European Club Rankings: Barcelona and Dortmund Rise, Roma Drop Like a Rock
While you might find the upper echelons of this week's European Club Rankings a little devoid of movement, there's plenty to get stuck into in the lower reaches. AS Roma's consecutive losses see them fall to a place unfamiliar to them, while Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City are all on the rise.
The rankings are now season-long in their measurement of clubs. Previous editions 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.
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25. Inter Milan (Stay)
Inter put on a goalscoring show for their fans in the 5-1 win at Cagliari on Sunday, with Ivan Perisic, Mauro Icardi, Ever Banega and, perhaps most pleasingly, Roberto Gagliardini finding the net.
24. AC Milan (Stay)
It seems as though Milan's mini-slump is over; they've won three straight and four of their last five in Serie A. They have been playing some weak teams, though.
23. Atalanta (Stay)
It took a good game from Fiorentina's goalkeeper and back three to keep Atalanta at bay this weekend, holding them to a 0-0 draw despite conceding 16 shots on goal.
22. AS Roma (-9)
It is remarkable what one week can do to your stock in football. Losing to fierce rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia midweek was only made worse by the home loss to Napoli in the league on Saturday. They might be good teams, but those were the Giallorossi's eighth and ninth losses of the season, necessitating a plunge.
21. OGC Nice (+1)
The brilliance of Wylan Cyprien appears to be the only thing holding Nice's Ligue 1 title challenge together. No matter how hard AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain shake their legs, Les Aiglons won't let go.
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20. Arsenal (-1)
Despite being just two points off fourth place with a game in hand, it feels as though Arsenal's season has once again erupted in flames. Alexis Sanchez on the bench for a game at Anfield? What?
19. Lazio (+1)
A momentous victory over Roma in the Coppa Italia left some players (including Lucas Biglia) in tears. It's not often they manage to beat their Giallorossi neighbours. A 2-0 win in Serie A followed, keeping manager Simone Inzaghi's men firmly on track for a strong finish.
18. Manchester United (-2)
There is one problem manager Jose Mourinho is facing, and that's how to turn home draws against lesser sides into wins. The 1-1 draw against 10-man Bournemouth was just the latest in a string of silly, disappointing Old Trafford results.
17. Tottenham Hotspur (+4)
Zipping up back into the top 20 are Tottenham, who beat Everton 3-2 on Sunday. The scoreline flattered the latter, though; on another day, Spurs could easily have netted six. It was such a good performance.
16. FC Porto (+2)
FC Porto beat lowly CD Nacional 7-0 this weekend, with Tiquinho Soares scoring in his fifth consecutive appearance for the club since signing. Andre Silva also hit the 20-goal mark for the season in all competitions.
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15. Liverpool (+2)
Liverpool fans must be among the most frustrated in the world. How is it that they can put in such stunning performances against Tottenham and, most recently, Arsenal, but lose to Hull City and Leicester City?
14. Atletico Madrid (-2)
No doubt their 3-0 win over Valencia on Sunday was impressive and pleasing in many ways—most notably for the fact Fernando Torres was in the stands watching, returning to health—but the midweek draw to Deportivo La Coruna...these are the results that make a top-four finish far from certain.
13. Manchester City (+2)
Beating Huddersfield (in an FA Cup replay) and Sunderland isn't much to shout about, but it's two wins, seven goals and a rare clean sheet in Pep Guardiola's eyes. Moving on up.
12. Borussia Dortmund (+2)
Dortmund beat Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 at the weekend, closing the gap to RB Leipzig in the table a little further and getting Roger Schmidt sacked from his post as Die Werkself manager.
12. Napoli (Stay)
A mixed week for Napoli, who lost to Juventus in the Coppa Italia (albeit with a rotated side) and then beat Roma in the country's capital to close the gap between the two clubs in Serie A to just two points.
10. RB Leipzig
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Last Week: 10th
Movement: None
RB Leipzig were given the opportunity to set out an early stall for the Bundesliga weekend, playing FC Augsburg on Friday night, but they could only reap a 2-2 draw from the fixture.
With Bayern Munich playing the next day and winning, it stretched the gap between the two in the league to seven points. Even football's biggest romanticists will now accept an RB Leipzig title shot is dead.
Still, the game was not without its highlights: Timo Werner scored and Emil Forsberg bagged an assist. In other news, water is wet and grass is most definitely green.
9. Sevilla
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Last Week: 9th
Movement: None
Sevilla travel to Alaves on Monday with the pressure on. They need a victory to close the gap between themselves and Barcelona back to two points.
Recent form is on their side, with five away victories from their last six in La Liga—the one outlier being a loss to Espanyol, a game in which Nico Pareja was sent off inside the first 90 seconds in questionable circumstances, ruining all of head coach Jorge Sampaoli's pre-match preparation.
