Lyon captain Maxime Gonalons (L) is congratulated by team-mates after against Troyes in Ligue 1 (AFP)

Lyon were the biggest climbers in our European Power Rankings this week, the new Ligue 1 leaders rising three places in our list of Europe's best clubs.

OL beat Troyes 2-1 to go two points clear at the top of French table and jump to 16^th in our elite rankings with a net gain of 18 points.

Bayer Leverkusen - one of five teams from Germany, Russia and Ukraine in our table still on a winter break - drop a place as a result.

Tottenham fall two places after their goalless draw at home to QPR but otherwise there is no change to the remainder of the table.

That said, Manchester City continue their

With Ajaccio holding Paris Saint-Germain to a draw for the second time this season, and Bastia winning on the road in Reims, the weekend's results suggest that Corsica's two top-flight representatives might survive in Ligue 1, despite their claims that the odds have been stacked firmly against them this season.

Ajaccio may have played half of Friday night's 0-0 draw in the capital with an extra man after PSG midfielder Thiago Motta was sent off, but for them to come away from the Parc des Princes with a share of the spoils was still a huge achievement.

Their budget of 20 million euros is

There is a familiar face in attack but our European Team of the Week has a rather understated feel to it this week.

Lionel Messi retains his place after claiming a goal and two assists for Barcelona in a victory over Malaga on Sunday.

However, the rest of the team is made up of unsung heroes.

The only Premier League representative is the unlikely figure of Tottenham's Kyle Naughton, who impressed in a 0-0 draw with QPR.

Elsewhere, Nice contribute three players following a 5-0 win over Valenciennes.

Benfica coach Jorge Jesus does not need to dig out last season's script to know a victory at home to fierce rivals Porto in Sunday's 'Classico' could be decisive in his quest to reclaim the Portuguese title and extend his four-season tenure.

Jesus needs to avoid a repeat of Porto's thrilling 3-2 triumph in the same fixture in March - a defining moment as the winners went to the top of the table and eventually retained their crown.

The Benfica coach, whose contract ends this season, acknowledges that he probably has to end Porto's dominance to keep his job.

Twice former European champions

Giovanni, the bus driver for Pistoiese, started the ignition and began to exit the car park. He'd just dropped one of the club's youth teams off at a game, unloading the kitbags for the players to pick up before then climbing back into his vehicle and getting behind the wheel again. He turns on the radio ahead of the drive back and is just pulling out when all of a sudden a kid darts out into the road and forces him to make a screeching emergency stop. "Giovanniiiii" he shouts, a big grin on his face.

It was Mattia Perin, again. He'd hidden among the kitbags before dashing out to scare the

Two cities, three clubs. The world’s best XI of 2012 was comprised entirely of players from Barcelona (5), Real Madrid (5) and Falcao from Atletico Madrid. Or ‘Madrid 6 Barcelona 5’ according to Madrid-based sport paper AS, who prefer club and city one-upmanship.

Not a single player who makes his living in the footballing powerhouses of Manchester, Munich or Milan made the XI. Not one who plays in Turin, Dortmund or Paris either.

Casillas; Alves, Pique, Ramos, Marcelo; Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta; Messi, Falcao, Ronaldo are the chosen few, voted for by their peers from 49 players’ unions worldwide.

Manchester City's Gareth Barry celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during their FA Cup match against Watford at The Etihad Stadium (Reuters)

Despite a busy New Year period in some leagues across the continent, there is little change in the first of our European Power Rankings of 2013.

Barcelona remain on top, ahead of Liga rivals Real Madrid, with Manchester United and Bundesliga duo Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in behind.

Manchester City stay in sixth, although Roberto Mancini's side are 16 points better off after some high-scoring festive victories - 4-3 and 3-0 over Norwich and Stoke respectively - in the Premier League.

Chelsea and Juventus were the biggest losers in terms of points since Christmas, both the European

From Leonardo and Rai to Ronaldinho and Thiago Silva, Paris Saint-Germain fans have seen some great Brazilians at the Parc des Princes over the last two decades. They have seen some pretty bad ones too - think Everton Santos. But now there is excitement about the prospect of witnessing latest recruit Lucas Moura in action in the French capital.

Nearly five months after agreeing to a 40 million-euro transfer from São Paulo, the 20-year-old Brazilian international midfielder finally set foot in Paris last week. The arrival of a talent who believes he can become "the best player in the world"