Power Ranking the Top 25 European Clubs Following Week of Sept 16-22
Welcome to the latest edition of our European club power rankings, where we order the top teams on the continent based on early-season form and squad strength.
With domestic leagues back in action following the season's first international break and the Champions League also underway, there is a bit more to go on as we continue to make our assessments.
25. Marseille
1 of 25
Last Week: 25
Differential: -
Could Marseille be set to rise rapidly through these rankings in the immediate future? Another week, another shutout win (3-0 this time against Rennes), and Marcelo Bielsa's inimitable methods finally seem to be making some sense at the Stade Velodrome.
24. Valencia
2 of 25
Last Week: New!
Differential: New!
Valencia keep going from strength to strength, continuing their vibrant start to the season with a 3-0 home victory over Getafe at the weekend.
With young striker Paco Alcacer driving them, Valencia already look to be a dangerous proposition this term.
23. Napoli
3 of 25
Last Week: 15
Differential: -8
Napoli are the week's big sliders following a 1-0 Serie A defeat to Udinese that leaves Rafa Benitez's side mired in the lower reaches of the embryonic table. Even a 3-1 victory over Sparta Prague in the Europa League cannot paper over the cracks. Is Benitez starting to fear for his job?
22. Everton
4 of 25
Last Week: 22
Differential: -
A bizarre week for the Toffees, who caught the eye with a home demolition of an emerging Wolfsburg side in the first batch of Europa League games before inexplicably falling to a 3-2 home league defeat against Crystal Palace days later.
That loss to the Eagles continues a rather lukewarm start to the domestic campaign for Roberto Martinez's side; with the talent available to him, the Spaniard will hope to see some significant improvements very soon.
21. PSV Eindhoven
5 of 25
Last Week: 21
Differential: +2
PSV Eindhoven continue to be the pacesetters in the Netherlands, making it five wins from their opening six games with a 4-0 rout of Cambuur. Couple that with a 1-0 Europa League victory over Estoril the previous Thursday, and PSV have made one of the strongest starts of any team in Europe this term.
20. Athletic Bilbao
6 of 25
Last Week: 21
Differential: +1
The Basque side got a taste of the difficulty they will now face with the addition of European games in midweek, as they laboured to a 0-0 home draw with Shakhtar Donetsk at home during the first round of Champions League games before falling to a surprise 1-0 loss at San Mames against Granada.
That halted some of the good momentum Ernesto Valverde's side had built in the early weeks of the campaign, but Los Leones remain one of the form sides in Europe.
19. Bayer Leverkusen
7 of 25
Last Week: 16
Differential: -3
"Inconsistency" could be a common word used in conjunction with Bayer Leverkusen this season. The Germans have been one of the most entertaining sides in the early part of the campaign but fell apart somewhat over the last week in successive defeats to Monaco (1-0) and then Wolfsburg (4-1).
The manner of the latter defeat will be particularly concerning and sees them drop significantly in this week's list.
18. Lille
8 of 25
Last Week: 20
Differential: -2
Following a 0-0 draw with Montpellier at the weekend, Lille's slight rise in these rankings can perhaps be attributed to the failures of other sides rather than anything particularly impressive they have done.
17. Porto
9 of 25
Last Week: 17
Differential: -
Porto remain ensconced in 17th following an unpredictable week. A 6-0 win over BATE Borisov in the Champions League was enjoyable but hardly unexpected, while a 0-0 draw with Boavista in the Portuguese league saw them lose further ground on Benfica in the fledgling title race.
16. Tottenham Hotspur
10 of 25
Last Week: 14
Differential: -2
After a bright start, the foul winds already appear to be blowing in for Mauricio Pochettino—although the Argentine still has plenty of time to rectify a run of results that could just be a blip.
A 0-0 away draw against Partizan in Belgrade was commendable if, to be quite honest, hardly an earth-shattering achievement, but the subsequent home loss to West Brom was disappointing by anyone's standards.
The European hangover effect appears to have hit a few clubs over the past week, but Spurs' current troubles seemed to start slightly before that. Pochettino will want to see his side return to the form they showed in the first few games of the season as soon as possible.
15. Benfica
11 of 25
Last Week: 18
Differential: +3
A home defeat to Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League was disappointing, but the Portuguese bounced back with a 3-1 win over Moreirense to assert their position as early leaders once again in the domestic game.
14. AC Milan
12 of 25
Last Week: 19
Differential: +5
The Rossoneri were edged out at home by archrivals Juventus this weekend, but nevertheless it remains a solid start for Pippo Inzaghi—especially after the nightmare of last season. Indeed, if anything, the close game they gave the reigning Italian champions is an indication of the renewed quality the side have this term.
13. Liverpool
13 of 25
Last Week: 12
Differential: -1
Another Premier League side beginning to slide down the list, Liverpool had something of a week to forget by their current standards—barely sneaking past Champions League minnows Ludogorets Razgrad before slumping to a worrying 3-1 away defeat against West Ham in Saturday evening's Premier League match.
Manager Brendan Rodgers suggested after the second match that the exertions of the first one had played a part—with five more group games to come, Liverpool will need to overcome that issue if their league efforts are not to suffer dramatically.
12. Arsenal
14 of 25
Last Week: 9
Differential: -3
A mixed bag for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger over the past week, as they looked absolutely abject in their game against Borussia Dortmund (resulting in a deserved loss to start their Champions League campaign) before bouncing back by occasionally looking irresistible against (the admittedly less threatening) Aston Villa in the Premier League days later.
The Gunners are now only four points off pacesetters Chelsea in the league table—they will now need to address their European efforts.
