European Club Rankings: Barcelona Drop Again, Liverpool Plummet, Chelsea Rise
While England's footballing populous got their teeth into some traditional FA Cup action this weekend, Europe's major divisions kept chugging along. It adds an element of intrigue to this week's European Club Rankings, as we're balancing cup performances with league showings.
The rankings are now season-long in their measurement of clubs. Previous editions of our 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.
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25. Real Sociedad (-1)
Two defeats in a row for La Real, but there's no shame in it. One was to Barcelona, the other was to Real Madrid.
24. AC Milan (-2)
AC Milan's 2-1 defeat to Udinese means it's three on the bounce for head coach Vincenzo Montella. Two came against Napoli and Juventus, admittedly, but it's not a good look.
23. Lazio (-3)
Losing to Juventus last week was excusable, but a 1-0 home defeat to Chievo—courtesy of a late strike by Roberto Inglese—hurts your stock.
22. Inter Milan (New)
If you start the Serie A table from when Frank de Boer was sacked at the San Siro, Inter are top. Stefano Pioli just keeps winning games.
21. OGC Nice (+2)
Nice's first win of 2017 (in five attempts) stops their slide down the ranking. It came at an ideal time, too, as AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain played each other hours later and drew.
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20. FC Porto (+1)
FC Porto emerged from a true battle with Estoril this weekend, winning 2-1 in a game in which 10 different players received yellow cards. Andre Silva netted his 12th Liga NOS goal of the season.
19. Manchester United (Stay)
A goal just before half-time crushed Wigan Athletic's resistance on Sunday. United went on to score three more as the gulf in class reared its head.
18. Manchester City (Stay)
Two good performances in a row? That'll be welcome for manager Pep Guardiola, as it's been about a month since that happened. A good full debut from Gabriel Jesus helped City beat Crystal Palace 3-0.
17. Tottenham Hotspur (Stay)
Tottenham made life extremely difficult for themselves on Saturday but eventually saw off League Two side Wycombe Wanderers 4-3. Son Heung-Min to the rescue.
16. Sevilla (Stay)
Sevilla lost their ninth game of the season on Sunday (that's three more than Milan, for context), going down 3-1 at Espanyol due in large part to a questionable red card to Nicolas Pareja in the second minute.
15. Roma
3 of 17
Last Week: 12th
Movement: -3
AS Roma have been churning out victory after victory of late, keeping up with Juventus with dogged determination, and when Bruno Peres smashed his side 1-0 up against Sampdoria on Sunday it looked as though the run would continue.
But a spirited Sampdoria side equalised, drew level a second time later on, then eventually took a 3-2 lead in the 73rd minute through Luis Muriel. Luciano Spalletti threw on Stephan El Shaarawy, Francesco Totti and Leandro Paredes in search of a third but to no avail.
It's amazing how one result can reshape perspective. Prior to this one, the Giallorossi were in a healthy position in chase of Juve; after it, they're potentially seven points from top spot and well-advised to adjust expectations.
14. Liverpool
4 of 17
Last Week: 9th
Movement: -5
All of a sudden, Liverpool are in freefall.
Last week we postulated that the Reds' Premier League title challenge is done, with that 3-2 loss to Swansea City all but ending their hopes of overhauling Chelsea. Ten points is just too large a gap.
Fans were left keeping themselves warm with the knowledge they were still in two cup competitions, but fast-forward seven days and the Reds have been knocked out of both.
Southampton beat them in both legs of the EFL Cup semi-final, and Saturday saw Championship outfit Wolves remove them from the FA Cup.
13. Atletico Madrid
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Last Week: 13th
Movement: Stay
Last week served as further proof that if Atletico Madrid are to manage any silverware this season, it really has to be in cup competitions.
A midweek draw against Eibar was enough for them to advance to the Copa del Rey semi-finals, where they will face Barcelona. The winner of that tie will be heavily favoured to lift the trophy come May.
But La Liga form has evaded them all season, and Saturday brought more of the same: a hard-earned 0-0 draw with Alaves is not the sort of result a team like Atletico can be proud of—no matter how good Alaves were.
12. Borussia Dortmund
6 of 17
Last Week: 15th
Movement: +3
Every now and then the club rankings throws up strange quirks as it reshuffles, and this week's anomaly is Borussia Dortmund moving up three spots.
They did batter Mainz 05 only to be stung by a late smash-and-grab goal, but a draw is a draw, and BVB spurned the chance to move into third in the Bundesliga as a result.
So why do they move up three? Simply put: Those now just below them messed up to an even greater degree.
11. Napoli
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Last Week: 14th
Movement: +3
Napoli haven't lost since October, and while not every game has yielded three points, that's one hell of an unbeaten record.
Last week they beat Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia, progressing to the semi-final stage, and then drew with Palermo after squandering chance after chance.
Dries Mertens scored, hit the bar and forced several saves from the goalkeeper, but he was still disappointed with the performance—lamenting his team's missed chances to Mediaset Premium after the game (h/t Football Italia).
