European Club Rankings: Barcelona, Monaco and Roma on the Up
With every top European league now back in action, perhaps it shouldn't have surprised anyone to see the goals flying in across the continent. Benfica, AS Monaco, RB Leipzig and Barcelona all plundered freely to make the weekend's action thoroughly enjoyable.
Real Madrid's second loss of the season—at home to Celta Vigo, of all the scenarios—also places their position as the top-ranked team in serious jeopardy. Barcelona and Bayern Munich look to ready to pounce.
The rankings are now season-long in their measurement of clubs. Previous editions of the European Club Rankings only took recent form into account (spanning four to six weeks), but this version tracks teams throughout 2016-17.
Teams that have lost the fewest games in all competitions naturally rank higher, and Champions League form and presence is used as a tiebreaker for those with similar records.
21-25
1 of 1725. Hertha Berlin (-1)
Hertha started their Ruckrunde with a loss to Bayer Leverkusen, and that pushes them down to 25th. On the precipice.
24. Real Sociedad (New)
Victory at the weekend saw La Real move to 35 points and level with Atletico Madrid in the La Liga table.
23. OGC Nice (-3)
Nice slip out of the top 20 and continue their recent downward trajectory. That's what one win in six will do for you.
22. AC Milan (-1)
Milan are on a challenging run of fixtures and their results have taken a hit. A draw against Torino was followed by a loss to Napoli.
21. FC Porto (+2)
Porto fans seem pretty content. A good week saw them put four past Rio Ave, and teenage prodigy Rui Pedro came off the bench to score again.
16-20
2 of 17
20. Lazio (+1)
Lazio move up one spot despite losing to a voracious Juventus side at the weekend. They can thank Nice's poor form for that.
19. Manchester United
Wayne Rooney finally broke his record, but that can't hide the disappointment of failing to overcome Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium.
18. Manchester City (-1)
Spare a thought for Pep Guardiola; he just can't catch a break. His City side dominated Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, but squandered chances, a swift defensive collapse and some very bad officiating conspired against them. Only a point gained.
17. Tottenham Hotspur (+1)
They played badly for long stretches, but their forwards took their chances when it mattered. Manager Mauricio Pochettino also showed great tactical acumen in switching systems during the game.
16. Sevilla
Still lingering just outside the top 15 despite sitting second in La Liga. Their early-season form continues to hold them back (they've lost eight games this season, don't forget).
15. Borussia Dortmund
3 of 17
Last Week: 14th
Movement: -1
Borussia Dortmund "won ugly" at the weekend, beating Werder Bremen 2-1 thanks a rare goal from Lukasz Piszczek.
The victory starts Thomas Tuchel's men off on the right note in 2017 after they truly limped into the winter break, drawing three straight.
Showing the resilience to turn draws into wins is key to BVB moving up the Bundesliga table and securing a Champions League spot for next year.
14. Napoli
4 of 17
Last Week: 15th
Movement: +1
No goals for Dries Mertens this weekend, but he did serve up two assists: the first was a brilliant cross-field pass on the stretch to set up Lorenzo Insigne's thunderbolt, the second a deft pass in for Jose Callejon to slide a finish under the goalkeeper.
Both goals stand as two more examples of why the Partenopei play some of—if not the—best football in Europe at the moment. Such slick, decisive, quick moves are rarely found outside of Naples.
13. Atletico Madrid
5 of 17
Last Week: 12th
Movement: -1
An Antoine Griezmann stunner from distance salvaged a 2-2 draw for Atletico Madrid against Athletic Club Bilbao this weekend, but it has to be seen as two more dropped points.
They're now eight points off Real Madrid, and their neighbours have a game in hand. The only chance of silverware for Los Colchoneros this season is in cup competitions, so fortunately they hold a healthy 3-0 aggregate lead over Eibar in the Copa del Rey.
12. Roma
6 of 17
Last Week: 13th
Movement: +1
AS Roma's fourth consecutive Serie A victory kept them within one point of Juventus at the top of Serie A, this week downing Cagliari 1-0. In midweek they smashed Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia, so everything's looking pretty rosy for head coach Luciano Spalletti right now.
The Giallorossi are yet to concede a goal in 2017 having played four games, and they're creating chances frequently. Edin Dzeko may be missing a lot of them, but he generally puts one away per game to make the difference.
11. Benfica
7 of 17
Last Week: 11th
Movement: None
Benfica's last week could hardly have gone any better; victory over Tondela maintained their four-point lead at the top of Liga NOS, while Sporting CP's exit from the Taca de Portugal leaves the Eagles with a straight run for glory.
No Sporting, no Porto and no SC Braga left in the cup? That's surely one piece of silverware in the bag for Rui Vitoria.
Benfica hit 10 goals in their two games last week, with Pizzi and Kostas Mitroglou filling their boots, and Rafa Silva making a welcome impact after a slow start to life at the Estadio da Luz.