In midweek they ground out a 1-0 victory of Athletic Club Bilbao despite Stevan Jovetic missing a penalty and rumours linking their manager to the soon-to-be open Barca post.
8. Benfica
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Last Week: 8th
Movement: None
Benfica have put themselves in a superb position to qualify for the final of the Taca de Portugal, beating Estoril 2-1 away from home in the first leg of the semi-finals. The second leg's not until April, though, so for now their attention can turn back to the Primeira Liga and UEFA Champions League action.
Their 1-0 victory over Feirense keeps them top of the league—a drab match, with plenty of possession (almost 70 percent) but fewer than 10 shots; it was an important three points nonetheless.
Next up is Borussia Dortmund away, where they'll look to protect a slender 1-0 lead against an onslaught from Ousmane Dembele, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Co.
7. Monaco
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Last Week: 7th
Movement: None
Watching Fabinho slot home an ice-cool, perfect penalty against Nantes on Sunday brought up an important question: Why didn't he take the one against Manchester City? He's their designated penalty taker in Ligue 1 and is pretty much automatic from the spot; Radamel Falcao missing at the Etihad looks all the more silly now.
Monaco won 4-0 on Sunday, and that's close to the kind of scoreline they'll need next week when they play City. A clean sheet seems a must if they don't wish to work overtime up top.
6. Juventus
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Last Week: 5th
Movement: -1
The joy sparked by Juventus' 3-1 victory over Napoli in the Coppa Italia was rather short-lived. Sunday saw them travel to Udinese, and it was there that Leonardo Bonucci bailed his strikers out by burying a header to scrape a draw.
In the long term, this result doesn't mean much; they're eight points clear of Roma after they also lost, and the Scudetto will almost certainly be hoisted by a Bianconeri soldier at the end of the season.
But in the short term, it just creates a flicker of doubt the week before they need to assume consummate-professional mode to see off Porto in the Champions League, and it also sees them slip one spot in these rankings.
5. Barcelona
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Last Week: 6th
Movement: +1
Since Luis Enrique's announcement that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season, Barcelona have picked up remarkably. The cynics among you may believe the timing was designed to force the players to perk up and, well, this writer is one of them.
La Blaugrana have won their last two matches by an aggregate score of 11-1. Celta Vigo could have been a real tripwire on Saturday as their approach to the game makes things tough, but they were turned over with ease. Even Neymar's scoring at the Camp Nou now; if anything, that's a marker for severe change.
Up next? Overturn a 4-0 deficit in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. Recent form suggests it's not impossible.
4. Chelsea
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Last Week: 4th
Movement: None
Chelsea play West Ham United on Monday at London Stadium. It will be a mightily tough fixture given the Hammers' revival in 2017, but if anyone can produce a plan to nullify the hosts' bullish approach, it's Antonio Conte.
3. Paris Saint-Germain
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Last Week: 3rd
Movement: None
Edinson Cavani scored his 27th Ligue 1 goal of the season as Paris Saint-Germain beat Nancy 1-0 on Saturday. He's played 2,078 minutes in the league this term, meaning he nets, on average, every 77 minutes—incredible.
A much-changed PSG team beat Niort days before in the Coupe de France, with manager Unai Emery giving the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Jean-Kevin Augustin a healthy runout.
Up next is Barcelona away. Les Parisiens hold a 4-0 aggregate lead after that stunning first-leg performance in February, but given Luis Enrique's men have scored 11 in two games, this one's not as cut and dried as perhaps first expected.
2. Real Madrid
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Last Week: 2nd
Movement: None
Zinedine Zidane has a bit of a problem: While his Real Madrid team may well be very good on the big occasion, they're also completely able and willing to let things slip against smaller fish.
Their 3-3 draw against Las Palmas in midweek, salvaged thanks to two last-gasp goals, was close to a complete disaster. Gareth Bale getting sent off, Sergio Ramos conceding (another) penalty, Kevin-Prince Boateng outpacing Marcelo before scoring...the list of alarming elements to the game was endless.
But Los Blancos find a way; they nearly always do. Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez were the saviours against Las Palmas, and the team learnt their lesson promptly for the next game. They stuffed Eibar 4-1 and were three up by the half-hour mark.
1. Bayern Munich
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Last Week: 1st
Movement: None
Bayern Munich enjoyed a very good first week at the top of our European Club Rankings.
First they beat Schalke 04 3-0 in the DFB-Pokal, and then they beat FC Cologne 3-0 in the Bundesliga. The cup tie saw two usual suspects (Robert Lewandowski and Thiago Alcantara) score; in the second a slightly stranger set did the damage—Javi Martinez, Juan Bernat and Franck Ribery.
The fact Bayern have goals coming from all the over pitch right now will scare the life out of Arsenal, who they square off against on Tuesday in the Champions League. A 5-1 deficit seems downright impossible to overturn given the state of the two clubs right now.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
