ACTUALITE |
22.11.2001
World top 20 teams: Depor jump up; Gremio fall out
Spain has its best showing yet in the Top 20, as Deportivo shoot to the top and Alaves break into the rankings. Brazil place only one team in the top 20, though Sao Caetano climb up several spots after defeating a tough Gremio side.
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1 (10) -- Deportivo la Coruna: SuperDepor have gone and done it now. Pacesetters in La Liga since the word go, the once unfashionable Northwestern side has climbed to the very pinnacle of the known footballing cosmos -- tops in internetsoccer.com’s World Top 20. And they thought a first league Championship in ’99 was an achievement. On the strength of a pair of wonderful strikes from ruddy Dutchman Roy Makaay the Gallegos walloped poor Basque doormats Real Sociedad, and coupled with a dour Barcelona draw sees the Riazor faithful dancing in the fountains for yet another week, two points ahead of recent additions to our rankings Alaves and three above the up-and-down Catalans.
2 (3) -- Juventus: The iconic Turin side have begun to bolt up the charts, snapping a six-game winless streak in Serie A with a 2-0 win over newly appointed one-time Argentina captain and Cup winner manager Daniel Passarella’s Parma. We know, six matches without a win, how can it be that Juve find themselves one away from the apex? Well, the Old Lady has really come into her own this season. The Bianconeri are flying high in UEFA Champions League, through the second round, and performing well above the average in Italy. If David Trezeguet continues to punish the back of opposition nets as he has been, Juve will find themselves in the frame for a real run through Europe and a shot at tops in Italia too
3 (8) -- Bayer Leverkusen: Bayer Leverkusen have taken top Teutonic spot from Europe’s finest Bayern in a bold weekend coup. Grizzly 35 year-old marksmen Ulf Kirsten led the way on Saturday with Levekusen`s first en route to a 2-1 result over cross town rivals FC Koln. Leverkusen are quite literally on fire and managed to overturn a 1-0 second half deficit which sees them sitting proudly atop the Bundesliga table. Germany and Europe awake.
4 (2) -- Liverpool: The Merseysiders slip a bit in the polls despite regaining a lone grip on the Premiership reins. An early Owen strike at the weekend was not enough to topple bold Blackburn, but in tandem with a Leeds United slip up at Sunderland the Reds stretch back out in front in Ol` Angland, primed to show some isolated pockets of doubters a thing or two in Champions League competition.
5 (6) -- Real Madrid: European Cup champions-in-waiting Real Madrid did just about what they should, beating recently promoted Sevilla 2-1 at the weekend. Some dull and dizzy domestic performances have done nothing to dent capital pride, and high-flying, incomparable performances in Europe point to only a matter of time before the Merengues right the ship and assume the total dominance demanded annually. Real are currently seventh in La Liga and looking quite keen to climb. Much to the delight of Real fans and bank managers alike, Zidane looked hot enough to fry an egg at the weekend as well.
6 (5) -- Bayern Munich: The reigning European Champions are lording it over all and sundry in Deutschland but stumbled at the weekend, losing out 1-0 to Werder Bremen. Amid rumors of player dissatisfaction, managerial mayhem and the like, Elber up top and Kahn wiping up at the rear are terrorizing everyone and their mother domestically and look keen to dismantle poor Man United this Tuesday in Champions League action.
7 (4) -- Leeds United: The Yorkshire boys finally got their much-anticipated comeuppance this weekend past, folding to a 2-0 loss at Sunderland. Kevin Phillips conspired to strike well and late, sending O’Leary’s lads tumbling from the top spot.
8 (1) -- Barcelona: The Catalan club is currently third in La Liga and still plugging away in Europe -- no mean feat to be sure. But a poor result at the weekend after what seemed a good sign one week prior sees the boys from Barca bellying up to recent accusations of inconsistency. A dour, drab nil-nil draw at Las Palmas had Nou Camp nationals tearing their hair out.
