SBI European Club Top 10

Good afternoon all. The SBI European Top 10 is back and we have a new No. 1 for the third week in a row.

Call it the SBI jinx as Barcelona suffered its first loss of the La Liga season to drop from the top spot.

Arsenal fans will be happy to see their team atop the list, though the Gunners could make it four weeks with new No. 1 teams considering the tough schedule that awaits this week.

Without any further ado, here is the SBI European Club Top 10:

SBI EUROPEAN CLUB TOP 10

1. (Last week- 2) ARSENAL (8-0-1 in league play). Last week: Beat Bolton, 2-0, on Saturday. This week: vs. Slavia Prague (UCL, Tuesday), at Liverpool on Sunday.

2. (4). MANCHESTER UNITED (7-1-2). Last week: Beat Aston Villa, 4-1, on Saturday. This week: at Dynamo Kiev (UCL) on Tuesday, vs. Middlesbrough on Saturday.

3. (5). INTER MILAN (6-0-2). Last week: Beat Reggina, 1-0, on Saturday. This week: at CSKA Moscow (UCL) on Tuesday, at Palermo on Sunday.

4. (1). BARCELONA (5-1-2). Last week: Lost to Villarreal, 3-1, on Saturday. This week: at Rangers (UCL) on Tuesday, vs. Almeria on Sunday.

5. (3) REAL MADRID (6-1-1). Last week: Lost to Espanyol, 2-1, on Saturday. This week: at Olympiakos (UCL) on Wednesday, vs. Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

6. (6) BAYERN MUNICH (6-0-2). Last week: Beat Bochum, 2-1, on Saturday. This week: at Crvena Zvezda (UEFA) on Thursday, at Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.

7. (7) JUVENTUS (5-1-2). Last week: Beat Genoa, 1-0, on Sunday. This week: at Napoli on Saturday.

8. (NR) VILLARREAL(6-2-0). Last week: Beat Barcelona, 3-1, on Saturday. This week: vs. Fiorentina (UEFA) on Thursday, at Real Zaragoza on Sunday.

9. (10) FIORENTINA (4-0-4). Last week: Beat Siena, 3-0, on Sunday. This week: at Villarreal (UEFA) on Thursday, at Genoa on Sunday.

10. (8) ROMA (4-1-3). Last week: Tied Napoli, 4-4, on Saturday. This week: vs. Sporting Lisbon (UCL) on Tuesday, at AC Milan on Sunday.

HONORABLE MENTION:

• 11. Shaktar Donetsk
• 12. PSV Eindhoven
• 13. Manchester City
• 14. Valencia
• 15. Rangers
• 16. Lyon
• 17. FC Porto
• 18. AEK Athens
• 19. Werder Bremen
• 20. Liverpool
• 21. Feyenoord
• 22. Chelsea
• 23. Sporting Lisbon
• 24. Celtic
• 25. Hamburg

(UCL- UEFA Champions League, UEFA- UEFA Cup)

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Arsenal keeps on rolling but its first real tough league test awaits at Liverpool. Will the Gunners feel the absence of Robin Van Persie this week?

I'm not sure if anybody is playing better soccer right now than Man U and Inter. It was thoroughly impressive to see Man U still thrashed Aston Villa on the road even with Alex Ferguson resting Cristiano Ronaldo. Inter has a pair of tricky road games this week but expect them to keep rolling.

Barca and Real dropped but I couldn't drop them much further than I did. Losing to Villarreal and Espanyol is no crime and I'm sure the International fixture hangover and the looming Champions League match this week played a part.

Some of you keep criticizing me for including Juventus but there is no denying that they are a solid team. Beating a good and underrated Genoa team helped them stay in the poll.

What surprised me more was last week's griping over my inclusion of Fiorentina. Listen, if you're unbeaten in Serie A after eight games then you are doing something right. A UEFA Cup clash against Villarreal should help either bolster Fiorentina's place or drop them out.

I will admit to almost dropping Roma out of the Top 10 this week but I couldn't do it. They will have a chance to reward my faith with a pair of really tough matches this week.

Who did I leave out? I was ready to include Shaktar Donetsk this week and you can see they're the first team in the honorable mention (which is really more an 11-25 because I do put them in my order of preference. Playing in the Ukrainian league is a big handicap but if Donetsk keeps doing well in the Champions League they'll be in soon enough.

Manchester City is also on the doorstep. To be honest, I probably would have already included them if not for that ugly tie against Fulham a few weeks ago. It didn't leave the best impression on me. That said, City is on the verge.

So where are Liverpool and Chelsea? Liverpool can move back in with a pair of wins this week while Chelsea has a lot of work to do.

Again, these are just my rankings. Feel free to offer your own take on them but remember, none of us will ever have a perfect system because nobody has that kind of time to watch the amount of soccer it would take to do these rankings justice.

