European Club Rankings After February 8-10 Matches
It was yet another week of big games, big results and big shocks. Real Madrid met both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, Manchester City met Chelsea, and Bayern Munich met Schalke as some of Europe's best went head-to-head.
The European Club Rankings is a list of the continent's top teams in order of form and performance at this stage of the season.
You can read the previous set of rankings here.
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20. Borussia Monchengladbach (-2)
Gladbach's super 2019 came to a screeching halt this weekend as the Foals were turned over 3-0 on their own turf by Hertha Berlin.
It's their first loss of the calendar year, their first glut of goals conceded of the year and the first real setback to deal with.
19. Sevilla (Stay)
Sevilla's poor run continues. At least this week it was a draw (2-2 with Eibar), not a loss. Manager Pablo Machin will be pleased two late goals rescued his side a point—particularly after Ever Banega was red-carded at 0-2—but there's a lot of bucking-up to be done ahead of Thursday's Europa League tie with Lazio.
18. Lille (+2)
Goals from a rising star (Rafael Leao) and an established pro (Loic Remy) sealed Lille's fifth straight Ligue 1 victory. That, combined with Lyon's loss, opened up a six-point buffer between themselves and third.
17. Arsenal (Stay)
A win's a win, but the nature of Arsenal's performance against Huddersfield Town on Saturday was troubling to say the least. They ceded plenty of possession and a series of excellent chances to the Premier League's bottom club. Very few fans and spectators were particularly impressed.
16. Lyon (Stay)
Lyon did another Lyon—and by that, we mean follow up an amazing result with a bad one. Bruno Genesio's side are young and struggle to find a consistent level, so there will be some who were barely even surprised they beat Paris Saint-Germain but then lost to Nice.
15. Ajax (-1)
Two wins from five in 2019 is, by Ajax's standards, pretty dreadful. They enter a pivotal week in which they play Real Madrid in the Champions League knockouts in bad form.
This weekend's 1-0 loss to Heracles could have been worse had a Brandley Kuwas penalty not come back off the post.
14. Chelsea (-3)
Do you hear that noise? It's the sound of Chelsea's—and Maurizio Sarri's—stock plummeting.
A 6-0 loss at the hands of Manchester City equates to a real-life nightmare for the Blues, who did produce some good moves and spells at the Etihad Stadium—but only once they were 4-0 down.
They've got to go to Wembley Stadium at the end of the month and play them again in the Carabao Cup final. Gulp.
13. FC Porto (Stay)
Three league draws in the last six games have seen Porto's lead at the top shrink to just a point.
Benfica are now hot on their heels, and coming off the back of a whopping 10-0 win at the weekend, they look hell-bent on overhauling their rivals at the summit.
12. Napoli (Stay)
Napoli have had a tough run of fixtures, and it shows in the results. Milan (twice), Sampdoria and Fiorentina is a horrid four-game run, and they've only gleaned one victory from it.
11. Atletico Madrid (-3)
Despite having a full week to prepare for the Madrid derby, as opposed to Real's three short days, Atletico Madrid still produced a sub-par showing en route to a 3-1 loss.
Refereeing controversies or not, they didn't look ready for the tussle in midfield—usually a strong point for them—and deserved to lose.
10. Tottenham (Stay)
League: 3rd | Carabao Cup: Out (Semi-finals) | FA Cup: Out (4th Round) | Champions League: Round of 16
Tottenham are making late wins their thing.
It's now four straight games they've won or sealed the result in the dying moments. Heung-Min Son's 91st-minute strike against Leicester City made it 12 points from 12 and has kept Spurs in the title chase conversation.
9. Real Madrid (+6)
League: 2nd | Copa del Rey: Semi-finals | Champions League: Round of 16
Welcome to the top 10, Real Madrid. It's been a long, long time since you frequented this place; now make sure you build on this form and stay here.
They're two-thirds of the way through a real gauntlet of a week, and right now they're in excellent shape. A 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey in midweek was followed by a La Liga 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano—both extremely impressive results.
Real's explosion of form (six wins from seven) has come at just the right time.