11. Borussia Dortmund
15 of 25
Last Week: 11
Differential: -
Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund seemed to enjoy opposing fortunes over the past seven days, with the German side getting the better of their head-to-head battle with the Gunners but then returning to domestic engagements with a surprising, and disappointing, 2-0 defeat away to Mainz.
Bayern Munich's draw with Hamburg ensured Jurgen Klopp's men did not lose too much ground as a result of that slip-up, but six points from the first four games remains an inauspicious start.
10. Zenit St Petersburg
16 of 25
Last Week: 13
Differential: +3
An impressive, momentum-building week for Andre Villas-Boas and his men, as they kicked off their Champions League campaign with an impressive 2-0 away victory over Benfica before returning to Russian Premier League action with an emphatic 5-0 triumph over Rostov.
It remains early days in the season, but both results gave an indication of what the Portuguese's side might be capable of this season—if they can add consistency to their many attributes.
9. Paris Saint-Germain
17 of 25
Last Week: 10
Differential: +1
"Zlatanapalooza" kicked off in unexpected fashion last week, as Paris Saint-Germain and their Swedish talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic failed to defeat the first of his former clubs, Ajax, in their opening Champions League game. Instead the French champions were held to a 1-1 draw—following that with an identical result against Lille at the weekend.
No need to panic for Laurent Blanc's side, though, as they nonetheless look the class of the field in France—even at this early stage.
8. Atletico Madrid
18 of 25
Last Week: 4
Differential: -4
So...what happened this week for Diego Simeone and his team?! A Champions League defeat to Olympiakos was something of a shock for Los Colchoneros, immediately putting them on the back foot in their Champions League group, but they followed that up with a 2-2 home draw with Celta Vigo to compound their frustration.
Four points behind Barcelona, it is too soon for any real panic. But Simeone will nevertheless be frustrated at his side—not only that they failed to win either game, but that the first result did not provoke a more vibrant reaction in the second.
7. Real Madrid
19 of 25
Last Week: 7
Differential: -
Have the real Real Madrid finally stood up? A week that saw 5-1 and 8-2 victories was a welcome reaction after successive La Liga defeats and a first real indication that the Florentino Perez-led summer signings may yet result in the attacking, flamboyant style that the president presumably envisaged.
Basel and Deportivo la Coruna are not the very biggest sides in the world, however, so it remains to be seen how Carlo Ancelotti's side fare against another true A-list side (especially having lost to Atletico Madrid).
6. Manchester City
20 of 25
Last Week: 3
Differential: -3
Manchester City might reasonably wonder who comes up with the fixtures for them, after they were handed two massive fixtures in the space of a handful of days. Unfortunately the task was a bit too much for them, as they lost to Bayern Munich before scrambling to salvage a point in Sunday's blockbuster Premier League game against Chelsea.
It would be unfair to judge Manchester City too harshly for those results, but nevertheless they are the sort of games they will need to win more of than they lose if they are to achieve their continuing trophy ambitions this term.
5. Roma
21 of 25
Last Week: 8
Differential: +3
Roma's match against Manchester City at the end of this month could be an illuminating one—a great chance to see just how Rudi Garcia's side stack up against Europe's elite. At the moment you sense they are doing pretty well, dealing brilliantly with those teams put before them.
The past week was no different, as Roma celebrated their return to the Champions League with a 5-1 battering of CSKA Moscow. They then returned to domestic action with a by-the-book 2-0 win over Cagliari—avoiding the continental hangover effect that seemed to bother so many others.
Top of the table with three wins from three, Roma are already on course to prove last season was no fluke.
4. Bayern Munich
22 of 25
Last Week: 7
Differential: +3
A 0-0 draw at Hamburg will not have matched up to Pep Guardiola's exacting standards, but Bayern Munich still finish the week in credit in our books after beating Manchester City 1-0 in one of the season's first true heavyweight clashes.
The winner might have been slightly fortuitous—Jerome Boateng's last-gasp volley could have gone anywhere—but Bayern were arguably good value for their three points, even if they were unable to summon a similar effort when back in Bundesliga action.
3. Juventus
23 of 25
Last Week: 8
Differential: +5
Even after barely five weeks of the season, the stage looks well set for an enthralling title race in Italy, as defending champions Juventus hope to retain a slight advantage over a Roma side who look stronger than they were last term.
Both sides have won all three of their opening fixtures, with Juventus passing their first true test of this campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 away victory at AC Milan. That followed Tuesday's Champions League-opening 2-0 win over Malmo; an expected victory, sure, but still one that had to be ticked off.
2. Chelsea
24 of 25
Last Week: 1
Differential: -1
It was perhaps inevitable that things would slow down slightly for Chelsea after a blistering start to the campaign, although successive 1-1 draws with Schalke and Manchester City are hardly cause to set the alarm bells ringing.
Indeed, the City result was actually rather commendable—although it was close to being even better until a familiar face came back to haunt them. Frank Lampard's goal does not knock his former team off the top spot in this list, but the draw with Schalke possibly does. The German side had started their Bundesliga campaign awfully, so it's perhaps the Blues' first slip of the campaign so far.
1. Barcelona
25 of 25
Last Week: 2
Differential: +1
We're are getting closer to the point where we can unequivocally say that Barcelona are "back," as they continue to make a nearly flawless start to life under Luis Enrique.
A 5-0 weekend triumph over Levante followed a slightly less spectacular 1-0 Champions League win against APOEL Nicosia, but Barcelona remain 100 percent so far in all competitions. Because of that, along with results elsewhere, they edge into the top spot in these rankings. But how long will they be able to stay there?
