Real Madrid Overtake Barcelona in Digital Engagement Rankings, Sunderland Trend

Real Madrid's dominance on the pitch has translated to their digital engagement ranking this week, with the European champions overtaking great rivals Barcelona atop the leaderboard.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Bleacher Report has teamed up with ListenFirst to produce a new weekly ranking of the world's top football clubs based on their success in social engagement for the previous seven days.

The rankings represent a raw aggregate of daily engagements based on owned, earned and organic consumer behavior on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Wikipedia and YouTube.

In the trending stakes, Sunderland's derby win against Newcastle helped Gus Poyet's side to a strong showing. Napoli and Galatasaray also had a strong week.

In the ever-evolving sports industry, where far more fans are able to be captivated on a smartphone than in a stadium, Bleacher Report has teamed up with ListenFirst Media to keep a finger on the pulse of the digital arena. Every Wednesday, ListenFirst Media will provide Bleacher Report with its Digital Engagement Ratings™ for soccer clubs, a syndicated rating system for digital fan engagement. Think decibel meter on the Jumbotron. ListenFirst Digital Engagement Ratings™ aggregate engagement data across the most critical and widely trafficked digital platforms to assess the level of fan engagement generated by the leading franchises.