8. Manchester United (+1)
League: 4th | Carabao Cup: Out (3rd round) | FA Cup: 5th Round | Champions League: Round of 16
Another week, another win. Manchester United are enjoying their football under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and it shows in both the performances and the results.
Ten wins from 11 games—the odd one being a draw with Burnley—means the Red Devils head into their Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain in peak form.
7. Bayern Munich (Stay)
League: 2nd | DFB-Pokal: Quarter-finals | Champions League: Round of 16
Wins against Hertha Berlin (in the cup) and Schalke (in the Bundesliga) constitute a good week for Bayern, but by now, we know better than to draw any lasting conclusions from them.
Die Roten are one of the most unpredictable teams in Europe.
6. Paris Saint-Germain (Stay)
League: 1st | Coupe de France: Quarter-finals | Coupe de la Ligue: Out (Quarter-finals) | Champions League: Round of 16
Never mind stumbling, PSG are borderline crawling into their Champions League round of 16 tie with Manchester United this week.
Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Thomas Meunier will miss the first leg, while Marco Verratti has just 60 minutes against Bordeaux under his belt due to recent injury troubles.
They're still set to send Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler and more to Old Trafford, but it's a reduced-quality crop that stands every chance of being beaten.
5. Juventus (Stay)
League: 1st | Coppa Italia: Out (Quarter-finals) | Champions League: Round of 16
Cristiano Ronaldo and away goals. They go together like peanut butter and jelly.
The Portuguese netted in his ninth straight Serie A match away from the Allianz Stadium, leading Juventus past Sassuolo in a comfortable footballing exhibition.
They now face one more league game (a potential gimme against 19th-placed Frosinone at home) before resuming Champions League duty for the season.
4. Borussia Dortmund (-3)
League: 1st | DFB-Pokal: Out (Quarter-finals) | Champions League: Round of 16
It was all going so well for BVB. In flying form that had led them to the top of the European Club Rankings, things were looking rosy.
And then last week happened.
Werder Bremen eliminated Die Schwarzgelben from the DFB Pokal on penalties following a 3-3 draw, then Hoffenheim came roaring back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with them in the Bundesliga. The second result is actually worse, as they were cruising toward a full haul of points.
3. Liverpool (Stay)
League: 2nd | Carabao Cup: Out (3rd round) | FA Cup: Out (3rd round) | Champions League: Round of 16
Liverpool's 3-0 win over Bournemouth could have been six or seven. It probably should have been, too.
The performance was powered by a dominant midfield corps and an electric front three, giving the Cherries absolutely no chance of surviving 90 minutes at Anfield. It was a lot like the Liverpool we've come to expect—rather than the nervous, stumbling version we saw in the previous two games.
They're no longer top of the Premier League, but with a game in hand, they're still in a strong position.
2. Barcelona (Stay)
League: 1st | Copa del Rey: Semi-final | Champions League: Round of 16
Last week proved a big test of Barcelona's squad, as they were forced to face Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey with only a half-fit Lionel Messi and no Ousmane Dembele.
They looked pretty ropey against their old rivals to begin with, falling behind and only really taking control once Messi had stepped off the bench. The 1-1 draw was a better result for Los Blancos than it was for them.
Then the weekend rolled around and Athletic Club Bilbao held them to a 0-0 draw—this time with Messi playing the full 90 and Dembele featuring for 15 minutes. It's a result that trims their lead at the top of La Liga to six points—not a disaster, but perhaps a nagging concern.
1. Manchester City (+3)
League: 1st | Carabao Cup: Final | FA Cup: 5th round | Champions League: Round of 16
The resounding nature of Manchester City's win over Chelsea shocked the world. Sure, they were expected to win, but 6-0? Against a side containing Eden Hazard, Gonzalo Higuain, N'Golo Kante and more?
Add this to their midweek win over Everton and beating of Arsenal the week before and this constitutes a pretty terrifying run of results.
Next up are three cup games—Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup (the final). By the time they next take to a Premier League pitch, they might well have collected their first trophy of the season.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
