Note: All rankings, records and statistics are through Feb. 21.
| World Soccer Power Rankings |
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1 |
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Inter Milan
OK, so that late 2-2 draw with Valencia in Wednesday's Champions League first leg is a big setback, especially after Inter dominated the match. Allowing two goals at home is not the way to blaze a trail to the quarterfinals. This is the biggest test facing the record-breaking Nerazurri in months. And I mean that literally, since the last time Inter lost a game was Sept. 27, to Bayern Munich. Despite that run, there's some doubt this team can seriously challenge for the European title. If they can pull this one out, we may get some answers.
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2 |
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Manchester United
First, the good: United's six-point lead in the English Premiership is intact, and it looks to have a cakewalk into the Champions League quarterfinals after stealing a 1-0 win in the first leg at Lille. Now, the bad: An FA Cup replay at plucky Reading will be no easy shakes, and the aftermath from the ugly Lille victory is worse. Besides the controversy of Ryan Giggs' goal, there's the awful matter of dozens of Man Utd fans dodging serious injury when they were crushed against a fence. Oh, and the Lille fans throwing objects at Giggs in protest? Like no one will remember that at Old Trafford come March 7.
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5 |
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Olympique Lyon
True champions weather ugly dips in form and rebound to get back to their winning ways. If that's the formula, Lyon is following it. After starting '07 winless through four straight, Les Gones have rebounded to win three in a row in the French league to build their lead atop Ligue 1 back to 13 points. And their scoreless draw against Roma in Champions League was a fun watch, if only for the chippiness and a pair of Juninho near-misses. The title hunt is very much alive.
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Valencia
The drop from No. 3 is so precipitous, it's time we shook things up. I'd feel a lot better about putting Los Che here if they had actually beaten Inter, but things are looking pretty good for the second leg at the Estadio Mestalla, where it's almost all good news. Everyone is finally healthy, David Villa and Fernando Morientes have become one of the best 1-2 punches in the world and Valencia has moved back into third in Spain -- the high point being last weekend's epic 2-1 defeat of Barcelona. This club has the talent to win La Liga, if not the resilience to put Inter away in two weeks.
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6 |
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Chelsea
The Blues bagged a terrific win against red-hot Middlesbrough on Feb. 10, but it's hard to justify moving them up more than one spot when their past two weeks have also included beating the stuffing out of hapless second-division Norwich City in FA Cup play and then earning a rather limp draw at FC Porto on Wednesday in Champions League. Instead, we'll observe that, in a season where Chelsea is struggling with injuries to its decimated back line and gasping for consistency, there are two guys on this team whose presence on the field changes the complexion of the game: Michael Essien and Arjen Robben.
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4 |
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AS Roma
Roma crushed Lyon -- in yellow cards issued. The Giallorossi had eight to Lyon's three, a Champions League record. Not much to take out of this one, except that Roma has to work harder and get more organized to make some further noise in this tournament. More troubling was Roma's horrific 1-0 loss last weekend to 10-man Empoli in a empty stadium, where a suddenly creative Luciano Spalletti decided his men would be better off without Brazilian playmakers Rodrigo Taddei and Mancini in the lineup. The Serie A title may be out of reach, but the Romans still need to show up to clinch that vital No. 2 finish for a return trip to Champions play next season.
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| 7 |
3 |
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FC Barcelona
Where are the champions? If Barça wants to hang onto its European title, it's time to play like it. The deepest, most talented club in the world now needs at least two away goals at Anfield for its second leg with Liverpool to survive. And now, with Valencia and Sevilla nipping at their heels, the Blaugrana aren't even guaranteed a third-straight league title, which was assumed to be an afterthought. Are rumors of both Frank Rijkaard and Samuel Eto'o leaving becoming too much of a distraction?
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8 |
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Celtic
How fun was it to see AC Milan striker Alberto Gilardino grow more and more frustrated with every save Celtic keeper Artur Boruc threw his way in Tuesday's 0-0 Champions League draw? The Bhoys have put themselves in great position to knock Milan off in the second leg, and their lead in the Scottish Premier League remains a shocking 19 points. In fact, Celtic needs just nine points out of 10 remaining matches to clinch its 41st SPL title.
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7 |
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São Paulo
Well, São Paulo has risen to the top of the table in the Paulista state tournament, if only briefly, and has yet to lose a match in '07. So that's good news. But the first match of the year that really mattered -- the Tricolor Paulista's Copa Libertadores opener -- was a dud. If you're a favorite to win the whole thing, you can't waste time with scoreless draws against the likes of Audax Italiano. Circle these two dates on your calendar: March 11 vs. Santos in the Paulista and March 21 vs. Necaxa in Libertadores -- São Paulo's biggest tests so far.
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10 |
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Sevilla
The one European club on these Rankings that isn't in this year's Champions League field probably deserves to be there. Sevilla is tied with Barcelona again for first in La Liga after an impressive win over Atlético Madrid and also scored a convincing away win over Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Cup. Fredi Kanouté scored three goals over both victories, cementing his scoring lead in Spain and further making himself a threat to win the European Golden Boot award. No wonder the Malian wants more money from the club.
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Honorable mentions: PSV Eindhoven, Liverpool, FC Porto, Santos, Schalke 04, River Plate, Arsenal, Colo-Colo, VfB Stuttgart
Dropped off: Arsenal
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