European Club Power Rankings After February 23-25 Matches
A trophy won in England, a match postponed in Serie A, multiple titans clashing across the continent and a worrying Neymar injury: This weekend's football covered "drama" pretty extensively.
The rankings are a season-long measurement of clubs, tracking teams throughout 2017/18 and taking into account results from all competitions.
Sides that have lost the fewest games naturally rank higher—though the strength of opposition met in a loss is considered—and both Champions League form and presence are used as tiebreakers for those with similar records. Teams that gather big wins against strong opposition get a boost.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
20. Schalke 04 (New!)
Every week we have to chop and change our Bundesliga representatives as they struggle for consistency. Schalke come back in and replace RB Leipzig, who may have progressed in the Europa League but have lost three straight games—the latest of which was to bottom club Cologne, at home.
19. Marseille (-1)
Lyon's draw with AS Saint-Etienne meant Marseille's loss to Paris Saint-Germain in "Le Classique" mattered little, with the gap between the Stade Velodrome side and Les Gones in the table shrinking to five points, not three.
18. Shakhtar Donetsk (New!)
With the Ukrainian Premier League back in action following a lengthy winter break, the time is right to award Shakhtar Donetsk a spot in the top 20. Their performance against AS Roma in the Champions League last week was superb—they added the Italian giants to a list of teams beaten this season that already includes Napoli and Manchester City.
17. FC Porto (Stay)
Porto finally caught up on games in the league this week. Midweek saw them complete January's match against Estoril that was abandoned due to safety fears, producing a 3-1 win, and Sunday saw them crush Portimonense.
16. AS Roma (-3)
It's amazing how violently things can shift in football, isn't it?
Last week saw Roma's win streak come to a screeching halt, losing to both Shakhtar Donetsk (2-1) and a rejuvenated AC Milan side (2-0) in the space of five days. They were outplayed by the latter and lucky to return from Ukraine with just a one-goal deficit.
15. Inter Milan (Stay)
Inter's form has been troubling over the last month or so, but even they're not poor enough to mess up against Benevento at home. In the absence of the injured Mauro Icardi, centre-backs Milan Skriniar and Andrea Ranocchia stepped into the goalscoring void.
14. Valencia (Stay)
Much has been made of Valencia's attacking talents this season—particularly Goncalo Guedes—but one player who perhaps hasn't received the fanfare he deserves is Santi Mina. His brace led Los Che past Real Sociedad this weekend and took him into double figures for the season.
13. Lazio (+3)
That's better from Lazio. They snapped a losing streak with a 2-0 victory over Verona on Monday and followed it up with a 3-0 win over Sassuolo on Sunday. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic starred once again, grabbing a brace.
12. Chelsea (Stay)
Chelsea's defensive effort against Barcelona last week was truly heroic, the plan head coach Antonio Conte put in place faultless. But for a chain of errors, Lionel Messi and Co. would have been held scoreless.
Sadly, the Blues followed that up with a tepid performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Willian handed them a well-earned lead, but as the game wore on, the visitors seemed to drift from the contest and conceded twice.
One step forward followed by another straight back: Chelsea's 2017-18 season in a nutshell.
11. Manchester United (Stay)
United fans were rightly disgusted by their team's performance against Sevilla last week, as only a superhuman showing from goalkeeper David De Gea kept them in the tie.
The bottom line, though, is they secured a draw; when you add that to the win over Chelsea on Sunday, it constitutes a great week...results-wise.
10. Real Madrid (Stay)
Things continue to steadily improve for Real Madrid; two more wins were achieved last week, with the club now caught up on games in hand and into third in La Liga as a result.
The feeling that this team are now fully pulling in the same direction has increased of late, and on Saturday it was amplified to the max when Cristiano Ronaldo—on a hat-trick—gave Karim Benzema an 89th-minute penalty in order to boost the Frenchman's confidence.
9. Tottenham Hotspur (Stay)
It's games like the one Spurs won against Crystal Palace on Sunday that reaffirm their status as a top team. Stymied by bad luck and poor finishing for 88 minutes, they finally found the breakthrough they deserved for refusing to give up.
It was probably Harry Kane's poorest game of the season, yet he scored the only goal. The team had to readjust in the wake of Jan Vertonghen's injury, but Eric Dier put in an excellent showing in his central-defensive stead.
8. Napoli (Stay)
Napoli beat RB Leipzig 2-0 on Thursday to draw their Europa League tie on aggregate but exit the competition on away goals. Manager Maurizio Sarri won't care one bit, though; his focus is squarely on the Scudetto, and the Partenopei visit Cagliari on Monday night as their quest continues.
7. Liverpool (Stay)
Liverpool dismantled West Ham United on Saturday, producing a wonderful, overwhelming attacking performance that left David Moyes' men reeling.
The fierce front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino all got on the scoresheet, but it was another who attracted special praise from Reds fans: Andrew Robertson. The Scot's all-action, bombarding display was par for what has been a promising course this season.
6. Atletico Madrid (Stay)
It's difficult to believe this Atletico side bombed out of the Champions League before Christmas. Watching them run riot in Sevilla against a strong side on Sunday evening was a joy.
Antoine Griezmann scored a hat-trick, Koke broke his alarming, five-month goal drought and Diego Costa netted to continue his fine start to his second chapter in Madrid. OK, a few late concessions were made, but this was a carnival performance from Los Colchoneros.
5. Paris Saint-Germain (Stay)
PSG beat Marseille 3-0 on Sunday, but no one's discussing the result—they're talking about whether the injury picked up by Neymar will rule him out of the Champions League last-16 return leg against Real Madrid on March 6.
The Brazil international was carried off the pitch on a stretcher late in the second half with his hands covering his face, sparking mass concern over how serious his ankle roll is. Steel yourself for daily/hourly updates on the situation, football fans.
4. Juventus (Stay)
Juventus' highly anticipated bout with Atalanta was postponed on Sunday due to extreme weather conditions.
3. Bayern Munich (Stay)
Bayern's almighty destruction of Besiktas in midweek was followed by a 0-0 draw with Hertha Berlin on Saturday, but given they're so far ahead in the Bundesliga, it won't bother them.
Jupp Heynckes now finds himself in a situation where he might not know which game to rest players for, as both the Champions League round of 16 and the league are sewn up.
2. Manchester City (-1)
It may seem a little strange to move Manchester City off top spot the day after they beat Arsenal 3-0 in the Carabao Cup final, but allow us to explain.
Last week's rankings were finalised before the Citizens' unexpected loss to League One side Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup, and the loss to a lower-league team is damaging in these stakes. The stroll at Wembley Stadium, while impressive, wasn't enough to undo it all.
A word of praise for Pep Guardiola and his men on Sunday: They looked a little shaky in the first half but found their groove in the second and swept the Gunners away. It was a smart, controlling, dominant performance, and it brought their revered boss his first piece of silverware at the club.
1. Barcelona (+1)
Barcelona emerged from a difficult week of fixtures with two strong results. That, in conjunction with Man City's loss to Wigan, sees them reclaim top spot in the rankings.
Midweek saw them grab an away goal against Chelsea in the Champions League, and while it was by no means a vintage performance, it constitutes an advantage heading into the second leg.
The Blaugrana then turned up the heat on Saturday, putting six past Girona in a stunning display. The win made it 32 league games unbeaten, smashing a club record previously held by Guardiola's 2010-11 charges.
It was the first time all four of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho had started together; as far as first auditions go, this one blew people away.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
