B/R Official European Club Rankings (November)

So, here it is—Bleacher Report’s Official European Club Rankings for November.

Over the past week, many of the top writers here on B/R—including experts on all aspects of European football—have drawn up their list of the top 20 club sides on the continent.

The criteria was simple—base your opinion on anything you like, but pay particular attention to recent form and one particular question; Head to head, which team would win?

After the lists had been made and submitted, all the information was added, subtracted, divided, and multiplied to come up with the final, overall, conclusive rankings.

The results may surprise you.

So without further ado let’s get into the list, which has seen many changes from last month. An unbelievable 46 teams received votes from the panel, yet only five new teams find their way onto the list—with only Europe’s five main leagues (France, Spain, England, Italy, and Germany) now being represented.

Among the 20 teams in the list, three teams have risen through the rankings, and five have dropped down significantly. Commiserations to Sevilla, Fiorentina, and FC Porto—who all found themselves just edged out of the list.

(NB: bold numbers in brackets (out of 10) offer a mathematical representation of the rankings—a perfect 10 meaning every contributor voted the side as the best, a 5 meaning on average everyone voted the team 10th, etc—giving you a clear idea of how close the teams were in the rankings.

20. (⇓13) Bayern Munich          Bundesliga            (1.50)

19. (NE) Hull City               Premier League           (1.56)

18. (⇓10) Juventus                   Serie A                 (1.69)

17. (⇓3) Atletico Madrid            La Liga                (1.75)

16. (NE) Aston Villa             Premier League          (1.88)

15. (NE) Napoli                          Serie A                (1.94)

14. (⇓3) AC Milan                      Serie A                 (2.06)

13. (NE) Udinese                      Serie A                 (2.25)

12. (⇑1) Villarreal                     La Liga                 (4.00)

11. (⇑8) Lazio                           Serie A                 (4.50)

10. (-) Olympique Lyonnais            Ligue 1                 (4.75)

“Top of Ligue 1, however they are currently lying third in Group F of the Champions League. The club expect more.” (Karen Patel)

“Despite only managing a draw and a defeat in their last two league matches, Lyon are as usual the team to beat in France and are sitting pretty at the top of the league.” (Salomon Gonzales)

9. (-) FC Barcelona                       La Liga                  (5.06)

"Barcelona are back as a force to be reckoned with. And having an excellent squad full of talent, Barca can be among the best teams in Spain and Europe." (Zahi Sahli)

"Barcelona are facing tough times, but Pep Guardiola's side features heaps of quality in the likes of Henry, Iniesta, Eto'o, and Messi—alongside a reliable defense featuring Carlos Puyol. The Catalan Giants are capable of repeating their performances from 2006.” (Salaar Shamsi)

8. (⇑9) Hamburger SV          Bundesliga                   (5.38)

“Martin Jol's side are seriously punching above their weight at the moment, and it will be exciting to see how long they keep up their amazing form.” (Salomon Gonzales)

“Tottenham’s woes have helped highlight the good work Martin Jol has done with Hamburg—but the Dutchman deserves credit in his own right. The way the German club have coped with the loss of Van der Vaart and Kompany is extremely impressive.” (Alex Dimond)

7. (NE) Valencia                     La Liga                      (6.13)

Despite Ronald Koeman nearly succeeding in having Valencia relegated, the Spanish side never panicked. Their squad is simply too good for that. They're currently topping the Primera Division.” (Guido Merry)

“David Villa has single-handedly brought Valencia to this ranking. He is currently playing out of this universe.” (Daniel Penza)

6. (-) Arsenal                   Premier League                (6.31)

"The Gunners have struggled this season, and poor defending has cost them dear in the games against Hull City and Sunderland. They'll have to improve quite a lot if they have any chance of winning silverware this season.” (Shyam Parthasarathi)

“This is probably one of the youngest sides in Europe and again, one of the most entertaining. A couple of disappointing games have hampered their progress, but if they just add a little bit of experience they could easily climb to the top.” (Salomon Gonzales)

5. (⇓1) Real Madrid                 La Liga                    (6.38)

“Doing well in the Champions League and pushing Villarreal at the top of the Primera Division.” (Karen Patel)

“An understated start to the season, but any squad that can call upon the attacking talents of Van Nistelrooy, Sneijder, and Van Der Vaart will be a force to be reckoned with come May.” (Alex Dimond)

4. (⇑1) Inter Milan                    Serie A                  (7.88)

After struggling to find their form in the first few weeks of the campaign, it seems as though Inter have found it once again against Serie A's lower tier teams.” (Daniel Penza)

“The presence of the "Special One", Jose Mourinho, at San Siro hasn't exactly revolutionized Inter Milan but Mourinho's men are looking quite strong both in the Serie A and in Europe.” (Salaar Shamsi)

3. (-) Manchester United      Premier League           (8.44)

The Red Devils didn't have the greatest start to their season but Sir Alex Ferguson's men have already put their foot on the gas, with Ronaldo's return, Rooney on fire, and Dimitar Berbatov settling in—not to mention the rest of the abundance of quality in the squad. The Red Devils are pushing for another big season in Europe.” (Salaar Shamsi)

“Coming back to form after an indifferent start, the excellent form of Rooney, the return of Ronaldo, and the addition of Berbatov should see them flying over the coming weeks.” (Karen Patel)

2. (-) Liverpool                    Premier League           (8.75)

"Liverpool look like real championship contenders this season—with Fernando Torres firing on all cylinders and Steven Gerrard also in decent form, they have been impressive. The 3-2 win over Manchester City certainly showed their resilience.” (Shyam Parthasarathi)

"Liverpool have been working extremely hard and will hope to keep their good form in order to keep their title bid alive. They are doing well at the moment and they have the quality to prove to be a solid team come May." (Zahi Sahli)

1. (-) Chelsea                      Premier League           (9.94)

“With all the money plunged into this club, the phrase "money can't buy success' has never left the lips of rival fans. Thus far this season though, they have added style and flair to their winning mentality—and it is coming off to a devastating effect.” (Salomon Gonzales)

“Quite simply, it doesn’t look like Chelsea can lose. Whether they are injury-hampered against Middlesbrough, or struggling to perform against Roma, they get the job done. And, perhaps most surprisingly, the way Scolari has got the team playing has almost made it okay to like the Blues.” (Alex Dimond)

So, there you go. Chelsea remain as the top side in Europe—and extend their advantage by a massive margin. They were the almost unanimous choice of B/R’s expert panel.

Elsewhere, it appears that Europe is beginning to develop its own “Big Four”, with Inter Milan joining the three English sides of Manchester United and Liverpool as the three clearest rivals to Chelsea's dominance.

However, many pundits believe the Italian side need to prove they can reach the later stages of the Champions League before they can really be considered amongst Europe’s elite.

With six sides from Serie A and the Premiership, and five from Spain, it is clear that the panel decided they are the three biggest leagues in Europe. The question is; Which one has the greatest strength in depth?

English teams might dominate the top of the rankings, but Italian and Spanish teams pack the middle order—and while Fiorentina and Sevilla were both close to the rankings, no other English team was close. Does this mean that Serie A and La Liga are the most competitive?

Finally, thank you to all the contributors who helped bring together these rankings together. Comments and criticisms are more than welcome, and if you want to get involved with the process for the next rankings, you can get in touch with me here.