90min's Definitive European Power Rankings: Week 26 - Ocean's trilogy special
Following a week in which:
- Juventus won the Coppa Italia.
- Leicester City won the FA Cup.
- PSG won the Coupe de France.
We at 90min, excited by the release of the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's new film 'No Sudden Move', have decided to pay homage to one of the greatest trilogies of all time: the Ocean's trilogy. Oh, and also rank the 10 best teams in Europe...obviously.
10. Sporting CP (Down 6)
"Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!" (Ocean's Thirteen)
This is NOT your weekly update that Sporting CP are still unbeaten in Liga NOS.
I repeat: this is NOT your weekly update that Sporting CP are still unbeaten in Liga NOS.
And do you know why? Because Benfica, their biggest rivals, bloody beat them.
Real shame.
9. Rangers (Re-Entry)
"Great. You guys are gonna be dining out on this one for months!" (Ocean's Twelve)
While Sporting CP fell at the second to last hurdle in the race to go a domestic season unbeaten, Rangers didn't.
Instead, the Gers went and won the Scottish Premiership title without losing a single game - and in doing so, stopped their arch rivals from winning their tenth title in a row.
They'll be celebrating this months.
8. Juventus (Re-Entry)
"You know what your problem is?"
"I only have one?" (Ocean's Eleven)
As I've pointed out before, Juventus have their problems - plural.
But all of these problems were put to one side for 90 minutes on Wednesday as Juve put in a 'vintage Juve' performance in the Coppa Italia final.
Giorgio Chiellini was making goal-saving tackles, Gianluigi Buffon was commanding his penalty area, and La Vecchia Signora generally just outplayed Atalanta on the night. Good stuff (for a change).
7. Inter (Down 4)
"Well, she said she liked surprises..."
"I don't think this is what she meant." (Ocean's Thirteen)
Well, we did want an entertaining Derby d'Italia...but probably not one dominated by VAR replays, bookings, red cards, and three penalties (two of which probably weren't penalties).
Fun? Yeah.
Fun because it was a good game of football? Nope.
6. Chelsea (Down 4)
"You're like the Morecombe and Wise of the thievery world, but even they went off the boil after a while." (Ocean's Thirteen)
Chelsea have enjoyed a wonderful run of form under new manager Thomas Tuchel, but there are signs that the Blues are starting to go (back) off the boil.
The defeat to Arsenal was indicative of that, as was the FA Cup final defeat.
5. Leicester City (Re-Entry)
"You know, you're half smart, Ocean." (Ocean's Thirteen)
Leicester won half their games against Chelsea this week.
Sure, they'd like to have won both, but if they were only going to win one every single Leicester fan would've picked the FA Cup final.
4. Paris Saint-Germain (Re-Entry)
"This is the best part of my day." (Ocean's Eleven)
Mid-May is usually the best part the year for Paris Saint-Germain.
It's when they usually win the Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de France, and drink a sh*tload of champagne to celebrate these triumphs.
While lifting the Ligue 1 title is less likely than usual (although still possible going into the final matchday), PSG did win the Coupe de France in midweek.
Yes, that does mean that Mauricio Pochettino has won more trophies in 2021 than Tottenham have in the last 20 years - if you're wondering.
3. Bayern Munich (Re-Entry)
"You guys are pros. The best." (Ocean's Eleven)
Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga title at the weekend.
Of course they did.
They're Bayern Munich. They're pros. They're the best team in Germany by a million miles.
2. Manchester City (Down 1)
"I'm not sure what four nines does, but the ace, I think, is pretty high." (Ocean's Eleven)
Down one this week because of the defeat to Brighton (yes, Brighton), but overall, we're not going to let one defeat in a pointless game change our opinion of Man City.
They're the still the footballing equivalent to a poker hand of four nines and an ace. They're basically unbeatable in games that count (the Brighton on doesn't really count).
1. Atletico Madrid (Up 4)
"Every problem is an opportunity in disguise." (Ocean's Twelve)
While most people saw Atletico Madrid going behind to Osasuna in a must win game last week as a bit of a problem, Diego Simeone saw it as an opportunity.
An opportunity to show the rest of La Liga that they had the 'cojones' needed to best Real Madrid and Barcelona in a tight title race.
And they did just that, coming from a goal down to beat Osasuna and go into the final day with La Liga title's destiny in their hands.