Every week, we'll attempt to organize the beautiful, chaotic world that is European football. Taking into consideration both domestic and continental form, strength of schedule and underlying statistics, we'll try to figure out which teams can rightfully claim to be Europe's very best. You'll disagree with most of it, of course, but that's part of the fun.
Note: The totals for goals scored and against include both league and European competitions
1. Bayern Munich (1st in Bundesliga)
Previous Rank: 1st
Since we last convened in this space, Pep Guardiola's men have picked up two more victories (over Roma and Eintracht Frankfurt, respectively) while scoring six goals and conceding none in the process.
Thomas Muller - who you may know by his alias: the game's most unheralded superstar - is out here recording hat tricks that nobody is talking about, and Manuel Neuer is treating professional football matches like a kick about in the park with some pals.
All in a day's work for the Bavarian giants.
Until they give us legitimate reason to think otherwise, Bayern is the best team on earth.
2. Real Madrid (1st in La Liga)
Previous Rank: 2nd
Only six goals in the last two matches? Weak, Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo and company got the job done against a significantly weakened Liverpool side in the Champions League, but were only able to find the net once in that contest. It was a disappointment - particularly considering that they attempted 27 shots during that match.
The world's most vaunted attack wasn't quite regressing after opening the season hotter than Death Valley. Madrid struck for five goals just days later against Rayo Vallecano.
Spanish football writer Sid Lowe of The Guardian explains:
On Saturday night, Gareth Bale returned for Real Madrid, with some wondering whether he really deserved to come back into the team in place of Isco … so, eight minutes later he had scored. It was the first of another five for Madrid, against a Rayo Vallecano team that was actually very good, and Real are now on course for 145 league goals for the season. Keep up this pace and Ronaldo alone will get 66. He collected the Golden Shoe before the game and has now scored in every home league game for a year.
In summation, a solid, mid-table La Liga club lost 5-1 to Real Madrid and went home content with their day's work. That's how good Los Blancos are.
3. Chelsea (1st in Premier League)
Previous Rank: 3rd
It was a mixed bag over the past seven days for Chelsea.
The Blues stubbed their toe in the Champions League last week, managing only to come away with a 1-1 draw against Slovenian side Maribor.
But they made up for that disappointment by heaping more misery on Liverpool, defeating the Reds 2-1 on Saturday in a contest not properly reflected in the final score.
There is concern that Cesc Fabregas could be on the sidelines for some time with a hamstring problem, but with such a deep squad, and with Diego Costa back in the lineup and on the scoresheet, the chances that Chelsea experience a significant drop-off any time soon seem bleak.
Side note: hamstrings, man.
4. Barcelona (2nd in La Liga)
Previous Rank: 4th
Lionel Messi tied Raul's Champions League scoring record with his 71st goal in the competition, and Luis Suarez took another step towards justifying his gargantuan price tag by coming on as a substitute and providing both assists in a 2-1 comeback victory over Almeria on Saturday.
And yet, the footballing world can't help but notice that something is amiss at the Camp Nou. Shakira's significant other can't get on the field, Andres Iniesta is injured, Javier Mascherano is - for some reason - still playing at centre-back, and there are serious concerns about squad depth.
Things are falling apart, right? I suppose, if you consider being in second place and sitting just two points behind the Harlem Globetrotters to be a serious problem worthy of full-out panic.
Exactly. Not too bad for a team in ...
5. Paris Saint-Germain (2nd in Ligue 1)
Previous Rank: 7th
The Parisians are coming.
Laurent Blanc's side have crept all the way back to within a point of Marseille in the Ligue 1 table, defeating their bitter rivals 2-0 in the first Classique of the season this past Sunday.
The much-maligned Edinson Cavani scored for a fifth consecutive match, and Lucas Moura (who scored the other goal) faked the pants off Romain Alessandrini without even touching the ball. It was mesmerizing, and so very Brazilian.
And that wasn't even the best part of the contest. Prepare yourselves: Zlatan is back.
6. Atletico Madrid (4th in La Liga)
Previous Rank: 6th
A slender, somewhat lucky 2-0 win over Malmo and a surprising 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad (who had won just one of ten matches heading into their weekend meeting) means manager Diego Simeone will certainly put his team through some difficult training sessions when they return from the international break.
Alessio Cerci may not survive the ordeal.
7. Juventus (1st in Serie A)
Previous Rank: 9th
Max Allegri is forging a new identity for the club, and it seems to be working.
Long utilizing a 3-5-2 formation under Antonio Conte, Allegri arrived at Juventus this summer and picked up where his predecessor left off. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? But while it may not be broken, it can always be improved.
A shift to a 4-3-2-1 system, often dubbed the Christmas Tree formation, has yielded some nice gifts for the manager, with an absolutely critical 3-2 win over Olympiacos in the Champions League followed by an exhilarating 7-0 demolition of Parma this weekend.
Fernando Llorente, the architect of the midweek comeback against the Greek side after coming on as a second-half sub, hit a brace against Parma. Fellow strikers Alvaro Morata and Carlos Tevez did the same.
The latter did this in that match:
Wow.
8. Manchester City (3rd in Premier League)
Previous Rank: 5th
Oh dear, Manchester City.
