Barcelona Officially Europe's Top Club

[Stan]

According to data compiled by Gracenote for Euro Club Index

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44272077

Quote

 

Real Madrid might have won a 13th European Cup but they have been overtaken by rivals and La Liga victors Barcelona as the continent's top club, according to new data.

In a Euro Club Index compiled by sports data company Gracenote, Liverpool - who were beaten by Real in Saturday's Champions League final - move up eight places to 11th.

Premier League champions Manchester City are England's highest ranked side at number three, with Tottenham in ninth and Manchester United 10th.

The rankings are produced from results over the past four seasons, but the most recent campaign carries a weight of about two-thirds.

Chelsea dropped five places to 12 after the defence of their Premier League title ended with them finishing fifth, although they did win the FA Cup.

Arsenal were sixth in the Premier League and dropped from 11th to 15th - sandwiched between Sevilla and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Huddersfield Town were the biggest movers after achieving top-flight safety as they moved up from 232nd to 171st, while Burnley, who will be playing in next season's Europa League after finishing seventh, rose from 116th to 68th.

The biggest decline came from Stoke City as their relegation to the Championship saw them go from 83rd to 115th.

How does it work?

Teams collect or lose points depending on the result of each match, both domestically - including cup competitions - and in Europe, but the amount of points depends on the gulf between the two sides.

For example, a home Chelsea win against Sunderland is worth very few points, in contrast to a Crystal Palace win at Stamford Bridge.

There is an extra bonus for an entire league if one of its clubs performs well in Europe.

The top 100 of Gracenote's Euro Club Index contains clubs from 20 different countries.

"La Liga and the Bundesliga still have more clubs in the top 100 than the Premier League," said head of analysis at Gracenote Simon Gleave.

"But an analysis of the best 18 clubs in each league reveals that the Premier League has overtaken the Bundesliga in terms of the average quality of those 18 clubs.

"La Liga is still the strongest with an average Euro Club Index rating of 2,906 for its clubs (down from 2,925 last season) but the Premier League is now second (2,807 up from 2,770) with the Bundesliga third (2,695 down from 2,798).

"With such a drop in quality within the Bundesliga, Serie A may be able to overtake the German competition next season."

Barcelona won La Liga by 14 points, as well as the Copa del Rey, this season, while Real were third in the league - 17 points behind their great rivals - although they claimed a third Champions League in succession.

The two clubs have dominated the Spanish top-flight along with Atletico Madrid but it seems the gap between them and the rest could be narrowing.

"La Liga's quality remains high, despite a drop in Euro Club Index ratings for all of the competition's best four clubs - FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla," added Gleave.

"This indicates that the general standard of the next best 14 clubs has risen which can only be good for the league."

 

TABLE HERE

 

[SirBalon]

What a load of rubbish! Barcelona top? 

[Mel81x+]

Can someone explain the statement "but the amount of points depends on the gulf between the two sides". How does that work? Position in table when the game was played? Points tally? Differential between the two based on goals (for/against)?

I ask this because if you look at it that way then a team like City beating United could be construed as a waste of time for them to climb the index doesnt it? But on the counter-side you've now given United the chance of gaining more points because they are the lesser of the two here? 

[Harry]

25 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

What a load of rubbish! Barcelona top? 

Obviously has significant points for domestic league titles based on that and man city's  rankings

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, Harry said:

Obviously has significant points for domestic league titles based on that and man city's  rankings

Leagues mean nothing! Come one mate... Surely Real Madrid being European Champions doesn't require any analysis whatsoever.  It's as simple as selecting the winner of that competition to decide these things which would actually make more sense than anything else seeing as the other prestigious award which is the Ballon d'Or works in a similar fashion.

Don't you think?

