WCR Top 25 - April 25, 2023

There was a lot of movement inside of the rankings this week, but not a lot of significant movement.  In fact, only one club moved more than two notches in either direction this week, that club being Tottenham, who dropped from 21st to 24th.

With Feyenoord falling to Roma in the Europa League and Ajax losing its second-place position to PSV Eindhoven, both Eredivisie clubs dropped out of the rankings this week, making room  for Roma and Aston Villa.  This now means that we only have six countries represented in the WCR Top 25, with two countries (England (9) and Italy (6)) taking up fifteen of the twenty-five spots.  The other ten spots are distributed among Germany (4), Spain (3), Portugal (2) and France (1).  I’m hoping it won’t stay that way for long, but the numbers are what the numbers are.

Twenty of the twenty-five clubs on the list moved at least one spot this week.  Of the nine English clubs, six moved down, two moved up (Newcastle and newbie Aston Villa) and one (Manchester City) stayed the same.  Remember that you can get details on the past and upcoming matches for all of these clubs by watching our latest YouTube videos on the WCR Top 25.

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.  Enjoy the first leg of the quarterfinals in the UCL and UEL this week!!!

1.  Manchester City (Eng) (125 pts) (5 first place votes) (LW 1) - City just keeps on rolling.  Yes, it’s true, they managed only a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich in the UCL, but that was plenty enough to give them a 4-1 aggregate victory and move them into the Champions League semifinals.  Their FA Cup tie with Sheffield United was even more decisive, with a Mahrez hat trick giving City a 3-0 victory and moving them into the FA Cup final.  The match we have all been waiting for will take place on Wednesday night, when second-place City hosts first-place Arsenal in a match that the Gunners now have to win if they want to stop the City rush.  Although that game will be played at Etihad, City will find themselves in London anyway on Sunday when they take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.

2.  Real Madrid (Esp) (118 pts) (LW 3) -Los Blancos move up a spot since they were able to repeat their performance from Santiago Bernabeu at Stamford Bridge and score another 2-0 victory over Chelsea to advance to face top-ranked Manchester City in the UCL semifinals.  Domestically, Real Madrid fared the same, scoring a home 2-0 win over Celta Vigo.  As they gear up for their cup competitions, Real will face two La Liga opponents this week, mid-level Girona away on Tuesday and then relegation-battling Almeria on Saturday.

3.  Bayern Munich (Ger) (117 pts) (LW 2) - The Bavarians did manage a 1-1 draw to Manchester City, but that was of no concern to City who were able to advance 4-1 on aggregate to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.  All Bayern has to play for now is their eleventh straight Bundesliga title, and they screwed that up royally on Saturday with a 1-3 loss at Mainz, dropping them to second place in the Bundesliga and third place on our charts.  It is clear that Bayern Munich misses both Lewandowski and Neuer and that this team may struggle to the finish line.  Since they no longer play each other, Bayern will have to hope for help from Dortmund as the season comes to an end.  On its end, all Bayern can do for itself is take care of business at home on Sunday against Hertha BSC.

4. Barcelona (Esp) (104 points) (LW 4) - Barcelona was able to score a huge victory at home 1-0 over Atletico Madrid.  Barce has still surrendered only nine goals in thirty league matches.  With the win, Barcelona needs only fourteen more points in their final eight matches to clinch the league title.  They can pick six of those fourteen up this week against Rayo Vallecano away on Wednesday night and at Real Betis on Saturday night.

5.  Napoli (Ita) (102 pts) (LW 7) - We expected it to be the best match of the weekend, and if it wasn’t, it was pretty damn close.  Juventus had the ball taken out of the goal twice late, but Napoli’s was the one that counted in the 93rd minute, allowing them to beat the Old Lady by a 1-0 score.  Of course, that followed Napoli’s heartbreaking removal from the Champions League at the hands of compatriots AC Milan.  Napoli scored a 1-1 draw against Milan at home at midweek, but it wasn’t enough as Milan won 2-1 on aggregate.  The good news is that Napoli can clinch the Scudetto this weekend if they are able to beat Salernitana on Saturday and Inter Milan helps them out by beating Lazio the following day.

6.  Arsenal (Eng) (101 points) (LW 5) - Move over Newcastle, we may be witnessing one of the greatest first-place Premier League collapses in history.  Following road draws against Liverpool and West Ham, Arsenal came back to Emirates and drew 3-3 with last-place Southampton on Friday night to make it six lost points in three matches.  A few weeks ago, the Gunners controlled their own destiny.  At this point, they have changed their Man City match scheduled for Wednesday night into a must-win proposition if they want any shot at the Premier League title.

7.  Liverpool (Eng) (101 pts) (LW 6) -It was more of a back-and-forth match than expected, but ultimately, Liverpool was able to score a 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest at home on Saturday.  The Reds have a pair of matches this week as they try to continue their attack on the European spots in the Premier League.  At midweek, they will take on West Ham, who do appear to be in excellent form at the moment.  On Sunday, they will host Spurs at Anfield in a match that will go a long way in determining the Premier League’s ultimate European placements for next season.

8. Paris St. Germain (Fra) (82 pts) (LW 9) - A 2-1 road victory against last-place Angers gave PSG its third consecutive victory and put it squarely back on course to start closing out another Ligue Un championship season.  It looked like it might get interesting recently, but PSG now seems to have retaken the reins.  PSG’s next step will be at Parc des Princes on Sunday, where/when they will take on mid-table Lorient.

9.  Manchester United (Eng) (71 pts) (LW 8) -The Red Devils provided the biggest surprise of the quarterfinal round of the European cup competitions, and not in a good way, losing 0-3 at Sevilla to be eliminated from the Europa League.  They fared better in the FA Cup semis, but in a much tighter match, needing a 7-6 victory on penalty kicks to advance over Brighton after a goalless draw including extra time.  Here’s to a derby FA Cup final!!  In their quest for next season’s Champions League, United has a pair of potentially dangerous matches this week, traveling to take on Spurs on Thursday night before hosting Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

10.  Atletico Madrid (Esp) (71 pts) (LW 10) - Atletico didn’t play poorly against Barcelona, but like most clubs they had a troublesome time getting the ball in the net against the Catalan club and lost 0-1.  Atleti is still safely in a Champions League position in La Liga and they will play two more league matches this week, first on Wednesday at home against Mallorca and then traveling to play Real Valladolid on Sunday night.

11.  Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (69 pts) (LW 12)

12.  Newcastle United (Eng) (64 pts) (LW 13)

13.  Inter Milan (Ita) (64 pts) (LW 11) 

14.  AC Milan (Ita) (58 pts) (LW 15)

15.  Porto (Por) (54 pts) (LW 14)

16.  Benfica (Por) (41 pts) (LW 18)

17.  Brighton (Eng) (40 pts) (LW 16)

18.  Juventus (Ita) (38 pts) (LW 19) 

19.  RB Leipzig (Ger) (38 pts) (LW 17)

20. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (35 pts) (LW 22)

21.  Chelsea (Eng) (26 pts) (LW 20)

22.  Roma (Ita) (21 pts) (LW NR)

23.  Lazio (Ita) (14 pts) (LW 23)

24.  Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (14 pts) (LW 21)

25.  Aston Villa (Eng) (11 pts) (LW NR)

Also receiving points:  Ajax (Ned) (7), Lille (Fra) (7), Feyenoord (Ned) (6), Athletic Bilbao (Esp) (6), RB Salzburg (Aut) (6), Palmeiras (Bra) (5), Sporting CP (Por) (4), Sevilla (Eng) (4), PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (2),  Real Sociedad (Esp) (1).