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SBI European Club Top 25

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FC Barcelona entered the international break as the best team in Europe, and will have that spot tested this weekend against a surprising Valencia side in one of several match-ups of teams in the SBI European Club Top 25.

There are a total of five match-ups involving Top 25 teams, with no match-up getting as much attention as Aston Villa vs. Chelsea. As appealing as that match-up is, the best battle in terms of rankings is in Germany, where Bundesliga co-leaders Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen do battle.

There has been a considerable shake-up in the SBI Top 25 since we first introduced the rankings at the beginning of the European season. We will make this a regular Friday feature so stay tuned. Please remember that these rankings are subjective and their purpose is moreto keep readers informed on which teams are doing well in Europe and which quality matches are on the horizon than it is about trying to be perfect in putting rankings together. There is no perfect way to come up with rankings, but we are hoping the SBI European Top 25 will help you keep track of the vast realm of European soccer.

Now, without further ado, here are this week's rankings, along with a listing of Top 25 match-ups this weekend.

SBI European Club Top 25

1. Barcelona(6-0 in La Liga)

2. Chelsea (7-1)

3. Real Madrid (5-1-1)

4. Manchester United (6-1-1)

5. Sevilla (5-1)

6. Inter Milan (5-1-1)

7. Lyon (6-0-2)

8. Hamburg (6-0-2)

9. Manchester City (5-1)

10. Fiorentina (4-1-2)

11. Arsenal (5-2)

12. Bayer Leverkusen (6-0-2)

13. Sampdoria (5-1-1)

14. Bordeaux (6-1-1)

15. Juventus (4-1-2)

16. Liverpool (5-3)

17. Valencia (3-1-2)

18. Fenerbahce (8-0)

19. Genoa (3-1)

20. FC Porto (5-1-1)

21. Olympiakos (5-0-1)

22. Twente Enschede (7-0-2)

23. Dinamo Kiev (8-0-1)

24. Aston Villa (4-2)

25. Werder Bremen (4-1-3)

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Others Receiving Consideration: Benfica (6-0-1), Braga (7-0), Marseille (4-2-2), Tottenham (5-2-1), Galatasaray (6-1-1), Paris St. Germain (3-1-4), Bayern Munich (3-2-3), Shakhtar Donetsk (6-0-3), Panathanaikos (6-0), Schalke 04 (5-2-1), Feyenoord (6-1-2), PSV Eindhoven (6-0-3), FK Rubin Kazan (14-5-5), Spartak Moscow (14-6-4).

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Top 25 Match-ups this weekend

No. 1 Barcelona vs. No. 17 Valencia

No. 2 Chelsea vs. No. 24 Aston Villa

No. 8 Hamburg vs. No. 13 Bayer Leverkusen

No. 14 Juventus vs. No. 10 Fiorentina

No. 19 Genoa vs. No. 6 Inter Milan

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What do you think of this week's rankings? Who is ranked too highly? Which team isn't getting enough respect? Which of the five Top 25 match-ups are you most looking forward to?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. lol Ives are you seriously going to use that one game to push Benfica down the standings…Benfica should’ve scored a lot of goals in that one, but it was AEK’s keeper’s night…I’m sure today’s 6-0 win in the Portugal Cup followed by a good solid win against Everton should boost them up your standings…Also give Braga more credit…With Barca’s draw today against Valencia, I think their the only team in Europe to have a 100% record

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  2. i love your site ives but dynamo kyiv should be spelled the way i just did. just given ya some help

    (SBI-Thanks Niccollo but this is an English-language website and the English spelling of Kiev is used, just as I wouldn’t write Bayern Muenchen or CSKA Moskva.)

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  3. #18 Fenerbahce 8-0

    Gooch.

    did he make the right decision – AC milan doesnt even make honorable mention in this list – cant help but think Gooch would have been treated better at Fenerbahce – perhaps a loan later in the season – oh boy

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  4. re: DC Josh and Daniel

    I thought the likeness of Bornstein in that video funny as well. So no, Daniel, DC Josh was not being serious lol.

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  5. Ives, but how can you measure-up in Europe if you’re not in Europe? I don’t know that Citeh is one of the stongest sides in Europe–because I’ve not seen them play ANY European football. And I’ve seen them get the benefit every weekend of not having played during the week. Is this a top 25 ON PAPER, or based on performance and results?

    (SBI-Believe me when I say that competing in Europe factors into the rankings, but not being in Europe shouldn’t keep a clearly loaded team from being ranked highly. It’s not just about being good on paper, Man City has been impressive all season on the field, and that’s against teams like Man United and Arsenal. Their ranking isn’t about how good they are “on paper” but rather how good they’ve looked when I’ve watched them. They play in the EPL, which has plenty of strong teams for City to prove itself against. Now, if City doesn’t beat the top teams then they won’t keep the high ranking.)

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  6. Sevilla is probably the most entertaining team to watch. They also dominated play vs Real Madrid a couple of weeks back.

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  7. I’d like to see Sevilla ranked above Madrid, seeing as how they beat (and thoroughly outplayed them) when they went head to head.

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  8. Jonathan Bornstein @ Barca?

    I’m surprised Spurs didn’t make the cut.

    Posted by: DC Josh | October 16, 2009 at 05:45 PM

    Are you being serious?

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  9. Ives come on now???…How can FC Porto be above Benfica and Braga if their on top of them in the Portuguese league?…Also the fact that Benfica has the best attack in Europe mean nothing to you?

    (SBI-You mean the attack that got shutout by AEK Athens? I was ready to push Benfica into the rankings before that lost. I happen to like Benfica, and if they can beat Everton and knock off Braga later this month I’m sure they’ll get a boost in these rankings.)

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  10. I echo that Spurs snub……Pool isa huge club with fantastic history and potential on the season, but to place them so highly and Spurs only get ‘consideration’ is….well…..a bit mind boggling.

    (SBI-It’s a fair argument to say Tottenham should be higher than Liverpool, but the difference in their number ranking isn’t as significant as if this were a league ranking and not a ranking of all of Europe. The difference between 10 and 25 is pretty negligible. In the end the reason Tottenham wasn’t in the ranking was because the lasting impression before the international break was a draw vs. Bolton (if they beat Bolton, I probably have Tottenham in the Top 20. I know Liverpool lost to Chelsea (and Fiorentina before that) but I’m not sure I was ready to tumble Liverpool any further down because they happened to play two of the toughest teams around. Tottenham is a team I rate pretty highly and enjoy watching and am pretty sure they’ll be in the rankings sooner than later.)

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  11. Liverpool that high is a joke. They are 5-3 look less then impressive in most their games while a team like spurs which has only lost to Man U and Chelsea and beat city isn’t even in the top 25.

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  12. Thumbs down. If Villa were a to-25 team, they wouldn’t have been knocked out of Europe already. And I’m not buying Citeh that high. Without added Euro games they rest up for Prem competition.

    (SBI-Villa paid the price for using second-team players in Europa, which is why they aren’t rated more highly, but are still one of the better teams in Europe. As for Manchester City, say what you want about the lack of European matches, they’re still one of the strongest teams around.)

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  13. I can see AC Padova not being in the Top 10 since they recorded a loss 2 weeks ago, but AC Padova not being in the Top 25??

    Serie B!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

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