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Boca rolls on Real Madrid dethroned, Roma rises in Top 10
Updated: Tuesday December 26, 2000 5:59 PM
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- With a 19th Argentine championship in hand, Boca Juniors dethrones Spain's Real Madrid jumps to No. 1 this week in the penultimate year 2000 version of the CNN/World Soccer Top 10. Boca Juniors capped a successful year Sunday, beating Estudiantes 1-0 to add the domestic Apertura championship to the South American club championship (Copa Libertadores) and the Toyota Cup it secured earlier this year. Real Madrid, the reigning European champion, slips to second after being bounced from Spain's King's Cup and then defeating Espanyol 2-1 on the road in Liga action. Serie A leader AS Roma rises two spots to No. 3 after winning the Rome derby 1-0 over defending champion Lazio on Sunday. Roma is six points clear atop the table, and has drawn England's Liverpool in the next UEFA Cup round. Tied for fourth are Spain's Valencia and England's Manchester United, which drop from third and second, respectively. Last year's Champions League runner-up, Valencia advanced from the first round of the King's Cup and then defeated Malaga 2-0 to stay on top of the domestic table. English Premiership leader and defending champion Manchester United suffered its first home loss in 37 matches on Sunday, falling 1-0 to Liverpool at Old Trafford. United currently leads the Champions League Group A, with Valencia in second. Defending German double winner Bayern Munich returns to the Top 10 this week in sixth after two Bundesliga wins left the side one point from the top of the table heading into the winter break. Bayern leads the Champions League Group C. Also rejoining the list is seventh-place Juventus of Turin, which won 4-1 at Lecce to trail Roma by six points. Dropping two points further down the list this week is defending Spanish champion Deportivo La Coruna, which lost 3-1 at Alaves to fall three points off the league lead. Deportivo has one win and one loss, good for third place in Champions League Group B. Schalke makes the list at No. 9, a reward for capturing the unofficial Bundesliga "autumn championship." The team leads the Bundesliga by a single point heading into the winter break. Dropping three ranks to round out the list in 10th is Italy's AC Milan, which advanced to the Italian Cup semifinals past Atalanta thanks to two penalty-kick saves by goalkeeper Christian Abbiati. Milan then drew 1-1 at Verona in Serie A action on Sunday. Dropping out this week are Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Leeds (England) and Lazio. Other clubs receiving votes this week include Arsenal (England), Galatasaray (Turkey), Leeds (England), Barcelona (Spain), Anderlecht (Belgium) and Vasco da Gama (Brazil). The CNN/World Soccer Top 10 is a unique ranking of football clubs determined each Monday through voting by correspondents from CNN Sports and World Soccer magazine.
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