Champions League - European Power Rankings

Eurosport - Mon, 01 Jun 13:15:00 2009

Liverpool finished top of the Eurosport-Yahoo! Power Rankings after arch-rivals Manchester United's defeat in the Champions League final.

FOOTBALL 2008-09 Premier League Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard - 0

What are Power Rankings? We take into account domestic, Champions League and UEFA Cup performances, plus the relative difficulty of each team's league, to find out who is the best team in Europe.

Last Wednesday's Champions League final saw Manchester United lose their European crown, and it also ensured they were toppled in the season's final Power Rankings.

The 2-0 defeat in Rome meant Alex Ferguson's men tumbled from first to third in our ranking of the continent's elite.

Barcelona's scintillating performance seemed to settle beyond any doubt the question of who are Europe's best team, but a run of only two points in their last four Liga games saw them let Liverpool in.

Rafa Benitez's men scored 86 points from their 38 league games - one fewer than Barca - but managed a better points-per-game ratio in Europe than either finalist, meaning their season ends with them top of at least one table.

Carlo Ancelotti will be taking over Europe's fourth-best club, according to the stats, while Bayern come fifth despite a supposedly disappointing season that saw Juergen Klinsmann sacked.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season is Internazionale's low position. The Serie A champions finished 16th, below both Juventus and Roma, the result of a dismal Champions League campaign in which they scored just 1.13 points per game.

1. (2) Liverpool - 21.82

2. (3) Barcelona - 21.45

3. (1) Manchester United - 21.07

4. (4) Chelsea - 19.67

5. (5) Bayern - 19.37

6. (6) CSKA Moscow - 18.05

7. (8) Porto - 18.00

8. (9) Juventus - 17.86

9. (7) Real Madrid - 17.76

10. (10) Roma - 17.66

11. (12) Atletico Madrid - 17.57

12. (11) Sporting Lisbon - 17.40

13. (13) Metalist Kharkiv - 17.37

14. (15) Arsenal - 16.97

15. (14) Shakhtar Donetsk - 16.73

16. (16) Internazionale - 16.68

17. (17) Hamburg - 16.41

18. (18) Dynamo Kiev - 16.37

19. (19) Panathinaikos - 16.03

20. (20) Lyon - 15.91

- - -

27. (26) Manchester City - 13.38

HOW IT WORKS

Scores are based on points per game in domestic league, Champions League and UEFA Cup games.

Domestic points per game are multiplied by the league coefficient - either 4, 4.5 or 5 - with teams in stronger leagues getting more credit.

League coefficients:

5 - England, Italy, Spain

4.5 - Germany, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Russia

4 - Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine

Champions League victories are counted as three points for a win. They are all multiplied by a coefficient of 5. Matches in the group stage and beyond are counted.

UEFA Cup victories are counted as three points for a win. They are all multiplied by a coefficient of 4. Matches in the group stage and beyond are counted.

Example: Liverpool

86 points from 38 Premier League games = 2.26 points per game.

Multiplied by league coefficient of five - 2.26 x 5 = 11.32

21 points from 10 Champions League game = 2.10 points per game.

Multiplied by European coefficient of five - 2.10 x 5 = 10.50

Total score = 11.32 + 10.50 = 21.82

Eurosport

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  1. Why is England's premier league deemed a toughave­ been the league? The top four teams have dominated­ the league for years now, and look like they are going­ to continue this dominence for years to come. The big­ four only worry about each other, that's two more­ than Celtic and Rangers! Unfortunately money rules­ football and the likes of England's top four and­ Italy's and Spain's will always dictate and­ dominate european football and world football, until­ the Americans wake up and take the biggest game in the­ world seriously!

    From cloud95, on Fri 19 Jun 10:44AM

  2. This is a load of Bull as Inter below both Juve and­ Roma. Sure they had a bad run in Champions league of 2­ games which i'm sure they made up for in the league­ as Roma had a dismal season finishing 6th. And­ Liverpool before both Barca and Man U they both came­ first in the leagues and got to the final of the­ champions league, i don't see how they are higher.­ I don't see how this is even considered as stating­ the best team in Europe.

    From francokasic, on Thu 18 Jun 11:45PM

  3. I think it's all very pathetic. The Chelsea­ Barcelone result was a triumph for incompetent­ referees. Yet the Authorities still fine Chelsea and­ ban Droghba.

    What right have they to do this when they­ appoint such nincompoops as referees?

    I've lost­ interest in Football until they come to their senses­ and accept they might be able to learn a lesson or two­ from Rugby (Sin Bin rather than Red Card, Video­ consultation, Refs wired and Broadcast etc).

    It works­ with Rugby and makes things a little fairer.

