Bundesliga
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FC Bayern have won seven consecutive championships, Juventus have eight in Italy, Barcelona have won eight of the past eleven championships, Paris six of their last seven, and Manchester City have scored 98 and 100 points in England. None of these teams made it to the Champions League final last season. Just as little in the previous year. And that before that.
If the best teams in their country do not win the Champions League title, how do you decide who really is the best?
In the evening, the new season begins in the premier class, including the duel between Borussia Dortmund and FC Barcelona (21 clock, live ticker SPIEGEL ONLINE, TV: Sky). The competition also includes teams like the KRC Genk or Dinamo Zagreb, champions in their respective countries, but they should not stand a chance. Do you really want to know which of them has the less bad prospects for the last sixteen? Just.
We therefore choose a new approach.
Not the participation in the Champions League is crucial to get into the SPIEGEL European ranking, but the quality - at least how we assess them. The deciding factors are the quality of the squad and coach and the performance of the recent past.
For this we have calculated the average of the points, scored and collected goals from the last 20 competitive games. There are also points for successes in cup games, and at the beginning of a season also matches from the previous season are scored. Not every opponent is equally strong, not every game is equally important. That is why our editorial assessment is included in addition to the statistics.
Here they are, currently the 20 best clubs in Europe:
These are the best football clubs in Europe
20th place: Olympique Lyonnais
Point cut: 1.85
Goals per game: 2.4: 1.5
Lyon scores almost two and a half goals per game - that's a very good value even among Europe's top teams. Behind it is a difficult to defend offensive to the Dutchman Memphis (photo), striker Moussa Dembélé and top talent Houssem Aouar. But firstly, OL meets against weaker teams, the only duel with a top team ended 1-5 (Barcelona). On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether Lyon will catch the departure of Tanguy Ndombélé to Tottenham.
19th place: Bayer Leverkusen
Point cut: 1.85
Goals per game: 2.15: 1.45
Under coach Peter Bosz Bayer's offensive to Kai Havertz (photo) works impressively well, the team scored seven goals or more seven times. What works against playfully defeated teams, but fails against top teams. Against Leipzig (2: 4) and Dortmund (2: 3, 0: 4) lost Leverkusen, also failed the team in the Europa League in the spring at FK Krasnodar.
18th place: Leicester City
Point cut: 1.45
Goals per game: 1.35: 1.15
When the Champions League starts, Leicester has to watch. The 2016 champion has had three sad years, finishing last season in ninth. But Leicester has what it takes to be a surprise team. For the longer Brendan Rodgers (left) is there coach, the more handsome the football that plays the team to star striker Jamie Vardy.
17th place: Ajax Amsterdam
Point cut: 2,4
Goals per game: 2.8: 0.95
Europe's sensational team of the previous year has barely made it into the ranking. As impressive as Amsterdam's run in the Champions League was, as clearly recognizable is the game idea of coach Erik ten Hag and how clear his team may win his games: After the departure of the two key players, captain Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus) and playmaker Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), the Ajax squad is clearly weaker than last year.
16th place: Manchester United
Point cut: 1.25
Goals per game: 1.25: 1.5
Few clubs generate higher sales, few seem haphazard in the transfer market. Although United has invested hundreds of millions of euros in recent years, almost every team part could tolerate more quality. Ole Gunnar Solskjær has not been able to prove he is good enough for a club like United; the momentum he generated in his first weeks is gone. No team in the ranking scores worse than United. At the same time exceptional player Paul Pogba was held, Harry Maguire could stabilize the defense. And in a duel with Leverkusen or Valencia United would still go as a favorite.
15th place: SSC Napoli
Point cut: 1.6
Goals per game: 2.05: 1.55
The 3-4 draw against Juventus on Matchday 2 should be one of the most thrilling duels in this Serie A season, come what may. The coached by Carlo Ancelotti team can even generate against the most stable defensive Torgefahr. Conversely, your own defense is not good enough for a better placement. In only three of the last 20 games played Napoli to zero.
14th place: RB Leipzig
Point cut: 2.2
Goals per game: 2.0: 1.0
Star access is on the bench: Julian Nagelsmann is considered the next top coach. Why, he has been able to hint with his changes in 1: 1 against Bayern. With ten points from four games RB is indeed leader, as confident, as the results suggest, but Leipzig does not play. And against Munich was not only on the weekend, but also in the DFB Cup final, that at RB everything must run optimally, so it keeps up with top teams. As impressive as Leipzig's statistics are - currently RB would not go into a duel with the better-placed teams as favorites.
13th place: Arsenal
Point cut: 1.8
Goals per game: 1.7: 1.35
If you want to be entertained, you can watch games of Arsenal. No squad seems as unbalanced as the Gunners. The quality in defense and defensive midfield did not last season with that of the offensive stand. And Arsenal? Invested 80 million euros in striker Nicolas Pépé. This makes it difficult for (good) coach Unai Emery to find the right balance. Most recently, Arsenal beat Liverpool 1-3, beating Tottenham 2-1 and surprisingly poor Watford 2-2.
12th place: Chelsea
Point cut: 1.75
Goals per game: 1.85: 1.35
Chelsea's point scoring is not necessarily impressive, but it brought the club but the qualification for the Champions League and the Europa League title. For a similarly successful season, it would have to run optimally this time. Because the change of coach from Maurizio Sarri to the inexperienced Frank Lampard and the focus on talents like Tammy Abraham (photo) or Mason Mount are a risk.
