Rate it!

33 votes

It's official, CFR Cluj are better than European champions Manchester United. Well, at least they are according to the first edition of our European Power Rankings.

We take into account both domestic and Champions League performances, plus the relative difficulty of each team's league, to find out who is the best team in Europe.

Cluj kicked off their Champions League campaign with a shock victory over Roma and, coupled with their domestic form, that win sees the Romanian side enter the fledgling European Power Rankings table in an impressive ninth place. That is 12 rungs higher up the ladder than United, whose poor start to the season means they don't even make it into the top 20.

At the top of the table, Italian giants Internazionale and Juventus set the pace, although Premier League duo Chelsea and Liverpool are hot on their tails. Both Madrid clubs follow in fifth and sixth while Porto and Bayern Munich - despite their thumping by Werder Bremen at the weekend - occupy seventh and eighth. Completing the top 10, just below Cluj, are Barcelona.

Premier League leaders Arsenal weigh in at 13th after dropping points in their Champions League opener against Dynamo Kiev, but it has been a good start for European minnows Anorthosis Famagusta, who are a place ahead of Arsene Wenger's side.

Celtic may have only drawn against Aalborg, but their Scottish Premier League form - 13 points from six games - elevates them into 17th, ahead of such luminaries of European football as Sporting Lisbon, Bremen and Fiorentina. And, of course, United.

1. Internazionale - 26.67

2. Juventus - 26.67

3. Chelsea - 26.00

4. Liverpool - 26.00

5. Atletico Madrid - 25.00

6. Real Madrid - 25.00

7. Porto - 22.50

8. Bayern Munich - 22.20

9. CFR Cluj - 22.00

10. Barcelona - 21.67

11. Shakhtar Donetsk - 19.00

12. Anorthosis Famagusta - 17.00

13. Arsenal - 17.00

14. Lyon - 17.00

15. Villarreal - 16.67

16. Dynamo Kiev - 14.50

17. Celtic - 13.67

18. Sporting Lisbon - 13.50

19. Werder Bremen - 12.20

20. Fiorentina - 11.67

(21. Manchester United - 11.25)

HOW IT WORKS

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

Domestic points per game is 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 (12 teams)

4.5 - Germany, France, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands (10 teams)

4 - Belarus, Cyprus, Denmark, Romania, Scotland, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine (10 teams)

Champions League victories are counted as three points for a win. They are all multiplied by a coefficient of 5.

Example: Chelsea

11 points from 5 Premier League games = 2.20 points per game.

Multiplied by league coefficient of five - 2.54 x 5 = 11.00

Three points from one Champions League game = 3 points per game.

Multiplied by European coefficient of five - 15.00

Total score = 15.00 + 11.00 = 26.00

Mike Hytner / Eurosport