With Chelsea losing we knew we'd have a new number one team. And with Barcelona winning both games they played last week, we had a pretty good idea who that team would be. Fine, but what about the rest of the top 25? Specifically, where would Manchester City end up? They would be included, right? Only one way to find out folks. Here you go:
Quito did not really pull off a "double". They won the Copa Libertadores in 2008, the reigning Champions are Estudiantes.
Behold the year-end rankings: http://soccer-source.blogspot.com/2009/12/worlds-top-25-soccer-clubs-year-end.html
Welcome to the first top 25 of the new decade. Hard to believe but this is now our fourth year of doing this. You just can't rest if you want to be the best. Enjoy: http://soccer-source.blogspot.com/2010/01/worlds-top-25-soccer-clubs-jan-18-2010.html
That's right, so don't bother reading the latest Top 25 either. Here it is: http://soccer-source.blogspot.com/2010/02/worlds-top-25-soccer-clubs-feb-1-2010.html
Estudiantes should be there. They may be lagging in the Primera Argentina, but in the Libertadores they are solid and are showing very good football. Barcelona barely could defeat them with a Messi goal in extra time. Not a bad ranking, but I feel the one published by the IFHHS is more accurate: http://www.iffhs.de/?10f42e00fa2d17f73702fa3016e23c17f7370eff3702bb1c2bbb6f28f53512
What you've been waiting for: http://soccer-source.blogspot.com/2010/02/worlds-top-25-soccer-clubs-feb-15-2010.html
well nothing if you're a Shakhtar fan! Of course I don't even have them as the best Ukrainian club at present!
Just go at IFFHS site and look for explanational article. Pure arithmetic based on last 12 month archievements in all official competitions (with different point system for every tournament based on competitiveness ofcourse). We were very succesful both at domestic and euro tournaments so far, we used to won almost every game we played, so results is quite natural. PS: you obviously don't have us as tope because of lack of Shakhtar games you watched (especially Ukrainian Rivarly ones). Don't mind that league table, in our corrupt football government it means nothing. Until Surkis brothers would rule the whole thing even Barca wouldn't be first there. Everybody else consider us as rising european-class powerhouse. Especially who watched us live against current powerhouses.
It's better known, and more prestigious, than the one you post here, though. The IFFHS is recognized by FIFA, and their ranking is the closest thing there is to a FIFA ranking for clubs. Not that I entirely agree with them, though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Federation_of_Football_History_&_Statistics
all these rankings are bullshit. if they had real intrinsic value they would awards trophies based on them. fact is comparing leagues and cups is purely subjective, and that shaktar are shit. they would not even get out of the cl group stages, let alone get near 4th place.
I've read a report on the IFFHS somewhere. Apparently, if you try to look closer into it, you find out that the claim of being an international network of football statisticians seems impossible to verify, and it looks like in reality, it's just the project of its founder, who is just better than Ed-D in making his rankings look more important than they are and selling them to FIFA and the media.
Let's see the predictive capabilities of the two systems using the actual results in the Champs League: 1. AC Milan 2 - 3 Man U IFFHS Ranking (31 Jan 2010): 3. Man U 289,0 pts. 29. AC Milan 177,0 pts. From that differential, it's safe to think a victory by ManU in Milan is very possible. As it indeed happened. Soccer Source Ranking: 5. Man U 13. AC Milan A victory by ManU is also possible in this scenario. 2. Lyon 1 - 0 Real Madrid IFFHS Ranking: 20. Lyon 196,0 27. Madrid 179,0 Small difference. Lyon must win at home, Madrid may win or tie at home. Soccer Source Ranking: 4. Real Madrid 20. Lyon According to this ranking, Madrid should have won. So far, IFFHS 2 correct predictions, Soccer Source 1 correct prediction.
Coming games: 3. Bayern vs. Fiorentina IFFHS: 15. Bayern 204,0 15. Fiorentina 204,0 They should tie both games, or get close results that balance each other (1-0 and 1-0). Soccer Source: 7. Bayern n/a Fiorentina Bayern should win easily at home and possibly win or tie as visitor. 4. Porto vs. Arsenal IFFHS: 30. Porto 172,0 5. Arsenal 262,0 Arsenal should win even as visitors. Soccer Source: 8. Arsenal 12. Porto Much closer. Arsenal may tie as visitors, but may also lose. They should win as locals. So... tomorrow we'll see.
Yeah! This will be interesting! I was surprised at how weak Real looked yesterday, though I still expect them to pull through in the home leg. Here is my reaction to the two games yesterday.
I should also point out that Soccer Source treats all two-leg matchups as one result. So as far as we're concerned these are 180 minute games that are now at halftime. Lyon and Man United have the edge (in Man U's case by a wider margin due to the away goals rule) but we should not treat any of these as final results. Having said that, the last two years my Champions League predictions were horribly awry. So let's see what happens.