With their Champions League campaign hanging in the balance, the team laid an egg at home against CSKA Moscow, all but consigning themselves to missing out on the knockout stage of Europe's showpiece competition for a second consective season.
For an encore, the Citizens escaped, in every sense of the word, Loftus Road with a 2-2 draw against QPR on Sunday. Only the individual brilliance of Sergio Aguero saved them from another depressing defeat.
Yaya Toure nearly decapitated a five-year-old girl in the stands, Edin Dzeko sustained a calf injury after being on the field for just four minutes, and Joe Hart was saved from a hilarious, embarrassing moment thanks to a seldom-needed section of the rule book. It was a mess.
Already eight points adrift of Chelsea, you can't help but wonder where the club would be in the Premier League standings without Aguero. It's a sobering thought, considering how incredible he's been.
Third-best forward? What about third-best player, period?
9. Southampton (2nd in Premier League)
Previous Rank: 10th
Struggling to break the deadlock against Leicester City this weekend, Ronald Koeman did something no manager should ever consider when in desperate need of a second-half goal: he called upon Shane Long.
Because the Saints can do no wrong this season, it worked. Of course it did. The Irishman, whose general scoring prowess (0.3 goals per 90 minutes coming into the season) can be summed up by the sad trombone sound effect, promptly found the net twice and secured a 2-0 victory for his club.
Everything's coming up Southampton.
10. Marseille (1st in Ligue 1)
Previous Rank: 8th
Could things be going pear-shaped for Marcelo Bielsa?
After a blistering start to the campaign, powered by an energetic, high-pressing system that most teams simply did not have the quality to cope with, Marseille has lost three of its last four matches in all competitions - including the big one this past weekend against bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain.
A 2-0 loss to PSG, playing with a man down late in the second half, isn't cause for panic, but some cracks are slowly becoming visible.
Bielsa shouldn't have much trouble navigating his team beyond France's smaller sides, but recent results suggest the upper-echelon clubs in Ligue 1 are a hurdle too great for Marseille at the moment.
11. Roma (2nd in Serie A)
Previous Rank: 11th
The hype train was derailed when Bayern Munich marched into the Italian capital and curb-stomped Rudi Garcia's club last month, and since then, Roma hasn't quite been getting the same level of attention they received in the build-up to that contest.
They should be, though. This is still one of the most exciting sides on the continent, and it's important to remember that major changes were made in both attack (Juan Iturbe) and defense (almost everyone) this summer. Despite that, Roma have kept pace with Serie A leaders Juventus in the early going, and should be able to navigate their way out of Group E in the Champions League, behind Bayern.
And they're about to get a whole lot better in an area that's already one of the strongest in the world. Kevin Strootman is back after enduring an eight-month absence with a torn ACL, coming on as a substitute in Sunday's 3-0 win over Torino.
Serie A just got more interesting.
12. FC Porto (3rd in Primeira Liga)
Previous Rank: 14th
The Dragons dropped points against Estoril in domestic action last week, and while they're the only undefeated side in Portugal at the moment, their penchant for draws (four this season) has allowed Benfica to open up a slight gap at the top of the table.
Porto is having no such trouble in the Champions League, though.
Ten points from four matches has Julen Lopetegui's men sitting comfortably atop Group H, already assured of a place in the knockout stages.
Jackson Martinez is a beast, and Yacine Brahimi continues to add goals from midfield, with three in as many matches. The two men seem to work well together.
13. Valencia (3rd in La Liga)
Previous Rank: 12th
A 0-0 draw (at home) against Athletic Bilbao was a major disappointment over the weekend, especially considering Valencia was on a run that saw them score three goals in five of their last seven matches prior to Sunday's dour stalemate.
On the bright side, the club is still undefeated at the Mestalla this season, and have only dropped those two points thus far at home.
A match against Barcelona later this month should help us decipher whether Nuno's team is really as good as it has looked so far.
14. Arsenal (6th in Premier League)
Previous Rank: 13th
When Alexis Sanchez's superhuman performances aren't enough to win matches, there are some significant issues with your club.
Blowing a 3-0 lead (at home) in the final 30 minutes to an exciting, yet inferior, Anderlecht side is quite the achievement in futility. The Gunners followed that up by conceding two late goals en route to a 2-1 loss against Swansea City just days later. How could Arsene Wenger and the players let that happen, pundits cried. It's unacceptable, they proclaimed.
Nacho Monreal played in central defense. He was shielded by Mathieu Flamini. Inquest over.
Oh yeah, and Mesut Ozil may be out for an additional seven weeks. You have to feel for Gooners.
15. Wolfsburg (2nd in Bundesliga)
Previous Rank: NA
One of the hottest teams in Europe, the Wolves have ripped off eight consecutive wins in all competitions following a 2-0 victory over Hamburg this past weekend.
Don't let their unimaginative nickname and fluorescent green kits fool you: Dieter Hecking's team is good. Ricardo Rodriguez is the best left-back in the world, Kevin De Bruyne is looking like the one that got away for Chelsea (not that they'll be devastated, to be fair) and Luiz Gustavo is marshaling the midfield with impressive efficiency.
They can't challenge Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga this season, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. And they should get extra love for doing all of this with Nicklas Bendtner in the squad.
Dropped out: Manchester United
On the cusp: Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, Napoli
Feature photo courtesy of Reuetershttp://www.thescore.com/epl/news/626898