[Carnivore Chris]

I don't know about Europe's top club, but it's definitely been a better season than the one that Real Madrid have had, with only one loss in La Liga, one loss in the Champs league and one loss in the Copa del rey. In terms of style of play and football on display, this hasn't been the best Barcelona you'll see, but it has been a consistent one, who have (generally) gotten the job done and been able to compete over the course of a full season and maintain a level of consistency. Had it not been for that one freak result against Roma, then I would have fancied a possible treble this season and with only 1 loss in each of the 3 competitions, it was close to being a perfect season results wise. That is probably what went against the team in the end though, as remaining undefeated was always in both Valverde and the player's minds when it would have been ideal to rest players before Champions league encounters, even if it was at the expense of possibly losing the undefeated run in the league.

The most eye catching team in Europe have easily been City. One fuck up in the Champions league put a dampener on their season, although they have been incredible over the year. Play the best football in Europe, score a lot of goals, managed to accumulate 100 points in a league where people claim it's impossible and have broken many records.

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

I don't know about Europe's top club, but it's definitely been a better season than the one that Real Madrid have had, with only one loss in La Liga, one loss in the Champs league and one loss in the Copa del rey. In terms of style of play and football on display, this hasn't been the best Barcelona you'll see, but it has been a consistent one, who have (generally) gotten the job done and been able to compete over the course of a full season and maintain a level of consistency. Had it not been for that one freak result against Roma, then I would have fancied a possible treble this season and with only 1 loss in each of the 3 competitions, it was close to being a perfect season results wise. That is probably what went against the team in the end though, as remaining undefeated was always in both Valverde and the player's minds when it would have been ideal to rest players before Champions league encounters, even if it was at the expense of possibly losing the undefeated run in the league.

The most eye catching team in Europe have easily been City. One fuck up in the Champions league put a dampener on their season, although they have been incredible over the year. Play the best football in Europe, score a lot of goals, managed to accumulate 100 points in a league where people claim it's impossible and have broken many records.

The problem with City is that they were off form when they took on an in form Liverpool.

The most important thing in a cup competition of any sort is form. If you don't have that, then don't count your chickens. Real Madrid I think are a perfect example, who have regained their form around January/February.

[The Artful Dodger]

1 minute ago, Blue said:

The problem with City is that they were off form when they took on an in form Liverpool.

The most important thing in a cup competition of any sort is form. If you don't have that, then don't count your chickens. Real Madrid I think are a perfect example, who have regained their form around January/February.

They weren't off form, before they played Liverpool they'd put in arguably their greatest performance of the season away at Everton. They were playing superbly well and just came up against a very good team, great atmosphere and most importantly, tactics which can hurt Manchester City.

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, Blue said:

The problem with City is that they were off form when they took on an in form Liverpool.

The most important thing in a cup competition of any sort is form. If you don't have that, then don't count your chickens. Real Madrid I think are a perfect example, who have regained their form around January/February.

What form did Real Madrid recapture in January?

Real Madrid were 12 points behind Barcelona before January and ended up 17 points behind.

[SirBalon]

17 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

I don't know about Europe's top club, but it's definitely been a better season than the one that Real Madrid have had, with only one loss in La Liga, one loss in the Champs league and one loss in the Copa del rey. In terms of style of play and football on display, this hasn't been the best Barcelona you'll see, but it has been a consistent one, who have (generally) gotten the job done and been able to compete over the course of a full season and maintain a level of consistency. Had it not been for that one freak result against Roma, then I would have fancied a possible treble this season and with only 1 loss in each of the 3 competitions, it was close to being a perfect season results wise. That is probably what went against the team in the end though, as remaining undefeated was always in both Valverde and the player's minds when it would have been ideal to rest players before Champions league encounters, even if it was at the expense of possibly losing the undefeated run in the league.

The most eye catching team in Europe have easily been City. One fuck up in the Champions league put a dampener on their season, although they have been incredible over the year. Play the best football in Europe, score a lot of goals, managed to accumulate 100 points in a league where people claim it's impossible and have broken many records.

You're so biased it's unbelievable mate. 

