Bleacher Report's European Club Rankings (December)

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

As always, 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 is seen many changes from last month. Five new teams find their way onto the list—as Lazio, Hull City, Udinese, Atletico Madrid, and Hamburg all make way.

Among the 20 teams in the list, there are representatives from six countries, five teams that have risen through the rankings, and four who have dropped down significantly.

(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. (NE) AZ Alkmaar       Eredivisie              (1.00)

“Louis van Gaal has sorted AZ out and the Alkmaar-based team are looking very impressive with free-flowing attacking football.”  (Guido Merry)

19. (NE) FC Porto      Portuguese Superliga     (1.19)

“Have so far proven there is life after Jose Bosingwa and Ricardo Quaresma.” (Alan McGuinness)

18. (⇓3) SSC Napoli             Serie A               (1.31)

“Fourth in Serie A, with a squad that is clearly going places. Marek Hamsik, Fabiano Santacroce, and Ezequiel Lavezzi are just three Azzuri players that are destined for big things.” (Alex Dimond)

17. (NE) Tottenham Hotspur     Premier League        (1.44)

"Since Harry Redknapp's entry, Spurs have turned the tide around and have set an impressive winning streak. Reason enough to see them enter this list. It's rather difficult to turn the tide after such an awful losing streak—but impressively Redknapp has done it."  (Guido Merry)

16. (⇑4) Bayern Munich       Bundesliga            (2.31)

"With such a talented bunch of players, how is it Hoffenheim are the ones atop the Bundesliga? Maybe Liverpool's decision to tell Jurgen Klinsmann that Rafa was going nowhere was the right one, based on Bayern's season so far." (Liam McClintock)

15. (NE) Hoffenheim             Bundesliga              (2.50)

“They've got the best forwards in the Bundesliga with Edu, Ibisevic, and Dembe Ba, and some wonderful attacking midfielders. So what if their defence is not that good, you win games by scoring goals—and that's what they do.” (Guido Merry)

14. (NE) Bayer Leverkusen     Bundesliga            (2.69)

“Combined leader with Hoffenheim, but less offensive flavour. Still, a very sturdy side.” (Guido Merry)

13. (⇑3) Aston Villa           Premier League           (3.38)

“Martin O'Neill's men are the main threat to the "Big Four" in the EPL. They can play some great attacking football and have a number of good players who they can build a team around. They also have one of the best managers in the game.” (Maire Ofeire)

12. (⇓6) Arsenal                 Premier League           (4.00)

“The Gunners have a young side with an abundance of talent but their recent inconsistency has hit them hard. A victory against Manchester United followed by a defeat to Aston Villa sums up their season so far. Needless to say, Arsene Wenger needs to go back to the drawing board.” (Salaar Shamsi)

11. (⇓1) Olympique Lyonnais         Ligue 1           (4.75)

“Top of both their Champions League group and domestic league, Lyon seem to have overcome the early season blip and bolted from the rest of the pack now. However, the big question must be; how long can they keep hold of Karim Benzema as the rest of Europe casts enviable glances over the young French striker?” (Liam McClintock)

10. (⇓3)  Valencia        La Liga          (5.06)

“Despite Ronald Koeman nearly succeeding in having Valencia relegated, the Spanish side never panicked. Their squad is simply too good for that. David Villa is still impressive.” (Guido Merry)

“A strong and talented team capable of pushing for the La Liga title.” (Barney Corkhill)

9. (⇑5) AC Milan          Serie A             (5.56)

“Much like Juventus a month ago, Milan are currently stung by the injury bug. Despite the short roster, Milan have shot up the Serie A table thanks to their big players coming through when they have been needed most.” (Daniel Penza)

“AC are in an interesting transition—as the older members of their squad come to the end of their careers, the younger players are just getting into their element. In the meantime, they are hanging on to Inter Milan’s coat tails. Beckham arrives in January—can the Englishman help the club push on for the Scudetto?” (Alex Dimond)

8. (⇓3) Real Madrid      La Liga             (5.56)

“It has been an up and down season for Real Madrid, but they're still hanging on to second spot in the Primera Liga.” (Shyam Parthasarathi)

“Real were flying high until they met Juventus in the Champions League. Now it seems as though the two clubs have changed spots a month later. Real, at the moment, are a complete mess.” (Daniel Penza)

7. (⇑5) Villarreal           La Liga              (5.63)

