In the world of American college football, there is no points systems for ranking teams like we have in soccer (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw) in order to order the teams mathematically by the number of points accumulated at a particular point in the season. Instead, how they determine who the best teams are is through what is called the ‘selection committee’, which analyses the results, strength of schedule, along with other contributing factors to produce a ranking list of the top 25 teams in the nation each week.
There is no such procedure in soccer, but what if there was? Through the one-man committee consisting of myself, I’ve done the math, the debating, and the deliberating and I’ve settled on my inaugural power rankings for all European clubs. Similarly to how they do it in college football, I’m going to consider results, strength of victories and of losses, momentum, injuries, coaches, the whole shebang.
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1. FC Bayern München, GER [9–1–1 (1st in Bundesliga), 4–0–0 UCL]
Bayern are the best team in the world right now, and it’s not particularly close. Lewandowski is going to win the Ballon D’Or, and the squad is finely balanced with burgeoning youth talent like Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies, and experienced veterans like Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer.
2. Manchester City, ENG [7–2–2, (2nd in Premier League), 3–1–0 UCL]
Man City have got the job done when and where it’s been needed. They have a loss in the Champions League to PSG but lead them in the group standings after four games, and have also beaten league leaders Chelsea domestically. Pep’s men are currently favourites to win their first ever UCL.
3. Chelsea, ENG [8–1–2 (1st in Premier League), 3–1–0 UCL]
Chelsea have an extraordinarily deep squad, which has helped them to deliver high-octane performances across competitions. Their style of play is solid, having conceded only 4 league goals and a lone loss in Turin is the only blemish on their otherwise perfect Champions League record.
4. Paris Saint-Germain, FRA [11–1–1 (1st in Ligue Un), 2–0–2 UCL]
PSG may have beaten Man City 2–0 in the UCL, but since that date on the 28th September, they have failed to win a match by more than a single goal — despite playing in the weakest of European major leagues (and this doesn’t come from me, an interested Englishman, it comes from the UEFA league coefficient list). Furthermore, Lionel Messi has hitherto been a complete miss , with 0 goals in 5 games. Having said this, Les Parisiens remain on track for their wonted Ligue Un title and look poised to make another deep run in the Champions League.
5. Real Madrid, ESP [8–1–3, (2nd in La Liga), 3–1–0 UCL]
Madrid have recovered well from a shock early loss to UCL debutants Sheriff to climb to the top of their group, and have similarly crept back up the standings domestically. They beat Barca (for however much that’s worth these days) but otherwise have no real impressive victories to hand. On the positive side, Vinícius Jr seems to have matured well over the off-season and looks like a future star.
6. Liverpool, ENG [6–1–4 (4th in Premier League), 4–0–0 UCL]
Liverpool come off the back of a disappointing loss to West Ham in which their defence of set pieces was severely exposed. This comes after they were unable to get wins against Brighton and new boys Brentford. However, in the Champions League they’ve been faultless, defeating AC Milan, Atletico twice and FC Porto.
7. AFC Ajax, NED [8–1–3 (1st in Eredivisie), 4–0–0 UCL]
Surprise package Ajax have completed their phoenix-like regeneration having been looted of all their stars in the summer following their successful 2017/18 season. They are four from four in UCL play, beating Dortmund twice (with an aggregate score of 7–1), and sit atop the Dutch league. Dusan Tadic and Sebastian Haller are proving a lethal strike partnership.
8. West Ham United, ENG [7–2–2 (3rd in Premier League), 3–0–1 UEL]
West Ham deserve a spot in the top 10 because they beat a top 10 team in Liverpool. They do a lot of things very well: they have a balanced defence, midfield and attack and have lots of very good players courtesy of great scouting. Saïd Benrahma, Michail Antonio, Declan Rice, Tomas Souček: the Irons are the real deal this year.
9. FC Porto, POR [9–0–2, (1st in Primeira Liga), 1–1–2 UCL]
As things stand, Porto are poised to fulfill their customary round of 16 UCL exit, sitting pretty in second place with two games to go in their group. They are unbeaten in domestic play, albeit in the Portuguese league, but have an impressive win at home to AC Milan in the UCL.
10. RB Salzburg, AUT [12–0–2 (1st in Austrian Bundesliga), 2–1–1 UCL]
Salzburg’s achievements are impressive given their lack of squad strength. This team is not top 10 on paper, but the results are proving the paper wrong week after week. They’ve been dominant in their league, and could make a surprise run in the knockouts this year.
11. Manchester United, ENG [5–4–2 (6th in Premier League), 2–1–1 UCL]
It’s difficult to rate United, because it’s obvious that their current form does not accurately reflect their true ability. Their squad is stacked and could easily win the Premier League, the only liability being the defensive midfield slot. However, this squad is not winning anything with Ole Gunnar Solskjær at the helm, who now has lost games against alleged rivals Liverpool and Man City by an aggregate score of 7–0 in successive games. Their record in the Champions League could be a lot uglier as well, if they didn’t have the clutchest player of all time in CR7, who was three (3) game winning/tying goals in four games.
12. SSC Napoli, ITA [10–0–2 (1st in Serie A), 2–1–1 UEL]
Napoli top a very competitive Serie A thanks to Lorenzo Insigne and breakout striker Victor Osimhen causing real damage to Serie A defences. They have a bad loss at home to Spartak Moscow, which damages their record, and will need to be more dominant in the Europa League to seriously challenge this list’s top 10.
