Power Rankings: The best teams in Europe - Week 3

Following a week in which:

- Newcastle United beat Paris Saint-Germain 4-1.

- Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Manchester City 2-1.

- Lens beat Arsenal 2-1.

We at 90min have ranked the best teams in Europe once again (spoiler: most of them lost this week).

10. Aston Villa (new entry)

In October 2022, under the guidance of Steven Gerrard, Aston Villa were sitting just one point outside of the relegation zone.

In October 2023, under the guidance of Unai Emery, Aston Villa are sitting fifth in the Premier League table having just thumped Brighton and Hove Albion 6-1.

The job Emery has done at Villa Park is genuinely remarkable.

9. Arsenal (down 4)

Things were going quite well for Arsenal and then the bad thing happened: the over-worked Bukayo Saka hobbled off with a suspected hamstring injury.

Without their 'starboy', the Gunners looked utterly devoid of creativity and pace in the offensive third and ultimately lost to Lens on Tuesday night.

Now they look set to face off against Manchester City this weekend without Saka too.

In short: it's not looking good.

In long: it's reallllllllllyyyyyyy not looking good.

8. Barcelona (-)

Did Barcelona deserve to beat Porto?

Judging by the five saves, disallowed goal and two clear penalties that weren't given, we'd say they probably didn't.

They did though, so they stay in eighth place this week. Performances need to improve if they're going to climb back up the rankings anytime soon.

7. Manchester City (down 5)

Finally, a Premier League team was able to beat Manchester City.

It wasn't exactly the Premier League team we were expecting to beat Manchester City, but Wolves were surprisingly able to expose a few weak chinks in the treble-winners' armour over the weekend - particularly their susceptibility to quick and aggressive counter attacks.

6. Liverpool (down 5)

You've already read roughly a billion (if not a trillion) articles on the VAR incident in the Tottenham vs Liverpool game, so let's just focus on the result and the reason why the Reds are down five spots:

Liverpool scuppered the opportunity to go top of the Premier League at the weekend by losing 2-1 to Tottenham in north London. As such, they have dropped off top spot in these rankings.

5. Inter (up 2)

Inter bounced back well from their shock first defeat of the season to Sassuolo over the last week.

Simone Inzaghi's side reasserted their dominance in Serie A by thumping Salernitana 4-0 - going top again thanks to this result - before earning an impressive Champions League win over Benfica on Wednesday. Good stuff all round.

4. Real Madrid (up 5)

Vinicius Junior is back from his spell on the sidelines, Jude Bellingham is still the best thing since sliced bread and Real Madrid are really starting to flex their offensive muscles again.

The only issues are the lack of fit centre-backs and the whole 'Kepa Arrizabalaga in net' thing they have going on...but we'll focus on the positives for now.

3. Tottenham Hotspur (up 3)

Tottenham's final two games of September were supposed to be the time when Ange Postecoglou's side were 'found out'.

Instead of being 'found out', however, the Lilywhites drew 2-2 with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium before beating Liverpool 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

They're one of only two unbeaten teams in the Premier League and an absolute joy to watch.

2. Bayer Leverkusen (up 2)

After winning their 11th consecutive Bundesliga title, Bayern Munich went out and signed Harry Kane and everyone collectively sighed: "Well, that's Bayern winning every league title from now until the end of time...which is probably quite soon due to the climate crisis."

However, we're now six weeks into the 2023/24 season and it's Bayer Leverkusen, not Bayern Munich, who are top of the league.

They're top thanks to five wins and one draw - with Bayern - in their first six games. W.

1. Newcastle United (up 9)

Armed with Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and Jamaal Lascelles, Newcastle United were able to thump Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.

That is not something we ever thought we'd write.

The win was the Magpies' fourth in a row in all competitions, scoring 15 goals and conceding one in that run.

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