It's crunch time, when Sir Alex Ferguson's squeaky bum becomes the talk of the town. The Champions League has resumed for the second half of the season, while title races across Europe are getting spicy.
That has made for a few changes in The Sportsman's Power Rankings, with Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and - curiously - Liverpool benefitting with leaps into the top 10, although the Reds could find that climb reversed once teams around them start collecting extra Champions League points in the quarter-finals and beyond, what with their tie against Real Madrid all but done.
Based on achievements over the past five seasons, with a sliding scale rewarding more recent successes most heavily, we’ve come up with an algorithm which identifies the very best teams across domestic leagues and European competition. Here are the top 40 teams in the rankings including all results up to and including February 28:
40. Club Brugge (previously 40th), Feyenoord (40th) - 15.000
38. Genk (36th), Galatasaray (36th) - 15.938
37. Lens (25th) - 16.500
36. Molde (34th) - 16.875
35. Real Betis (39th) - 17.063
34. Atalanta (29th) - 17.500
33. Lille (35th) - 18.313
32. Villarreal (23rd) - 19.250
31. Benfica (33rd) - 19.688
30. Stade Rennais (32nd) - 19.938
29. Eintracht Frankfurt (31st) - 20.734
28. Lazio (21st) - 21.219
27. Union Berlin (20th) - 21.500
24. Young Boys (27th), Slavia Prague (27th), Juventus (38th) - 21.563
23. Real Sociedad (24th) - 22.625
22. Roma (30th) - 23.305
21. Tottenham Hotspur (26th) - 24.297
20. Celtic (19th) - 25.313
19. Chelsea (18th) - 26.359
18. Monaco (22nd) - 26.500
17. Red Star Belgrade (16th) - 29.063
16. Manchester United (17th) - 29.391
15. Red Bull Salzburg (14th) - 30.000
14. RB Leipzig (9th) - 30.469
13. Atletico Madrid (10th) - 31.680
12. Marseille (15th) - 32.375
11. Arsenal (8th) - 33.531
10. Liverpool (11th) - 35.422
Yes, Liverpool have climbed above Arsenal over the past month despite Arsenal retaining their place at the top of the Premier League. That's because the Reds have moved up a couple of places in the table over the course of February, earning extra points in our Power Rankings and raising the threshold for the top 10. They'll probably take a hit over the next four weeks though, with their 5-2 deficit to Real Madrid in Europe essentially closing off a big point-scoring avenue.
9. Milan (13th) - 35.500
After returning to third spot in Serie A, the Italian champions are back into our top 10 after one month away. They might have lost the Milan derby first up in February, but that Lautaro Martinez winner was the last goal they've conceded in a run of four straight wins. That stretch included a narrow 1-0 success over Tottenham Hotspur which has them on the brink of picking up extra points for reaching the Champions League's last eight.
8. Borussia Dortmund (12th) - 37.289
The Union Berlin story has been just fine and dandy, dandy and fine, but it's Dortmund who now look best placed to challenge 'The Man' in the Bundesliga. Six wins from six in February ensured that BVB are now up alongside 10-time back-to-back champs Bayern Munich on 46 points heading into the final 12 rounds of the league season. A 1-0 win over Chelsea has also put them in a good position to make progress in the Champions League, making March a crucial time.
7. Napoli (6th) - 38.984
Five February games, five wins, 12 goals scored and none conceded. If there's a better team in the world than Napoli this season, they're not being televised. The Partenopei are now 18 points clear and it might as well be 175 for all the hope the rest of Serie A has of catching them. They're also basically four-fifths of the way past Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League. They are simply mesmeric right now.
6. Inter (6th) - 40.000
Inter are leading the best of the rest in Italy right now, even after their disappointing 1-0 reverse to Bologna at the weekend. Simone Inzaghi's side are doing well just to keep their interest up given how far adrift of Napoli they are, but their slim advantage over Porto in the Champions League opens up an avenue to bring a bit of real spice to their season.
5. Barcelona (5th) - 42.969
Even when Barca lose, they kind of win. Their first league defeat in over four months came straight off the back of their Europa League elimination to Manchester United, yet Real Madrid also dropped points and the Blaugrana's seven-point lead in La Liga still feels pretty bullet-proof. They'll collect zero ranking points on the continent this season now, but the full 25 in the league are theirs to lose.
4. Manchester City (4th) - 50.641
Just another quiet month in the life of Manchester City, what with big wins over Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and - most vitally - Arsenal to take them back to the top of the league, then a few measly Premier League charges that could see them relegated in the not-too-distant future and a draw with Nottingham Forest which immediately sent the Gunners back to the summit. Soap opera stuff.
3. Paris Saint-Germain (3rd) - 53.367
Knocked out of the Coupe de France by Marseille, battered by Monaco in Ligue 1, and outdone by Bayern in the Champions League, PSG were heading for an absolute disaster of a month a week or two back. Wins over Lille and Marseille in the league have got them back on the bike, with all seven of their goals in those two games being scored by their star front three but they have a big job on in Munich next week.
2. Bayern Munich (2nd) - 56.992
Speaking of whom... Bayern scored 17 goals in six games in February, with Kingsley Coman's effort in Paris undoubtedly the most eye-catching. But their defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach playing with 10 men for 83 minutes was a setback for a side just about keeping Borussia Dortmund at bay in the Bundesliga standings for now. Mark down April Fools' Day for the huge clash between Germany's two big superpowers.
1. Real Madrid (1st) - 58.164
There's a vulnerability about Real Madrid, what with their seven-point deficit behind Barcelona in La Liga and their seeming inability to chip away at the gap even when Barca finally lose a game. And yet, they've also just won the Club World Cup with nine goals in two games and battered Liverpool 5-2 away from home in the Champions League. A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Get a tenner on them to win the Champions League. From 3-0 down. And also finish sixth. Anything could happen with this lot.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
