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So, here it is—Bleacher Report’s Official European Club Rankings. Over the past week, many of the top writers here on B/R—including experts on all aspects of European football—have ...

Bleacher Report's European Club Rankings

by Alex Dimond (Columnist)

42

2525 reads

Rankings/List

September 22, 2008


So, here it is—Bleacher Report’s Official European Club Rankings.

Over the past week, many of the top writers here on B/R—including experts on all aspects of European football—have drawn up their list of the top 20 club sides on the continent.

The criteria was simple—base your opinion on anything you like, but pay particular attention to recent form and one particular question; Head to head, which team would win?

After the lists had been made and submitted, all the information was added, subtracted, divided, and multiplied to come up with the final, overall, conclusive rankings.

The results may surprise you.

So without further ado let’s get into the list—which is made up of six Italian teams, five Spanish, four English, two German, and lone representatives from France, Portugal, and Russia.

Commiserations to Valencia, Marseille, and Rangers—who all narrowly missed out on the final cut. A few good performances, and you just might make it in next time.

 

(NB: bold numbers in brackets (out of 10) offer a mathematical representation of the rankings—a perfect 10 meaning every contributor voted the side as the best, a 5.0 meaning on average everyone voted the team 11th, etc—giving you a clearer idea of how close the teams were in the rankings)

 

20. Sevilla       La Liga              (1.36)

“Having won the UEFA CUP two years running the Spanish outfit failed last season—but they're back again and look a really good side.” (Salomon Gonzales)

“They may have lost some of their high profile stars, but manager Manolo Jimenez has the club playing the right way and—especially at home—they are a match for anyone.”   (Alex Dimond)

 

19. Lazio          Serie A               (1.41)

“Leading in Serie A after just two games—a flash in the pan?” (Gonzalo)

“Lazio have made a perfect start for their season. They have kept faith in their manager Delio Rossi, and they currently have a very good squad with excellent players. Together they can ensure that the club is the surprise package of Serie A come May.” (Zahi Sahli)

 

18. Fiorentina        Serie A          (1.73)

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42 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Yoosof Farah 9 months ago

    great article alex, it's all come together rather nicely. some rather interesting rankings there, especially ac milan down in 11th!!

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  2. Inaki Angulo 9 months ago

    Good Ranking, but in my opinion you are overrating the Zenit.

    They are struggling each week in their league, and the lost to the Juventus in their UEFA Champions League debut.

    Most of the same with the AC Milan.

    Nice work anyway¡

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    • Alex Dimond 9 months ago

      Fair stuff Inaki, their league form certainly has been poor.

      As I say though, this is the combination of a lot of people's opinions, but that doesn't make it conclusive by any means. The more people we can get on board giving their opinions, the better.

      I would love for you to get involved in the ranking process next time - if you fancy it just let me know!

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  3. Marcus 9 months ago

    Thanks for the rankings Alex.... Liverpool at 2 and InterMilan at 5, I think that is a bit high.

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  4. Alan McGuinness 9 months ago

    Nice article Alex, and well done for setting this up.

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  5. illya mclellan 9 months ago

    Inter look stronger than Liverpool. As do Madrid. I think both of these teams will beat Liverpool if they play them this season. I just can't abide Liverpool being the second strongest side in Europe, its just not true. They have played badly this season and then got lucky to win over United and Marseille. There is no way they are that good. This ranking is compromised by their rank on it.

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    • Alex Dimond 9 months ago

      Fair enough, Illya, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

      I don't agree with everything you say - I reckon Liverpool (who were not lucky to beat United) are certainly better than Inter, and probably better than Madrid - but maybe if you get involved with the process next time you will be able to stop the inaccuracies you perceive from happening.

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    • illya mclellan 9 months ago

      fair call, but I have seen both teams play two games and Inter have looked leagues ahead of Liverpool in terms of ability across the pitch(Kuyt wouldn't make the starting line up) and also idea's and genuine goal scoring opportunities created. Adriano is not far off his best and is linking very well with Mancini and Ibrahimovich. They are probably the most dangerous looking attacking unit in Europe. When Cordoba is back I think it will be the beginning of this team winning the Champions league. Liverpool have been patchy at best and their new combinations up front have yet to fire. But as you say, will have to get involved next time. I won't be surprised when Liverpool are shown up though. It will happen soon.

