European Club Power Rankings After November 24-26 Matches
Every now and then, the fixture computer hands us a treat, and this weekend was one of those occasions.
Liverpool vs. Chelsea, Valencia vs. Barcelona and AS Monaco vs. Paris Saint-Germain made for a superb slate of games to follow up on an excellent Champions League round.
The rankings are a season-long measurement of clubs. Just like last term, they track teams throughout 2017/18, taking into account results from all competitions.
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Sides that have lost the fewest games naturally rank higher—though the strength of opposition met in a loss is considered—and both Champions League form and presence are used as tiebreakers for those with similar records. Those who gather big wins against strong opposition get a natural boost.
20. Schalke 04 (New!)
This week the rankings lose Monaco, who tallied up two losses in the space of five days, and replacing them is Schalke 04. Their fightback from 0-4 to 4-4 in the derby against Borussia Dortmund captured hearts worldwide—and drew the spotlight on to how sneaky-good their 2017-18 has been.
19. Sevilla (+1)
Sevilla and epic comebacks, eh?
They hauled themselves back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Liverpool in midweek, then fell two behind against Villarreal this weekend before netting three in the second half to claim all the points.
Imagine what they could achieve if they started as quickly as they finished?
18. Liverpool (-1)
On paper, draws against Sevilla (away) and Chelsea (home) are good results for Liverpool, but the nature of how the games played out is troubling. Leads were squandered in both—and in the Sevilla case, embarrassingly so. It feels like four points dropped, not two gained.
17. Arsenal (-2)
Arsenal produced a gritty, brave display to defeat Burnley on Sunday, building on their north London derby victory in perfect fashion. It took a contentious penalty decision to secure three points, but they scraped home.
Sadly, their stock is hurt by the midweek loss to basement Bundesliga side FC Cologne.
16. Lyon (+2)
Lyon beat Nice 5-0 away from home on Sunday to continue their astonishing run of form. They haven't conceded a goal since October 19, to Everton, and they've scored 24 since then.
They've also won their last three away games by a 5-0 scoreline.
15. Atletico Madrid (+1)
Last week, Atletico Madrid remembered how to score goals.
A 2-0 triumph over AS Roma kept their (faint) Champions League qualification hopes alive, and putting five past Levante—even if some of the goals were more to do with alarming defending than anything else—is positive. Antoine Griezmann being back among the scorers can only be good.
14. Tottenham Hotspur (Stay)
Tottenham's victory in Dortmund last week means top spot in a Champions League group containing BVB and Real Madrid is sewn up. That's incredible.
They came back down to earth on Saturday, struggling to a draw at home to West Bromwich Albion, and it felt in many ways like the game immediately after their win over Real Madrid at the beginning of the month. The squad, drained and sans rotation due to injuries, can't seem to recover quickly enough.
13. Chelsea (Stay)
Chelsea will be happy with a four-point haul from a trip to Qarabag and a visit to Anfield.
The win in Azerbaijan wasn't as simple as the scoreline suggests, and the draw against Liverpool came courtesy of another deceptive, perhaps slightly fortunate cross/shot goal, but it's an acceptable return from a travel-filled week.
12. Lazio (-3)
Lazio seem to have dropped off a little. Having put together a nine-game win streak in relentless fashion, they're now without a victory in three, drawing with Vitesse Arnhem in midweek and Fiorentina on Sunday.
Sunday's result will trouble Simone Inzaghi all week, as they were in control of the game but contrived to concede a 93rd-minute equaliser. It's a result that sets them back in Serie A.
11. Manchester United (-1)
United should have top spot in their Champions League group sorted, but last week's last-gasp loss to FC Basel means they now have to get something against CSKA Moscow on December 5.
The poor performance in Switzerland was followed up by another rough one at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, the deadlock being broken only by a deflected, looping strike from Ashley Young.
10. AS Roma (-2)
Not the best week for Roma. A poor performance saw them lose to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League—though they are still a home win over Qarabag from advancing to the round of 16—and Daniele De Rossi's red-card silliness cost them a win at Genoa.
