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A year ago in this space, we dropped the hammer on Liverpool, which had inexplicably defied the odds and advanced to its second Champions League final in three years. But seeing as the Reds lost out to AC Milan, managed only another fourth-place finish in the English Premier League and finished the season without a single trophy, it was a tough call to leave them on the Rankings. Not even another Rafa Benítez miracle could save them.

The European season is officially over and the Latin American season is nearing its close, which means winners are emerging and losers are finishing in disappointment. You play to win trophies; that's the point of the game. So the time of year has come where we need to draw lines. With apologies to the likes of Arsenal, Villarreal and Juventus, you either win hardware -- or are still in the running -- or you don't belong here.

That said, we're breaking our own rule a bit for a club that deserves it (see No. 4 below). And since we've been away for nearly a month, there are a lot of new faces on this week's rundown, including three clubs making their first-ever Rankings debut. Finishing the year on an up note makes up for a lot of shortcomings.

Do I think Arsenal could take apart five of the clubs on this list? Sure, nine times out of 10. But where would you rather be a fan right now -- North London or St. Petersburg? (Either is certainly better than being a Zenit fan in Manchester.)

Anyway, let's get on with it. We'll check in again in a couple weeks just to mix it up in the middle of the European Championship.

Note: All rankings, records and statistics are through May 28.

World Soccer Power Rankings

1 Previously: 1	Manchester United No doubt about it now: Man. United is the undisputed No. 1 in the world. Still, I can't help but feel rubbed the wrong way by Cristiano Ronaldo, who clearly has an ego to match his talent. For one, did he have to unleash his "My dream is to play for Madrid" bomb less than a week before the Champions League final? Then, seeing him sobbing alone, prone on the pitch after his team won the European title left me a bit cold. Why is he too good to celebrate with his teammates? And if John Terry doesn't miss his penalty kick, we'd be remembering the likely World Player of the Year as the goat for his ridiculous run-stop-run miss earlier in the shootout.
2 Previously: 4	Real Madrid Yes, I know most of our lasting memories of Real's 2007-08 involve yet another round-of-16 exit from the Champions League. But emphatically winning a 31st La Liga crown isn't a bad ending. What'll be interesting now is to see how many wholesale changes occur in the coming weeks to Bernd Schuster's squad in order to avoid another embarrassing European flameout.
3 Previously: 3	Inter Milan Finally, a legit scudetto. We can't really argue with Inter's 16th league title, since there were no weakened squads or penalized clubs to contend with. What makes it even sweeter is that the Nerazzurri came very close to coughing up their once-insurmountable lead all the way down to the last day of the Serie A season. But the title is finally theirs. Now the major dysfunction begins -- just another offseason at the San Siro.
4 Previously: 2	Chelsea We're breaking our own rule here, since Chelsea's season ends trophyless for the first time in four years. And when it comes down to it, that's what the fans will remember -- coming up just short twice to the same team. That said, considering the roller-coaster ride this club has gone through this year, losing the Champions League final on penalty kicks is nothing to be ashamed of. And as boring a coach as he is -- both tactically and personality-wise -- Avram Grant really deserved better than his unceremonious sacking.
5 Previously: 5	AS Roma A second straight Coppa Italia is a nice consolation prize to end the season, but is this getting to be the same old story for Roma? Even so, let's salute the Giallorossi, who haven't been able to match Inter for talent in recent years but hung tough until the final day of the Serie A season. But it's looking increasingly likely that the club will still be sold to an American -- those George Soros rumors just won't go away.
6 Previously: 6	FC Porto Break up the Dragons? If the ease with which Porto cruised to its 23rd Portuguese Liga title seemed too good to be true, well, it probably was. The club's participation in a possible bribery scandal during its 2003-04 Champions League title run may result in it getting booted from next season's competition. Meanwhile, the dominos may have already started falling for Porto's biggest offseason exodus since that last European Cup win. José Bosingwa and Paulo Assunção are already gone, and Lucho González, Ricardo Quaresma and Lisandro López may not be far behind.
7 Previously: --	Boca Juniors You probably missed it, but Boca and Fluminense's Copa Libertadores 2-2 semifinal first-leg draw on Wednesday night was a classic, and was vintage Latin American soccer -- beautifully chaotic, always exciting and filled with questionable calls. Yes, Boca coughed up the lead twice at "home" to the Brazilians, but let's not forget, los Xeneizes own the Libertadores: Every time they face a must-win, they pull through. They've already bagged crucial away wins in second legs against Cruzeiro and Atlas after underperforming at home, and now is no different. Bet against Juan Román Riquelme & Co. at the Maracanã at your own risk.
8 Previously: --	Zenit St. Petersburg The UEFA Cup champs get their one-week pass here, and it's pretty well-deserved. Bankrolled by Russian oil conglomerate Gazprom, Zenit smashed its way through Europe's secondary club tournament, turning aside good clubs like Villarreal, Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich (on 5-1 aggregate!) and, finally, Rangers. Dick Advocaat etched his name in the pantheon of mastermind Dutch coaches, and Russia has an even bigger head of steam heading into Euro 2008 -- six Zenit players are part of the national-team squad.
9 Previously: --	Fluminense Any club that can march into Buenos Aires and drop two away goals on the defending South American champs is doing something remarkably right (though granted, it would've been even more impressive had the game been at the Bombonera and not Racing's "El Cilindro"). And despite the two goals Flu gave up, central defenders Thiago Silva and Luiz Alberto did well in shutting down Boca strikers Martín Palermo and Rodrigo Palacio. That's to say nothing of the job Flu has done in advancing further in the Libertadores than it ever has, knocking off heavily favored '05 champ São Paulo in the process.
10 Previously: --	Rangers A tricky one here, because Gers' archrival Celtic has been the club dominating the Scottish Premier League the past few years. But the blue half of Glasgow is celebrating an '08 sweep of Scotland's two cup competitions, while its team was playing for the league title on the last day of the season. And, of course, there was Rangers' run to the UEFA Cup final in Manchester, which it reached after dropping out of the Champions League -- don't forget, Gers and Celtic finished with identical records in the bigger of Europe's two club competitions. And yes, we'll admit we paid extra attention this season because of Scottish Cup final hero DaMarcus Beasley.
Honorable mentions: LDU Quito, Celtic, PSV Eindhoven, River Plate, Olympiakos, Kashima Antlers, Santos Laguna Dropped off: Flamengo, Bayern Munich, River Plate, Pachuca