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Gunning for No. 1 Arsenal takes over Top 10 as Real Madrid slips
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- For the first time, Arsenal has reached the summit in the CNN/World Soccer Top 10, the unique ranking of football clubs determined each Monday through voting by correspondents from CNN Sports and World Soccer magazine. With the exception of Bayern Munich in week one, only Real Madrid and Manchester United had ruled the Top 10 this season. But this week the Gunners leave them both behind after keeping pace with United atop the English Premier League and having already secured a place in the next round of the Champions League with an unbeaten record. After getting bounced from the League Cup last week, the London club warmed up for a Champions League contest at Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk with a 1-0 road win over struggling Middlesbrough. Second-ranked Manchester United, which won the 1999 Champions League final, finds itself fighting for survival in Europe this week with a must-win home match against already-eliminated and injury-hit Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday. In domestic action, United is level on points with Arsenal after a 2-1 road win over Coventry City on Saturday. Rising to No. 3 is Spanish leader Valencia, loser of the Champions League final in May. Already assured of advancing in the Champions League, Valencia had a mixed week on the domestic front, beating Celta Vigo at home before losing to Espanyol on the road. Reigning European champion Real Madrid slips to fourth after a run of bad form in La Liga, losing three of its lost three of its last four league games. Most recently, Madrid surrendered a 3-1 decision at Numancia on Saturday. South American champion Boca Juniors comes in fifth, having stayed four points clear in the Argentine standings despite a 3-3 draw on Sunday against Rosario Central. Boca lost to Atletico Mineiro last week in the away leg of a Copa Mercosur quarterfinal matchup. Bayern Munich rises one spot to No. 6 after a roller-coaster week that brought a humiliating ouster from the German Cup at the hands of fourth-division Magdeburg in a penalty shootout. Bayern bounced back with a 6-2 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. Bayern travels to Norway for a Champions League match this week, already assured of advancing. Defending Italian league and cup champion Lazio, which also has clinched the next Champions League round, ascends one rank to seventh after beating Bologna 2-0. Lazio beat Brescia 2-1 earlier in the week, overcoming both an upset loss to Verona in the previous round, and the news that coach Sven Goran Eriksson would take over the England job next July when his Lazio contract ends. Barcelona returns to the Top 10 in eighth despite facing a precarious position in the Champions League. The Catalan squad needs a win at Besiktas and a Leeds loss to already-advanced AC Milan in order to move on in Europe. In domestic action, Barca drew 1-1 with Numancia midweek before defeating Las Palmas 1-0 on Saturday. Defending Spanish champion Deportivo, assured of advancing in the Champions League, strolled past Las Palmas last Tuesday 4-0 before losing to Villarreal 3-2 on Saturday. Rounding out the Top 10 is AC Milan, which drops one spot after losing to Parma 2-0 and drawing surprising Atalanta 3-3 at home. Milan is assured of advancing from Champions League Group H.
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