WCR Top 25 - May 30, 2023

This is not the final rankings of the season, but it is the final one following a weekend in which everybody on the list played.  Domestic leagues in England, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands concluded this weekend, with some thrilling action - especially in the German Bundesliga.  Spain, Italy and France still have another weekend to go, but with many fewer matches, movement in the rankings will most likely be minor over the next few weeks.

At this point in the season we sometimes see strange movement in the rankings.  As clubs clinched positions in prior weeks, they sometimes save player for other matches on the schedule or just take weeks off.  As a result, you see results like Brentford beating City, Feyenoord losing at home for the first time in their last Eredivisie match, and last-place Southampton drawing with Liverpool.  The math still counts towards the rankings, so sometimes things can get skewed.

This led this week to both of the Dutch clubs in last week’s countdown to bow out of the rankings.  They were replaced by newcomer Brentford, who beat a City club that rested several players, and Red Bull Salzburg, who return after an absence of several months.  Our biggest mover in the rankings was Manchester United, who jumped four notches back into the Top Ten after victories over Chelsea and Fulham.

All of the rankings are below.  If you don’t like the list, please feel free to check out our methodology page, which includes links to all of the source data we are using. 

1.  Manchester City (Eng) (125 pts) (5 first place votes) (LW 1) -Manchester City did not exactly clothe itself in glory this week after clinching the Premier League title.  At midweek, they drew 1-1 with Brighton, which allowed the underdogs to clinch a Europa League Group Stage spot.  City finished up the week with a 0-1 loss at Brentford.  Of course, those aren’t the two most important matches for Manchester City.  Those come over the following two Saturdays, starting this coming weekend with the FA Cup Final against city-rival Manchester United.

2.  Bayern Munich (Ger) (118 pts) (LW 2) - A Jamal Musiala goal in the 89th minute gave Bayern a 2-1 lead over Köln, which they ended up holding to complete its eleventh consecutive Bundesliga title winning campaign.  Of course, they needed help from Mainz, but they received that help and then took care of business themselves.  It was a fitting conclusion to one of the most exciting Bundesliga races in recent memory and will serve as an end to Bayern Munich’s 2022-23 season.

3.  Real Madrid (Esp) (110 pts) (LW 4) -By virtue of a pair of 2-1 victories over the past week, first against Rayo Vallecano in a controversial match, and later on at Sevilla, Real Madrid moved back into second place in La Liga’s Primera División.  Their final match of the season will take place on the league’s last stand on Sunday night.  Los Blancos will host Athletic Club to finish off 2022-23.

4. Liverpool (Eng) (110 pts) (LW 3) -In the “Something You Don’t See Every Day” category, Liverpool and Southampton both blew two-goal leads in the same match before settling on a 4-4 draw in a match with few consequences for either club.  It was sometimes beautiful, sometimes not, but it was certainly entertaining.  This concludes the season for both clubs as Liverpool has time to prepare for the Europa League and Southampton has time to prepare for the Championship.

5.  Barcelona (Esp) (97 points) (LW 5) - Barcelona had a mixed week this week, which wasn’t unexpected seeing as they have already clinched the La Liga title and are playing for very little.  At midweek, Barça fell 1-3 at Real Valladolid in a result that royally clouded the relegation waters in Spain’s top division.  They did bounce back to beat Mallorca 3-0 to win their final home match of the season.  Which Barcelona club will show up for the final match?  Who knows?  But since they will be playing at Celta Vigo, it will be another match with major significance to the wild relegation race in La Liga.

6.  Arsenal (Eng) (97 points) (LW 7) - After slipping much of the last two months of the season to coast into second place in the Premier League, Arsenal went out with a bang, crushing Wolverhampton 5-0 in the season finale at Emirates.  It was a great season for the Gunners and it is good to see it end on a high note.  Next up will be the MLS All-Stars in the annual event in the United States.  Last time Arsenal played in this event, they won 2-1, with Didier Drogba scoring the goal for the MLS All-Stars, so it has been a long time.

7.  Napoli (Ita) (95 pts) (LW 6) - Napoli scored the first two goals of the match, but they couldn’t hold the lead for ninety minutes as Bologna pushed to a 2-2 draw against the Scudetto winners.  Napoli, with all their glory, is just playing out the season, of course, and with their away season over, their final match will be at home against Sampdoria on Sunday night as the 2022-23 Serie A season concludes.

8. Inter Milan (Ita) (89 pts) (LW 8) - Pretty good week for Internazionale, I must say.  At midweek, they successfully defended their Coppa Italia title with a 2-1 victory over La Viola of Fiorentina.  Then, over the weekend, they used a tremendous start to their advantage, ultimately holding on to a 3-2 win over Atalanta to guarantee a spot in the top four in this season’s Serie A, securing a spot in next season’s Champions League, whether they win this year’s edition or not.  Serie A isn’t finished yet, though, and Inter will visit Torino to finish off the season on Sunday night.

9.  Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (75 pts) (LW 9) - This wasn’t the first chance that Dortmund had to secure their first Bundesliga title in eleven years, but it was their last chance to do it and they failed to take advantage of it.  After going down 0-2 early and missing a penalty kick, Dortmund fought back valiantly, but the goals didn’t come quickly enough and their match with Mainz finished in a 2-2 draw, allowing Bayern Munich to slip past them in the Bundesliga table by virtue of goal differential.  There should be a lot of changes in this club for next season, but there will be a sour taste in everyone’s mouths over what might have been as the summer wears on.

10.  Manchester United (Eng) (74 pts) (LW 14) - Manchester United returns to our Top Ten after a week with two victories over London clubs.  The first one, a 4-1 defeat of Chelsea, secured a top four spot for the Red Devils and the associated invitation to next season’s UEFA Champions League.  The second win was a 2-1 victory over Fulham, to land United firmly in third place in the Premier League.  Unlike most English clubs, Manyoo is not finished yet.  Saturday will see them face off in the first ever Manchester Derby FA Cup Final as they try to sweep England’s domestic cups and prevent City from trebling.  Should be fun!!

11.  RB Leipzig (Ger) (70 pts) (LW 12)

12.  Atlético Madrid (Esp) (70 pts) (LW 10)

13.  Newcastle United (Eng) (69 pts) (LW 11)

14.  Paris St. Germain (Fra) (64 pts) (LW 13)

15.  Porto (Por) (58 pts) (LW 15)

16.  Benfica (Por) (51 pts) (LW 16)

17.  AC Milan (Ita) (38 pts) (LW 19)

18.  Brighton (Eng) (36 pts) (LW 17)

19.  Aston Villa (Eng) (26 pts) (LW 20)

20. Real Sociedad (Esp) (22 pts) (LW 22)

21.  Brentford (Eng) (19 pts) (LW NR)

22.  Juventus (Ita) (19 pts) (LW 18)

23.  Palmeiras (Bra) (16.7 pts) (LW 23)

24.  Chelsea (Eng) (12 pts) (LW 21)

25.  RB Salzburg (Aut) (10 pts) (LW NR)

Also receiving points:  Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (9), Lazio (Ita) (9), Ajax (Ned) (8), Sporting CP (Por) (6), PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (6), Sevilla (Esp) (5),  Roma (Ita) (4),  Lille (Fra) (4), Villarreal (Esp) (3), Lens (Fra) (3), Feyenoord (Ned) (3), Lyon (Fra) (1).