11th place: Inter Milan
Point cut: 1.8
Goals per game: 1.7: 0.9
Inter? As a matter of fact. For eight consecutive years, the Nerazzurri never finished a season better than fourth. This is likely to change this time. Because with Antonio Conte an outstanding coach was brought, which seems to work immediately (season record: three wins, 7: 1 goals, first place). And because with Diego Godín, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sánchez spectacular transfers have succeeded.
10th place: Borussia Dortmund
Point cut: 2.05
Goals per game: 2.2: 1.35
Against Leverkusen (4: 0) and also in the Supercup against Bayern (2: 0) BVB has shown what its strengths are: in the defensive organization and the counter-play. Typical Lucien Favre. In addition to a good coach speaks a successful transfer window for the Borussia. Against them speaks the lack of opportunity in the key matches against Tottenham in the Champions League (0: 3, 0: 1) and Bayern (0: 5). Whether Dortmund can stand against such caliber, when it comes to more than the Supercup, is open.
9th place: Atlético Madrid
Point cut: 2.05
Goals per game: 1.4: 0.95
On average, Atlético collects less than one goal. But: The defensive just failed when it was in the CL knockout round of the preseason was about to defend a 2-0 lead at Juventus. This Atléti lost two of his top three games. The squad has not become stronger after the departure of Diego Godín and Antoine Griezmann, top talent João Félix (19, photo) has yet to show if he can strengthen the team directly. But as long as Diego Simeone is coach, the club should be successful.
Seat 8: Tottenham Hotspur
Point cut: 1.35
Goals per game: 1.5: 1.2
The Spurs scored less often than other top teams, scoring at a relatively low level and not showing either offensively, defensively or positively in the switch. But they turned off (albeit a little bit happy) Man City in the CL quarter-finals and then in the semifinals (if somewhat happy) Ajax. For Tottenham speak the quality of coach Mauricio Pochettino and promising transfers. In addition, no team has a tougher program behind them. Tottenham got involved four times with Man City alone. The result: a win, a draw (albeit a bit happy), two defeats.
7th place: Real Madrid
Point cut: 1.55
Goals per game: 1.6: 1.5
Over several transfer windows Madrid had held irritatingly quiet, now invested the club around 300 million euros in additions - and yet the cadre weaknesses do not seem resolved. Too few players score goals. The team also collects almost twice as many goals as the best-placed teams; most recently there were two against Levante and Villarreal. And the four games against stronger teams, which are included in the rating, were all lost. What remains is the big individual class in the squad, and hope for coach Zinedine Zidane (photo). Although he won nine titles between 2016 and 2018, since March of this year he has been working in vain to transform Madrid into a top team.
6th place: Paris Saint-Germain
Point cut: 1.85
Goals per game: 2.2: 1.25
Mbappé, Neymar, Cavani, Icardi - the PSG offensive is more crowded than any other. But: The most important of the past 20 games has lost PSG. This is due to the imbalance of the squad at the expense of the defense. In addition, it seems from the outside as if it was coach Thomas Tuchel so far failed to convince the team of his game idea so that it pervades them in the very big games. If that succeeds (and worries about Neymar), PSG belongs to the title favorites in the Champions League.
5th place: Bayern Munich
Point cut: 2.2
Goals per game: 2.95: 1.05
No team in the ranking shoots more goals than Bayern, hardly scores more consistent. Why, then, fifth place? Because Niko Kovac is not an absolute top coach who makes the difference in knockout games. And Bavaria's attack works splendidly against weaker opponents. In top games like against Liverpool (1: 3), Dortmund (5: 0, 0: 2) and Leipzig (0: 0, 3: 0, 1: 1) but the Munich are much less stable, as the point mark suggests.
4th place: Juventus
Point cut: 1.75
Goals per game: 1.4: 1.05
For Juventus dominating Series A for nearly a decade, the current scores are surprisingly low. However, Juve had a lot of tough opponents and lost a lot of points towards the end of last season when the championship and departure of coach Massimiliano Allegri was confirmed. Since then, the club has strengthened (including Matthijs de Ligt, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey), and in front there is Cristiano Ronaldo (photo). But: The new coach Maurizio Sarri is indeed excellent. But he should take time to rebuild his game idea.
3rd place: FC Barcelona
Point cut: 1.7
Goals per game: 1.85: 1.35
Barcelona has proven for years that it is not enough for the Champions League title to know the world's best player in the team. The team is focused on Lionel Messi (photo), last season was the 32-year-old involved on average 1.6 goals per game, which is even for him an incredible value. Should he be able to lay down a similar season, Barcelona automatically counts to the top favorite group in the Champions League. But the number of other world-class players in Barcelona's squad is shrinking. No wonder the club has been so dedicated to Neymar.
2nd place: Liverpool
Point cut: 2.65
Goals per game: 2.85: 0.8
The defending champion also has the best points average in the five major leagues. Hardly any team dominates the game against the ball as well as Jürgen Klopp. In addition, Liverpool can offensively develop a unique dynamic. In contrast to the competition, Liverpool has hardly strengthened and should focus on the championship.
1st place: Manchester City
Point cut: 2.5
Goals per game: 2.7: 0.75
98 points in the preseason, before 100, and in the highest-ranking national league in the world: City is the most consistent top team in Europe. This also changes the recent 2: 3 against promoted Norwich little. The club has probably the best coach in Pep Guardiola, wins against small and big opponents. But: Aymeric Laporte, City's only world-class defender, is missing injured for months. And Guardiola has to overcome his away weakness in the Champions League.