9. Juventus (+3)
Good teams bounce back from disappointment, and that's what Juventus did this week.
A draw with Barcelona in midweek put them in a strong qualifying position in the Champions League. They'll want to beat Olympiakos next week to make sure of progression, though they're only in trouble if Sporting CP win at the Camp Nou.
Crotone provided no challenge on Sunday, rolling over meekly to the tune of a 3-0 scoreline that saw them accrue just 19 percent possession.
8. Real Madrid (+3)
Real Madrid have endured a troubling season on the whole, but their last four results hint at a turning of the tide.
Battering Las Palmas and APOEL is par for the course, but they've also shown resilience in an obstinate draw with Atletico and a gritty win over Malaga. The Malaga match, in particular, felt like a game they would fail to win had it been played in October, not November.
7. Bayern Munich (-3)
The flawless, winning run under Jupp Heynckes is over. The loss to Borussia Monchengladbach was the coach's first since retaking the reins in Bavaria (and also Niklas Sule's first since signing for the club). It allowed RB Leipzig to pull within three in the Bundesliga.
It capped a subpar week for the club, as they'd previously struggled past Anderlecht in the Champions League, meaning they move down three spots in the rankings.
Fans shouldn't be too disheartened, though, as injuries have played a part in this stutter; Heynckes has only one true winger to call upon and no senior left-backs following Juan Bernat's enforced withdrawal on Saturday.
6. Valencia (+1)
Arguably, the match of the weekend was Valencia vs. Barcelona—and that's saying something, given the other fixtures on the calendar—and it did not disappoint.
Los Che entertained and enchanted before coming away with a point—though in somewhat fortuitous circumstances, given Lionel Messi's first-half strike that crossed the line somehow wasn't given as a goal.
5. Inter Milan (+1)
Inter Milan are simply relentless. It often appears they're not playing so well, but at the click of the fingers, Mauro Icardi sticks a chance into the net.
That's what happened against Cagliari at the Sardegna Arena on Saturday, as the Nerazzurri withstood some early pressure and then leapt ahead via their Argentinian talisman; they ended up winning 3-1 and—temporarily—going top of Serie A.
Unbeaten with 36 points from 14 games. There's a Milan side challenging for the Scudetto, but it's not the one many anticipated.
4. Napoli (+1)
Napoli got their Champions League campaign back on track with a 3-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk last Tuesday, playing some beautiful stuff and scoring some beautiful goals in the process.
The weekend brought another win, 1-0 against Udinese, but this one wasn't quite so easy on the eye: Lorenzo Insigne admitted to reporters afterwards it was far from their best, per Football Italia, but manager Maurizio Sarri chose to put a positive spin on it, praising his side's ability to "win ugly."
3. Barcelona (Stay)
Ernesto Valverde will be rightly irritated his side didn't leave the Mestalla Stadium with all three points on Sunday, but a draw is fine given the current La Liga standings.
Messi's perfectly good first-half goal was not given, but he kept plugging away and found Jordi Alba with a beauty of a pass to level matters and earn a share of the spoils.
If he looked particularly fresh, don't be surprised: Messi was rested midweek against Juventus in a move rarely seen, meaning he was able to fire on full cylinders at the weekend.
2. Paris Saint-Germain (Stay)
C'est fini?
PSG's 2-1 victory over Monaco at the Stade Louis II on Sunday created a nine-point gap between the two sides; it's hard to see where any title "race" comes from here.
Four days earlier, they put seven past Celtic in a scary display. Things got so easy in front of goal even Dani Alves and Marco Verratti found the back of the net.
1. Manchester City (Stay)
So they didn't have it all their own way—against Feyenoord or Huddersfield Town—but they found a way to win both games. That's what elite teams do, and that's the difference between this Manchester City and the iteration from last season.
In both games, it was Raheem Sterling who came up with the goods. Against Feyenoord, he scored the only goal of the game; against the Terriers, he scored the winner and won the penalty that resulted in the equaliser.
It's probably his improvement, more than any other player's, that symbolises just how far City have come in year two under Pep Guardiola.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
