World Football Power Rankings: The 25 Teams to Watch in Europe Right Now

Can't decide who to watch next weekend? First of all, lucky you, having so many channels at your disposal or a friendly pub nearby. Second of all, here are our picks of the clubs bringing the most heat in Europe right now—if we missed anyone, as always, have at it in the comments. 

1. Real Madrid: Real Madrid supporters should be pleased as punch with how Jose Mourinho’s squad is performing as of late. Los Merengues are at the top of La Liga and the only team in the Champions League so far to win all five of their matches. Following two huge back-to-back league victories—first a 3-2 nail-biter over Valencia at La Mestalla and then a 4-1 routing of Atlético in the Madrid derby, it looks as though the Madridistas will go into El Clásico with momentum on their side. 

2. Barcelona: The Blaugrana are still a powerful force in Europe, looking strong after their recent Champions League victory over AC Milan and remaining unbeaten in the competition. However, a crushing loss to mid-table Getafe sees them lose the top spot. Bonus: Lionel Messi being shortlisted for TIME’s Person of the Year, the only athlete to make the list. 

3. Bayern Munich: The Bayerische have hit a few snags recently, getting jumped by Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga table and losing key player Bastian Schweinsteiger to a broken collarbone. Still, they're one of the all-around strongest teams in Europe right now and if anyone can knock the Madrid-Barça binary out of the top spot in the Champions League, our money's on these guys.  

4. Manchester City: The Blues have encountered a few stumbles in the past week or so, drawing with Liverpool and struggling in the Champions League. However, overall, they’re still the best team in the Premiership right now and remain the top contenders for the title. Over the weekend, Joe Hart, even with City conceding an own goal on a blunder from Joleon Lescott, proved he is one of the best keepers in Europe. 

5. Juventus: You'd be hard pressed to find a league hotter than Serie A right now with all its high-performing squads in and out of European competition, and in that, you have two squads looking seriously fierce in Juventus and AC Milan. Juve are coming off of a five-match winning streak with key wins over Palermo and Lazio in the past two weekends, and the Bianconeri are in a fantastic position to win their first Scudetto since the Calciopoli scandal, with the striking partnership of Alessandro Matri and Mirko Vucinic really looking like the making of something great.

6. Tottenham Hotspur: Spurred (ba-dum-TISH) by the awesome power of striker Emmanuel Adebayor and a powerful performance against West Brom over the weekend, the White Hart Lane outfit have been moving up the ranks and appear to be the team to topple for those aching to crack the top four.  

7. Borussia Dortmund: Their Champions League campaign hasn't gone as favorably as Joachim Löw would have probably liked, as Borussia Dortmund lost last week to Arsenal in what was likely their group stage death knell and losing two key impact players, Sven Bender and teen sensation Mario Götze, in the process. But a big win over Schalke in the Revierderby over the weekend spurred by exciting performances from Felipe Santana and Robert Lewandowski have put BVB back in the top spot in the Bundesliga, and in our hearts. 

8. AC Milan: Never one to let anyone rest easy, the Rossoneri are right behind on their Serie A big gun rivals Juventus, going unbeaten in seven straight league matches after losing to the Bianconeri, including a routing of Chievo Verona over the weekend. The lack of fitness of some members of the back four (Philippe Mexés, etc.) and the loss of a resurgent Antonio Cassano may prove problematic, but they certainly have the fight to stay at the top of the league. 

9. Benfica: To ignore Benfica on a list like this would be criminal. Even if they’ve lost the top spot in the Portuguese Liga to Porto, the Aguias still remain unbeaten in 22 matches in all competitions following their Champions League draw with Manchester United and a league win over the weekend. 

10. Manchester United: Defensive struggles and the loss of form of key players like Ashley Young, Anderson and Nani, not to mention the still-nagging injury of young playmaker Tom Cleverley have put a hamper on things for United, coming off of a pair of disappointing draws against Benfica and Newcastle United. However, they're still second in the Premiership and from the looks of things, they'll probably stay up there for the time being. 

11. Borussia Monchengladbach: After hovering above the relegation zone in last year’s Bundesliga competition and finishing a disappointing 16th, M’gladbach have come back roaring, most recently impressing over the weekend with a 3-0 win over 1. F.C. Köln. Exciting young players like Marco Reus and Patrick Herrmann make Borussia Mönchengladbach one of the most exciting German teams to watch and serious contenders for the Bundesliga title for the first time in a while, now second place in the league table behind BVB. 

