World Club Rankings Top 25
World Club Rankings Top 25 – Week Ending April 28, 2008
1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – Played road games against the numbers two and three teams in the world last week and couldn’t come away with a victory. Did manage a road draw against Barcelona, which is always a good Champions League result, but did not score a goal, which could come back to haunt them. Fell 1-2 to Chelsea to fall even, but they still hold the advantage in the Premiership, so they still hold the advantage here. In addition to the Barcelona rematch this week, host West Ham United on Saturday to maintain their domestic league.
2. Chelsea (Eng) (2) – Like Manyoo, Chelsea scored a road draw in the Champions League, which is always nice. Unlike Manyoo, Chelsea scored an away goal, which is even nicer. Also unlike Manyoo, Chelsea won the Chelsea/Manchester United game, which is the nicest of all. Play the rematch against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, though I hope they aren’t going to wait for another own goal to score this time. As they chase down Manyoo in the Premiership, they travel to play my beloved Newcastle United.
3. Barcelona (Esp) (3) – Just doesn’t seem fair to rank them this high the way they’ve been playing in the Primera Division. Rested a lot of their best players this weekend in losing to Deportivo La Coruna 0-2. It would seem that they are willing to surrender second place in La Liga to Villarreal for a chance to defeat Manchester United in the Champions League. We’ll see if the sacrifice works out on Tuesday. This weekend they host Valencia, which could be a good game if both teams bother to try this week.
4. Sao Paulo (Bra) (11) – Defeated Colombia’s Atletico Nacional 1-0 to win their group and gain home field advantage in the first round of the Copa Libertadores knockout rounds. Plays on the road on Wednesday in Uruguay against Nacional, which is a really tough draw for my pre-knockout stage favorite to win it all.
5. Liverpool (Eng) (4) – A 94th minute own goal is all that kept Liverpool from heading to London with a lead in its Champions League draw with Chelsea. That’s gotta hurt. Could manage only a draw with Birmingham City this weekend, but the domestic matches are second stage at this point. Face Chelsea on Wednesday and they must be hoping that Saturday’s match against Manchester City won’t be their last match this season against a team from Manchester.
6. Internazionale (Ita) (5) – Defeated Cagliari 2-1 to move closer to their second consecutive (more if you count the ones abandoned by the cheating bastards) Serie A championship, but it’s not clinched yet. Just to make it interesting, Inter faces cross-town rival AC Milan on Sunday in what would be the most anticipated game of the weekend if it wasn’t for the next one I’m going to talk about.
7. River Plate (Arg) (8) – Defeated Argentios Juniors 4-2 to stay tied atop the Clausura with Estudiantes de la Plata. Like Sao Paulo, River Plate got an unfortunately tough draw in the Copa Libertadores, having to face fellow Argentine San Lorenzo, who defeated Boca Juniors this weekend, on Wednesday. Speaking of Boca, the game of the weekend will be when River goes on the road this weekend to face Boca Juniors in the Superclasico. Wish I could be there.
8. Porto (Por) (6) – You’ve got to hand it to Porto. They’ve already clinched the bwin Liga and this weekend they went on the road to play the second-place team in Portugal and they didn’t only come to play, they came to kick ass and take names, defeating Vitoria Guimaraes 5-0. Host Nacional in domestic action this weekend.
9. Real Madrid (Esp) (7) – Moved to within a Ruud Van Nistelrooy (sp?) nose hair of clinching the Primeral Division title, defeating Athletic de Bilbao 3-0. It helps that nobody in Spain other than Villarreal seems to give a damn about winning, and even Villarreal cares only every other week. Should clinch this weekend against Osasuna, or even sooner if everybody else loses again.
10. Roma (Ita) (9) - It got ugly quickly this weekend in Rome as Roma manhandled Torino 4-1 to keep Inter Milan in their sights. While Inter is facing AC Milan this weekend, Roma won’t exactly have it easy, playing a road match against Sampdoria.
11. Estudiantes (Arg) (12) – Defeated Rosario Central 3-1 on Friday to keep pace with River Plate atop the Argentine Clausura. Begin their Copa Libertadores knockout stage in Ecuador, facing a tough LDU Quito team. This weekend, they are on the road playing the Argentinos Juniors club that fell this weekend to River Plate.
12. Arsenal (Eng) (10) – At the time that I am typing this up, Arsenal has not yet played their match against Derby County. Whatever happens, though, they are in third place and don’t have anything else of any importance going on. Play in the only game this weekend between two ranked teams as Everton comes to Emirates Stadium for what should be a good game, if Arsenal shows up.