10. Benfica
8 of 17
Last Week: 11th
Movement: +1
Benfica play Vitoria de Setubal on Monday evening as they look to continue their strong Liga NOS campaign. With FC Porto pulling to within a point this weekend, three points are a necessity.
9. Paris Saint-Germain
9 of 17
Last Week: 10th
Movement: +1
"The lord gives, and the lord takes away."
This famous biblical quote could well be rehashed to summarise Edinson Cavani's performance on Sunday evening; he scored the opener for PSG from the spot, but it was his lapse in concentration that paved the way for AS Monaco's late leveller.
The Cavani gives, and the Cavani taketh away.
8. RB Leipzig
10 of 17
Last Week: 8th
Movement: Stay
For the second week in a row, RB Leipzig's task was made a little easier by the fact their opponents received a red card.
The dismissal of Sandro Wagner ruined TSG Hoffenheim's chances of seeing out a good result against the Bundesliga's second-placed side, and Marcel Sabitzer's untidy effort in the 77th minute made the difference.
Ralph Hasenhuttl's men are still three points off Bayern, but their stubbornness must be a cause for concern in Munich.
7. Monaco
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Last Week: 7th
Movement: Stay
Monaco's usual rapier-like attacking forces were blunted by a cautious Paris Saint-Germain side on Sunday evening, but Bernardo Silva provided a late moment of magic to secure a point.
It preserves Les Monegasques' position at the top of Ligue 1, although OGC Nice have now drawn level on points following their victory.
It also means Leonardo Jardim's men have taken four points from their capital rivals this season, underlining which way the pendulum has swung.
6. Juventus
12 of 17
Last Week: 6th
Movement: Stay
Gonzalo Higuain faced the Italian TV cameras after Juventus' win over Sassuolo on Sunday, insisting coach Max Allegri has shown "courage" to change formations and insists it's a major part of their recent improvement (h/t Football Italia).
Moving to a 4-2-3-1 has allowed Allegri to field Higuain ahead of Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic and Juan Cuadrado, with Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira holding. Marko Pjaca came off the bench on Sunday to further confuse Sassuolo's defence.
It's no wonder the Old Lady are racing into leads and seeing off games with ease.
5. Arsenal
13 of 17
Last Week: 5th
Movement: Stay
Welcome back, Theo Walcott.
In his first appearance since December 18, the Englishman smashed a hat-trick against Southampton at St. Mary's Stadium—in front of the crowd that still revere him as one of their greatest youth products.
Danny Welbeck also netted twice, himself making his first start since before Euro 2016. He showed a touch of class and a slickness of movement you just wouldn't expect of a man who has been devoid of football for so long.
4. Barcelona
14 of 17
Last Week: 3rd
Movement: -1
It would be just dandy if Barcelona could hurry up and decide if they're any good or not; inconsistency continues to blight their season.
They beat Real Sociedad comfortably on Thursday, progressing to the Copa del Rey semi-finals in the process, but were brought back down to earth on Sunday against Real Betis.
Luis Suarez's late equaliser rescued a point at the Estadio Benito Villamarin, and while Barca were robbed of another (due to a lack of goal-line technology), the truth is they were bested for long periods by a team sat in 13th place.
3. Chelsea
15 of 17
Last Week: 4th
Movement: +1
Antonio Conte fielded what was mostly a second-string XI for Chelsea's victory over Brentford on Saturday, but he was still rewarded with a 4-0 scoreline. In fairness, the Blues' reserves are very strong.
Among the feelgood storylines on the day were John Terry playing and not getting sent off; Kurt Zouma bagging 90 first-team minutes; Nathan Ake playing in a Chelsea shirt; Ruben Loftus-Cheek seeing the pitch; and, perhaps best of all, Michy Batshuayi starting and scoring.
2. Bayern Munich
16 of 17
Last Week: 2nd
Movement: -
Bayern Munich overcame the surprisingly stern test of Werder Bremen on Saturday thanks to two phenomenal goals.
Arjen Robben's rocket put them ahead in the 30th minute, and David Alaba guided a beautiful free-kick into the same corner to double the advantage in first-half injury time.
The Bundesliga leaders did look a little ropey defensively and were consistently hit on the counter by Werder's speedsters. The hosts got one back in the second half but couldn't draw level.
1. Real Madrid
17 of 17
Last Week: 1st
Movement: Stay
"Carlsberg don't do weekends, but if they did..." Yahoo Sports' Andrew Gaffney tweeted on Sunday, in reference to the remarkable turn of events that snowballed in Real Madrid's favour.
Zinedine Zidane will have watched with glee as Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were held and Sevilla lost. His troops then went out and did the business, beating a strong Real Sociedad side 3-0. If Los Blancos win their game in hand, they can move seven points clear at the top of La Liga.
It was a much-needed boost following the ignominy of their Copa del Rey quarter-final exit. That's one chance of domestic silverware spurned, so it was important to immediately stamp authority over the opportunity for the other.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