9 (17) -- Sao Caetano: Never thought we’d say this, but Sao Caetano are the most consistent team in South America these days. Wins over Guarani and Gremio have Sao Caetano six points clear in Brazil and, they have secured a spot in the eight-team playoff that will crown the Brasileiro champions.
10 (NR) -- Alaves: Welcome to the big time boys. The once, well, less-than-lowly band of castaways from the Basque administrative capital of Vitoria have really made a name for themselves lately. Finalists and undoubted darlings of last year’s UEFA Cup, Alaves lashed out at naysayers with a 1-0 win over no-pushover Galician outfit Celta Vigo at the weekend. The win sees the yellow and blue elbow and scrap their way into second spot in La Liga.
11 (7) -- Chievo: The Cinderellas of this year’s Serie A campaign have begun to head south in the rankings. A 3-2 derby loss to Verona after nabbing an early 2-0 lead may signal trouble on the horizon for the side with no hint of a past. Many have been waiting for the day when the nobodies would get their punishment for their ultimate hubris. That day may be just around the corner.
12 (12) -- Galatasaray: Tops in Turkey. That alone means about as much as nothing in particular, but the Ottomans are still hanging on in Champions League and managed to wallop Diyarbakispor (say it with us know, dee-yar-bok-ees-poor) 5-1 at the weekend. Well if that doesn’t tell a tale, nothing does.
13 (15) -- Valencia: Although not the sexy Mendieta-led side that reached Europe’s finest final the past two years, “El Che” have yet to drop a result in the world’s finest league. The only noteworthy moment in the weekend’s dour 0-0 draw with lowly Tenerife was a 75th-minute Angulo red card. After all something is better than nothing, and the result sees Valencia just three points adrift of leaders Depor and tangled on points with third-place Barca.
14 (13) -- Aston Villa: A nil-nil draw at the weekend with `Boro may hint at some brewing trouble for the Boys from Birmingham. Despite present woes, John Gregory`s charges are still putting together some of the most coherent, complimentary displays of football anywhere on the weird Anglish isles. The Villains remain in good standing, just one point behind leaders Liverpool, but in third place.
15 (14) -- Porto: Porto remain tops in their little corner of the Iberian Peninsula, and look primed to shock some folks in Europe. It seems a Renaissance year for Portuguese football, and Porto are out in front providing the pace, bearing the standard.
16 (16) -- Racing Club de Avellaneda: An eight-point lead at the top of the Argentine Apertura tournament table would seem to count for something more than 16th place in our rankings, but Racing have been winning so ugly that it’s hard to give them too much credit. Their recent 1-0 win at home over Chacarita, for example, was a result of a very questionable penalty late in the first half.
17 (11) -- AS Roma: Totti, Delvechio and the boys continue to put on a show in Italy and Europe both. A scoreless draw with in-form Inter sees the Romans climb to fourth in Serie A, with potential for much more.
18 (18) -- Boca Juniors: An expected win away to Nueva Chicago at the weekend confirms Boca’s solid form. They are set to give Bayern a solid run for the Toyota Cup next week.
19 (NR) -- River Plate: On a good day, River can look as good as anybody in South America. The problem is in stringing together those good days. If they can hold onto Ariel Ortega, River will likely once again be the class of Argentina come next year’s Clausura tournament.
20 (20) -- Manchester United: Well, hey, look at that. The Red Devils can still scrape out a win after all. 2-0 over “able” Ade Akinbiyi and Leicester City may seem a hollow victory to some, and well those some would have a very good point indeed. One simply must think a side so loaded with talent will find a way to win consistently, then again stranger things have happened—it’s a funny old game.
(Last week’s rankings in parentheses)
Best of the rest: Arsenal, Sparta Prague, Betis, Internazionale, AC Milan, Ajax Amsterdam, Gremio
Country breakdown:
Spain: 5
England: 4
Argentina: 3
Italy: 3
Germany: 2
Portugal: 1
Brazil: 1
Turkey: 1
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Hits: 1 | Source:Internetsoccer | |
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