European Club Power Rankings After February 16-18 Matches
When the UEFA Champions League knockout stages begin, our European Club Rankings feel its effects.
The continent's biggest teams' head-to-head meetings bring us a new perspective on who is stronger and who should be higher in the top 20.
The rankings are a season-long measurement of clubs, tracking teams throughout 2017/18 and taking into account results from all competitions.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
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. Teams that gather big wins against strong opposition get a boost.
20. Bayer Leverkusen (Stay)
Bayer Leverkusen's attacking-midfield triumvirate of Leon Bailey, Kai Havertz and Julian Brandt is blistering, technical and clinical. As long as they continue to fire, the European football dream is on.
19. RB Leipzig (New!)
The Champions League campaign didn't exactly go to plan, but the UEFA Europa League one is off to a good start. A 3-1 win away to Napoli is an incredible result—one so meaningful it launches RB Leipzig back into our top 20 before they even play their Bundesliga game on Monday.
18. Marseille (Stay)
Olympique de Marseille edged Girondins de Bordeaux in a tight game on Sunday night, with Florian Thauvin reliably producing the goods in front of goal. This result, in conjunction with Olympique Lyonnais' draw, sees a gap of six points open up between the two sides.
17. FC Porto (-3)
Spare a thought for poor Rio Ave, who were the unfortunate side to come up against FC Porto immediately after their 5-0 humbling by Liverpool. That game finished 5-0 too, with the Dragons on the right side of the scoreline this time.
16. Lazio (-1)
Lazio take on Verona at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday.
15. Inter Milan (-2)
Any momentum Inter Milan may have had following the recent win over Bologna was swiftly curtailed. Their 2-0 loss to Genoa on Saturday caused more anguish and frustration and saw them drop to fourth in Serie A too.
14. Valencia (+2)
Valencia won 2-1 at Malaga on Saturday, ensuring their slim grip on third place remains. They had to ask two central midfielders to rescue the result late on, with Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin obliging.
13. Roma (+4)
A Cengiz Under-powered Roma side are surging up the Serie A table. The 20-year-old hotshot scored again on Saturday as the Giallorossi beat Udinese 2-0. They are up into third, stealing Inter Milan's spot, having put together three wins on the bounce.
12. Chelsea (Stay)
Chelsea's 4-0 win over Hull City on Friday night was a walk in the park. Things got so comfortable, manager Antonio Conte threw on the 20-year-old Kyle Scott for his debut.
11. Manchester United (-1)
Romelu Lukaku continued his good run of form by scoring both goals in United's 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town on Saturday. He bullied the Terriers' defensive line and almost single-handedly took the game out of their reach.
Sadly, that's not where the spotlight has been drawn; it has instead been directed towards the latest Jose Mourinho drama, with the United boss telling reporters "I don't know, and I honestly don't care" in response to questions about when Paul Pogba will be back fit.
It's never quiet around the Portuguese.
10. Real Madrid (+1)
Real Madrid have finally begun to shown some character. This season has been something of a train wreck in parts, but that dressing room knows February brings with it a chance to kick into gear, and they are doing that.
In both their 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain and their 5-3 triumph over Real Betis, they fell behind and were outplayed at certain points. But Zinedine Zidane's men regrouped, showed fight and finished strongly to secure great results.
9. Tottenham Hotspur (Stay)
Tottenham Hotspur's irritating fluctuation in form continued this past week, as they followed up a brilliant performance in a 2-2 draw away to Juventus with the same result away to Rochdale.
Mauricio Pochettino's attitude toward domestic cups is lax—he often wheels out rotated sides and does not hide from the fact he doesn't consider them important—and that appears to seep into the players' psyches. Spurs just aren't the same team when they are playing in these competitions.
8. Napoli (-2)
It was made clear this past week week where Maurizio Sarri's priorities lie: Serie A, not the Europa League.
A rotated Napoli XI hosted RB Leipzig on Thursday and lost 3-1, meaning the likes of Dries Mertens and Jorginho could rest up ahead of their Serie A meeting with SPAL on Sunday. That decision proved smart, as the Partenopei put three more points on the board, but it doesn't stop them dropping two spots in the rankings.
7. Liverpool (+1)
The performance Liverpool produced in Porto on Wednesday was sublime.
It was smart and mindful when it needed to be—the first 20 minutes were negotiated in a most un-Liverpool-like way, feeling their way into the game and managing the tempo—and then once a footing had been secured, they exploded offensively.
Sadio Mane shrugged off his recent iffy run of form to score a hat-trick, and Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah had their say on the scoreline too. Job done.
6. Atletico Madrid (+1)
A successful week's work for Atletico Madrid saw them overcome FC Copenhagen (4-1) and Athletic Bilbao (2-0). They are on a five-game winning streak, and they have conceded just once during that span.
Against Athletic, both Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa performed well, with that partnership continuing to produce goals, assists and results. But the star of the show was Thomas Partey. It was just the latest in a string of excellent performances from him this term.
5. Paris Saint-Germain (-1)
"It's all well and good putting eight goals past Dijon, but it's in matches like this that you have to stand up and be counted," Adrien Rabiot vented to beIN Sports after Paris Saint-Germain's frustrating 3-1 loss to Real Madrid on Wednesday (h/t Charlie Eccleshare of the Daily Telegraph).
The French side played well, matching Los Merengues step for step for 80 minutes. But crumbled in the final 10. They have a horrible habit of doing that in the Champions League.
PSG have a mountain to climb at home in the second leg, with the pressure on manager Unai Emery sky-high. After spending so much on Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, only to go out in the round of 16, it's not bold to suggest the club's hierarchy wouldn't be happy with that.
4. Juventus (+1)
Juventus' match against Tottenham Hotspur was quite bizarre.
If you take out the barnstorming first 10 minutes, the Bianconeri were firmly second best all evening, yet they scored twice and could easily have netted two more.
Max Allegri will have to figure out how to overcome a high-energy Spurs side at Wembley Stadium in March. Perhaps Paulo Dybala, who made his return from injury during the win over Torino on Sunday, can be a catalyst for change in that regard.
3. Bayern Munich (Stay)
Jupp Heynckes handed a glut of usual Bayern Munich starters a rest on Saturday, trusting a reserve collection to go to VfL Wolfsburg and grab three points. It didn't go to plan.
After conceding from a corner and seeing Arjen Robben miss a penalty, it wasn't until the 64th minute that the German champions gained a foothold in the game, with Sandro Wagner heading home from a right-footed Robben cross.
They left it ridiculously late to grab the winner, via super-sub Robert Lewandowski, who did what Robben couldn't from 12 yards. Not the ideal preparation for Besiktas on Tuesday.
2. Barcelona (Stay)
Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Eibar on Saturday was rather hard-fought and not earned without overcoming one or two difficulties.
The hosts' defensive work rate and counter-attacking ability caused the Blaugrana some issues, with Fabian Orellana striking the bar on one of several breakaways.
Still, it's three points in the bag, an end to a two-game winless streak in La Liga and an OK warm-up to a big Champions League tie with Chelsea on Tuesday.
1. Manchester City (Stay)
Tuesday saw Manchester City ride their luck a little against FC Basel, conceding high-quality chances early on, but the Swiss side failed to punish them. When that happens, you know what follows.
Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero ran riot en route to a 4-0 victory; the former was particularly good from central midfield, and that shouldn't surprise—he has tended to save his best in a City shirt for the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola's men take on Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday.
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
