European Power Rankings: The Old Continent's 25 Best Football Clubs

Michael CummingsJun 7, 2018

Welcome to another edition of B/R's European power rankings. Here are last week's rankings if you're curious.

So, what's new this week? Well, not a bunch.

Barcelona and Real Madrid still top the list, and only one team dropped out. That means one team moved into the rankings, but it's probably not who you think.

Sorry, Gooners, but to get here, Arsenal need to show more consistency. Of course, that's a topic for another time. For now, let's just get to the rankings.

Dropped out: Valencia (23)

New entry: Twente Enschede

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25. Twente Enschede

1 of 25

Last week: New entry

Results: Beat Steaua 1-0 at home (Europa), beat FC Utrecht 1-0 at home (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: At PSV, March 4; at De Graafschap, March 7 (both in league)

Comments: Twente advanced to the last 16 of the Europa League by finishing off Steaua at home. Steve McLaren's men are now third in Holland's Eredivisie—three points behind leaders PSV—after Sunday's victory over Utrecht. Schalke await in the Europa League on March 8.

24. Liverpool

2 of 25

Last week: 25

Results: Drew 2-2 with Cardiff City (a.e.t.—Liverpool won penalty shootout 3-2) in Carling Cup final

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Arsenal, March 3 (league)

Comments: Liverpool won their first title in six years by edging upstart Cardiff City in Sunday's Carling Cup final. Now, it's back to the league—where a suddenly hot Arsenal lurk next weekend. The Reds are also still alive in the FA Cup.

23. Athletic Bilbao

3 of 25

Last week: 19

Results: Beat Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0 at home (Europa), drew 2-2 at Villarreal (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Real Sociedad, March 4 (league); at Manchester United, March 8 (Europa)

Comments: Bilbao fell to fifth in La Liga this week, but they're still alive and well in two cup competitions. An intriguing Europa League tie with Manchester United is next.

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22. Udinese

4 of 25

Last week: 22

Results: Won 3-0 at PAOK Salonika (Europa), won 3-1 at Bologna (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Atalanta, March 4 (league); at AZ Alkmaar, March 8 (Europa)

Comments: It was a good week for Udinese. That 3-0 win at PAOK was tougher than it sounds, and the victory over Bologna maintained Udinese's hold on third place and Champions League qualification.

It gets harder from here. Atalanta whooped AS Roma on Sunday, and AZ Alkmaar await in the Europa League.

21. Schalke 04

5 of 25

Last week: 18

Results: Beat Viktoria Plzen 3-1 (a.e.t.) at home (Europa); lost 2-0 at Bayern Munich (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: At SC Freiburg, March 3 (league); at Twente Enschede, March 8 (Europa)

Comments: That win over Viktoria Plzen looks more impressive than it should. The teams were level through 90 minutes before Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored twice in extra time. So Schalke are alive in Europe, but their 2-0 loss to Bayern has them fourth in the Bundesliga, still seven points clear of Bayer Leverkusen.

20. Lyon

6 of 25

Last week: 17

Results: Drew 4-4 at home to Paris Saint-Germain

Upcoming Fixtures: At Nancy, March 3 (league); at APOEL Nicosia (UCL)

Comments: Lyon very nearly pulled off a win over PSG but instead settled for an admittedly thrilling draw. That left Lyon still in fifth, six points behind Lille for France's final Champions League spot.

In this year's Champions League, however, Lyon carry a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their Round of 16 tie with APOEL Nicosia.

19. CSKA Moscow

7 of 25

Last week: 20

Results: Drew 1-1 at home to Real Madrid (UCL)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Zenit St. Petersburg, March 3 (league); at Real Madrid, March 14 (UCL)

Comments: CSKA held Real Madrid to a draw last week in the Champions League—something no other club had done this season. Their reward is a trip to the Bernabeu the week after next. That will probably end CSKA's European run, but the Russian Premier League is about to start up again—at long last.

18. Montpellier

8 of 25

Last week: 21

Results: Beat Bordeaux 1-0 at home (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: at Dijon, March 3 (league)

Comments: Montpellier just won't go away. Saturday's home win over Bordeaux, coupled with Paris Saint Germain's draw, sent Montpellier back to the top of Ligue 1.

Could they really beat big-spending PSG for the title?

17. FC Basel

9 of 25

Last week: 24

Results: Beat Bayern Munich 1-0 at home (UCL); beat FC Zürich 1-0 at home (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Lucerne, March 4 (league)

Comments: Basel won't go away, either. After sending Manchester United out at the Champions League group stage, the Swiss champs could do the same to Bayern Munich in the last 16. Oh, and they still lead the Swiss league by six points, though now Lucerne are the nearest chasers.

16. Benfica

10 of 25

Last week: 13

Results: Lost 1-0 at Guimaraes (league), drew 0-0 at Academica de Coimbra (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Porto, March 2 (league); home to Zenit St. Petersburg, March 6 (UCL)

Comments: The second half of February was truly unkind to Benfica. Leading the league by a somewhat comfortable five-point margin midway through the month, Benfica saw that advantage disappear after losing to Guimaraes and drawing at Academica de Coimbra.

The loss to Zenit in the Champions League also hurt, but they'll have a chance to make up for it soon. First is a pivotal encounter with Porto in the league.

