Friday 26 February 2016

THE ESPN FC CREW REACT TO SHAKA HISLOP'S LATEST POWER RANKINGS, WHICH REMAIN LARGELY UNCHANGED.

1. Barcelona (no change)
Despite the strain of making two long journeys, Barcelona emerged from the week as they do from most others: victorious. They weren't great at Las Palmas or Arsenal but showed no little steel and just enough style to claim 2-1 and 2-0 wins respectively. The dream of a "double treble" lives on, even if nobody at the Camp Nou will talk about it.
2. 
Bayern Munich (no change)
It looked like Bayern would also have a "100 percent week" themselves when, having beaten Darmstadt 3-0, they went two up on Juventus in the Champions League. But the Italian side's late comeback brought the Round of 16 tie back into the balance and also just suggests that all is not quite right at the Allianz Arena.
3. Juventus (no change)
Some draws are better than others and so it was for Juve last week. The Italian champions were frustrated at Bologna, where a 0-0 result ended a run of 15 straight league wins. But the aforementioned 2-2 draw vs. Bayern felt more like a win, especially given the way in which Max Allegri's men were outplayed for the first 60 minutes.
4. Paris Saint-Germain (no change)
At the risk of repeating myself, surely PSG can't let Zlatan Ibrahimovic walk away in the summer. Granted, he's 34 and, sure, he has to be the "the man", but the numbers suggest he has lost none of his powers. After two goals and two assists vs. Reims last week, Ibrahimovic now has 23 and 10 respectively in just 21 Ligue 1 games this season.
5. Real Madrid (no change)
Was that the weekend that ended Madrid's title hopes in La Liga? A 1-1 draw, in which Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty, means that Zinedine Zidane's side now trail Barcelona by nine points with 13 games of the season remaining. It looks as though the Champions League is the best hope for a trophy at the Bernabeu this season.
6. Tottenham (no change)
Mauricio Pochettino's side went out of the FA Cup after a shock home defeat against Crystal Palace but bounced back with an impressive display against Fiorentina to secure a Europa League Round of 16. Ryan Mason and Erik Lamela both scored, which suggests that Spurs' have the depth to compete on multiple fronts.
7. Atletico Madrid (no change)
The defence remains as strong as ever but a lack of goals has really slowed down Atletico in recent weeks. They've managed just one in their last three games in all competitions and have failed to find the net for 268 minutes. Can they hit form in Saturday's Madrid derby? At least the omens are good: Last season they won the fixture 4-0.
Two difficult away games brought back-to-back 1-0 wins for Dortmund. First, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his 21st Bundesliga goal of the season as BVB beat Bayer Leverkusen, before Thomas Tuchel's side wrapped up an impressive 3-0 aggregate win against Porto. Dortmund remain unbeaten in 2016.
It was the antics of Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt that grabbed the headlines following the game against Dortmund, after he refused to leave the touchline after being sent off! Schmidt was a bit happier on Thursday, when two Karim Bellarabi goals secured a 3-1 win over Sporting and a place in the Europa League Round of 16.
10. Leicester (no change)
While the teams around them at the top of the Premier league have played up to three games, Leicester have been idle since their last-gasp defeat at Arsenal. Will the rest do them good or prove a momentum killer? A home game against Norwich on Saturday should be the ideal opportunity to return to winning ways.
From the above ranking ARSENAL has been dropped as they no longer maintain their position.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment