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Spain reigns Three Spanish clubs in top five as Boca slides further
Updated: Monday March 12, 2001 6:10 PM
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- Wins in the Champions League and in domestic action were enough for Real Madrid move further ahead in its fourth straight week at No. 1 in the CNN/World Soccer Top 10 on Monday. With a quarterfinal berth already secured, the defending European champion clinched first place in the Champions League Group D with a 3-2 win over Leeds United. The Liga leader also recorded a 4-0 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday. Defending English champion Manchester United remains second despite failing to secure Champions League advancement in a 1-1 draw at Greek side Panathinaikos. After trailing Madrid by six points last week, United is now 28 point back. Italian Serie A leader AS Roma also holds tight in the third spot after a 3-1 win over Brescia. Roma had already been eliminated from the UEFA Cup by Liverpool. Rising one spot this week is defending Spanish champion Deportivo La Coruna, which scored a stunning Champions League comeback against Paris St. Germain, winning 4-3 after trailing 3-0. Deportivo also thrashed Numancia 4-1 in domestic action to stay within striking distance of Real Madrid. Valencia makes it three Spanish sides in the top five by jumping up two spots from seventh after thrashing Austria's Sturm Graz 5-0 in the Champions League and beating Osasuna 1-0 in Spain. Without the distraction of European action, Italy's Juventus holds steady at No. 6 after beating Reggina 1-0. Rejoining the list at No. 7 is defending UEFA Cup champion and Turkish double winner Galatasaray, which cruised by AC Milan 2-0 to advance in the Champions League. Galatasaray also earned a 2-1 league win over Genclerbirligi that promises to cost the team the services of Gheorghe Hagi, who faces a lengthy suspension for attacking a Turkish referee. Brazil's Vasco da Gama stays eighth this week after beating Cabofriense 3-1 in the first round of the Rio state championship. Defending South American and Argentine champions Boca Juniors drop from fourth to ninth, as their run of lackluster form continued with a 1-1 draw against Belgrano. Boca picked up a 2-1 victory over Colombia's Deportivo Cali in the Copa Libertadores. Rounding out the Top 10 is Liverpool, which drew 0-0 at Porto in a UEFA Cup quarterfinal first leg, and earned a trip to the FA Cup semifinals with a 4-2 victory over Tranmere Rovers. Dropping out of the list are defending domestic champions Lazio of Italy and Bayern Munich of Germany. Other teams receiving votes include Barcelona (Spain), Arsenal (England), Leeds (England), Boavista (Portugal), Bayern Munich (Germany), Lazio (Italy), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) and River Plate (Argentina). The CNN/World Soccer Top 10 is a unique ranking of football clubs determined Mondays through voting by correspondents from CNN Sports and World Soccer magazine.
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