15. Porto

11 of 25

Last week: 14

Results: Won 3-1 at Vitoria Setubal (league), lost 4-0 at Manchester City (Europa), beat Feirense 2-0 at home (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: At Benfica, March 2 (league)

Comments: Porto are back atop the Portuguese league, and they'd be higher in the power rankings if not for that humiliating 4-0 loss to Manchester City. This week's match at Benfica will be huge.

14. AZ Alkmaar

12 of 25

Last week: 16

Results: Won 1-0 at Anderlecht (Europa), drew 3-3 at home to Heerenveen (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to SC Heracles Almelo, March 3 (league); home to Udinese, March 8 (Europa)

Comments: Much like Montpellier in France, AZ Alkmaar keep sticking around in Holland. Sunday's 3-3 draw with Heerenveen—in which American international Jozy Altidore scored twice—dropped them two points behind leaders PSV.

But the two clubs still have to face each other April 14, and AZ won the first meeting 3-1 on opening day.

13. Borussia Monchengladbach

13 of 25

Last week: 15

Results: Drew 1-1 at home to Hamburg (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: At Nurnberg, March 4 (league)

Comments: Friday's 1-1 draw at home to Hamburg dropped Gladbach to third, but they haven't lost in the Bundesliga since Dec. 10—and they're only one point behind second-place Bayern Munich. Gladbach are still alive in the DFB-Pokal as well.

12. Zenit St. Petersburg

14 of 25

Last week: 12

Results: Idle

Upcoming Fixtures: At CSKA Moscow, March 3 (league)

Comments: The Russian Premier League finally restarts next week, and Zenit recently re-signed former star Andrei Arshavin from Arsenal. Yippee!

In truth, this ranking will probably drop soon.

11. Tottenham Hotspur

15 of 25

Last week: 9

Results: Lost 5-2 at Arsenal (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Manchester United, March 4 (league); home to Stevenage, March 7 (FA Cup)

Comments: Everything looked great when the Spurs led Arsenal 2-0 near the end of Sunday's first half. Everything looked awful after Arsenal scored five unanswered goals. Manchester United in the league and Stevenage in an FA Cup replay are next.

How will Spurs respond?

10. Paris Saint-Germain

16 of 25

Last week: 10

Results: Drew 4-4 at Lyon

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to AC Ajaccio, March 4 (league)

Comments: PSG trailed Lyon 3-1 and 4-2, so all considered, Saturday's draw was a decent result. That makes two straight draws in the league, and PSG will have to do better if they want to top Ligue 1, ahead of hard-charging Montpellier.

9. PSV Eindhoven

17 of 25

Last week: 11

Results: Beat Trabzonspor 4-1 at home (Europa), beat Feyenoord 3-2 at home (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to FC Twente, March 4 (league)

Comments: PSV had a nice week, finishing off Trabzonspor in the Europa League with a 4-1 home win before beating rival Feyenoord 3-2. To top it off, PSV won even after Feyenoord had erased a two-goal deficit. Now, a showdown with third-placed Twente looms.

8. Bayern Munich

18 of 25

Last week: 7

Results: Lost 1-0 at Basel (UCL), beat Schalke 2-0 at home (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: At Bayer Leverkusen, March 3 (league)

Comments: Bayern are back in second place after Sunday's 2-0 win over Schalke. But it's impossible to ignore that shocking loss at Basel.

7. Juventus

19 of 25

Last week: 8

Results: Drew 1-1 at AC Milan (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Chievo Verona, March 3 (league)

Comments: Alessandro Matri scored a late equalizer as Juventus grabbed a 1-1 draw against AC Milan on Saturday. If not for an incorrect offside call, Juventus would have had another. The Bianconeri are still one point behind Milan, but have one game in hand.

6. AC Milan

20 of 25

Last week: 6

Results: Drew 1-1 at home to Juventus (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: At Palermo, March 3 (league)

Comments: Milan still lead Serie A by one point, and they're on course to advance in the Champions League.

5. Manchester United

21 of 25

Last week: 4

Results: Lost 2-1 at home to Ajax (Europa), won 2-1 at Norwich City (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: At Tottenham Hotspur, March 4 (league)

Comments: It wasn't the best of weeks for Manchester United.

The Red Devils were outplayed by Ajax in the Europa League and lost 2-1, but still advanced, thanks to a 2-0 win in Amsterdam. Then, the Red Devils needed a late winner from Ryan Giggs—in his 900th appearance for the club—to beat Norwich over the weekend. Paul Scholes, 37, also scored in the match.

So, what's happened to Fergie's youngsters?

4. Borussia Dortmund

22 of 25

Last week: 5

Results: Beat Hannover 96, 3-1 at home (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Mainz, March 3 (league)

Comments: Dortmund added to an impressive unbeaten league run with a 3-1 win over Hannover 96—who were the last team to beat Dortmund in the league, on Sept. 10 of last year. That's a span of 17 games, 14 of which have been wins, including the last seven straight.

The gap over Bayern is now four points.

3. Manchester City

23 of 25

Last week: 3

Results: Beat Porto 4-0 at home (Europa), beat Blackburn 3-0 at home (league)

Upcoming Fixtures: Home to Bolton, March 3 (league)

Comments: Manchester City beat up on one relegation scrapper this weekend, and will face another next weekend. In the Europa League, Sporting Lisbon are next. Sounds like smooth sailing.