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    • Danny Penza 9 months ago

      Before this weekend, Inter's Serie A games hadn't really been that convincing.

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    • illya mclellan 9 months ago

      they are looking quite convincing now, after the CL league game and the weekend.

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    • Alex Dimond 9 months ago

      Fair comment, Illya, Liverpool have got the results without really playing well so far. It can go one of two ways - either they keep playing poorly and start to drop lots of points, or they start playing well and keep winning. At the moment, though, it looks like the later.

      If that happens, I am sure it will be reflected in the rankings next time out.

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  6. Karen Patel 9 months ago

    Great article Alex, sorry I said I would contribute and didn't, but I've been reporting on non-league football this weekend!

    Had a feeling a few people would object to Liverpool being number 2. Oh well, we will have to see if that list changes over the next few months.

    Let me know when the next set of 'power rankings' are!

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  7. Zahi Sahli 9 months ago

    Excellent idea. Very well done I must say. I dont really think Real Madrid are among the top five though, but it's interesting to get the results that come from combined sources. Well done :)

    Looking forward for the next one!!

    Cheers,

    Zahi

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  8. Ryan Lynch 9 months ago

    Excellent writing as always, Alex. Interesting concept for an article; can't say I agree with the order of much of that, but interesting regardless!

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    • Alex Dimond 9 months ago

      Well get involved next time then Ryan!! And you never know, vote Pompey high enough in your list and they might scrape into the Top 20 next time!

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    • Ryan Lynch 9 months ago

      haha, as die hard of a supporter as I am Alex, I'm honest; we won't be in a list like that anytime soon. Most of us are still dazzled by the prospect of playing a big name like AC Milan or Sevilla, let along being ranked among them.

      Would love to get involved in this next time, though. Great work again!

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  9. Zahi Sahli 9 months ago

    "Does this strength in depth make La Liga and Serie A better than the supposedly dominant Premier League?" LOL. Im sure you know what I'm thinking :P

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  10. Salomon Gonzales 9 months ago

    Great Alex, Im totally loving it!!

    Extremely proud that that general view on B/R is that Chelsea is the best side in Europe. I voted us in 3rd behind United and Barcelona....
    Surprised Barca only made it to midtable after I put them at the very top of my list....

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  11. Joe G 9 months ago

    Great stuff from all involved, I really like what you've done here!

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  12. Joe G 9 months ago

    Great stuff from all involved, I really like what you've done here!

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  13. Anthony Sanchez 9 months ago

    Putting chelsea ahead of united I don't agree with but its arguable.Putting Liverpool before them is just plain laughable.Great read all the same.

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  14. Rafal Ladysz 9 months ago

    Porto didn't win the Champions League four years ago. Werder Bremen is another team that should have made it with the offense they have. Let me know when you do the next one of these, I'd like to contribute.

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    • Alex Dimond 9 months ago

      They won in 2004 I believe Rafal, so I think that is correct. But the fact there have been four winners since then does confuse matters slightly.

      If you want to contribute next time, just drop you email on my bulletin board (I will delete it once I have written it down) and I will add you to list when I email everyone for the next one!

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    • Simon Williams 9 months ago

      Yes they did. 2008 - 2004= 4.

      There have been 4 full seasons since, but it was still just over 4 years ago in time.

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  15. Thomas 9 months ago

    Alex!

    Next time give me a due date please! Anyways, great job on this. Although, I'm disgusted at the fact Chelsea is numero uno

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  1. jb 9 months ago

    Nice!

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  2. Shyam Parthasarathi 9 months ago

    Oops.. I completely forgot about this Alex! My apologies.. it's not exactly been the best week or so for me.

    In any case, great work guys!