“With reports that Manchester United are sniffing around their old boy Guiseppe Rossi and hosting the English and European champions in the near future, Villarreal would love a win to go clear at the top of Group E of the Champions League. Slipping in the league at an alarming rate, the Champions league is proving to be a distraction—but is it a welcome one?" (Liam McClintock)

“Unbeaten in La Liga so far this season, which speaks for itself really. A team to watch.” (Barney Corkhill)

6. (⇑12) Juventus           Serie A             (6.75)

“Two straight wins against Real Madrid and a five-game winning streak in Serie A has rejuvenated Juve's season. A disappointing showing in the Derby d'Italia in a 1-0 loss to Inter Milan put a stop to the good vibes. But with players getting healthy one at a time, Juve seem to be a contender once again for the Scudetto.” (Daniel Penza)

“Alessandro Del Piero has hit an absolute peach of a purple patch, bagging goals left right and centre, in a return to the Del Piero of the 1990's. Keeping pace on the Milan clubs is never easy, but under Ranieri he seems to be making a good go of it. There's life in the Old Lady yet.” (Liam McClintock)

5. (⇓1)  Inter Milan            Serie A          (8.25)

“Victory over Juventus saw Inter do what Mourinho does best, build title winning teams. Can Mourinho spark Inter into life in the Champions League? If he can't then there are few who can. AC Milan are pushing them but Inter should pull away further in the coming weeks.” (Liam McClintock)

“They beat Juve during the weekend, and Inter Milan certainly look like a strong, solid unit under Jose Mourinho—who is showing that he can talk the talk, and walk the walk with the Serie A champions.” (Shyam Parthasarathi)

4. (⇓1) Manchester United   Premier League   (8.31)

“The recent loss against Arsenal was a minor blot on an otherwise great month in which they brought back some of the performances that made them so strong last year.”  (Barney Corkhill)

"Sir Alex Ferguson's men have been plagued by injuries but the Red Devils returned to their devastating form with a 5-0 victory against Stoke. Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have rediscovered the form that earned him a staggering 42 goals last season. United's squad exudes quality with the likes of Berbatov, Carrick, and Vidic performing consistently in their departments and can look to high times ahead" (Salaar Shamsi)

3. (⇓1) Liverpool               Premier League             (8.94)

“They've not had the best month in the Premier League. Losing to Tottenham and drawing against Fulham have been minor set backs, but Liverpool are still grinding out the results in the EPL.” (Shyam Parthasarathi)

“The Reds are still level at the top of the Premiership, but have missed crucial opportunities to build a lead. Michael Ballack doesn’t believe Benitez’s side are realistic contenders—arguably this month has shown the German might be right.” (Alex Dimond)

2. (⇑7) Barcelona FC           La Liga               (9.25)

“They're quite easily playing the best football in Europe, and getting the results as well. Samuel Eto'o has been scoring goals for fun and Josep Guardiola seems to have inspired Barca, who really look like a real force in Spain now.” (Shyam Parthasarathi)

“It is almost impossible to give Guardiola too much credit. After an inauspicious start, the Catalan giants are playing some sublime stuff—and the impressive performances from the likes of Eto’o, Busquets, and Messi indicate there is only more to come.” (Alex Dimond)

1. (-)  Chelsea           Premier League              (9.36)

“Locked together with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, defeats to Roma, Burnley and drawing with Newcastle at home don't make a good month for Chelsea. However, they still they remain top of their Champions League Group and domestic league.” (Liam McClintock)

“Yes, Chelsea have notched up wins in November against Sunderland, Blackburn, and WBA, but the other results tell it has not been a great month for Scolari's men. Knocked out of the Carling Cup by Burnley at Stamford Bridge, beaten 3-1 by Roma and a 0-0 draw with Newcastle at home would not be considered satisfactory by the Brazilian.” (Maire Ofeire)

So, there you go. Chelsea remain as the top side in Europe—but for the first time in the rankings they are pushed extremely close by a resurgent Barcelona.

Some pundits have already predicted Barca will be in the Champions League final come May—but in the shorter term, could Guardiola’s men find themselves top of the rankings if they continue their impressive winter performances?

Elsewhere, both Juventus and Villarreal have moved up impressively through the rankings, perhaps illustrating the importance to the panel of solid Champions League performances.

On the flip-side of the coin, Arsenal have dropped down the rankings, yet still find themselves above Aston Villa—seemingly the panel are not convinced the Gunners current slump is likely to continue for long.

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.