European Club Rankings: Real Madrid Finally Lose; Barcelona Bite Back
For the first time this season, Real Madrid lost a game of football they participated in. A 2-1 defeat on Sunday at the hands of Sevilla—a team they'd already played and beaten twice in 2016-17—stopped Zinedine Zidane's side's unbeaten run at 40.
How does this momentous event affect our European Club Rankings? (Watch the video version of our European Club Rankings here)
The rankings are now season-long in their measurement of clubs. Previous editions of the European Club Rankings only took recent form into account (spanning four to six weeks), but this version tracks teams throughout 2016-17.
Teams that have lost the fewest games in all competitions naturally rank higher, and Champions League form and presence is used as a tiebreaker for those with similar records.
25-21
1 of 1725. Sporting CP (stay)
Last week, Bas Dost struck twice to lead Sporting to victory; this week, he struck twice again, but his team were held to a 2-2 draw at Chaves.
24. Hertha Berlin (stay)
Hertha Berlin are on their winter break and return to action on Sunday against Bayer Leverkusen.
23. FC Porto (stay)
For the first time in weeks, FC Porto made up a little ground on title rivals Benfica, beating Moreirense 3-0 as The Eagles stuttered to a draw. The gap to the top is still four points, though.
22. Lazio (stay)
Lazio dispensed with a Franck Kessie-less Atalanta side 2-1 thanks to goals from two of their star performers this season: Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
21. AC Milan (stay)
AC Milan play Torino on Monday to round out Serie A's 20th gameweek.
20-16
2 of 17
20. OGC Nice (stay)
Nice have lost their grip on top spot in Ligue 1, surrendering it to AS Monaco. Their recent form doesn't read too well, either; they've only won one of their last six games.
19. Manchester United (-1)
Although Manchester United vs. Liverpool is a classic Premier League tussle that is often difficult to call, Jose Mourinho's men should have emerged victorious on Sunday. Sadly for them, key men such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba performed poorly for long stretches and only a draw could be salvaged.
18. Tottenham Hotspur (+1)
Spurs have won seven games in a row and have surged up to second in the Premier League table. Their demolition of West Bromwich Albion on Saturday was downright frightening.
17. Manchester City (-4)
Manchester City drop harshly after being opened up at the seams by Everton. They're 10 points off Premier League leaders Chelsea—a gap that seems insurmountable.
16. Sevilla (+1)
We should all be happy for Sevilla. They've only lost games this season when facing elite opposition, and at the fourth time of asking, they finally got one over on Real Madrid.
15. Napoli
3 of 17
Last Week: 16th
Movement: +1
Dries Mertens has 10 goals in his last six games in all competitions for Napoli, netting one of those against Pescara in a 3-1 win on Sunday.
Amazingly, his title of chief goalscorer for the Partenopei is being challenged by a centre-back, as new arrival Lorenzo Tonelli netted for the second consecutive game too. He's turned out to be the quite the short-term boost for Maurizio Sarri's side.
Napoli look capable of overpowering weak teams with ease—the firepower they boast, even sans Arek Milik, is remarkable—but a tough stretch of games is coming up (including Milan and Fiorentina), so we should get a good gauge of just how strong they are soon.
14. Borussia Dortmund
4 of 17
Last Week: 15th
Movement: +1
Borussia Dortmund are on their winter break and return to action on Saturday against Werder Bremen.
13. Roma
5 of 17
Last Week: 14th
Movement: +1
Roma made hard work of it, but their 1-0 victory over Udinese—inclusive of an abundance of botched chances and a missed penalty by Edin Dzeko—pulled them to within just a point of Juventus at the top of Serie A.
Not only were the Giallorossi battling Dzeko's profligacy (he took seven shots and scored no goals), but this was also their first game without Mohamed Salah, who is on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt. Stephan El Shaarawy, ironically nicknamed the Pharaoh, stepped in for him.
12. Atletico Madrid
6 of 17
Last Week: 9th
Movement: -3
A 3-2 loss to Las Palmas in the Copa del Rey in midweek may not have bothered Atletico Madrid fans too much—they had enough in the bank to go through on aggregate—but it is representative of a turning tide. Los Colchoneros do not seem to be the stubborn, resilient team of years past.
That defeat to the Canary Islands team was their sixth of the season already; four of those have come in La Liga, and that's why they're facing a potential nine-point gap to Real Madrid at the top of the table should their rivals win their game in hand.
A 1-0 win over Real Betis on Saturday straightened the ship a little but didn't convince.
11. Benfica
7 of 17
Last Week: 10th
Movement: -1
Having had time to digest the game, Benfica fans might well be happy with their 3-3 draw with Boavista on Saturday. After all, they were 3-0 down after 25 minutes and left themselves quite the pit to escape from.
Unfortunately, the manner in which they achieved the result does little for them in these rankings; it's still a case of points dropped against weaker opposition. For the first time in a while, the Eagles find themselves outside the top 10.
10. Paris Saint-Germain
8 of 17
Last Week: 12th
Movement: +2
Paris Saint-Germain have recorded four straight clean-sheet victories, starting 2017 on the front foot. They're within three points of Ligue 1 leaders Monaco and Nice, edging back to where they believe they belong.
