Power Rankings: The best teams in Europe - Week 12

  • Weekly power rankings reveals the 10 best sides in European football
  • Bologna make surprising appearance in the rankings
  • Aston Villa & Girona the cream of the crop after their performances
Image by Briony Painter
Image by Briony Painter /
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Following a week in which:

- Another Real Madrid player suffered an ACL injury.

- Another attempt to start a European Super League went up in smoke.

- Another Super Sunday put half of England to sleep.

We are back to rank the top ten football teams in Europe.


On the watchlist

Everton, Tottenham Hotspur

Everton v Fulham - Carabao Cup Quarter Final
Everton are flying / MB Media/GettyImages

Two of the Premier League's resurgent teams are set to face off against one another on Saturday and whoever wins may find themselves in the Power Rankings quite soon...


Axed this week

Manuel Locatelli, Gleison Bremer, Danilo
Poor performance / Jonathan Moscrop/GettyImages

Copenhagen, Juventus

Thanks to being in the Danish league, Copenhagen's run in the Power Rankings was only ever going to last one week.

Juventus drop out thanks to a well overdue draw in Serie A. La Vecchia Signora's inability to score more than one goal a game proved costly in Genoa on Friday.


The 10 current best teams in Europe

10. Inter (down 6)

Carlos Augusto, Riccardo Calafiori, Lorenzo De Silvestri, Nicolo Barella, Francesco Acerbi, Davide Frattesi, Oussama El Azzouzi, Joshua Zirkzee, Sam Beukema, Giovanni Fabbian, Dan Ndoye, Benjamin Pavard, Federico Dimarco
Bad night at the office for Inter / Jonathan Moscrop/GettyImages

A huge drop down the rankings this week thanks to a hugely surprising defeat in the Coppa Italia at the hands of high-flying Bologna.

There'll be no treble this year then, I'll tell the Inter fans.


9. PSV Eindhoven (-)

Luuk De Jong
They keep winning / Soccrates Images/GettyImages

PSV Eindhoven's 2023/24 Eredivisie season so far:

Played: 16
Won: 16
Draw: 0
Lost: 0

Can't lose, won't lose... seemingly.


8. Bayern Munich (re-entry)

Harry Kane
Scoring goals for fun / Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/GettyImages

Back in the rankings, largely thanks to Harry Kane.

The England captain has been in ridiculous form so far this season at his new club, becoming only the third player in Bundesliga history to score over 20 goals prior to the Winterpause.

He's big time. And Bayern are big time as a result.


7. Liverpool (down 2)

Mohamed Salah
Through to the Carabao Cup semi-finals / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

Liverpool 0-0 Manchester United may have been the worst, most boring, game of football ever played anywhere ever.

It was a costly one for the Reds too, with Jurgen Klopp's side dropping down to second in the Premier League table as a result of the snorefest.

The reason they're only down two this week is because they made amends slightly with their thumping of West Ham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.


6. Bologna (new entry)

Joshua Zirkzee, Oussama El Azzouzi
In-form / Jonathan Moscrop/GettyImages

Yep, Bologna are in the Power Rankings this week.

Bologna.

What a strange world we live in, eh?

And what makes it even stranger is that they actually deserve to be in them too.

Thiago Motta's side have been in remarkable form in recent weeks, thanks in large part to Joshua Zirkzee coming good on his FM20 potential to fire Bologna into the top four.

As well as their fantastic league form, Bologna have earned their place in this week's rankings by ousting Inter from the Coppa Italia in midweek.


5. Arsenal (up 2)

Mikel Arteta
Top of the league / Richard Heathcote/GettyImages

Back to winning ways and back to the top of the Premier League table.

Arsenal's win over Brighton at the Emirates Stadium was impressively easy for Mikel Arteta's men.


4. Real Madrid (-)

Jude Bellingham
The main man / Mateo Villalba/GettyImages

Despite the myriad of ACL injuries, Real Madrid just keep winning games.

David Alaba's season-ending ailment did little to curtail Madrid's form at the weekend, with Los Blancos running out 4-1 winners against Villarreal.


3. Girona (-)

Artem Dovbyk
Table toppers / Alex Caparros/GettyImages

An image of Girona's 2023/24 form did the rounds on X this week with quote reposts exclaiming:

"How are Girona this good?"

"Girona are better than Barcelona. Hold the L Barca."

"What even is a Girona?"

And while no one is quite sure how Girona became the best team in Spain seemingly overnight, the fact is that, right now, they're exactly that: the best team in Spain.


2. Aston Villa (down 1)

Ollie Watkins
Another win / Vince Mignott/MB Media/GettyImages

After a few weeks of stunning wins, a trip to Brentford had 'banana skin' written all over it for Aston Villa.

And yet, despite going 1-0 down, Unai Emery's side found a way to win through two late goals from Alex Moreno and Ollie Watkins. Nice one.


1. Bayer Leverkusen (up 6)

Xabi Alonso, Victor Boniface
The best / Christof Koepsel/GettyImages

So far this season, Bayer Leverkusen have won 22 out of 25 games, conceded just 18 goals and scored a quite ridiculous 81.

It's Xabi Alonso's world and we're just living in it.