Also, as per tradition, we will be offering you a chance to vote for the
WCR Club of the Year, although, for the record, your vote isn’t used in the
actual tabulations for the award.
That’s enough of that for now. Below is the information for this week’s rankings and
results. Enjoy!!!
World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – December
17, 2012
1.
Barcelona (Esp) (1) –
Starting the week with a 2-0 Copa del Rey victory over Córdoba, Barça continued
its record-setting Primera División start with a 4-1 thrashing of Atlético Madrid at the Camp Nou. Coming
Up: Barcelona will be in action in
La Liga again on Saturday at Real Valladolid.
2. Manchester United (Eng) (2) – In its Premier
League match for this week, United handled Sunderland, winning 3-1. Coming Up: On Sunday, Manyoo will be at Swansea City in its next
opportunity to slap around a lightweight.
3. Bayern Munich (Ger) (3) – Bayern finishes
the first half of the Bundesliga season in first place despite settling for a 1-1 home draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Coming Up: Bayern’s
2012 will come to an end on Tuesday at Augsburg in a DFB Pokal match.
4.
Juventus (Ita) (4) – Juve
was able to extend its lead in Italy’s Serie A table by beating Atalanta 3-0. Coming Up: Juventus will return to action on
Friday at Cagliari.
5. Atlético Madrid (Esp) (5) – Atlético beat
Getafe 3-0 in a Copa del Rey match, but that was the high point of the week for
the other club from Madrid, who lost the battle of Falcao vs Messi by a 1-2
score, and lost the match to Barcelona 1-4. Coming Up: The
second place club in the Primera División will look to bounce back at home
against Celta de Vigo on Friday.
6. Benfica (Por) (12) – With a 4-1 win over Maritimo, and Porto’s postponed match, Benfica moved to the top of the Liga
Sagres, moving the club from Lisbon into the Top Ten. Coming Up:
Benfica will be in action on Wednesday at Olhanense in a Taça de Liga
match.
7. Manchester City (Eng) (6) – City kept pace
with United this week by defeating Newcastle United 3-1, the same score that
United had in its defeat of Newcastle’s archrival, Sunderland. Coming Up: On Saturday, City will host last place Reading in its next
EPL match.
8. Paris St.-Germain (Fra) (13) – PSG won a
pair of Ligue 1 matches this week, slapping Valenciennes with a 4-0 loss before
edging past Lyon by a 1-0 score to take over the lead in France’s Ligue 1
table. Coming Up: PSG will take on Brest in its next
Ligue 1 match on Friday.
9. Real Madrid (Esp) (8) – I’m not sure
what happened this week in José’s world, but Real Madrid 1-2 at Celta de Vigo
in a Copa del Rey match before drawing 2-2 with Espanyol at home, though that
was good enough to move Real Madrid one point closer to second place
Atlético. Coming Up: In the only matchup of WCR Top 25 clubs
this weekend, Real Madrid will be in action at Málaga on Saturday.
11. Porto (Por) (7) – No matches this week. Coming Up: After having its weekend match postponed and dropping to
second place in the Liga Sagres, Porto will play at Nacional in a Taça de Liga
match on Wednesday.
12. Inter Milan (Ita) (10) – Inter fell
further behind Juve this week by losing 0-1 at Lazio in Serie A action. Coming Up: On Tuesday, Inter will host Hellas Verona in a Coppa Italia
match before hosting Genoa in its next league match on Saturday.
13.
Chelsea (Eng) (14) –
Chelsea performed as expected in defeating Mexico’s Monterrey 3-1 in the
semifinals of the Club World Cup, but that’s as good as it got for Chelsea, who
fell 0-1 to Brazil’s Corinthians in the final of the FIFA competition. Coming Up: Chelsea returns to the islands to take on Leeds United in a
League Cup match on Wednesday. On
Sunday, Chelsea will host Aston Villa in its return to Premier League action.
14. Napoli (Ita) (15) – Like Inter Milan, Napoli
also dropped three points further behind the Serie A leader with a 2-3 home loss to Bologna. Coming Up: Bologna can hang around town for a few
more days because it will play at Napoli again in a Coppa Italia match. In a return to league play, Napoli will
play at Siena on Saturday.
15. Málaga (Esp) (16) – Málaga remains in fourth
place in Spain’s Primera División with an impressive 2-0 victory over Sevilla. Coming Up: After a Tuesday Copa del Rey match at Elbar, Málaga will set
its sights on third place in Spain when it hosts Real Madrid on Saturday.
16. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (17) – Leverkusen
picked up a couple points on Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich with a 3-0 win over Hamburger SV in its weekly leage match. Coming Up:
Leverkusen will be at Wolfsburg on Wednesday in a DFB Pokal matchup
between top tier clubs.
17. Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (18) – Dortmund
also gained on Bayern, defeating Hoffenheim 2-1 away over the weekend. Coming Up: Dortmund will be at home on Wednesday in its DFB Pokal match
against Hannover 96.
18. Lyon (Fra) (11) – Lyon’s up-and-down season was
more on the down side this week, drawing 1-1 at home against Nancy at midweek
and then losing 0-1 at Paris St.-Germain on Sunday. Coming Up: Lyon
will be at home against Nice on Saturday as it tries to work its way back up
the Ligue 1 table.
20. Sporting Braga (Por) (NF) – The third place
club in the Liga Sagres lived up to its spot in the table, defeating Estoril 3-0 at home. Coming Up: Braga will be at Vitoria Guimarães on
Wednesday in a Taça de Liga match.
21.
Anorthosis (Cyp) (20) –
Anorthosis remains in first place in Cypriot’s top division after beating Paphos 2-0 this weekend. Coming
Up: Anorthosis will be in action
again on Sunday at Enosis.
23.
Fiorentina (Ita) (NR) –
Fiorentina moved into fourth place in Italy’s Serie A following a 4-1 beatdown of rival Siena over the weekend.
Coming Up: Fiorentina will
play two matches on the road this week, at Udinese on a Wednesday Coppa Italia
match and on Saturday at Palermo in Serie A.
24. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (NF) – The Spurs
continue to do well in the Premier League, beating Swansea City 1-0 to move
into fourth place. Now, watch
Arsenal win the Champions League and Tottenham get relegated to the Europa
League, again. Coming Up: All the Spurs can do is take care of
their own business, and next on that agenda is a visit to Stoke City on
Saturday.
Bubbling Under:
Celtic (Sco), CSKA
Moscow (Rus), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr), Lazio (Ita), Olympiakos
(Gre).
Next Five:
Anzhi (Rus), APOEL (Cyp), Eintracht Frankfurt (Ger), Everton (Eng), Galatasaray (Tur).
Matches This Week Between WCR Top 25 Clubs:
22 December – (9) Real Madrid at (15) Málaga
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