Football fans love to discuss which club is the best in the world.
Usually, we’ll be back in the hills – after all, when was the last time you heard a Manchester United fan admit that Liverpool deserve that moniker?
But after winning the Champions League last season and dominating the Premier League to win their first ever title in 2019/20, it’s hard to suggest there is a better club in the world.
Remember though, Bayern Munich have won the league and national cup, while Real Madrid have secured La Liga glory – so does that put them on the same level as Liverpool?
After all, Bayern may continue to lift the Champions League at the end of the month, maybe they are.
We could discuss it all day, but luckily we don’t have to. This is because the FiveThirtyEight website has released its latest “Global Club Football Ranking”.
Using their Soccer Power Index, they calculated the 50 best teams in the world right now. Let’s take a look, with their overall SPI rating in parentheses.
50. Osasuna (70.5)
49. Watford (70.8)
48. Lilac (70.8)
47. Burnley (71.1)
46. Sheffield United (71.3)
45. Lazio (71.4)
44. Eintracht (71.4)
43. Real Betis (71.7)
42. Shakhtar (72.1)
41. Benfica (72.1)
40. Lyon (72.9)
39. Leganes (73.5)
38. Everton (73.5)
37. Wolfsburg (73.7)
36. Flamengo (73.7)
35. Hoffenheim (74.1)
34. Olympiacos (75.2)
33. Southampton (75.3)
32. Granada (75.7)
31. Porto (75.8)
30. Rome (75.9)
29. Arsenal (76.4)
28. Tottenham (76.4)
27. Ajax (76.5)
26. Getafe (76.6)
25. Villarreal (76.7)
24. Real Sociedad (77)
23. Zenith (78)
22. Naples (78.4)
21. Gladbach (78.9)
20. Leverkusen (80.4)
19. Milan (80.8)
18. Juventus (80.9)
17. Leicester (81.1)
16. RB Salzburg (81.4)
15. Wolves (81.4)
14. Inter (81.8)
13. Seville (82.4)
12. Atalanta (82.6)
11. Dortmund (83.3)
10. Chelsea (85.4)
9. Atletico Madrid (85.5)
8. RB Leipzig (85.8)
7. Manchester United (88)
6. Real Madrid (88.5)
5. Paris Saint-Germain (89.2)
4. Barcelona (90.5)
3. Liverpool (91.1)
2. Bayern Munich (94.4)
1. Manchester City (95.6)
So, according to the latest global football rankings, Man City is the best club in the world right now. But how did they come to this conclusion?
HOW DOES IT WORK
Well, SPI is the “best estimate of a team’s overall strength”.
“In our system, each team has an attacking rating which represents the number of goals one would expect to score against an average team on a neutral pitch,” reads their website.
It also has a “defensive rating which represents the number of goals one would expect to concede. These ratings, in turn, produce an overall SPI rating.”
Still with us? Good.
THE BEST IN THE WORLD?
Man City’s overall SPI is 95.6, which statistically makes them the best club in the world. But many fans will argue that this is not the case.
Football, after all, is not a game of statistics. Just look at the Premier League this season. Liverpool were by far the best team in England and wiped out all of their opponents during the last campaign.
But according to the club rankings, they are only the third best team in the world behind City and Bayern.
Although, given that those are the two favorites to win the Champions League, FiveThirtyEight’s ranking could prove correct in the coming weeks.
Leicester on Juventus?
There are some other surprises on the list as well. Leicester are ranked higher than Juventus, with their overall SPI ratings of 81.1 and 80.9 respectively.
For context, one team has won Serie A, while the other will play in the Europa League next season after finishing fifth in the Premier League. Layers.
It is also interesting to see Man United come in seventh place, a place behind Real Madrid. Frank Lampard’s Chelsea also completes the top 10.
In fact, the Blues ranked higher than Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, Tottenham and Arsenal.
Justify the rankings
Sure, FiveThirtyEight’s ranking will never be gospel, but they used the stats to determine the best clubs in the world. As mentioned above, however, football is not played on paper.
Man City are hoping to do business on the pitch in Lisbon later this month and if they win the Champions League, they could certainly claim to be the best in the world.
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