It was a good week for AC Milan, who sealed their progress in the
Champions League before inflicting a rare defeat on Juventus, making the
Rossoneri the biggest climbers in our European Power Rankings.
Milan eased the pressure on their coach Massimiliano
Allegri with a 1-0 Serie A victory over Juve - who only lost their
49-match unbeaten record three weeks ago - after having beaten
Anderlecht 3-1 to seal a place in the knockout phase of the Champions
League, courtesy in part to a stunning Philippe Mexes overhead kick.
All of which means that Milan return to the top 20 of our elite list,
entering at 16 while their bitter city rivals Internazionale, thrashed
3-0 by Rubin Kazan in the Europa League and then beaten 1-0 at Parma,
drop out at their expense. All in all, a pretty satisfactory day for the
red and black half of Milan.
At the top end of our table, Manchester City drop a place after two
draws in a week - against Real Madrid and Chelsea - allowing Borussia
Dortmund to climb above them after the Bundesliga side's victory over
Mainz was followed by a thumping of Ajax in Europe.
Madrid stay second, despite that draw and a defeat at Real Betis,
behind runaway leaders Barcelona, who reinforced their status as
Europe's best team with a 4-0 thrashing of Levante and a 3-0 win at
Spartak Moscow.
Chelsea remain in ninth place, defeat the stalemate at Stamford
Bridge and a damaging 3-0 defeat to Juventus, which led to the sacking
of manager Roberto Di Matteo.
Paris St-Germain, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic back in the side, are the
week's second biggest climbers behind Milan, the French capital club
moving up three places to 17, while Atletico Madrid and Porto exchange
places in the top 10, and Benfica and Valencia do likewise further down.
Zenit St. Petersburg are the week's biggest losers, falling four places to 20th thanks to a couple of draws.