13. Arsenal, ENG [6–3–2 (5th in Premier League)]
Arsenal have no European football, which in a way serves them well as they have less fixture congestion to concern themselves with. Mikel Arteta has led a semi-revival in recent weeks and will hope that the emergence of Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka is abiding and not ephemeral.
14. Borussia Dortmund, GER [8–3–0 (2nd in Bundesliga), 2–2–0 UCL]
Dortmund are on a two-game losing streak, with losses to Ajax and league rivals RB Leipzig. They rely too heavily on Erling Haaland being excellent, and are not well-rounded enough to offer a serious challenge to Bayern’s monopoly on the German title. They’ve been shown up twice by Ajax in the UCL, which further hampers their credibility.
15. AC Milan, ITA [10–0–2 (2nd in Serie A), 0–3–1 UCL]
Milan could easily be a top 10 team had they have had a better European campaign, but things just haven’t workout out for them. They went toe-to-toe with Liverpool and were unlucky to leave Anfield with no points, then they lost to Atleti with a 90+7th minute Luis Suárez penalty, then for whatever reason didn’t show up against Porto. Veterans Giroud and Ibrahimović are a delight to watch up front.
16. Internazionale, ITA [7–1–4 (3rd in Serie A), 2–1–1 UCL]
Inter have a few too many draws in domestic play to be a top 10 team, but are in good stead to qualify for the UCL last 16. They’ve rebounded well considering they lost their manager and best player from last season, with Lautaro Martínez, Niccolò Barella and Joaquín Correa proving to be real talents.
17. Atlético de Madrid, ESP [6–1–5 (4th in La Liga), 1–2–1 UCL]
Simeone’s men were thoroughly dismantled by Liverpool on both meetings in the Champions League, leaving the Spanish champions in a dogfight for second place in Group B with Porto and AC Milan. Los Colchoneros are yet to fully find their feet this year, and their domestic record is plagued with draws to far weaker opponents such as Levante and Valencia.
18. Juventus, ITA [5–4–3 (8th in Serie A), 4–0–0 UCL]
Juventus were bad last year, and that was with Ronaldo. This year, they’re even worse. They barely managed to reach the UCL last year, and this year they lie in eighth despite having a very talented and well-rounded squad. This is a team that is yet to find its rhythm, but its proven that if it does find its feet can be dangerous — beating holders Chelsea in the UCL.
19. Real Sociedad, ESP [8–1–4 (1st in La Liga), 1–0–3 UEL]
Sociedad are inexplicably top of La Liga, which is obviously an incredible achievement, but they let themselves down with their European performances. They have three draws out of four in the Europa League, not even the UCL, including one at home to SK Sturm Graz, who have four losses in the Austrian league.
20. Sporting CP, POR [9–0–2, (2nd in Primeira Liga), 2–2–0 UCL]
Sporting are unbeaten in domestic play, but in Europe they have been beaten by Dortmund and Ajax, the two real tests in the group, with their only two wins coming against lowly Besiktas.
21. SL Benfica, POR [9–1–1 (3rd in Primeira Liga), 1–2–1 UCL]
Benfica have an impressive 3–0 win against Barcelona which propels them onto the list. They, along with the other two members of the Portugese footballing triarchy, have a higher winning percentage than the vast majority of other teams on the list, but the relative weakness of their wins has to be taken into account.
22. Sevilla FC, ESP [8–1–3 (3rd in La Liga), 0–1–3 UCL]
Sevilla’s domestic record is solid, in fact equal to Real Madrid’s: what lets them down is their performance in Europe. They sit last in their group despite being the second seed and drawn against the worst 1 seed, Lille. They have three draws and a loss in by far the easiest UCL group, so they get docked serious rating points for that.
23. FC Barcelona, ESP [4–3–5, (9th in La Liga), 2–2–0 UCL]
It’s not news to anyone that Barcelona are in a rebuild. They are probably at the lowest point in their club’s long history, after years of financial abandon extemporaneous transfer market imprudence, along with a string of impotent managers and the departure of long-time saviour Lio Messi. Their record reflects this chaos, with more draws than wins in league play.
24. Olympique Lyonnais, FRA [5–4–4 (7th in Ligue Un), 4–0–0 UEL]
Lyon and AS Monaco are both strange cases in that they lie top of their European groups, yet are both struggling domestically in a league they definitely shouldn’t be struggling in. Lyon’s record is slightly better than Monaco’s in both leagues, so they make the cut.
25. FC Zenit, RUS [9–2–3 (1st in Russian Super League), 1–3–0 UCL]
Zenit have been dominant in the Russian league, which up until a couple of years ago was considered by UEFA to be good enough for the winners to earn an automatic berth into pot 1 for the Champions League group stage draw. In the UCL this year, Zenit will have a tough time getting out of their group over heavyweights Juventus and Chelsea, but they add a nice bit of diversity to the list, so they make the cut.
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Teams receiving votes but not in the top 25:
Atalanta BC, ITA (6–2–4)
Villarreal CF, ESP (3–3–6)
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen, GER (5–3–3)
VfL Wolfsburg, GER (6–4–1)
Real Betis Balompié, ESP (6–4–3)
Wolverhampton Wanderers, ENG (5–5–1)
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AS Monaco, FRA (5–5–3)
SC Freiburg, GER (6–1–4)
PSV Eindhoven, NED (9–3–0)
Brighton & Hove Albion, ENG (4–2–5)
