Liverpool and La Liga Dominate

It's hard to believe nearly six months have passed since Spain began its title march at the European Championship and killing off one of the biggest jinxes in the soccer world. (Know the pheeling, Phillies fans?) Even today, despite a few nasty side plots, everything feels right on Planet Football.

And when you take a look at our rundown this week, it's clear the goodwill is still spilling over. After two mostly dismal seasons in the Spanish league, we've had a remarkable rebound in La Liga. The Big Two are still predictably near the top of the standings, but we've got three other clubs making surprising early runs at first place.

The best part? All five contenders have been playing great soccer and haven't shown any of the signs of the ineptitude that plagued La Liga last season. That's why four Spanish clubs clog up the Rankings this week.

The English club that might as well be Spanish claims this week's top spot. Liverpool's coach is, of course, Spanish mastermind Rafa Benítez (who, by the way, I still argue would be a perfect Spanish national-team coach some day). Euro final hero Fernando Torres is arguably the Reds' biggest star, and three of his Euro teammates -- Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and Álvaro Arbeloa -- are also regulars at Anfield.

That makes five clubs on our new Rankings with direct ties to the Spanish national team. Proof positive that a Spanish party, as the kids say, just don't quit.

Note: All rankings, records and statistics are through Oct. 29.

World Soccer Power Rankings

1 Previously: 1	Liverpool All hail the football gods. Every once in awhile, the stars align so we get objective evidence to put one club over another. And all things being equal, it would have been a tough call to award Liverpool or Chelsea the top spot here. Before last Sunday, you might even give the other guys the nod. But Alonso did our work for us, providing the difference as the Reds beat the Blues last weekend and, in doing so, gave his club the outright lead in the English Premier League.
2 Previously: 5	FC Barcelona I don't care who your opponent is -- when you pummel your opponents with two straight 5-0 wins, your players grow confident in themselves and each other. FC Basel and Almería learned that the hard way, surrendering a combined eight goals to the Blaugrana in the first half of their respective chumpings. Even manager Pep Guardiola is impressed, though he did try to temper the enthusiasm a bit. "What is important," he said, "is to win each game as it comes and we'll know where we are at the end of the league."
3 Previously: 2	Chelsea So the 86-game league unbeaten run at home -- dating back to February 2004 -- is over. But let's just take a minute to marvel at that accomplishment. That's a record Chelsea broke more than a year ago (the previous mark was 64 games). Its last loss in any English competition was in October '05 (to Charlton Athletic in the Carling Cup) and its last loss, period, at home was in February '06 to eventual European champion FC Barcelona. How about a more current startling statistic? The supposedly vulnerable Blues back line has allowed four goals through 13 games in all competitions.
4 Previously: 3	Villarreal Put aside Villarreal's awful 5-0 loss in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday (with a mostly reserve squad), its first in any competition this season. More and more each game, it's hard not to fall in love with this tiny team from a tiny town in uniforms you probably could see from space. No game has showed this group's tenacity like its fightback from a 2-0 deficit to Atlético Madrid last Sunday; Villarreal rallied with four unanswered goals before eventually settling for a 4-4 draw. That's in no small part to the Yellow Submarine's cagey veterans who are still having an enormous influence on the pitch: thirtysomethings Marcos Senna, Robert Pirès, Joan Capdevila and Edmílson.
5 Previously: 4	Manchester United Tough gig for United right now. The Red Devils have lost only one match this season in the EPL, yet their rivals have been on such a tear that they find themselves eight points back in the standings (though with a game in hand). The most intriguing story out of the Man. Utd camp this week, though, is the whispers that José Mourinho could become Sir Alex Ferguson's eventual successor. What's next, Budweiser as the official beer of Old Trafford? Oh, wait ...
6 Previously: 8	Valencia Wow. Is this really the same team that nearly self-destructed last season? Los Che are all alone atop a resurgent La Liga and still undefeated this season. Valencia has a huge stretch of winnable games ahead as well, running almost to the end of November. And Euro star David Villa is tied with Samuel Eto'o for the scoring lead, once again acing his audition for perhaps an English club. Hey, venerable Brit rag The People says Man. City will bid $66 million for him, so it must be true.
7 Previously: 6	Real Madrid Third in La Liga, yet bringing up the rear of the Spanish quartet here on the Rankings. Real has its 2-1 loss at Juventus in the Champions League to thank for that. Not huge on its own, since the Italians are Los Blancos' stiffest opposition in their group. But that loss could also end up being the difference between winning the group or ending up facing a real heavyweight in the first knockout round. And speaking of Euro heroes, did Sergio Ramos just write his ticket out of town by expressing his dissatisfaction with the Bernd Schuster regime?
8 Previously: 7	Inter Milan The scoring's gone cold, and our buddy the Special One is up to his old tricks again, calling his newest malcontents onto the carpet. Mourinho left Adriano and Julio Cruz off the roster for Wednesday's draw at Fiorentina because of disciplinary issues, and is reportedly angry with wunderkinds Mario Baltelli and Victor Obinna as well. But really, it's all business, right? "The relationship between us doesn't need to be put into question," Mourinho said earlier this week. "A relationship does not mean we always have to be kissy kissy." Smooches, José.
9 Previously: --	Udinese The Bianconeri make their Rankings debut, but not those Bianconeri. (Seriously, how many "white-blacks" can there be in Italy?) Udinese has made a surprise run to the top of Serie A, thanks in no small part to their Italian national-team strike duo of Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale. And with its win in the UEFA Cup, Udinese now gets to be the answer to a trivia question, too, after putting the final nail in the coffin of Juande Ramos' short run at Tottenham Hotspur.
10 Previously: --	São Paulo Seriously, what are we to do with the charity spot this week? We always save room for a mandatory non-European power, which almost always means a Latin American club. And yet no one wants to step up, especially those clubs involved in continental play. So we're going to give the nod this week to old favorite São Paulo which, after 32 rounds of play in the marathon Brazilian Championship, may be finally making its big move toward a third straight league title. The Tricolor Paulista is even with wire-to-wire leader Grêmio for the first time this season thanks to a 12-match unbeaten streak. But stay tuned -- chances are this space will change yet again next time around.
Honorable mentions: AC Milan, Bayern Munich, TSG Hoffenheim, Arsenal, Boca Juniors, Napoli, San Lorenzo, Aston Villa, Sevilla, Grêmio, Atlante, Al-Ahly Cairo, Tigre Dropped off: Lazio, Palmeiras