10. Paris Saint-Germain
8 of 17
Last Week: 10th
Movement: None
Saturday's victory over Nantes will have been bittersweet for Paris Saint-Germain; while the team played well and Edinson Cavani netted his first goals of the calendar year, Julian Draxler was withdrawn due to a knock.
Unai Emery will be concerned about the latter point given a tussle with Monaco is on the horizon, and it must be said Angel Di Maria—the man who came off the bench and replaced Draxler—didn't inspire much confidence in his cameo.
9. Liverpool
9 of 17
Last Week: 7th
Movement: -2
Liverpool's shock defeat to Swansea City on Saturday paved the way for Premier League leaders Chelsea to pull 10 points clear of them. While there's still plenty of football to be played, it does feel like the Reds' title challenge is now over.
Jurgen Klopp's men have only won one of their last six matches in all competitions, and they're winless in three league games. The absences of Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Joel Matip have been devastating, but at least two of those three are back now.
8. RB Leipzig
10 of 17
Last Week: 8th
Movement: None
A third-minute red card to Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky made RB Leipzig's afternoon on Saturday an easy one. They won 3-0, dominating for long spells and accruing 71 percent possession.
The fact Ralph Hasenhuttl's men played against 10 for so long may taint the victory a little, but there was still a lot to like from this performance—in particular the individual showing of the imperious Naby Keita.
RB Leipzig's stock may have taken a battering on the final day of the Hinrunde, but they've started the Ruckrunde with a bang.
7. Monaco
11 of 17
Last Week: 9th
Movement: +2
Monaco put four past FC Lorient this weekend as they continued their ascent into every football fan's heart, and it might just be that Leonardo Jardim's men are the Borussia Dortmund of 2012—the hipster team everyone kind of loves.
Les Monegasques have now plundered three or more goals an astonishing 13 times in Ligue 1 this season. They show no signs of relenting ahead of their mouthwatering clash at Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.
6. Juventus
12 of 17
Last Week: 6th
Movement: None
Perhaps prompted by the disappointment of losing to Fiorentina last weekend, Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri named a hyper-attacking XI against Lazio on Sunday and reaped the rewards.
With Mario Mandzukic, Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado and Miralem Pjanic all on the pitch from the first whistle, the Old Lady rushed into a 2-0 lead and left Simone Inzaghi's men chasing shadows for the rest of the afternoon.
Allegri must now turn his attention to AC Milan, who they meet on Wednesday in the Coppa Italia.
5. Arsenal
13 of 17
Last Week: 5th
Movement: None
On Sunday, Arsenal managed what has frankly become all too familiar this season—they beat a minnow Premier League side in the most difficult, awkward way possible.
There's no doubt Arsene Wenger's men are churning through victories impressively, but, boy, do they make things hard for themselves.
A 98th-minute penalty was required to put away Burnley, with Granit Xhaka's second red card of the season weakening what was, initially, a strong position.
4. Chelsea
14 of 17
Last Week: 3rd
Movement: -1
Chelsea drop one spot despite claiming victory over Hull City, but when you see who is newly positioned at No. 3, you'll understand why.
The Blues' 2-0 win was pretty routine in its execution, with Diego Costa eventually breaking the Tigers' stout resistance to announce his return to the team in style, but the game will be remembered for the wrong reasons. Our best wishes are with Ryan Mason, who the club have confirmed sustained a fractured skull in a collision with Gary Cahill.
3. Barcelona
15 of 17
Last Week: 4th
Movement: +1
You know it's time to sit up and take notice of Barcelona when they win at the Anoeta Stadium. A traditional bogey ground for them and a source of much angst over the last half-decade, they achieved a rare victory there in beating Real Sociedad midweek.
Luis Enrique's men followed that up with a convincing 4-0 victory over high-flying Eibar—a game in which Neymar scored his 94th Barcelona goal to draw level with Ronaldinho's haul at the club. Injury permitting, you'd expect him to have far surpassed that figure by the time his Blaugrana career has come to an end.
2. Bayern Munich
16 of 17
Last Week: 2nd
Movement: None
Bayern endured a poor start to the second half of their Bundesliga season on Friday, conceding in the fourth minute to Freiburg at the Schwarzwald-Stadion. It was all uphill from there.
But Carlo Ancelotti's men showed spirit, and the comeback was crowned as late as the 91st minute, with Robert Lewandowski firing home his second of the evening. The result maintains their three-point lead at the top of the league.
1. Real Madrid
17 of 17
Last Week: 1st
Movement: None
You wait 40 games for Real Madrid to suffer defeat, and then they go and lose two in a row. Football's a strange beast sometimes.
Zinedine Zidane won't be too worried—his team have a second crack at beating Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, while victory over Malaga means they remain top of La Liga—but their position atop our rankings is now far from secure.
Their overall record for the 2016-17 season is still the best, so they stay at the summit, but we could well be one week away from a change.
All statistics from WhoScored.com
