Champions League Power Rankings: Barca excel, Madrid in chaos

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The 2025-26 Champions League season will be back next week after six matchdays of the league phase took place from September to December 2025, but the top European leagues aren't going on break in the meantime. Arsenal and Manchester City are ready to fight for another Premier League title while Bayern Munich are once again dominating the Bundesliga standings. Elsewhere, Juventus are getting back to the top of the Serie A standings while Real Madrid seem to have solved one problem by firing Xabi Alonso after losing to Barcelona the Spanish Super cup final over the last weekend, but it remains to be seen if they created another one. Let's take a look at our weekly power rankings:

1. Arsenal (--)

Things look better for Arsenal week after week as the side coached by Mikel Arteta have now a six-point gap on Manchester City and are well positioned to lift what would be their first Premier League title win in more than two decades, while they are also at the top of the Champions League standings. This is their year and they have to win, finally.

2. Bayern Munich (--)

If there is one team that looks even better right now around Europe, that's Bayern Munich. They've scored 63 goals in 16 Bundesliga matches and have 11-point gap on Borussia Dortmund should make them focus way more on the Champions League in the coming weeks. This might become a big factor for them and their chances to win more than one trophy this year.

3. Barcelona (+1)

After some ups and downs in the first months of the new season, Hansi Flick's team are now back where they should be, and also they have won the Spanish Supercup in a final against Real Madrid on Sunday. All of their key players are now back to their best levels, with the exception of Lamine Yamal, who is still dealing with groin issues that have affected his season so far. If he also returns to full fitness, they could become the team to beat in Europe.

4. Manchester City (-1)

I mean, they are still among the best teams around the world, but it seems they are not unbeatable as they used to be over the past few years. However, new signing Antoine Semenyo is already delivering and scored during his FA Cup debut against Exeter City at the Etihad Stadium over the weekend. Good start.

5. PSG (--)

The feeling is that they are now getting back to their best level after injuries deeply affected their first part of the 2025-26 season. Once Achraf Hakimi returns from after AFCON with Morocco, we all expect them to improve even more as they need to gain some points in the Ligue 1 where they are sitting in second place behind Lens.

6. Inter (--)

The Nerazzurri failed to beat Napoli on Sunday and missed their big opportunity to increase their gap with one of their Scudetto rivals, while AC Milan are still 3-point close to them. They are playing good football and they have the players to win the title, but it seems they are still suffering from the disappointments of the 2024-25 season when they failed to win and also lost 5-0 in the Champions League final against PSG.

7. Real Madrid (--)

I was writing about Real Madrid and guess what? They parted ways with their manager Xabi Alonso and appointed Alvaro Arbeloa as the new coach. Not what I expected to write on them this week.

Real Madrid fire Xabi Alonso after Barcelona defeat: Alvaro Arbeloa takes over as head coach

Francesco Porzio

8. Atletico Madrid (--)

After the summer transfer window we all had a lot of expectations from them, but their inconsistency is not helping them. Too many ups and downs prevented them from being involved in the LaLiga title race so far.

9. Atalanta (--)

After three wins in a row, Raffaele Palladino's Atalanta are now back in the race for a spot in the next Champions League and this is already a big achievement for them after the struggles they had under Ivan Juric in the first part of the season before he was sacked and replaced by the current coach.

10. Liverpool (--)

What more can we say more about Liverpool? Well, they are not where we were expecting them to be after the money they spent in the summer. They changed many players, that's true, but we could expect more from them and from Arne Slot after what they have done last year.

11. Chelsea (--)

Chelsea surprised the world and sacked Enzo Maresca in the first day of 2026. The new coach, Liam Rosenior, has already won his first game in charge beating Charlton in the FA Cup over the weekend, but it's too early to say anything else about him.

12. Olympique Marseille (--)

Roberto De Zerbi is once again delivering some incredible football at OM this season, but I don't think they can win a trophy after losing to PSG in the Supercup on penalties. That was probably their best chance of the season and they missed it.

13. Newcastle (--)

After three wins in a row in the Premier League things finally look better for Newcastle. They always had the players and the potential to do it, this is why this is not surprising, but they need to continue like that to have chances to clinch a spot in the European tournaments next season.

14. Borussia Dortmund (--)

They can't really do much to prevent Bayern Munich from winning another Bundesliga title, so they can focus on their European run ahead of the knockout stages. They have a chance to end up in the top eight of the league phase, but need to win against Tottenham away and also against Inter at their home stadium in the last matchday later this month.

15. Napoli (+1)

Antonio Conte's team showed to be strong again over the weekend when they managed to draw 2-2 away against Inter. Despite their injury problems, most recently David Neres, Napoli remain in the Scudetto race, but they must beat Copenhagen and Chelsea in their final two Champions League matches to avoid a potentially dramatic elimination from the league phase.

16. Galatasaray (-1)

Losing the Turkish Super Cup to Fenerbahce over the weekend was a major disappointment, as they are clearly suffering from the absence of Victor Osimhen, who is set to play in the AFCON semifinal with Nigeria this week. He is expected to return ahead of next week's Champions League match, and they will need him.

17. Juventus (--)

The Bianconeri finally appointed a manager, Luciano Spalletti, who seems to be in the right moment in the right place. My personal advice to the club: Make him sign a new, long-term contract as soon as possible.

18. Bayer Leverkusen (--)

Should they hire Xabi Alonso again after he left Real Madrid? Maybe not. They are doing well under Kasper Hjulmand and now they only need more stability after two managerial changes in 2025.

19. PSV (+1)

Weekly update of their great season: 16 wins, one draw, only one defeat and a 13-point gap on Feyenoord. Things are going really well.

20. Sporting CP (-1)

Their season is not even bad, but what Porto are doing is just magnificent as the team coached by Francesco Farioli currently has 16 wins and one draw in 17 games. Insane.

21. Tottenham (--)

If things weren't looking good before this week, they've only gotten worse, as Thomas Frank's side lost to Bournemouth and were then eliminated by Aston Villa in the FA Cup over the weekend. At this point, we're all just waiting for the official announcement of his sacking, aren't we?

22. AS Monaco (--)

Another challenging season for AS Monaco. The good old days seem really far away but maybe with the right manager this team can still be back at the top.

23. Benfica (--)

Jose Mourinho is back and his press conferences are already entertaining us again but at the end of the month he will face Real Madrid and that's the game we are now all waiting for.

24. Club Brugge (--)

They are finally doing better now and only have a one-point gap on Union SG. They still have chances to win the title and also qualify for the playoffs in the Champions League. I wasn't expecting that few weeks ago.