[Guest]

Just now, The Artful Dodger said:

They weren't off form, before they played Liverpool they'd put in arguably their greatest performance of the season away at Everton. They were playing superbly well and just came up against a very good team, great atmosphere and most importantly, tactics which can hurt Manchester City.

If that's the case, it was AFTER the Liverpool game they were beginning to drop points then, and I've made a mistake in my argument.

2 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

What form did Real Madrid recapture in January?

Real Madrid were 12 points behind Barcelona before January and ended up 17 points behind.

February to April

That's pretty good form if you ask me, just 2 blunders. 3 if you consider the result vs Atletico a bad one.

 

[SirBalon]

Just now, Blue said:

If that's the case, it was AFTER the Liverpool game they were beginning to drop points then, and I've made a mistake in my argument.

February to April

That's pretty good form if you ask me, just 2 blunders. 3 if you consider the result vs Atletico a bad one.

 

The fact still lies that their points difference while defending their League Championship expanded. It was better form than the first half of the season, yes.  It was still average form for their standards and most importantly what was required from them and the quality they have.

[True Blue]

Is this after taxes?

[Guest]

Just now, SirBalon said:

The fact still lies that their points difference while defending their League Championship expanded. It was better form than the first half of the season, yes.  It was still average form for their standards and most importantly what was required from them and the quality they have.

That was my point, they improved their form and as a result, it helped them win the Champions League.

Lets not forget in the first half of the season they failed to win both games vs Tottenham.

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, True Blue said:

Is this after taxes?

Don't know... Cristiano is still negotiating with the Spanish tax office so as to not end up in prison. 

[True Blue]

Just now, SirBalon said:

Don't know... Cristiano is still negotiating with the Spanish tax office so as to not end up in prison. 

Barcelona would probably have to play with their B team, if stars could go to prison. 

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, Blue said:

That was my point, they improved their form and as a result, it helped them win the Champions League.

Lets not forget in the first half of the season they failed to win both games vs Tottenham.

Their form in the Champions League is slightly subjective though because it was no longer a league format as the e citing against Spurs and they still lost to both Juventus and Bayern, one of which fails to turn up in that graph.

Cup football relies on more variations of luck and opportunity than  38 games in a football season.

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, True Blue said:

Barcelona would probably have to play with their B team, if stars could go to prison. 

The way things are you'll find that most clubs in Spain would have the same issues mate.  There has been more Real Madrid players being investigated for tax fraud than Barça players. It all just depends which way you sway as to your problem with this.

[Guest]

Just now, SirBalon said:

Their form in the Champions League is slightly subjective though because it was no longer a league format as the e citing against Spurs and they still lost to both Juventus and Bayern, one of which fails to turn up in that graph.

Cup football relies on more variations of luck and opportunity than  38 games in a football season.

League form builds up morale. Its also important for building up momentum. It can be seen as irrelevant but I find it very important.

Barcelona weren't great in 2014-15, but they clicked in the second half of the season and seemed unstoppable. That's because they built up incredible momentum. Now, being in good form and playing poorly can be an exception (like Juventus this year) but I think playing in the best league in the world, its a bit different. 

[SirBalon]

17 minutes ago, Blue said:

League form builds up morale. Its also important for building up momentum. It can be seen as irrelevant but I find it very important.

Barcelona weren't great in 2014-15, but they clicked in the second half of the season and seemed unstoppable. That's because they built up incredible momentum. Now, being in good form and playing poorly can be an exception (like Juventus this year) but I think playing in the best league in the world, its a bit different. 

League form is so as to win the League because that’s what a football season is all about. It’s not designed to win a cup competition. 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

League form is so as to win the League because that’s what a football season is all about. It’s not designed to win a cup competition. 

No one said it was - but its hard to build momentum in the Champions League. You have to do that with league games.

[SirBalon]

2 hours ago, Blue said:

No one said it was - but its hard to build momentum in the Champions League. You have to do that with league games.

But that makes it sound like the objective is to win the Champions League which in actual fact makes the reason for this thread a really interesting one as it would be impossible for Barcelona to be number 1.