Every week, the staff at 32 Flags will each rank their top 15 European teams of the week. Each staffers list is compiled and tabulated and results in a final top 10 that make up our Power Rankings. NOTE: These rankings took place before any midweek Champions League games were played. Midweek games will reflect on the Power Rankings for next week.
#1) Chelsea – England
Phil: 1st, Marc: 1st, Andy: 1st, Jeff: 2nd
Last Week Power Ranking Position: 1st
League Position: 1st in EPL
Last week results: Defeated Swansea in EPL
Chelsea’s high scoring attack this season is like Nixon with charisma when his head is on Bender’s body in Futurama, they’re both unstoppable. We criticized Chelsea last year for “parking the bus” and playing down to opponents but they’re taking no prisoners now. Diego Costa scored a hat trick and the top team defeated the 2nd best team.
#2) Barcelona – Spain
Phil: 2nd, Marc: 2nd, Andy: 2nd, Jeff: 1st
Last Week Power Ranking Position: 4th
League Position: 1st in La Liga
Last week results: Defeated Athletic Bilbao in La Liga
Barcelona is 3-0-0 and hasn’t allowed a goal yet this season. You can’t do much better than that. Unless you’re Chelsea and you just outscore the crap out of everyone in sight. Then you become #2 in the Power Rankings.
#3) Manchester City – England
Phil: 3rd, Marc: 3rd, Andy: 3rd, Jeff: 5th
Last Week Power Ranking Position: 2nd
League Position: 5th in EPL
Last week results: Drew to Arsenal in EPL
Manchester City came back from their defeat against Stoke to draw against Arsenal. A highly entertaining game that left with both teams deserving a point.
#4) Bayern Munich – Germany
Phil: 4th, Marc: 4th, Andy: 4th, Jeff: 3rd
Last Week Power Ranking Position: 5th
League Position: 2nd in Bundesliga
Last week results: Defeated Stuttgart in Bundesliga
Bayern Munich is still the darlings of the Bundesliga. They’re still the best team and have the best players, that’s why they’re #4. But they need to string together wins because talent isn’t going to keep them up here forever.
#5) Juventus – Italy
Phil: 5th, Marc: 5th, Andy: 5th, Jeff: 10th
Last Week Power Ranking Position: 6th
League Position: 2nd in Serie A
Last week results: Defeated Udinese in Serie A
Juventus is perfect this season. They won both games and haven’t allowed a goal. They’re comfortably tied for 2nd so they’re well on their way to going for the top spot in Serie A.
#6) Atletico Madrid – Spain
Phil: 6th, Marc: 6th, Andy: 6th, Jeff: 4th
Last Week Power Ranking Position: N/A
League Position: 4th in La Liga
Last week results: Defeated Real Madrid in La Liga
Atletico Madrid have been up and down on our rankings in recent weeks. They get back on the countdown by defeating their rivals, Real Madrid, for what seems like the 20th time this season.
#7) Real Madrid – Spain
Phil: 7th, Marc: 7th, Andy: 7th, Jeff: 6th
Last Week Power Ranking Position: 3rd
League Position: 13th in La Liga
Last week results: Lost to Atletico Madrid in La Liga
13TH!!! Yes, Real Madrid is currently 13th in the La Liga table. It’s only three games so they’re not going to stay in 13th for too much longer but that’s just insane to see.
#8) Bayer Leverkusen – Germany
Phil: 8th, Marc: 8th, Andy: 8th, Jeff: 7th
Last Week Power Ranking Position: 7th
League Position: 1st in Bundesliga
Last week results: Drew to Werder Bremen in Bundesliga
With all the talk about Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund dominating in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen is sitting pretty in 1st place and they even drew in their game today. This team broke out of the gate in the strongest way possible.
#9) Roma – Italy
Phil: 10th, Marc: 10th, Andy: 10th, Jeff: 12th
Last Week Power Ranking Position: 10th
League Position: 3rd in Serie A
Last week results: Defeated Empoli in Serie A
Just read what I wrote about Juventus and insert Roma in there. It’s literally going to be the same description.
#10) Zenit – Russia
Phil: 9th, Marc: 9th, Andy: 9th, Jeff: UNR
Last Week Power Ranking Position: N/A
League Position: 1st in Russian Premier League
Last week results: Defeated Dinamo Moscow in Russian Premier League
I’ll be honest, we don’t cover the Russian League as much as the other European leagues. Regardless, we have to recognize Zenit because they are unstoppable this season. They are 7-0-0 and have a +17 goal differential so far this season. In any league, that’s impressive. Interesting to see how they fare in Champions League.
