Grahame Jones on soccer: Europe’s top 10

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Here’s a personal ranking of Europe’s 10 major teams before the Champions League matches on Tuesday and Wednesday, with their domestic league record and standing in parentheses.
Feel free to agree or disagree.

1. Chelsea (4-0-2, first): Last season’s runner-up to Manchester United in both the English Premier League and the Champions League are off to a fine start under Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. The Blues on Saturday shut out Stoke to stay in first place on goal differential. Now they have to travel to Romania for a potentially tricky match against the unknowns of CFR Cluj, who upset Italy’s AS Roma in the first round of the Champions League.

2. Liverpool (4-0-2, second): The Liverpool focus this season appears to be more on ending a long title drought in the Premier League than on adding to its five European championships. To that end, Coach Rafa Benitez’s team is unbeaten after half a dozen games, including a win over Manchester United, and right on Chelsea’s heels. On Wednesday, it takes on Dutch power PSV Eindhoven at Anfield.

3. Real Madrid (4-1-0, third): Defending Spanish champion Real is well positioned in La Liga but still not firing on all cylinders. It took an injury time goal by Ruud Van Nistelrooy for Real to beat Real Betis in Seville on Saturday, and it now has to overcome Russian

champion Zenit St. Petersburg on Tuesday. Zenit’s Dutch Coach, Dick Advocaat, on Saturday told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that he likely would leave at season’s end.

4. AC Milan (3-2-0, sixth): A surprise victory over city rival Inter Milan on Sunday has left Coach Carlo Ancelotti confident that an early season crisis that saw his team drop a couple of games is over and that the team is back on course. Milan will have to do well in both Serie A and in the UEFA Cup to stay high in the rankings because it did not qualify for the Champions League.

5. Inter Milan (3-1-1, fourth): Coach Jose Mourinho suffered his first competitive defeat as Inter coach with the loss to AC Milan, but the Portuguese mentor took it in stride. “It was a game in which neither side prevailed,” he said. “The title pretenders are still behind us. Tomorrow we’ll resume our title journey, which is a marathon.” First, however, comes a visit on Wednesday from high-flying Werder Bremen on Germany.

6. Barcelona (3-1-1, fifth): Coach Josep “Pep” Guardiola has a couple of problems on his hands. First, striker Thierry Henry is said to be fed up and wants to head either back to England or--at a long shot--to MLS. Second, some of Barcelona’s players, including Henry, Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi, were accused by Espanyol of “anti-sporting behavior” and “incitement to violence” and could face disciplinary action. Barcelona plays Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine on Wednesday.

7. Juventus (2-0-3, seventh): Unbeaten so far in Serie A, Juventus could be a surprise team this year in the Italian league and in the Champions League. Coach Claudio Ranieri’s squad defeated UEFA Cup holder Zenit St. Petersburg in its Champions League opener. It should have enough to beat FC BATE Borisov of Belarus on Tuesday, although Juve is coming off an uninspiring scoreless tie at Sampdoria on Saturday.

8. Arsenal (4-2-0, fourth): The Gunners reached a low on Saturday when they were beaten at home by newly promoted Hull City, playing in the top flight for the first time in its 104-year history. “Everything that makes you win football games was not there from the start,” said Coach Arsene Wenger, who on Sunday celebrated 12 years at the London club. Arsenal can redeem itself on Tuesday with a win over FC Porto. The Portuguese team has never won a game in England.

9. Manchester United (2-1-2, eleventh): Gifted a penalty kick in Saturday’s win over Bolton by referee Rob Styles, who subsequently confessed to being fooled by Cristiano Ronaldo’s blatant dive, United has yet to get it together this season. It was tied at home by Villarreal in its Champions League opener and now plays Aalborg BK in Denmark on Tuesday.

10. Bayern Munich (2-2-2, ninth): Coach Juergen Klinsmann says he is not worried, but others around the defending German champion are not so calm. Bayern has lost successive games to Werder Bremen and Hanover, the latter for the first time in 20 years. Next up is a potentially tricky encounter with French champion Olympique Lyon on Tuesday at the Allianz Arena. “We need time to apply the philosophy of Klinsmann,” said midfielder Franck Ribbery.

-- Grahame L. Jones