European Soccer Top 25: April 21
Champions League semifinals are set
The Premier League title race got even tighter while both Milan clubs, Manchester City and Real Madrid booked their spots in the Champions League semifinals.
Here is this week’s edition of the European Soccer Top 25.
Dropped from rankings: None
*All stats courtesy of fbref.com and uefa.com.
25. Inter Milan
Last week: 21 (L 1-0 vs. Monza, D 3-3 vs. Benfica)
It’s becoming harder and harder to comprehend: Inter haven’t beaten an Italian team since March 5 and are undefeated in the knockout stage of the Champions League. Nicolò Barella’s curling effort extended their aggregate lead to three 14 minutes into the second leg against Benfica, and they had at least a two-goal cushion the rest of the way. The last time they reached the semifinals was when they won the competition in 2009-10.
24. Tottenham
Last week: 18 (L 3-2 vs. Bournemouth)
With their top-four hopes still very much alive, Spurs have drawn two relegation candidates, beaten Brighton despite being outplayed and lost at home to another relegation candidate in Bournemouth in their past four games. They are still within three points of fourth heading into games against Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool.
23. Feyenoord
Last week: 20 (W 3-0 at Cambuur, L 3-1 at Roma [after extra time])
Feyenoord had no trouble dispatching the Eredivisie’s worst team, registering eight shots on target to Cambuur’s one. Igor Paixão put them ahead on aggregate with 10 minutes remaining in their Europa League quarterfinal tie with Roma before the Italian side scored to force extra time and then scored two more goals in the additional 30 minutes.
22. AC Milan
Last week: 23 (D 1-1 at Bologna, D 1-1 at Napoli)
Nearly two months have passed since AC Milan defeated anyone other than Napoli, but the Rossoneri are into the Champions League semifinals and holding onto fifth place in the Serie A table thanks to their dominance against the league’s runaway leaders. Rafael Leão took out the entire Napoli defense on his own to set up what turned out to be the decisive goal in their Champions League tie. Their last appearance in the semifinals of a European competition was 2006-07, when they beat Liverpool in the Champions League final.
21. Benfica
Last week: 14 (L 1-0 at Chaves, D 3-3 at Inter Milan)
Benfica won all but five of the Primeira Liga and Champions League games they played between August and March. They are one more draw or loss from matching that total just in the month of April after giving away a sloppy stoppage-time goal against Chaves and bowing out of the Champions League. Inter led 5-1 on aggregate until Benfica scored in the 86th and 95th minutes to make the tie look more competitive than it actually was.
20. Roma
Last week: 25 (W 3-0 vs. Udinese, W 3-1 vs. Feyenoord [after extra time])
Three straight shutout victories have allowed Roma to climb above both Milan clubs and take control of a Champions League spot. Edoardo Bove got on the scoresheet for the first time this season in their most recent win over Udinese. They absolutely deserved to get to extra time based on the balance of play in the second leg against Feyenoord and are in a European semifinal for a second straight season.
19. Aston Villa
Last week: 24 (W 3-0 vs. Newcastle)
If there was a hole to poke in Aston Villa’s incredible run, it was the lack of quality opposition. Dismantling Newcastle the way they did put an end to that conversation. They have scored more goals individually in each of their past five games than they’ve conceded in all of them combined and are just six points out of a Champions League spot.
18. Brighton
Last week: 22 (W 2-1 at Chelsea)
Julio César Enciso’s long-distance strike capped off another really impressive performance from Brighton, who outshot Chelsea 26-8 and put 10 efforts on target. Danny Welbeck came on for the injured Evan Ferguson in the 39th minute and brought them level three minutes later. They will have at least two games in hand on the three teams directly ahead of them in the table by the end of the weekend because of their FA Cup semifinal clash with Manchester United.
17. Marseille
Last week: 19 (W 3-1 vs. Troyes)
The 3.7 expected goals Marseille produced in their dominant display against Troyes were easily their highest total of the season in Ligue 1. Vitinha scored within 120 seconds of the opening kickoff and got a second goal in the 64th minute. The victory moved them back into second place in the Ligue 1 table, one point ahead of Lens in third.
16. RB Leipzig
Last week: 17 (W 3-2 vs. Augsburg)
Leipzig fell behind in the fifth minute and responded with a flurry of goals, starting with Kevin Kampl’s first of the season. Timo Werner added two more in a four-minute span to make it 3-1 at halftime and secure a third consecutive victory. Sunday’s visit to Bayern Leverkusen is one of three remaining Bundesliga games they have against top-six teams.
15. RC Lens
Last week: 15 (L 3-1 at PSG)
Salis Abdul Samed’s red card in the 19th minute forced Lens to throw their gameplan out the window. PSG’s opener came 12 minutes later and was quickly followed by two more goals that put the game out of reach. Przemysław Frankowski did get a goal back via a penalty kick in the second half. A loss to Monaco on Saturday would drop them down to fourth in the Ligue 1 table.
14. Porto
Last week: 16 (W 2-1 vs. Santa Clara)
The performance was much better than the final score suggests. Porto hit the woodwork with back-to-back shots and missed a penalty in the first half. Mateus Uribe converted on their first attempt from the penalty spot to put them ahead in the 34th minute, and Danny Loader added a second goal with 10 minutes remaining. All of a sudden, they are only four points back of Benfica.
