European Club Rankings After August 24-26 Matches
Welcome back to the action, Bundesliga. At long last, all of Europe's top five leagues are fully under way for the 2018-19 season, with Bayern Munich's win over Eintracht Frankfurt kicking off a roaring weekend of German football.
In England, we saw Liverpool and Chelsea continue to motor onwards while Manchester City slipped up. All of Spain's big guns won, while Italy played host to a cracker between Napoli and AC Milan and watched Inter Milan throw away a two-goal lead against Torino.
In accordance with it all, we've updated our European Club Rankings, listing the continent's top teams in order of estimated strength at this stage of the season. Results play a part in forming the order, but they're not the be-all and end-all at this stage; a team's general quality factors in, too.
You can read last week's rankings here.
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20. Valencia (Stay)
One point from a possible six—albeit with a tussle with Atletico Madrid mixed in there—is not the start Valencia will have been wishing for. They're on red alert to potentially drop from our top 20.
19. Arsenal (Stay)
Unai Emery secured his first win as Arsenal manager on Saturday, beating West Ham United 3-1 in an enthralling, end-to-end game. There's still a lot of work for him to do with this squad—particularly in the defensive phase—but this is a first positive step.
18. Lyon (Stay)
Watching Lyon counter-attack is one of football's true treats in 2018. The way they sweep from back to front is incredible, and they haven't even fully reincorporated Nabil Fekir yet.
17. AS Roma (Stay)
Roma host Atalanta on Monday evening in a match which will round off Gameweek 2 in Serie A. Judging by the visitors' performance in the opening week, this one is must-watch material.
16. Schalke 04 (-1)
Opening-day drama. What would football be without them?
Schalke's 2-1 loss to Wolfsburg was full of it, with video assistant referee consultations, a penalty, a red card, a 94th-minute winner and even some yellow card reversals taking away from the actual footballing spectacle.
It's a defeat that hurts the Royal Blues' stock here.
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15. Lazio (-1)
The fixture computer wasn't kind to Lazio, handing them Napoli first and then Juventus to begin the 2018-19 season. They've lost both, but it's important not to wholly re-evaluate their seasonal prospects based on two such matches.
14. Inter Milan (-3)
So much was expected of Inter Milan this season, and while they still might rise to meet those envisioned heights, their start to the season has been nothing short of ghastly.
Last week's loss to Sassuolo is somewhat explainable as there were so many key players missing from the starting XI, but this week's capitulation against Torino is a different story.
13. Manchester United (Stay)
Manchester United host Tottenham Hotspur on Monday evening in a game they really can't afford to lose. The pressure heaped on Jose Mourinho's shoulders after the defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend is immense; if the same happens here, the house could come crumbling down.
12. Borussia Dortmund (+4)
BVB recovered from a first-minute concession to beat RB Leipzig 4-1 on Sunday, putting in a performance that justifies the theory that they could return to the status of Germany's second-best side this season.
Bundesliga debutant Axel Witsel got off the mark with an overhead kick—he's a holding midfielder!
11. Napoli (+1)
Napoli's opening salvo of fixtures—Lazio (away), Milan (home) and Sampdoria (away)—is pretty wretched, but they've negotiated two-thirds of it with a maximum haul of points.
They did things the hard way this weekend, going two down before roaring back to 3-2, and although the stodgy start can be criticised, you can't help but admire their spirit.
10. Tottenham Hotspur (-1)
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Tottenham take on Manchester United on Monday evening at Old Trafford. It's a fixture they haven't won since 2014—back when Emmanuel Adebayor played for them.
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9. Chelsea (+1)
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Chelsea recorded an incredible 81 per cent of possession against Newcastle United on Sunday, probing and pushing all game in search of a way through. It wasn't quite "Sarri-ball" as we've come to know it, though; it may have been dominant, but it wasn't that threatening for the most part.