New signing Julian Draxler scored the only goal of the game as Unai Emery's men beat Rennes on Saturday, further endearing himself to a fanbase that was already pleased following a debut goal off the bench against Bastia.
These aren't strong teams PSG are beating, but every win represents a step in the right direction.
9. Monaco
9 of 17
Last Week: 11th
Movement: +2
Heading into Sunday's game against Monaco, Olympique de Marseille had played nine Ligue 1 home games and conceded just a single goal. They were undefeated at the Stade Velodrome, had procured six wins and eight clean sheets.
And Les Monegasques tore them apart.
Two goals in 21 minutes quickly tripled the number l'OM had conceded at home this season, and two more were added in a 4-1 victory. Monaco have plundered 60 goals in 20 league games this season—a ridiculous average of three per game.
8. RB Leipzig
10 of 17
Last Week: 8th
Movement: None
RB Leipzig are on their winter break and return to action on Saturday against Eintracht Frankfurt.
7. Liverpool
11 of 17
Last Week: 5th
Movement: -2
It's January 16, Liverpool have played four games of football in 2017, but they're still winless. This wobble has them trending the wrong way in these rankings.
To grab a draw on Sunday at Old Trafford against an in-form Manchester United side was an impressive feat, as four days previously, against Southampton in the EFL Cup, they put in a poor display.
Manager Jurgen Klopp's plight certainly hasn't been helped by the sheer number of injuries he's had to battle of late, and on Sunday, Nathaniel Clyne was unexpectedly added to the pile.
Things aren't all bad, though. Philippe Coutinho's getting fitter and should be in a position to start soon. That could change everything.
6. Juventus
12 of 17
Last Week: 3rd
Movement: -3
Juventus' lead at the top of Serie A was cut to just a point following their loss to Fiorentina on Sunday. There are sections of the club's fanbase who are unhappy with Max Allegri's management this season, and the sight of Roma creeping upward won't ease their fears.
The defeat snapped a four-game win streak, and although Gonzalo Higuain did find the back of the net for the fourth consecutive league match, he wasn't able to dig the Old Lady out of the hole they found themselves in with half an hour to play.
5. Arsenal
13 of 17Last Week: 7th
Movement: +2
Arsenal's comprehensive victory over Swansea City on Saturday was overshadowed by two things: the early assessments and searing-hot takes on Paul Clement's reign so far in south Wales and the fact Alexis Sanchez threw a tantrum after being substituted in the 79th minute.
Too much has been made of the latter, while you can't judge the former based on a game against a team as strong as Arsenal, so let's stick to the football. The Gunners found a way to break the Swans down and then preyed on their issues to plunder several more. Job done, and a nice boost to the goal difference too.
4. Barcelona
14 of 17
Last Week: 6th
Movement: +2
Last week, this section began: "Barcelona have endured a wretched start to 2017."
What a difference a week can make.
Two wins and eight goals scored later, La Blaugrana are on the up. They overturned a deficit to beat Athletic Bilbao over two legs in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, then followed that up with a thumping 5-0 victory over Las Palmas.
Among the feelgood stories to emerge from the game were Aleix Vidal scoring his first goal in Barcelona colours, Paco Alcacer managing his first goal or assist in La Liga for the club since joining last summer and Luis Enrique being able to rotate his team heavily, combining 16 different starts across the fixtures, and still win convincingly.
3. Chelsea
15 of 17Last Week: 4th
Movement: +1
No Diego Costa? No problem for Chelsea.
The Spain international caused quite the commotion on the eve of the Blues' tussle with Leicester City; he was left out of the squad because of what was officially labelled a back injury, but Sky Sports reported on Friday that he and Antonio Conte had argued and the latter had told him to "go to China."
B/R's Dean Jones sewed a similar thread, reporting that Costa had received a gargantuan offer from a Chinese Super League club, shrouding the situation in yet more mystery heading into the weekend.
On Saturday, his absence wasn't felt. The Blues crushed the champions, Marcos Alonso scored twice and N'Golo Kante enjoyed a happy return to the King Power Stadium. Perhaps this shows what a truly fantastic team they are.
2. Bayern Munich
16 of 17
Last Week: 2nd
Movement: None
Bayern Munich are on their winter break and return to action on Friday against Freiburg. The match will kickstart the Ruckrunde (the second half of the Bundesliga season).
1. Real Madrid
17 of 17
Last Week: 1
Movement: None
So Real Madrid lost a game of football. The unbeaten streak under Zidane ended at 40.
Does that mean Los Blancos finally drop off top spot, having occupied it for the entirety of the 2016-17 season? Not a chance.
The truth is, they're so far out ahead of every other team. These rankings are season-long—recent form is no longer such a key factor—and Zidane's men have so much credit in the bank.
The game itself was almost like a reverse of what we're used to seeing: Real Madrid crumbled late on rather than rallied, Sergio Ramos scored an own goal, not a dramatic equaliser or winner, and it was Steven N'Zonzi, not Luka Modric or Casemiro, who stole the show in midfield.
All statistics per WhoScored.com.
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