WCR Top 25 - April 11, 2023

City and Bayern remain unanimous number one and two picks this week setting up what is, according to ClubElo’s site, the first battle between the top two ranked clubs in a Champions League tie since Real Madrid needed extra time to defeat Bayern Munich in the 2016-17 Champions League quarterfinals.  This, of course, should be the matchup of the year!!!

Overall this week, there was very little movement within the Top Ten, with one major exception.  Newcastle United makes its debut in the top section of the rankings after two huge away victories, replacing Benfica, who dropped a 0-2 result at home against archrival Porto, and also dropped three spots in our rankings as a result.

After sending its B-Team to Bolivia to lose to Bolivar in their first Copa Libertadores Group Stage match, Palmeiras joined Union Berlin in a move out of our Top 25 rankings, meaning there are no longer any non-European clubs in the rankings.  Two debutantes make their way into the WCR Top 25 this week, with Dutch leaders Feyenoord coming in at 25 and the second place club in the Italian Serie A Lazio placing 24th.

All of the rest 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.  Enjoy the first leg of the quarterfinals in the UCL an UEL this week!!!

1.  Manchester City (Eng) (125 pts) (5 first place votes) (LW 1) - The top ranked club in the world continued to look like that this week with an unsurprising 4-1 victory at Southampton on Saturday evening.  Both of the coming week's home matches are important for different reasons.  The first one is on Tuesday when they take on the second best club in the world in the Champions League quarterfinals’ first leg.  That match against Bayern Munich will be the first matchup of number one and number two teams all year.  Saturday’s match against Leicester, although drawing much less excitement, is still a must-win if City wants to catch Arsenal in the Premier League table.

2.  Bayern Munich (Ger) (120 pts) (LW 2) - The DFB Pokal doesn’t look anything like the top of the Bundesliga standings now that Bayern has been knocked out by Freiburg by a 1-2 score.  Bayern got its revenge against Freiburg on Saturday, however, winning 1-0 to stay above Dortmund in the Bundesliga table.  As mentioned elsewhere, Tuesday night’s match at Manchester City is just frickin’ huge, so I won’t continue to say it here.  We all know this already.  In the most exciting race among top European leagues, Bayern will welcome Hoffenheim to Allianz on Saturday to try to maintain their domestic league lead.

3.  Real Madrid (Esp) (110 pts) (LW 3) - Ignore La Liga and Real Madrid is having a fantastic season.  Their 4-0 dismantling of Barcelona at Camp Nou was completely unexpected given recent form, but then the Yellow Submarine were able to complete the season sweep of Real Madrid with a 3-2 victory at the Bernabeu, though this loss was due in large part to the brilliance of Samuel Chukwueze.  The defending champions return to UCL action on Wednesday night at home against Chelsea and then travel to play relegation-threatened Cadiz on Saturday night.

4.  Barcelona (Esp) (104 points) (LW 4) - It was a tough week for the boys from Barcelona at home this week.  First, they were eliminated from the Copa del Rey in humiliating fashion in a 0-4 loss to archrival Real Madrid.  To add insult to injury, they could manage no more than a 0-0 draw against Girona on Monday night.  Truth is, there is a good chance they would have fallen behind Arsenal if that had happened on Sunday, but I don’t think the full effects of the draw has hit all of our data sources yet.  They are still destined to win La Liga this season, however, and the next step in that journey will take them to Getafe on Sunday.

5.  Arsenal (Eng) (104 points) (LW 5) - Who in the world would have guessed that Arsenal and Liverpool would have drawn 2-2 in what was, by far, the biggest match of the weekend?  Oh yeah, that was us haha.  I guess it’s all about perspective, but losing a two goal lead and leaving Manchester City’s destiny in its own hands has to be a disappointing outcome even if it does secure a point playing at Anfield.  The Gunners will be at West Ham on Sunday in the first of a few easier matches (on paper) before having to take on City, Chelsea, Newcastle and Brighton in rapid succession.  If they win the Premier League title after running that gauntlet, they will deserve it.

6.  Napoli (Ita) (103 pts) (LW 6) - Napoli bounced back from its huge loss to AC Milan with a 2-1 victory over Lecce, though to be perfectly honest, they didn’t look particularly good doing it.  They will have to figure out a way to bounce back to old form quickly before they take the pitch at San Siro against AC Milan on Wednesday night.  Victor Osimhen should be back by then, and that will be a huge help.  In domestic action, Napoli will host relegation-battling Hellas Verona on Saturday.

7.  Liverpool (Eng) (98 pts) (LW 7) - Who would have thought you could hear such a howl coming out of Manchester over Mohamed Salah missing a penalty kick?  Liverpool had a tough draw this week, facing two ranked clubs and, coincidentally, finished the week with two draws, first in a scoreless manner at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, and then 2-2 at home against Arsenal in a match that lived up to all of the hype surrounding it.  Next weekend, Liverpool will wait until the very end (Monday night) before it takes on Leeds United at Elland Road.

8. Paris St. Germain (Fra) (81 pts) (LW 9) - PSG went back to their winning ways in Ligue 1 with a 2-0 victory over Nice that leaves it six points ahead of the pack with only eight matches left.  The toughest opponent PSG has left this season will be the club they play on Saturday night, second-place Lens, who beat PSG rather handily in their first meeting this season.

9.  Manchester United (Eng) (80 pts) (LW 8) -Manyoo avoided some landmines this week, sliding past a good Brentford club 1-0 (and probably ending the Bees’ Champions League hopes) and then beating a usually poor, but occasionally dangerous Everton club 2-0.  They will be favored to win both of their matches this week as well, playing Sevilla at home on Thursday night in a Europa League quarterfinal match and then traveling on Sunday to take on Nottingham Forest.

10.  Newcastle United (Eng) (71 pts) (LW 13) The Magpies’ debut in the WCR Top Ten means that five of the Top Ten spots belong to English clubs, but it is hard to say they don’t deserve it after a week in which they solidified their top four spot in the Premier League with a 5-1 away victory over West Ham United and a 2-1 win at Brentford.  It was a truly good week in the capital city for the Toon Army.  The reward is yet another road match as Newcastle must take on Aston Villa in Saturday’s early match before returning home the following week against Spurs in a crucial match for both clubs.  

11.  Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (67 pts) (LW 12)

12.  Atletico Madrid (Esp) (66 pts) (LW 11)

13.  Benfica (Por) (65 pts) (LW 10)

14.  Porto (Por) (53 pts) (LW 16) 

15.  Inter Milan (Ita) (47 pts) (LW 15)

16.  RB Leipzig (Ger) (45 pts) (LW 19)

17.  Juventus (Ita) (43 pts) (LW 14) 

18.  Chelsea (Eng) (42 pts) (LW 17)

19.  AC Milan (Ita) (34 pts) (LW 18)

20.  Brighton (Eng) (32 pts) (LW 20)

21.  Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (27 pts) (LW 22)

22.  Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (27 pts) (LW 21)

23.  Ajax (Ned) (19 pts) (LW 23)

24.  Feyenoord (Ned) (11) (LW NR)

25.  Lazio (Ita) (9 pts) (LW NR)

Also receiving votes:  Roma (Ita) (7), RB Salzburg (Aut) (6), Celtic (Sco) (6), Villarreal (Esp) (5), Sporting CP (Por) (5), Aston Villa (Eng) (5), Palmeiras (Bra) (3.3), Athletic Bilbao (Esp) (3), Brentford (Eng) (2), Lille (Fra) (1).