The Turkish and Portuguese leagues start tonight, the Premier League and La Liga begin tomorrow, Serie A kicks off next weekend, and Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga are already a week old. The Dutch league is coming up on its third weekend, while the Russian and Ukrainian teams have been playing for 4 and 5 weeks. What does it all mean? Time for my start of season 2013/2014 power rankings.
Here’s the breakdown from last season: the rankings are based on some combination of league performance (relative to overall strength of the league), European performance (Champions and Europa League), and my own personal bias and subjectivity. Since it's the start of the season, summer activity by the various clubs (transfer market, preseason results) is strongly considered. On to the rankings...
1. Bayern Munich
There have been some speed bumps on the road of change from Jupp Heynckes to Pep Guardiola, but Bayern are still the champions until dethroned. They started the Bundesliga season with a win against Borussia Mönchengladbach a week ago today.
2. Real Madrid
A very good summer for Real Madrid sees them come in at the two spot. The squad is in good spirits after parting ways with José Mourinho, and new coach Carlo Ancelotti has his team in position to challenge for all available silverware. Even without the possible addition of Gareth Bale, Madrid will threaten the rest of Europe this season.
3. Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund saw the their star player Mario Götze jump ship to rivals Bayern this summer, but they retooled effectively, adding Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. They also got some nice revenge for the Champions League final by taking out Bayern in the German Super Cup, preventing Pep Guardiola from lifting his first trophy in Germany.
4. FC Barcelona
June was a great month for Barcelona as they captured the signature of Neymar, who went on to dazzle in the Confederations Cup. Things have gone downhill since then, as the club fell to old coach Guardiola's Bayern side in a July friendly, while the board has proved inept at bringing in a solid central defender. There are quite a few question marks hanging over Catalonia, but the combination of Messi and Neymar should get them pretty far.
5. Juventus
Juve finally added some top quality strikers to a squad that has already won consecutive Scudetti. Outmuscled and overwhelmed by Bayern in the Champions League last season, La Vecchia Signora will look to take the next step and join Europe's elite this year.
6. Chelsea
The return of José Mourinho to the Chelsea bench brings the Blues to the next level in these rankings. The Special One has a very deep squad at his disposal, and if he rotates the same way he did in Madrid, some of those players my find themselves glued to the bench for long stretches of the season. But as long as Mourinho can get his exceptional motivational skills to work on all of the talent in the side, Chelsea can go far.
7. Manchester City
City are favorites to battle Chelsea for the Premier League title after making some great signings this summer. Álvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetić, Jesús Navas, and Fernandinho will all add quality to the squad. City will hope for a more favorable Champions League draw, which takes place at the end of this month.
8. Galatasaray
Galatasaray have already taken home two trophies this summer, of varying significance. They beat rivals Fenerbahçe for the Turkish Super Cup this past Sunday, and also came out winners of the Emirates Cup, which included other formidable teams Porto, Napoli, and Arsenal. They are favorites for their league title and hope for another strong Champions League run.
9. Paris Saint-Germain
PSG got off to a slow start in Ligue 1 with a draw against Montpellier, but they made some very keen additions this summer to bolster a squad that only lost to Barcelona on away goals in the Champions League quarterfinals. Edinson Cavani, Lucas Digne, Marquinhos and coach Laurent Blanc are the new faces looking to advance the project at the Parc des Princes.
10. Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar continue to add quality Brazilians, as another four joined the ranks of the Ukrainian club this summer, including Confederations Cup squad members Bernard and Fernando. They top the Ukrainian league table with five wins in five games.
11. Manchester United
It will be a strange season for Manchester United with a new manager for the first time in 27 years. Since taking over for Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes has so far failed to land any big name signings this summer. The vast majority of pundits and fans see United behind Chelsea and Manchester City at the moment, but this is still the same team that won the Premier League by 11 points last season.
12. FC Porto
Porto remarkably continue to remain competitive while selling their best players almost every year. This summer it was James Rodríguez and João Moutinho shipped out, destination Monaco, but Porto reloaded as always and brought in Colombian starlet Juan Quintero, along with a host of other young players. Many of them will likely be sold for a nice profit in the coming years. Os Dragões also took down Vitória de Guimarães to win their fifth consecutive Portuguese Super Cup last weekend.
13. Atlético Madrid
Los Colchoneros saw the long-anticipated departure of Falcao but reinforced their squad in a few places this summer. Atleti's new number 9, David Villa, will be looking to revive his career and his chance at a place in Brazil for the World Cup next summer. With a favorable draw, los rojiblancos should have a good chance to get out of their Champions League group and earn some much needed prize money.
14. SSC Napoli
Few clubs made more noise this summer than Napoli. There was the Edinson Cavani saga of course, with last year's top scorer off to Paris, but many more came in the door at the San Paolo to play for new coach Rafa Benítez. A number of players arrived from Real Madrid, including €40 million man Gonzalo Higuaín. The Argentine striker and Italian U21 international Lorenzo Insigne should be able to make up for the goals lost from Cavani's exit.
15. CSKA Moscow
Winners of last year's Russian domestic double, CSKA Moscow are off to a good start in the Russian Premier League, currently in third place and two points of the leaders. They are in pot 2 for the Champions League draw, which could help them avoid some tough sides, although they do look set to lose Japanese playmaker Keisuke Honda when his contract expires at the end of 2013.
The rest (no order): Tottenham, Arsenal, Real Sociedad, Valencia, Benfica, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Roma, Schalke 04, Bayer Leverkusen, Ajax, PSV, Marseille, Lyon, AS Monaco, Zenit St Petersburg, Spartak Moscow