WCR Top 25 - October 3, 2023

Another week of action in the European cup competitions didn’t cause nearly as many changes in the rankings as the prior cup matchday did, but there were still some mobile clubs here and there.

The same ten clubs remained in the WCR Top Ten, but there were a pair of flips of two positions within the rankings.  Real Madrid jumped two spots, from 4th to 2nd, trading places with Bayern Munich, who actually had a pretty good week.  Lower in the rankings, Napoli is just clinging on to the Top Ten after a week that saw it lose twice and home and fall two spots, from 8th to 10th, trading places with Atletico Madrid, who managed to win both of their home matches against even tougher competition than that faced by Napoli.

This week saw one club move up three notches and one club move down by the same amount.  The club that moved up was, once again, Real Sociedad, which moved from 22nd to 19th despite losing at Atletico Madrid in league action.  They did, however, manage to dominate RB Salzburg in the Champions League for a 2-0 victory.  Meanwhile, Porto dropped from 13th to 16th on the heels of a 0-1 loss at Barcelona and a lackluster 1-0 victory over Portimonense.

Palmeiras moved out of the Top 25 for the first time in a while, following being eliminated by Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores semifinals.  This marks the first time in that same while that all of the clubs in the WCR Top 25 are from Europe.  The European club replacing Palmeiras is Chelsea, who returns after an absence of over a month.  This returns the English Premier League to nine spots in our weekly ranking.

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) - In Liverpudlian fashion, City gave up a goal early to RB Leipzig before scoring three of their own and escaping with a 3-1 victory in their Champions League match.  They followed that up, however, with their third loss in four matches, falling 0-1 to a late goal by Arsenal in one of the biggest matches of the season in the Premier League.  After the upcoming international break, which City must find very timely, the top-ranked club will face another tough test, this time at home against Brighton.

2.  Real Madrid (Esp) (118 pts) (LW 4) -Real Madrid moves into the place position because, while other teams near the top continue to face struggles, Real Madrid continues to roll, with a loss at Atletico being the only blemish on their record.  This week, they scored an impressive 3-2 victory at Napoli in Champions League action before dismantling Osasuna in a 4-0 laugher on Saturday.  After the break, Real Madrid is on the road against another Champions League club in Sevilla, albeit in La Liga action.

3.  Liverpool (Eng) (113 pts) (LW 3) - I was watching the Liverpool and Newcastle United matches simultaneously and it was like watching the exact same match, with the Liverpool match a few minutes ahead.  The favored road teams gave up a goal, scored two of their own to take the lead, then gave back one for a draw.  Liverpool’s 2-2 draw was at Brighton, of course.  This followed up another 2-0 victory in the Europa League, this time over Union St.Gilloise.  After the break, the Merseyside Derby will start off the next phase of the Premier League’s season as the early match on Saturday.

4. Bayern Munich (Ger) (113 pts) (LW 2) - I’m not sure what happened to cause Bayern to drop two notches, though to be fair, they are in a dead heat with Liverpool for the third spot.  It’s true that they were not impressive against FC Copenhagen in their 2-1 come-from-behind victory, but they did pull off three away points in the Champions League and that’s all anyone can really hope for.  They looked quite dominant against Freiburg on Sunday in their 3-0 victory over that southern German club.  After the break, Bayern will look to continue this dominance on the road against Mainz.

5. Arsenal (Eng) (101 points) (LW 5) - It was a roller coaster week for Arsenal, starting with a surprise 1-2 loss at Lens in the Champions League Group Stage, followed by a just-as-surprising 1-0 victory at home against last year’s treble winners Manchester City.  Next up for the Gunners, after the break, will be the recently resurgent Blues of Chelsea as both clubs enjoy what should be a good test of their newfound strength.

6.   Inter Milan (Ita) (101 pts) (LW 6) - Ever since Inter Milan peaked at number four, they have struggled.  They did manage to score a second-half goal to defeat Benfica 1-0 to pick up three points in the Champions League, but dropped two more points in Serie A action, again at home, by letting Bologna back into a match that looked over after fifteen minutes, but eventually ended in a 2-2 draw.  After the international break, Inter will return to action in Turin, where they will play the other team from that city, Torino.

7.  Barcelona (Esp) (98 points) (LW 7) -Barça pulled off a 1-0 victory at Porto in the Champions League Group Stage which, while maybe not as impressive as expected, was good enough for three points.  In La Liga action, Granada scored 17 seconds into their match against Barcelona and scored another early goal as well before the defending La Liga champions clawed their way back to a 2-2 draw by the end of the match.  After the international break, Barcelona will return “home” to face Athletic Bilbao in domestic league action.

8. Atlético Madrid (Esp) (88 pts) (LW 10) - Atlético had a few hard-fought matches at home this week and came out on top in both.  First, they topped Feyenoord 3-2 in Champions League action and then overcame another tough club in Real Sociedad by a 2-1 score on Sunday.  Things should start off a little lighter for Atléti after the break, though they will be on the road in their first match against Celta Vigo.

9.  RB Leipzig (Ger) (76.5 pts) (LW 9) - There’s no shame in losing to Manchester City, even if you are playing at home, which is what Leipzig did in this week’s Champions League match, falling by a score of 1-3.  It was a little more humbling, however, to draw 0-0 at home against VfL Bochum.  This may be the perfect time for RB Leipzig to go on a break.  After the break, RB Leipzig will hit the road, starting with a Bundesliga match at SV Darmstadt on Saturday, August 20.

10.  Napoli (Ita) (76.5 pts) (LW 8) -  Didn’t Napoli already clinch the Serie A table by this time last season?  It sure seemed like it.  Anyway, no such luck this season.  After taking an early lead at home against Real Madrid, Napoli eventually fell to the Spanish powerhouse by a 2-3 score.  It was even worse news for the southern Italian club on Sunday night as they fell at home again, this time 1-3 to Fiorentina in Serie A action.  Maybe they should play away from home.  Maybe in Verona.  That’s what they’ll do to take on Hellas Verona on the Saturday after the break.

11. Newcastle United (Eng) (71 pts) (LW 12)

12. AC Milan (Ita) (67.5 pts) (LW 14)

13. Borussia Dortmund (Ger) (65 pts) (LW 11)

14. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (51 pts) (LW 16)

15. Paris St. Germain (Fra) (51 pts) (LW 15)

16. Porto (Por) (49 pts) (LW 13)

17. Manchester United (Eng) (38 pts) (LW 18)

18. Benfica (Por) (37 pts) (LW 17)

19. Real Sociedad (Esp)  (35 pts) (LW 22)

20. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (33.5 pts) (LW 19)

21.  Juventus (Ita) (33 pts) (LW 21)

22. Aston Villa (Eng) (30 pts) (LW 20)

23. Brighton (Eng) (16 pts) (LW 24)

24. West Ham United (Eng) (13 pts) (LW 25)

25. Chelsea (Eng) (7 pts) (LW NR) 

Also receiving points:   Sporting CP (Por) (16), Feyenoord (Ned) (9), PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (3), Brentford (Eng) (2), Lazio (Ita) (1), Fenerbahce (Tur) (2), Atalanta (Ita) (0.5).