Let know what you think of this week's rankings. Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[chicago millonario]

I would rate Bayern higher than either Madrid or Barca right now. Yeah they play in Germany and the UEFA Cup, but they are unstoppable.

[Ryan]

Can't argue with ManU's form over the last 2 matches. They demolished a solid Villa team without Cristiano Ronaldo. I think the pundits that claimed Rooney and Tevez couldn't play together are getting put in their place. They look like true star partnership in the making. Also, young Anderson continues to impress and improve with every start he gets in place of the injured Carrick. Once ManU enters the latter half of the season, their youngsters will have needed experience and their vets will have rested up from injuries. They'll be scary good come January, especially if Sir Alex opts to bring in a striker and a RB in the transfer window.

[seven]

Final score in the Villa-United game was 1-4. Villa actually scored first.

[Joe in ND]

Impressed with Bayern, they are on a roll.

If Manchester City wins this next weekend they should be in, and if Liverpool wins their two games they should also be in.

[Jamie]

no qualms with the top 10 really, but 15! honorable mentions?

[Brian]

I have to agree with the others on Bayern. They are steam rolling the Bundesliga. We will soon see Bayern rolling their UEFA Cup opponents as well. They should at least be #5 with Real Madrid in at #4 instead of Barca. Barca should be #6.

[Joe D]

Juve deserves some praise. They have a solid team with a great midfield and attack. They have the best goalkeeper, and now their defense is beginning to play better. I guess we will find out what they are really made of when they play against Inter in a few weeks.

[phats]

i'm all for arsenal being #1 this week, but a pick of senderos?

[Fireball]

Add me to the Bayern bandwagon, its the first thing I thought of. #4 at least. Too bad they've basically only been playing in their league. UEFA games have not been tough enough to see how good they really are.

[RK]

Any idea why Rossi wasn't on the Villarreal roster this weekend? I know he played for the Italy U-21 team on Wednesday. Makes that victory even more impressive.

[Ives]

Appreciate the feedback folks. Here's the thing with Bayern. Yes, they have blown some people out but to say they're steamrolling the Bundesliga is a bit misleading. They only have one thoroughly impressive result this year, a 4-0 drubbing of Werder Bremen. Two other top teams they played this year, Hamburg and Schalke, both ended in ties.

With that in mind, I can't see Bayern moving higher up on the list. Blowout home wins against the bottom feeders of the Bundesliga isn't going to merit moving them ahead of teams that face the grind of the EPL, Serie A and La Liga AS WELL AS the Champions League.

Oh, and the honorable mention acts as a 11 through 25 so you could call the rankings a Top 25, I just don't have the time to dig up results and upcoming opponents for all those teams. I'll list it that way in the future.

[Ives]

Oh, and the Senderos photo was the only Arsenal celebration shot I could dig up (I had Van Persie but he's hurt now.)

[aceterp]

Celtic was honorable mention?? they just got slammed by the Rangers 3-0... They are a decent club but have some major areas to fix before they can be considered back in the running..

[Rocco]

It's nice to see my boys from Hamburg in your top 25! They're turning it on in the Bundesliga - one of only 2 teams to keep Bayern from a win this season, and in a tie for 2nd place as well. Take a look at where they were last year this time (bottom of the table), and it makes it that much more impressive! Keep an eye on them, 'cause they'll be moving up when they get a big win against Bayern in the second half of the season.

[Richard Payne-Holmes]

Go Donetsk!

[Brandon]

I still say City deserves to be in the top 10, draw with Fulham not withstanding.

[Ryan]

I think Chelsea has skated by the last 2 weeks. The problem is that they still don't have qualified manager and they still have a divided locker room. Two wins are impressive, but I'm still unsure how they'll stand up to a more rigorous schedule under Grant.

ManU is going to make a strong push for #1 before they travel to the Emirates in 2 weeks. They looked fantastic against a solid Villa team, even without Ronaldo. Ferguson made really solid move this season, and I still expect him to add a striker and a RB (Anelka and Daniel Alves are my best bets, because I don't believe either would be cup-tied).

[brentmcd]

allez les gooners!

[anon_e_moose]

4 Serie A teams is too many. I'd replace Fiorentina with Rangers and Roma with either Porto, Lyon or Man City.

By the way, its not Sporting Lisbon. It's Sporting Clube de Portugal. So just call them Sporting. Dont worry, no one will think u r refering to the team in Gijon.

[TheDrizzle]

I was hoping to see Rangers around #10. They destroyed Lyon in France and crushed Celtic at Ibrox as well. Today should be interesting.

[Toothless]

why do chelsea have "a lot to do"? they've lost only two matches and sit atop of their Champions League group. work, maybe, but a lot? consider that they lost the united match right after jose left, i think they're doing ok.

[Omidiran Lanre]

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