The World's Top 25 Clubs, Nov. 19, 2007

With all the drama in UEFA and CONMEBOL qualifying, not to mention in the MLS Cup, it would have been easy to forget about this list this week. I didn't though. There was enough action to put together the rankings, though as might be expected the top spots didn't change much.

1. (1) Inter Milan. Idle. Next game is Saturday at Atalanta.

2. (3) Arsenal. Move back into second thanks to having actually played a game last week, where they beat Reading handily, 3-1. Next: Wigan at Emirates on Saturday. Nice way to ease back into Premiership action...

3.(2) Manchester United. Idle. Play at Bolton next on Saturday.

4. (4) Real Madrid. Idle. Next up: Murcia, Sunday.

5. (5) FC Porto. Idle. Host fifth-placed Vitoria Setubal in the Superliga Sunday.

6. (6) Chelsea. Idle. Next up: At Derby on Saturday. That should be tough (not). The only question is if they manage to score 10 or more goals.

7. (7) Villareal. One of very few European teams to actually play last week, Villareal beat Las Palmas in Copa del Rey Wednesday. Actually made things interesting against the Segunda Division side, by letting them back into the game after going up two goals after only 26 minutes. It's the results that count, but this wasn't enough to dislodge Chelsea. Host Almeria next when the Liga returns to action.

8. (8) Barcelona. Also got a game in and made quick work of Alcoyano in the Copa del Rey Tuesday, winning 3-0. Next up: Recreativo Huelva on Sunday.

9. (9) Juventus. Idle. Host seventh-placed Palermo Sunday.

10. (11) Olympique Lyon. Idle. Travel to fourth-placed Rennes Saturday for their next game.

11. (12) Bayern Munich. Idle. Host Wolfsburg Saturday.

12. (13) Werder Bremen. Idle. Next up: travel to Energie Cottbus Saturday.

13. (14) Liverpool. Idle. Next game at Newcastle Saturday.

14. (15) Roma. Idle. Travel to Genoa this weekend.

15. (16) Sao Paulo. Idle. It's all over though, as they won the Brazilian league by a wide margin and also took home the cup for a historic double. Play some meaningless league game this weekend. Things don't get interesting again until the Copa Libertadores kicks off in January.

16. (10) Club America. Played three games last week. Won the biggest, in the Copa Sudamericana, where they advanced to the final. Unfortunately, the let-down came two days later, when they played terribly and lost to Morelia 3-0 in the first leg of their liguilla match. The return leg took place yesterday and resulted in America's ouster from the Mexican league post season (though they did win the game, 1-0). Their next game isn't until Nov. 30, when they face off against Arsenal de Sarandi in first leg the Copa Sudamericana finale. At least they won't have any other distractions...

17. (17) Lanus. Idle last week. But now things get interesting: Play fifth-placed Argentinos Juniors Sunday and Boca Dec. 2.

18. (18) Olympiakos. Up next: At Iraklis (who?) Nov. 25.

19. (19) Fiorentina. Next: at Reggina, Nov. 25.

20. (20) Celtic Glasgow. Don't appear to play again until Shakhtar Donetsk visit Nov. 28.

21. (21) Dynamo Zagreb. Managed only a scoreless draw at home against Switzerland's FC Basle in their UEFA Cup game. Beat Osijek in their league fixture over the weekend. Their next UEFA Cup fixture is against SK Brann Nov. 29. Not sure about their next Croatian game.

22. (22) Benfica Lisbon. Idle. Next game at Academica de Coimbra, whoever that is. I'm assuming they're in Portuguese league.

23. (23) Boca Juniors. Idle. Next: Copa Sudamericana finalists Arsenal de Sarandi on Sunday.

24. (24) Hamburg SV. Idle. Host sorry Hansa Rostock next.

25. (25) Rangers. Next travel to Falkirk on Saturday.

Dropping out: None.
Also receiving consideration (in no particular order): Nancy, Chivas de Guadelajara, Santos Laguna, Ajax Amsterdam, Feyernoord, Portsmouth, Manchester City, Bordeaux, Toluca, AC Milan, Cruz Azul.

Commentary:
None this week, due to the dearth of games.