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  3. Danny Penza 9 months ago

    We all did a great job! Nicely done boys! Can't wait to be involved in next month's edition.

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  4. Salaar Arshad Shamsi 9 months ago

    Absolutely sensational stuff, Alex - this calls for more editions.

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  5. Bela Trimmel 9 months ago

    Nicely done, Alex.

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  6. Simon Williams 9 months ago

    I am amazed at how the list has turned out to be honest. I am a Liverpool fan, but to have them above Man Utd is incredible really, I wonder what some people are watching. (I voted for Man U as number one)

    I also can't believe Juve as as high as they are, they have done nothing in recent years to warrant that placing, and were very fortunate to beat Zenit in the opening Champions League game.

    Bayern Munich at 7 also seems very high, they were hammered by Zenit only 6 months ago, and have only won 2 of their first 5 league games, including being destroyed at the weekend (although this was too late to have a baring on the list).

    Do Hamburg really warrant a place on the list, the German league is obviously weak and they have done nothing in Europe. And where are Celtic, who have reached the last 16 of the Champs League two years running, as well as maintaining domestic success (yes in a weak league, but they have shown their quality in Europe, unlike Hamburg).

    All in all, a very strange list in my opinion, which just shows the polarisation of views on Bleacher, in a way a good thing, but I doubt if you asked 10 seasoned professional journalists to name their top 20, it would look anything like what we have come up with.

    It strikes me that people have taken 'recent form' to mean the last few matches, but for my money, you have to go much further back than that to get a true picture of a teams quality.

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    • Zahi Sahli 9 months ago

      Juve are top of the league in Serie A and just beat Zenit.

      Bayern lie in second place in Bundesliga and will surely be first soon and have won their first CL match.

      Who is first? Hamburg.

      And why do Man U deserve first place? They are in a bad form, they started the CL with a draw, lost against Liverpool. Plus, Chelsea are first in EPL and won 4-0 against Bordeaux in the Champions League so it's normal for Chelsea to be first. So relax, it's a good list.

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    • Simon Williams 9 months ago

      But all of the leagues have only just started, you can't judge just on form so far this season, that is ridiculous at this early stage.

      Otherwise 1899 Hoffenheim and Hull City have a fair shout at the top 20.

      You only have to look at this weekends results to see the folly of only judging on immediate form:

      Bayern Munich 2-5 Werder Bremen
      AC Milan 4-1 Lazio
      Wolfsburg 3-0 Hamburg

      I rest my case.

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    • Danny Penza 9 months ago

      As a person who voted in this, I didn't include AC Milan in my top 20 Simon.

      Juve deserve the spot. They have had the toughest schedule of anybody so far in Serie A and sitting at the top of the table shows what kind of side they are.

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  7. Dev Ashish 9 months ago

    A bit controversial but fair one as of today I guess since it seems to me that "recent form" and head to head criteria reflect last few matches!
    How come Celtic isnt featuring on the list?? And based on the recent form and head to head criteria, Celtic should have made the cut and not Zenit St. Petersburg!
    Moreover, Arsenal should have ended higher than Inter considering head to head!

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    • Andrew McNair 9 months ago

      I agree Celtic should be there but Zenit are UEFA and Super Cup champs who beat your Manchester United. Why shouldn't they be there?

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  8. Jeff Harbert 9 months ago

    Don't really agree with Liverpool being ahead of United in the rankings, but I'm sure that will change by the next edition! Great job to everyone involved.

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  9. Jeff Harbert 9 months ago

    Don't really agree with Liverpool being ahead of United in the rankings, but I'm sure that will change by the next edition! Great job to everyone involved.

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  10. Barney 9 months ago

    So my Hull suggestion didn't get in then? haha! Great job with this Alex!

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  11. Eric Gomez 9 months ago

    Man, it's way early in the season to stack up what leagues are superior than which others and thus stake a claim as to who's the best team in Europe. Overall, you guys took some pretty good educated guesses and went with consensus favorites, but in football especially, I'd do such a thing month after month.

    Maybe even just at mid-season and towards the end.

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