13. Lyon (Fra) (14) – Could manage only a 2-2 draw against Caen this weekend as they remain four points clear of second-place Bordeaux. The Ligue Un title still appears inevitable, but they should probably win one of these games sooner or later, just to be safe. Travel to Nice this weekend to play the team that drew with Bordeaux this weekend.
14. Juventus (Ita) (13) – Not sure why they moved down after crushing Lazio 5-2 at home this weekend, but these things happen. On Sunday, they travel to play Siena as they play the season out.
15. Fluminense (Bra) (16) – Fluminense had the week off to begin preparing for their Copa Libertadores matchup with Atletico Nacional. Not much else to add.
16. Bayern Munchen (Ger) (15) – Moved within an Oliver Kahn ear hair from its first consecutive Bundesliga title, handily defeating defending champion VfB Stuttgart 4-1. Their luck wasn’t as good at home in the UEFA Cup, where they could manage only a 1-1 draw against surprising Zenit St. Petersburg. They should be focusing on that as they travel to Russia for the rematch on Thursday. Play at Wolfsburg in domestic action this weekend, when they should be crowned as Bundesliga champions.
17. Villarreal (Esp) (17) – Held off Real Betis 1-0 to solidify their second place spot in the Primera Division, as Barcelona appears distracted. As you know, there are no easy games in La LIga and Villarreal hosts a dangerous Getafe team this weekend.
18. Sporting CP (Por) (22) – Big move up for Sporting as they defeated Maritimo 2-1 to move into second place in the bwin Liga. Still a tight race behind Porto for the final two Copa Libertadores spots, so Sporting will not be able to take it easy this weekend against Paco Ferreira.
19. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (18) – Since their season is over, there’s not much to say beyond see you next year in the Champions League group stage.
20. Deportivo Saprissa (Crc) (19) – Could manage only a 1-1 draw against Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. Now they have to face the elevation in the return match – and DC United can tell them how difficult that can be, especially in the second half. Final game is on Wednesday night. Don’t miss it!!! Could only score a draw against Herediano in domestic action, where Saprissa has been pretty ordinary recently. Play San Carlos this weekend regardless of what happens against Pachuca.
21. Cruzeiro (Bra) (24) – Took the week off as they had already won their group in the Copa Libertadores. They ended up with the toughest draw of any ranked team in the Copa Libertadores as they have to travel to Argentina on Wednesday to face defending champion Boca Juniors in the Round of Sixteen. Should be a great matchup.
22. Ajax (Ned) (20) – I’m glad to hear that the Eredivisie is doing away with their convoluted playoff system to determine Champions League and UEFA Cup spots. Unfortunately for Ajax, those changes don’t go into effect until next year. This year, Ajax still has to win a four-team tournament to qualify for next year’s Champions League. Up first for Ajax is Michael Bradley and Heerenveen. Ajax plays the away match on Thursday and the home match on Sunday.
23. Bordeaux (Fra) (21) – By managing only a goalless draw against Nice this weekend, Bordeaux blew a golden opportunity to move within a whisper of Lyon in La Championnat. They have, however, already clinched a spot in next year’s Champions League and this week they travel to Marseille to play Cisse and a team that is trying to do the same.
24. Fiorentina (Ita) (25) – Played Rangers to a scoreless draw in Glasgow in the UEFA Cup semifinals. At home, this weekend, they gave up a late goal to Sampdoria to finish tied at 2-2. They are only two points clear of AC Milan for the final Italian Champions League spot and will need to pick up all three points this weekend when they hit the road to play Cagliari.
25. Everton (Eng) (23) – Couldn ‘t get past Aston Villa this weekend, drawing 2-2. It doesn’t get any easier this week, as Everton tries to hold on to fifth place in the Premiership, because they have to go to London to play Arsenal.
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Atletico de Madrid (Esp), Benfica (Por), Flamengo (Bra), AC Milan (Ita), River Plate (Uru)
Next Five: Chivas de Guadalajara (Mex), Rangers (Sco), Aston Villa (Eng), Werder Bremen (Ger), Santos (Bra)
Games This Week Between Top 25 Teams:
29 April – (3) Barcelona at (1) Manchester United
30 April – (5) Liverpool at (2) Chelsea
3 May – (25) Everton at (12) Arsenal
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April 28th, 2008 at 1:53 PM
Arsenal - in 12th place, behind Liverpool, Porto and Lyon - you are having a laugh.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Arsenal have played the best football anyone have ever seen even if they lose 4-2 or 2-1 or 5-0.
UNLIKE manchester united who will make their fans watch them defend with 11 man behind the ball at the barca game.Boring footy from manure.
Putting arsenal at 12th have made you a failure in posting up articles.Go fuck yourself in the toliet bowl.Go Crazy dumbcrack.
