Champions win opens way to Real Madrid
By beating Atalanta (1-0) in Italy, the Merengues regained their Top3 spot after four weeks
The win against 10th placed Atalanta, in Bergamo (1-0), in the Champions League eighth finals’ first hand, allowed Real Madrid to climb over Sevilla FC and assume the third place in this week’s Eurofoot European Club Rankings. German, European and World champions Bayern München are still top of the table, after a victorious week, that gave them wins against Lazio (4-1 away in the Champions League) and FC Köln (5-1 at home in the Bundesliga). Bayern saw Atlético Madrid get nearer, as the bonus from their win against the Italians was slightly inferior to the one they dropped from last season, when the beat Chelsea 3-0 in the same phase of the competition. For the moment, the difference between the two top teams in the Eurofoot European Club Rankings is on 1.011 points.
Bayern, who leads the ranking for the 27th week in a row, since replacing Real Madrid in late August, now totals 22.396 points, against Atlético’s 21.385. The “Colchoneros” improved their rating even if they lost at home to Chelsea (0-1) in the Champions League, doing so by replacing a home front defeat from last season with an important away win against Villarreal (2-0) in the League. They now have a more comfortable cushion over the third place, as Sevilla FC was approaching but lost some pace with a home defeat against FC Barcelona (0-2). Even if they didn’t win in the League after that victorious trip to Northern Italy - they only drew (1-1) at home to Real Sociedad - Real Madrid is now third, with 20.733 points. Sevilla FC is fourth, with 20.640. And FC Barcelona, who successively beat Elche (3-0) and Sevilla FC (2-0) remained fifth, now on 19.677 points.
There were no other changes in the Top 10. Manchester City will have to keep on their impressive series of wins - they are now on 20, after beating Borussia Mönchengladbach (2-0) in the Champions League and West Ham (2-1) in the Premier League - in order to get into those top places. A proof that they are not so much better than last season - it’s the opposition that’s weaker. City is sixth on 19.578 points, with FC Barcelona at their grasp. Manchester United remained seventh, but the week’s 0-0 draws against Real Sociedad and Chelsea cost them some points: they now have only 17.775, further away from their city rivals.
Inter Milano remained eighth, RB Leipzig stayed in the ninth place and Atalanta in tenth. After that, Chelsea took advantage of their win against Atlético Madrid to overcome Paris Saint-Germain and Milan, climbing to the 11th spot. The biggest sensation of the Top20 was the massive drop by Bayer Leverkusen, who lost eight places, falling from 16th to 24th, after losing to Young Boys (0-2 in the Europa League) and SC Freiburg (1-2) in the Bundesliga. Their place in the Top20 was occupied by AS Roma, who came from 23rd to 18th.
The first team out of the Big Five Leagues is still FC Porto, now 22nd, with 13.835 points. They kept their place, even if they lost some rating points due to the 0-0 draw against Sporting in the Portuguese League showdown, allowing the Lisbon lions to keep their ten point advantage. In the Eurofoot Club Ranking, anyway, Sporting, who was out of UEFA competitions since the playoffs this season, is only 28th, with 13.027 points.
French team Nîmes Olympique experienced the biggest climb of the week, going from 308th to 228th. In the Top100, the sensation this week was German team Werder Bremen, who climbed 17 spots, from 94th to 77th. This was, instead, a poor week to CD Aves, a Portuguese team that ceased to compete, as they dropped points from last season and that was enough to see them drop 68 positions, from 645th to the 713rd place. The biggest fall of this week, as they will be in the ranking until the moment their last fist division game completes one year.
Here you have the full rankings:
