WCR Top 25 - March 7, 2023
World Club Rankings - Top 25 - March 7, 2023
Rankings can be complicated. How do we know this? In just the past few weeks, we have seen demonstrations that Manchester United is a little better than Barcelona; Barcelona is a little better than Real Madrid; Real Madrid is significantly better than Liverpool; and Liverpool is magnificently better than Manchester United. Ah . . . the circle of football life.
The biggest move of the week belongs to Manchester United, and you can guess what direction it was in based on their historic 0-7 loss to Liverpool at Anfield. More on that later. Lille and a few English clubs (Liverpool and Brighton) each moved up two places in our rankings, with Brighton making its debut in the Top Ten. One team, AS Roma, dropped out of the rankings, making room for Sporting CP to enter the charts for the first time.
As noted last week, the rankings are coming from FiveThirtyEight. We will use the data they have collected for additional features starting this week. Enjoy!!!
World Club Rankings - Top 25 - March 7, 2023
1. Bayern Munich (Ger) (1) - A late goal by VfB Stuttgart made the match look closer than it actually was, but Bayern kept pace with Dortmund atop the German Bundesliga, which Bayern still leads by virtue of goal differential. Bayern will host Augsburg this weekend in domestic action, but of course, what most people will be interested in is the return match against PSG in Champions League action. The match will be at Allianz, and has a 1-0 lead going in, but this could be something for the ages.
2. Manchester City (Eng) (2) - Manchester City looked this week like they’ve looked most of the year. They breezed past Bristol City in the FA Cup eighth-finals and then showed superiority over Newcastle United in a 2-0 fixture on Saturday. A similar outcome is probably to be expected on Sunday when City faces Crystal Palace in an away match.
3. Real Madrid (Esp) (4) - I find it quite remarkable that Real Madrid moved up in the rankings this week after losing to Barcelona at home in a Copa del Rey match and then managing only a single point in a 0-0 draw against Real Betis over the weekend. In fact, Real Madrid has not won a match since beating Liverpool 5-2 in the Champions League a few weeks ago. Of course, Liverpool looks a lot better right now than they did last week, so I’m guessing that victory looks a lot better in the database and, as a result, Real Madrid has moved up a notch. The club is off until Saturday, when it will face Espanyol in a tuneup for the Liverpool return match the following week.
4. Barcelona (Esp) (3) - Barcelona won twice this week, but it would be far-fetched to say that either victory was impressive. They were in total defensive mode against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in a Copa del Rey match that finished 1-0 on an Eder Militao own goal. Over the weekend, Barcelona beat Valencia 1-0, but again, was not impressive in doing so. It is clear that Lewandowski is sorely missed. In what could be one of the biggest matches of the weekend, Barcelona returns to action Sunday night against former Top 25 club Athletic Bilbao.
5. Arsenal (Eng) (5) - Arsenal took out some revenge on Everton in a 4-0 midweek Premier League victory before totally being gifted two points in a 3-2 victory over Bournemouth over the weekend. Seriously - - there was no way they should have been given that much time to find the winning goal. In the old days, we used to refer to it as Fergie Time. If you’re a gunner fan, however, you probably thought it was the match of the season. This week, Arsenal returns to action in the Europa League with an away match from new WCR Top 25 club Sporting CP, which should be a good test. The Gunners will then head to Craven Cottage for a Sunday showdown with Fulham.
6. Liverpool (Eng) (8) - The Reds’ 2-0 victory over Wolves at midweek wasn’t too surprising, even if it was their first win in three matches. The Sunday match? I don’t even know what to say. I didn’t expect Liverpool to even win that match, let alone put up a touchdown AND an extra point against Manchester United, who were just coming off big victories against Barcelona and Newcastle. I was shocked. I think most people were. It helped Liverpool move up a few spots on this list and made United drop five full notches. Liverpool will play the early match on Saturday against Bournemouth. If they need extra time at the end of the match, maybe the refs will give them away to Liverpool as well.
7. Napoli (Ita) (6) - Napoli fell 0-1 at home to Lazio in its only match of the past week. Perhaps they can be forgiven for losing concentration in a Serie A race that saw their lead drop from 18 points to 15 points after the loss. I hope this doesn’t last too long. I understand Napoli turning its attention to the Champions League, but they need to stay in form in order to make that dream a reality - and this team is good enough to do that. Napoli will return to action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Atalanta at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
8. Paris St. Germain (Fra) (7) - PSG looked hot at times and cold at times against Nantes in its 4-2 victory over the weekend. Still, with an eight point lead over Marseille, they are comfortably atop the Ligue 1 table. This week is the big return match against Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena to see if PSG can see its elusive quest for a Champions League title will stay alive for another round. In domestic action, PSG will visit Brest on Sunday.
9. RB Leipzig (Ger) (9) - RB Leipzig’s Bundesliga dreams took a big hit this week in their 1-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund in what was last weekend’s WCR Game of the Week. While they wait for their UCL matchup with Manchester City next week, Leipzig will host Borussia Monchengladbach in Bundesliga action.
10. Brighton (Eng) (12) - Brighton’s consistency (winning eight of twelve matches since Boxing Day) has seen it move within a whisper of European positions in the Premier League and advance to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. A 1-0 victory over Stoke City is what led them to their FA Cup position, and a 4-0 thrashing of the Hammers in Premier League action has seen them skyrocket to the WCR Top Ten for the first time ever. Without a current European league to worry about, BHA can focus on both of their current competitions, beginning with a Saturday matchup at Leeds United in their next EPL match.
11. Benfica (Por) (11)
12. Chelsea (Eng) (13)
13. Newcastle United (Eng) (14)
14. Ajax (Ned) (15)
15. Manchester United (Eng) (10)
16. Inter Milan (Ita) (17)
17. Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (16)
18. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (18)
19. Atletico Madrid (Esp) (20)
20. Zenit St. Petersburg (Rus) (21)
21. Lille (Fra) (23)
22. Porto (Por) (19)
23. Celtic (Sco) (24)
24. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (25)
25. Sporting CP (Por) (NR)
Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Athletic Bilbao (Esp), Juventus (Ita), Marseille (Fra), RB Salzburg (Aut), Roma (Ita)
Next Five (alphabetically): AC Milan (Ita), Brentford (Eng), Feyenoord (Ned), Fiorentina (Ita), Real Sociedad (Esp)