    From Brent W, on Thu 18 Jun 5:17PM

  4. Barcelona is second? Not first? Jajaja. What a ranking.

    From lennyfaston, on Tue 16 Jun 4:53PM

  5. Il make this really simple so you idiots can­ understand. this has been going on for a few years and­ liverpool have made two finals, countless semis and­ quaters consistantly. that is why they are top, simple­ stats.

    From Darren, on Tue 16 Jun 12:51PM

  6. My beloved fans i wnt us to understand d topic inwhich­ we'a issuein our comment on.(EURO POWER) not euro­ trohp winner,not champions.We all saw what livepool is­ capable of doin dis past season,bt d LUCKy is not­ der.Livapool is the best best POWER FC in d whole of­ EURO en d fact is LIVAPOOL is still d best in UK.

    ­ ­ AKINTUNDE.AKT

    From tachuous, on Tue 16 Jun 9:30AM

  7. How can Liverpool be top ? they have not even Won a­ trophy ! who calculated these stats ? benitez ? ... I­ am shocked that he hasn't put out a press statement­ claiming how great he and his club are ...

    From john, on Tue 16 Jun 9:20AM

  8. well done tha liverpool

    ps why is their so many sad­ people slagging liverpool for?
    stop being so immature

    From hey2, on Mon 15 Jun 9:10PM

  9. yup a joke!! who the heck is metalist kharkiv?? better­ than lyon?? gth!!!!!!!!!!

    From Fazreen A, on Mon 15 Jun 4:32PM

  10. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!­ this makes me laugh, i cant belive that who ever came­ up with this is actually being taken seriously. This­ table was clearly meant as a joke!

    From sketer, on Mon 15 Jun 1:19AM

  11. MAYBE NEXT YEAR WHAN REAL MADRID HAVE FINNISHED BUYING­ ALL THE TOP PLAYERS AT MAN UTD AND BARCELONA, AND BOTH­ TEAMS WIN F00K ALL ONE OF THE CAN KNOCK THE SCOUSERS­ OFF TOP SPOT !!

    TYPICAL YAHOO/EURO SPORT @#$%

    From steveallman69, on Sun 14 Jun 9:57PM

  12. it should be bonus point to team who won the cup.­ whatever the cup is. liverpool dont deserve that. they­ never won any cup this year.

    From youngster, on Sun 14 Jun 11:50AM

  13. Hey abbz_d post 664 your talking total rubbish from the­ lip..How can Liverpool possibly be no 1.. This is YET­ more @#$% power ranking ?ullshit and im sure most­ everybody here will agree with me..Im a UTD fan BUT i­ do think Barca 1st UTD 2nd ..Liverpool at best should­ come in 4th..WHO IS WORKING THIS RUBBISH OUT..Liverpool­ might have beat UTD and chelsea last season BUT they­ won nothing else A BIG FAT ZERO and you liverpool­ supporters that agree with this are just hopefulls as­ ive said before PROOF IT NEXT SEASON untill then SHUT­ THE ?UC? up..Best Regards to all that think this is­ also RUBBISH..

    From vlf126, on Sat 13 Jun 8:34PM

  14. I'm a Liverpool supporter, but I can't see how­ they can be considered better than Barca and ManU - it­ doesn't make any sense: Barca won everything, ManU­ the League...??? But I do hope that Liverpool will­ truly become the best, starting next season!

    From gordon.merk, on Sat 13 Jun 11:27AM

  15. Barçelona won the treble AND beat Manchester United in­ the CL final . What did Liverpool win to deserve first­ place ? Total nonsense by the biased English media !!

    From Tim, on Sat 13 Jun 10:47AM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    wooo. go liverpool 18 league titles n 5 champion­ leagues. were better than man u and chelsea. they dont­ have that many hahaha. liverpool = number 1. wooooooo.­ and u think about it man u and chelsea got more money­ than liverpool but we still got the better team. we­ beat untd twice in league one was a 4-1 thrashing and­ we beat chelsea 2 times aswell. nxt season we will win­ premier league. n go one ahead of utd.lol hahahaha.­ with gerrerd and torres hopefully fit for the whole­ season there will be no stopping liverpool. cant wait

    From abbz_d, on Sat 13 Jun 2:25AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    come on lfc we rule in europe...
    YNWA lets go for title­ next season!

    From Martin, on Sat 13 Jun 12:45AM

  18. You talk through your Arse

    From Mickey B, on Thu 11 Jun 11:08AM

  19. yo eiyoha,just accepted it..they counted it not­ you..they should know better

    From fareast059_sg, on Thu 11 Jun 1:04AM

  20. comment from miracleokafor,what a dumb and twisted fool­ you are, an easy route to the the final,i think you­ need electric shock treatment dipper, as for you lot­ destroying Barca,and Barca dreading you lot ,dont make­ me laugh,nobody is feared of Liverpool fc,so hope you­ win the yahoo championship again next season,­ [congratulations by the way] because thats all you will­ win,

    From LES, on Wed 10 Jun 6:53PM
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