Indeed, they needed a contentious penalty call and an own goal to guide them past the Magpies. They found it hard to break down a deep block even with Eden Hazard weaving his magic, suggesting Maurizio Sarri still has some work to do to get this squad playing his way.
Still, that's three wins from three for the Blues: Any complaints or grumbles must be tempered in the face of that.
8. Liverpool (Stay)
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Liverpool's vaunted front three weren't at their best against Brighton on Saturday, but they didn't have to be. The solid defensive foundation Jurgen Klopp has built at Anfield now means they only have to score one goal to win a game—rather than two or three.
Mohamed Salah's curled effort was the difference between the two sides, with both full-backs and both centre-backs impressing over the course of 90 minutes, plus goalkeeper Alisson Becker springing into action every now and then to great effect.
7. Paris Saint-Germain (Stay)
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Seeing all three of Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar's names on the scoresheet must be quite pleasing for the Paris Saint-Germain hierarchy. They've pumped a lot of money into that trio, and despite reinforcement in other areas, hopes of a Champions League win rest on their shoulders.
Flipping the coin, €37 million signing Thilo Kehrer had an awful debut against Angers, conceding a penalty, receiving a booking and being hooked at half-time as Thomas Tuchel switched formations. The only way is up for him.
6. Real Madrid (Stay)
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Defensively still a little suspect but capable of burying teams with an avalanche goals? Despite a summer of change at Real Madrid, not much has actually, erm, changed so far.
Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are now shining in Cristiano Ronaldo's absence, while Isco has continued at his usual incredible pace.
These early performances haven't been 100 per cent comfortable for Julen Lopetegui, but they have banked him the points and given him room to breathe.
5. Bayern Munich (Stay)
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The Bundesliga is finally under way. You know it's begun when Bayern Munich put their customary first three points on the board.
Friday's 3-1 win over Hoffenheim was far from simple; an excellent Adam Szalai equaliser had to be overcome, and the penalty scored to take them ahead was contentious for a number of reasons.
But they deserved the victory; the xGplot for the game gave Bayern a 91 per cent win chance (per 11tegen11).
4. Juventus (Stay)
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A simple glance at Juventus' bench this weekend was enough to make opposing managers wince. Douglas Costa, Emre Can and Rodrigo Bentancur stepped off it; Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado, Daniele Rugani and Medhi Benatia sat there unused.
All the while, the starting XI beat Lazio—a genuine Serie A top-four contender—with ease at the Allianz Stadium. Miralem Pjanic opened the scoring before Mario Mandzukic rounded things off.
3. Atletico Madrid (Stay)
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People are hyped up for Atletico Madrid's season; they have an immensely strong XI, a deep squad, and look primed for success in the wake of Real Madrid's weakening and the fact Barcelona feel catchable.
But don't let all of that trick you into thinking they'll change their ways en route to the top. No, they'd take 38 1-0 victories—home or away, against bottom or top—if they could, and they secured their first of those this weekend against neighbours Rayo Vallecano.
Afterwards, they had (another) European Super Cup-winning party in front of the loyal home fans.
2. Manchester City (-1)
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Manchester City were probably about as unlucky as you can be on Saturday, conceding to a clear handball goal and striking the woodwork three times—the final one coming with the last kick of the game.
Securing a point through Aymeric Laporte's bullet header after going behind to Wolverhampton Wanderers—a strong team—is no disaster, but it's easy to understand why Pep Guardiola cut an irritated figure after the game.
The failure to win—however unfortunate the circumstances—sees City drop off top spot.
1. Barcelona (+1)
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Barcelona escaped a trip to Real Valladolid with a 1-0 win, but the word "escaped" isn't a reference to any sort of close game.
According to BBC Sport, the hosts' pitch will be investigated by La Liga. As you can see from the picture above, it's pretty remarkable the all-clear was given to play on it in the first place.
Ousmane Dembele settled a game which pretty much everybody was fortunate to finish without sustaining a serious injury. It's a win that takes Barcelona top of the rankings following Manchester City's draw.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
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