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United bumps Real Manchester takes top spot as Boca falls off list
Updated: Monday March 19, 2001 5:40 PM
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- With wins in the Champions League and in England, Manchester United dethrones Real Madrid after four straight weeks at No. 1 in the CNN/World Soccer Top 10. Already well on its way to another English championship, United defeated Austria's Sturm Graz 3-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Sir Alex Ferguson's side also defeated Leicester 2-0 on Saturday and pushed its league-leading margin to 17 points. Having already clinched first place in Champions League Group D, defending European champion Madrid lost to Anderlecht 2-0 in a meaningless contest. Madrid followed that result up with a 1-0 loss to Mallorca on Saturday. Defending Spanish champion Deportivo La Coruna rises one rank to fourth after drawing AC Milan 1-1 to advance to the Champions League last eight and eliminate the lone remaining Italian team. Returning to La Liga, Deportivo suffered at 2-0 loss at the hands of Las Palmas. With a lackluster week for many of the other contenders, defending Brazilian and Copa Mercosur champion Vasco da Gama rises to fourth from eighth after a 1-0 win over Olaria in the Carioca (Rio de Janeiro state) championship. Italian Serie A leader AS Roma drops two spots to fifth after a scoreless draw against Reggina. Reflecting a down year for Italian clubs, Roma has been eliminated from European action. Last year's Champions League runner-up, Valencia, went to fifth from sixth after defeating Panathinakos to finish atop Champions League Group A. Like Madrid and Deportivo, however, Valencia was disappointing in league action, losing 3-2 to Celta Vigo. Defending UEFA Cup champion and Turkish double winner Galatasaray stays steady at No. 7 after losing at PSG 2-0, having already advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals, and beating Siirtspor 1-0 in domestic action. The final three teams are all joining the list anew, as Boca Juniors, Juventus and Liverpool drop out. At No. 8 is Germany's Bayern Munich, which finished first in Champions League Group D after a 1-0 win over Arsenal. The German league-leader defeated 1860 Munich 2-0 on Saturday. England's Leeds United comes in ninth after drawing 3-3 with Italy's Lazio after having already made the Champions League last eight. Leeds then won 2-1 at Charlton in the Premier League as it chases an automatic berth in next year's edition of the Champions League. Rounding out the Top 10 is defending Italian champ Lazio, which smashed second-place Juventus 4-1 on Saturday after the draw against Leeds. Other teams receiving votes include Boca Juniors (Argentina), Liverpool (England), River Plate (Argentina), Anderlecht (Belgium), Kaiserslautern (Germany), Boavista (Portugal), Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands), Arsenal (England), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) and Celtic (Scotland). 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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