HOW IT WORKS
This season we will use the Hypercube Infostrada Euro Club Index, which scientifically analyses hundreds of thousands of matches from the top divisions in all European nations as well as Europa League and Champions League games.
The Index takes into account all matches played over an eight-year period but with recent results carrying more weight than older ones. The most recent result has 20 times more impact than a result of three years ago.
The performance of a league's teams in the Champions League and Europa League reflects the rise or fall of the sporting level in that league. So, for example, if English teams perform well in Europe, all Premier League teams receive a small bonus in their ECI score. The ranking and its predictive power are thus made even more accurate.
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With no changes in the top seven places of the Euro Club Index, Chelsea remain sixth in the rankings ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg trip to Barcelona, who are still top despite losing to both the Blues and Real Madrid last week. Real, who remain second, host fourth-ranked Bayern Munich in the second leg of their European tie on Wednesday.
The other two Spanish clubs in the top 20, Valencia and Atletico Madrid, hold their respective positions of 11th and 15th as they prepare for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against each other.
The only move in the top 10 sees Borussia Dortmund, who were confirmed as champions of the Bundesliga last weekend for the second year running, move up one place to eighth, switching places with Arsenal.
Tottenham Hotspur's recent slump continued at the weekend with defeat at Queens Park Rangers, and as such they drop down two places to 20th.
French champions Lille switch places with Spurs, while their Ligue 1 rivals Lyon drop out of the top 20 altogether as they are deposed by PSV.
Juventus may be three points ahead of title rivals AC Milan at the top of Serie A, but they lag six places behind the Rossoneri here.
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Top 20
1 (1) Barcelona – 4369 points
2 (2) Real Madrid - 4307
3 (3) Manchester United - 3702
4 (4) Bayern Munich - 3505
5 (5) Manchester City – 3439
6 (6) Chelsea - 3437
7 (7) Porto – 3357
8 (9) Borussia Dortmund - 3267
9 (8) Arsenal - 3260
10 (10) AC Milan - 3191
11 (11) Valencia – 3170
12 (12) Benfica - 3148
13 (14) Shakhtar Donetsk - 3098
14 (13) Zenit St Petersburg - 3093
15 (15) Atletico Madrid – 3086
16 (16) Juventus – 3065
17 (17) Ajax – 3037
18 (20) Lille - 3018
19 (21) PSV - 3001
20 (18) Tottenham Hotspur - 2990
Other Italian clubs in the top 100
23 (24) Internazionale – 2942
37 (36) Napoli – 2787
42 (42) Roma – 2724
51 (54) Udinese – 2639
57 (55) Lazio – 2609
84 (87) Fiorentina – 2418
91 (91) Palermo – 2392
97 (97) Catania – 2363
100 (100) Chievo – 2319