12. Liverpool: The Reds are still out of the top four and inconsistency and a lack of goal-scoring have been serious problems. However, a huge win over Chelsea last weekend and a hard-fought draw against Manchester City prove the Reds may be down, but they’re certainly not out and they can do more than hold their own against the league's top sides.

13. Arsenal: It's looking like the Gooners will be the only English team to finish first in their Champions League group following a victory over Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates last week. A disappointing draw against Fulham over the weekend knocks them back a bit, but overall, things have been going reasonably well for Robin and the gang.

14. Valencia: The side of La Mestalla are only a point behind Barcelona in the La Liga table after a win over Rayo Vallecano, but Valencia's most headline-making performance came last week in Champions League play, when they put Racing Genk through the wringer with a score of 7-0, spearheaded by an impressive hat trick from star striker Roberto Soldado. 

15. Chelsea: The Blues netted an effortless win against Wolverhampton over the weekend, but disappointing performances against Liverpool and Racing Genk in the Champions League, a return to not-so-great form for Fernando Torres and shakiness from the John Terry-David Luiz central defense pairing are among the issues they'll need to work out in order to remain in title contention. Tonight's Carling Cup match against Liverpool should be a decider in whether or not Andre Villas-Boas' side will move up or down. 

16. Udinese: A spike in form for Antonio Di Natale has put him in the lead for the Capocannoniere and put the other team in black and white back into serious Scudetto contention. Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic boasts an impressive record so far this season as well with seven clean sheets to his name. 

17. Montpellier: The past several seasons for Montpellier have been something of a roller-coaster, with the club only being promoted back into Ligue 1 at the end of 2009, finishing in Europa League contention the following season and then in the bottom half last season. Now, Montpellier have the best win record in the French league, over regular powerhouses like Marseille and Lyon and recently passing Paris Saint-Germain, with striker Olivier Giroud and tough-tackling captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa raising eyebrows for potential transfer moves. 

18. Newcastle United: Up until last weekend, Alan Pardew's side were the team to beat in the Premiership, going unbeaten all season until finally falling to top-ranked Manchester City. They're still in the top four, and the hungry likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will be after them, but a fantastic defense backed by Fabricio Coloccini and Ryan Taylor and a resurgent Hatem Ben Arfa should keep the Magpies in contention. 

19. Lille: Les Dogues surprised everyone by returning to Round of 16 contention in the Champions League with a win over CSKA Moscow last week, a victory architected by everyone's favorite transfer goss subject, Eden Hazard. A brace from the impressive Moussa Sow finished things off nicely.  

20. Lazio: Like Juve and early-in-the-season Napoli, even after their loss to Juve over the weekend, S.S. Lazio is shaping up to be one of the most exciting clubs to watch in Serie A right now. A determined side who have seen good results so far spearheaded by impressive German striker Miroslav Klose, Lazio went unbeaten for 10 matches before finally being bested by a powerful Juve over the weekend. It may be too early for Scudetto talk for Lazio, but keep an eye on them. 

21. Napoli: Their early-season shine has lost a bit of its luster, most recently drawing against recently-promoted side Atalanta Bergamo, and tonight they face top side Juventus in what will certainly be a struggle. But their great Champions League form—they toppled Manchester City in a brace at the hands of the impressive Edinson Cavani, keep them on this list.

22. Paris Saint-Germain: The newly cash-flush club tends to make the headlines more for transfer news (mostly about David Beckham) than gameplay, but they've spent much of the season so far at the top of Ligue 1. A weekend crush at the hands of Marseille knocks them a bit off the radar. 

23. Porto: They're at the top of the Portuguese Liga table and tied with Benfica in points. Although Champions League advancement looks unlikely for Porto, they still gave a good run last week against Shakhtar Donetsk and defeated Braga for a key victory over the weekend. And it looks like the Incredible Hulk won't be leaving after all, so Porto will keep their star goal-scorer. 

24. Levante: Prior to the start of the 2011-2012 La Liga campaign, Levante had spent just one season in the Primera División following their promotion, and finished in the bottom half just a few places above the relegation zone. The story for the Valencia-based club is a lot sunnier now, as they racked up seven wins and two draws in their opening run of the season and reached the first-place spot of the Spanish league for the first time in a century. They’ve since been knocked back down to fourth, but look for Levante to remain in contention for a Champions League spot. 

25. Werder Bremen: It hasn't been the best of times for the green and white, but a win over Stuttgart put them back in fourth place and wonderkid Marko Marin is still impressing.