PS I am an Arsenal dick and a very small 1 at that.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Dont you just love grumpy gooners!
April 28th, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Liverpool in 5th, what f*king JOKE…lucky to have been GIFTED both legs in the Champions League against Arsenal…who completely outplayed them in both games by their OWN ADMISSION. Get real
April 28th, 2008 at 3:07 PM
i completeley agree im a west ham fan and arsenal have played some amazing football this year, but amazing football doesn’t always get the results which is why i believe they are 12th.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:13 PM
Im not surprised we are 12th, its been a shite season as far as silverware goes, and just because the other teams are foreign we automatically think they are worse than us, which is rubbish.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:06 PM
This article is just not credible. I am a chelsea fan but am in the strange situation of agreeing with Arsenal and a West Ham fan.
Firstly any one who calls the team Manyoo is just stupid and shouldnt be incharge of writting articles on this website.
Secondly I hate to say this but Arsenal were the better team in all three of the recent arsenal- Liverpool matches, they also were the better team when they played Man u, and should have won them both. The Chelsea - Arsenal match they were the better team until the 75th minuite.
Liverpool were very lucky in the quater finals and should have been out, but the referee spoiled it for Arsenal. Liverpool will go out, and does that mean they are better than Arsenal, as they didnt win anything and didnt even challenge for any trophy. Dont forget arsenal were top for the majority of the season.
What a looser, this whole website is crap.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:39 PM
Aaron its a weekly ranking, which makes your whole comment bollox. it says Week ending 28th, maybe you should read before you write. i agree with Gunnersblazing, his comment makes a lot of sense.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:41 AM
I will not talk about the Arsenal ranking as I am biased. Albeit this fact, Villareal 17th, Bayern 16th, Real Madrid 9th far behind Barcelona…. Omg… Maybe they should think about ranking teams on how good they play, and not only on if they are still in the CL or not. Otherwise I wonder how they’ll rank Liverpool and Barcelona if they’re taken out of the CL next week…
April 29th, 2008 at 1:50 AM
Notes from the author:
1) Thanks for posting the link to my site!!! I’ve had more hits today than ever before.
2) I’m not actually picking the spots. They are based on a computer ranking system that I’ve been working on. Since I picked the formulas in use, it falls all upon my shoulders, but if I was picking them based solely on my opinion, they’d be a little different.
3) You’ll notice that certain teams seem really overrated (Barcelona, Liverpool) based on domestic results, but that’s because the formulas I use really reward the semifinalists in any continental championship. I wouldn’t bet based on these rankings, but I believe they’re fair. If it wasn’t for that, Barcelona would be around twelve and Liverpool around fourteen. I’m still fumbling around with the formulas, but again I’m just shooting for fair.
4) Lord, I LOVE Arsenal fans. At the end of the year last year, I had a poll asking who should be Team of the Year. 30% of those polled said Arsenal. I’m not sure if that was based on their fourth place finish in the Premiership or their valiant effort in a losing cause against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League Round of Sixteen, but the word deluded comes to mind. Anyway, to the poster that uses as some sort of argument that Arsenal WAS good earlier in the season, if you went back and looked at the past Weekly Top 25s, you’d see that Arsenal WAS ranked in the Top 3 when it WAS good. It’s not now, so it’s not now.
5 and last) The whole point of the blog is that I enjoy doing it. I hope a few of you enjoyed it, though, to be perfectly honest, you don’t post rankings without knowing ahead of time that you’re going to piss off a lot more people than you please. If you happened along it and liked it, I’m glad. If you happened along it and hated it, I’m guessing that if you search long enough, you’ll find something on the web that you do like. Enjoy that. Either way, thanks for looking and thanks to this site for giving me a little more exposure than I’m used to.
Peace.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:05 AM
Nice work, Empshel. Well explained.
To be fair, I hadn’t realised it was a weekly ranking until RedCafe pointed it out.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:05 AM
i dont understand why you would ruin a completely credible article by putting a team like arsenal twelth. i am a manchester united fan and even i find it insulting that our season long rivals have been ranked twelth.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:27 PM
so you tell us it is only based on rankings for the past week - and that is why Man Utd are no. 1??? They drew 0-0 and lost 2-1 and your formula therefore makes them the team of the week?
On that basis, how are arsenal in 12th? If you have done the rankings before Derby we should be nowhere as we didn’t play and if it was after Derby we would surely be higher as we won 6-2!
I wish yanks would stick to baseketball or whatever they call it and leave our ’soccer’ alone
April 30th, 2008 at 8:44 AM
I will destroy your computer big frank.Get ready to buy a new one.