So, here it is—Bleacher Report’s Official European Club Rankings for December.
As always, over the past week many of the top writers here on B/R—including experts on all aspects of European football—have drawn up their list of the top 20 club sides on the continent.
The criteria was simple—base your opinion on anything you like, but pay particular attention to recent form and one particular question; Head to head, which team would win?
After the lists had been made and submitted, all the information was added, subtracted, divided and multiplied to come up with the final, overall, conclusive rankings.
The results may surprise you.
So without further ado let’s get into the list, which is seen many changes from last month. Five new teams find their way onto the list—as Lazio, Hull City, Udinese, Atletico Madrid, and Hamburg all make way.
Among the 20 teams in the list, there are representatives from six countries, five teams that have risen through the rankings, and four who have dropped down significantly.
(NB: bold numbers in brackets (out of 10) offer a mathematical representation of the rankings—a perfect 10 meaning every contributor voted the side as the best, a 5 meaning on average everyone voted the team 10th, etc—giving you a clear idea of how close the teams were in the rankings.)
20. (NE) AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie (1.00)
“Louis van Gaal has sorted AZ out and the Alkmaar-based team are looking very impressive with free-flowing attacking football.” (Guido Merry)
19. (NE) FC Porto Portuguese Superliga (1.19)
“Have so far proven there is life after Jose Bosingwa and Ricardo Quaresma.” (Alan McGuinness)
18. (⇓3) SSC Napoli Serie A (1.31)
“Fourth in Serie A, with a squad that is clearly going places. Marek Hamsik, Fabiano Santacroce, and Ezequiel Lavezzi are just three Azzuri players that are destined for big things.” (Alex Dimond)
17. (NE) Tottenham Hotspur Premier League (1.44)
"Since Harry Redknapp's entry, Spurs have turned the tide around and have set an impressive winning streak. Reason enough to see them enter this list. It's rather difficult to turn the tide after such an awful losing streak—but impressively Redknapp has done it." (Guido Merry)
16. (⇑4) Bayern Munich Bundesliga (2.31)
"With such a talented bunch of players, how is it Hoffenheim are the ones atop the Bundesliga? Maybe Liverpool's decision to tell Jurgen Klinsmann that Rafa was going nowhere was the right one, based on Bayern's season so far." (Liam McClintock)
15. (NE) Hoffenheim Bundesliga (2.50)
“They've got the best forwards in the Bundesliga with Edu, Ibisevic, and Dembe Ba, and some wonderful attacking midfielders. So what if their defence is not that good, you win games by scoring goals—and that's what they do.” (Guido Merry)
14. (NE) Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga (2.69)
“Combined leader with Hoffenheim, but less offensive flavour. Still, a very sturdy side.” (Guido Merry)
13. (⇑3) Aston Villa Premier League (3.38)
“Martin O'Neill's men are the main threat to the "Big Four" in the EPL. They can play some great attacking football and have a number of good players who they can build a team around. They also have one of the best managers in the game.” (Maire Ofeire)
12. (⇓6) Arsenal Premier League (4.00)
“The Gunners have a young side with an abundance of talent but their recent inconsistency has hit them hard. A victory against Manchester United followed by a defeat to Aston Villa sums up their season so far. Needless to say, Arsene Wenger needs to go back to the drawing board.” (Salaar Shamsi)
11. (⇓1) Olympique Lyonnais Ligue 1 (4.75)
“Top of both their Champions League group and domestic league, Lyon seem to have overcome the early season blip and bolted from the rest of the pack now. However, the big question must be; how long can they keep hold of Karim Benzema as the rest of Europe casts enviable glances over the young French striker?” (Liam McClintock)
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about 1 month ago
Considering how they've been playing the last few weeks, I would've thought Bayern Munich would be higher in the rankings. Also would've thought Arsenal might be a little lower considering they are in absolute chaos mode right now. Glad to see Italy represented well in the top half!
from about 1 month ago
Agreed Danny, I definitely thought Arsenal would have plummeted based on recent events. Was very surprised that Villa ended up beneath them. Also think a lot of Serie A teams should be in the list or higher up it — too my eye it has the strongest 'midfield' of any league in Europe at the moment.
about 1 month ago
Awesome work guys...
about 1 month ago
Absolutely fantastic stuff, Alex..
about 1 month ago
1 Barca 2. Chelsea 3. Inter
No way Man U should be ahead of Inter. I dont care if they beat Stoke. They lost to a struggling Arsenal while Inter dominated an on form Juve. Oh yeah, Inter are 1st domestically and Man U 5th. Its probably because The Prem is sooooo strong, right? Please
The Prem is overrated. Man U is overrated
from about 1 month ago
I agree with Dave, Manchester United isn't playing that much better than a few La Liga and Italian sides. Juventus showed glaring holes in their attacking strategy (1. Give it to Del Piero 2. Watch Del Piero score) against Inter, one spot behind is too generous.
from about 1 month ago
The premier league is sooooooooo strong - All the English teams are top of their champions league groups and even the worst of the bunch are already qualified for the next round - last season saw 3 Premier league sides in the semi's and "overrated Man Utd won it!" so it isnt really much of a debate - it really is sooooooo strong........ this isnt just opinion it is backed up with fact.....
PS. Man Utd are 3rd not 5th.
about 1 month ago
Manchester United 4th now. Classic. I don't know why I'm suprised. I should be used to them being criticised after all these years. I suppose this will go on for another 4-5 months or so until they end up winning everything and then I can look forward to everyone shutting up for a couple of months.
about 1 month ago
Great article mate
about 1 month ago
Good compilation.
Perhaps you might consider a system which merges both the votes from specialists (subjective valorisation) and the clubs' results in the given month (objective valorisation) and at the end get some kind of weighted average as output. This probably can be way too much hassle, but i believe it can do more justice to some clubs, and reduce the arbitrariness factor. Anyone agrees?
about 1 month ago
Barca should be numero uno for the reasons I said about Chelsea they should be second - hardly the best team in europe based on form
about 1 month ago
Ok, Man U is 3rd. My bad. Their still eight points adrift with a game in hand. Inter have been much better recently and lead their league. There is no way Inter should be ranked below Man U.
The Prem is the top league but the gap is not as wide as most make it out to be. Barca dominated Man U in the CL last year and only lost due to Zambrotta's howler. Try watching a few other leagues and you might be suprised, T
from about 1 month ago
But would Inter beat United head-to-head Dave? I severely doubt it. I am only guessing, but I think Inter's hapless defeat in the Champions League to Liverpool last year is still playing heavily on people's minds. At the top end at least, Serie A is nowhere near as strong as the Premiership.
about 1 month ago
Nice to see a more even spread amongst the various European leagues :)
from about 1 month ago
With an emerging Dutch contingent too....interesting!
about 1 month ago
great article guys, although isn't it obvious gillingham should be top of the list. we've gone eight games unbeaten at home in a very tough league!!
about 1 month ago
I think you underestimate Inter. I wouldn't be shocked if they beat Man U over two legs. Man U havent been impressive this year at all. I would admit that they would be favored against Inter though.
The Liverpool tie was not a one sided affair. Nico and Marco wouldnt be in the lineup this year with Samuel and Cordoba taking their place. I highly doubt we would have been reduced to ten men with our first choice contral defensive pairing. I can't wait for Inter to prove themselves to all the EPL fans/Serie A haters in the knockout stages this year.
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