European Club Rankings After April 26-28 Matches
This weekend saw a third major European title decided, as Barcelona secured their fourth La Liga trophy of the last five years. It checks Spain off the list and narrows the tension to four leagues: England, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Oh, and there's still the Champions League to be decided, too.
Strap in—there's plenty of twists and turns to come as the continental season heads towards its climax.
The European Club Rankings is a list of the top teams in order of form and performance at this stage of the season.
You can read the previous set of rankings here.
20. Real Madrid (-3)
Real Madrid's 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday was their 10th in La Liga this season and their 17th in all competitions. This team won the Champions League last season...
19. Lyon (Stay)
Lyon beat Bordeaux 3-2 on Friday and must now prepare for a difficult run. Next weekend, second-placed Lille visit; the following weekend, they travel to Marseille.
If they are to steal the runners-up spot in Ligue 1, they'll have to be on top form and ace this gauntlet of fixtures.
18. Lille (Stay)
For the second time in three matches, Lille netted five goals and saw off an opponent with consummate ease.
Hot-shot Nicolas Pepe scored one, taking him to the 20-goal mark in Ligue 1 for the campaign. The only other player who has managed that is Kylian Mbappe.
17. Benfica (+3)
Benfica took one massive step toward the Primeira Liga title this weekend. Their 4-1 away win over Braga, accompanied by FC Porto's shock 2-2 draw with Rio Ave, handed them a two-point lead at the top with just three games to play.
If they go on to win it, it will complete a remarkable comeback. They were five points off the pace in January and had just sacked their manager!
16. Eintracht Frankfurt (Stay)
Two straight draws have caused Frankfurt's chase for a Champions League spot to stumble when they could have sailed clear.
It's not the ideal preparation ahead of a Europa League semi-final with Chelsea, and they'll have to juggle that with an away day to Bayer Leverkusen next Sunday—a club who sit just three points behind them in the table.
15. Manchester United (Stay)
United started superbly against Chelsea on Sunday, matching intensity with power and precision, scoring early and threatening to run away with it.
But then another David De Gea error surrendered their lead, and in the second half, the energy quickly sapped from their play. In the end, they were happy to take a point against an opponent who did not play well.
14. Arsenal (-1)
Since defeating Napoli in the Europa League quarter-finals, Arsenal have lost three straight games. Those have been to Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City.
In doing that, they've lost the right to dictate their own future when it comes to the top four, meaning their Europa League campaign has now taken on more importance than ever.
13. Napoli (+1)
Napoli hit the woodwork more times (three) than they scored goals (two) against Frosinone. The 2-0 victory could have been so much more.
12. Chelsea (Stay)
Chelsea completed their away Premier League "circuit" at fellow top six clubs on Sunday with a draw at Old Trafford, meaning they at least avoided a clean sweep of losses.
They are, somehow, still in occupation of fourth place despite a run of three games without a win.
11. FC Porto (Stay)
Uh oh.
Porto are facing the stark reality of their 2018-19 season going from being regarded as "potentially historic" to "a dramatic failure."
Their 2-2 draw with Rio Ave placed them two points back in the race for the Portuguese title, and with one cup-final loss to their name already this season, they're on the cusp of throwing quite a lot of good work away.
10. Paris Saint-Germain (-1)
League: Winners | Coupe de France: Out (finalist) | Coupe de la Ligue: Out (quarter-finals) | Champions League: Out (round of 16)
There have been times over the last month when you might have wondered whether PSG actually wanted to win any silverware in 2018-19.
Bad results led to a three-week delay in securing the Ligue 1 title, and on Saturday, they lost the Coupe de France final on penalties to Rennes.
That night crowned what has been, despite league success, a bit of a disaster of a season overall.
9. Atletico Madrid (+1)
League: Second | Copa del Rey: Round of 16 (out) | Champions League: Out (round of 16)
Four of Atletico's last five La Liga victories have been clean-sheet victories. They've got nothing to play for, but that won't stop them doing what they love to do.
8. Borussia Dortmund (Stay)
League: Second | DFB-Pokal: Out (third round) | Champions League: Out (round of 16)
What hurts more than losing at home to your closest rival?
Losing at home to your closest rival in a game that sees your title aspirations all but go up in smoke.
7. Tottenham Hotspur (Stay)
League: 3rd | Carabao Cup: Out (semi-finals) | FA Cup: Out (fourth round) | Champions League: semi-finals
For the second week running, Tottenham lost a game of football, but it didn't cost them. The gods continue to smile on them, letting them off for their mistakes.
A win against Bournemouth on Saturday would secure a top-four spot, but before they can focus on that, there's the small matter of a Champions League semi-final against Ajax.
6. Bayern Munich (Stay)
League: First | DFB-Pokal: Final | Champions League: Out (round of 16)
Taking Borussia Dortmund's lead from the day before, Bayern Munich came very, very close to throwing an incredible opportunity to pull clear at the top of the Bundesliga out of the window.
A clash with relegation-threatened Nurnberg should have been child's play for Die Roten, but they came out of it with just a 1-1 draw, fortunate that a late penalty struck Sven Ulreich's post, and ruing the fact Kingsley Coman missed a one-on-one in the dying seconds.
The German title race has echoes of the Premier League's top-four tussle. Does anyone want to succeed?
5. Juventus (Stay)
League: Winners | Coppa Italia: Out (quarter-finals) | Champions League: Out (quarter-finals)
Juventus are halfway in holiday mode, with their season essentially done.
Cristiano Ronaldo will spend the next four games trying to score as many goals as possible in order to finish as the league's Capocannoniere (top scorer). He's three behind ageless wonder Fabio Quagliarella.
4. Ajax (Stay)
League: First | KNVB Cup: Final | Champions League: Semi-finals
Ajax remain top of the Eredivisie, unflinching, thanks to a 4-2 win over Vitesse last Tuesday.
They've had a full week of rest (thanks to the Dutch FA moving another of their games) to prepare for this week's trip to London to play Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League semi-finals.
3. Liverpool (-1)
League: Second | Carabao Cup: Out (third round) | FA Cup: Out (third round) | Champions League: Semi-finals
All Liverpool can do domestically is win—well, win and hope.
The title race is out of their hands. As good as that 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town will have felt on Friday, Manchester City's Sunday victory meant it counted for little, as the Reds require their rivals to slip up at least once if they're to snatch the trophy from them.
There's a good chance that won't happen, so the Reds are likely steeling themselves to go all-out in their other shot for silverware: the Champions League, where they face Barcelona on Wednesday week in the semi-finals.
2. Manchester City (+1)
League: First | Carabao Cup: Winners | FA Cup: Final | Champions League: Out (quarter-finals)
Despite the fact they've won 12 straight in the Premier League and kept five clean sheets in their last six, Manchester City games are starting to get very, very nervy.
That's what the pressures of a closely fought title race will do to you.
The reigning champions ended Sunday's wrestle with Burnley with four centre-backs on the pitch repelling aerial balls into the box. Win at all costs, beautiful football be damned.
1. Barcelona (Stay)
League: Winners | Copa del Rey: Final | Champions League: Semi-finals
Saturday's 1-0 win over Levante, courtesy of a (yep, you guessed it) Lionel Messi goal, secured Barca's fourth La Liga title in five years with three games to spare.
Ernesto Valverde was able to rest a handful of key men, such as Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto, ahead of Wednesday's clash with Liverpool, and given the importance the entire club has placed on the Champions League as a competition, that's a good start to preparations.
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
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