13. Newcastle United
Last week: 12 (L 3-0 at Aston Villa)
Newcastle hadn’t lost by more than two goals or conceded more than two goals to a team other than Manchester City all season, which shows just how badly their trip to Villa Park went. They will still be in fourth place even if they lose to Spurs on Sunday, but there are now three teams within seven points of them.
12. Juventus
Last week: 10 (L 1-0 at Sassuolo, D 1-1 at Sporting Lisbon)
The temporary suspension of their 15-point deduction moved Juventus up to third in Serie A (at least for now) despite a second league defeat in a row. It was only the second time in 2023 they were shut out. Adrien Rabiot was a central figure in both goals in the second leg against Sporting, giving his team a 2-0 advantage on aggregate and conceding the penalty that led to Sporting’s goal. The draw was enough to send them to the Europa League semifinals.
11. Borussia Dortmund
Last week: 11 (D 3-3 at Stuttgart)
It’s hard to decide which was worse: allowing a team playing with 10 men to tie a game in which they trailed 2-0 or giving up a third goal to the same team after retaking the lead in stoppage time. If Dortmund come up just short in the Bundesliga title race, the Stuttgart game will undoubtedly be the one that haunts them.
10. Lazio
Last week: 13 (W 3-0 at Spezia Calcio)
Marcos Antônio netted his first goal for the club in the comfortable victory over Spezia, Lazio’s fourth in a row. A scary scene unfolded Sunday when captain Ciro Immobile – who converted a penalty in the win – was involved in a crash with a tram. He suffered a “distortion trauma of the spine and a compound fracture of the right 11th rib,” according to the club.
9. Manchester United
Last week: 7 (W 2-0 at Nottingham Forest, L 3-0 at Sevilla)
Playing without their starting center back duo and Luke Shaw, the Red Devils did not allow a shot on target in their win over Forest. The absences were much more noticeable in the calamitous errors that led to their elimination from the Europa League, though most of the blame lies with goalkeeper David de Gea. Marcus Rashford made his return in the loss, a welcome development ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal.
8. Paris Saint-Germain
Last week: 9 (W 3-1 vs. RC Lens)
PSG wasted little time once they were up a man, scoring three times in 10 minutes to take a 3-0 lead into halftime. Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi teamed up beautifully on the third goal and finished with two goals and an assist between them. They are eight points clear at the top of the table and do not play another game against the top nine teams.
7. Atlético Madrid
Last week: 8 (W 2-1 vs. Almería)
On one hand, the 0.2 expected goals Atléti allowed were a season-low in a league or Champions League contest. On the other, they needed VAR to wipe out a penalty awarded to Almería that could have tied the game in the final moments because of a close offside. They’ve won six in a row while no other La Liga team has more than three victories in the last five league games.
6. Bayern Munich
Last week: 5 (D 1-1 vs. Hoffenheim, D 1-1 vs. Manchester City)
Thomas Tuchel’s first six games have produced two wins, two draws and two defeats and seen Bayern exit both cup competitions. They had multiple opportunities to get the opening goal of the second leg against Manchester City and make things at least somewhat interesting but squandered all of them. The late penalty was nothing more than consolation with City up 4-0 on aggregate by that point.
5. Real Madrid
Last week: 6 (W 2-0 at Cádiz, W 2-0 at Chelsea)
This is the first time since October that Real Madrid have picked up five wins in six games. Their 35 shots against Cádiz were their most in a league game, and two second-half goals from Rodrygo ensured the ending against Chelsea would be far less dramatic than last season’s. The only team to score on Los Blancos in their six games this month is Villarreal.
4. Napoli
Last week: 3 (D 0-0 vs. Hellas Verona, D 1-1 vs. AC Milan)
Chances were few and far between in Napoli’s draw with Hellas Verona, which saw the two teams combine for 0.8 expected goals. While they were clearly impacted by losing Kim Min-jae, Victor Osimhen and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa for one of the two legs against AC Milan, they were a missed penalty away from sending the tie to extra time. They ultimately didn’t do enough with the chances they created though and travel to Juventus on Sunday with one win in their last five games.
3. Barcelona
Last week: 4 (D 0-0 at Getafe)
Barcelona’s last stretch of three straight goalless games ended with this season’s opener and also included a 0-0 draw on the road against Getafe. Between that Aug. 13 game against Rayo Vallecano and the beginning of their current goal drought, they scored in 24 of their 25 La Liga contests. They need 17 points from their final nine games to clinch the league title.
2. Arsenal
Last week: 2 (D 2-2 at West Ham)
As frustrated as Arsenal have to be that they blew another two-goal lead, the result at the London Stadium didn’t actually change all that much in terms of the title race. They will still be champions if they get a draw at Manchester City and win the rest of their games. The conversation becomes very different if they fail to beat bottom-of-the-table Southampton on Friday.
1. Manchester City
Last week: 1 (W 3-1 vs. Leicester City, D 1-1 at Bayern Munich)
Pep Guardiola’s men made light work of Leicester, taking the lead through a John Stones rocket in the fifth minute. Erling Haaland added two more goals in the next 20 minutes to tie Mo Salah’s record for the most goals in a 38-game Premier League season with 32. Haaland missed his first penalty of the season in the Bayern game but later got the goal that put the tie out of reach.