European Teams of the Week: Roma top, Man City close behind, while Milan and Borussia Dortmund also make cut

Aditya Devavrat 15:32 13/05/2019
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  • Roma pulled off a crucial win against Juventus.

    The only thing in football more contentious than a dubious refereeing decision is a rankings system.

    There are plenty of them out there – though many are deliberately divisive – but given the tribal nature of football they do drum up some interesting debates among supporters.

    We’re going to add our twist to the list. Each week we pick out the 10 best teams from Europe’s top-five leagues (minus cup competitions).

    It’s not cumulative, the rankings is based on a team’s performance in that particular game week.

    So, who makes the top-10 this week? Check out below.

    1. Roma (beat Juventus 2-0)

    Milan and Atalanta had already won by the time Roma took to the field on Sunday night – and Claudio Ranieri’s side had the toughest task of all, hosting champions Juventus. The returning manager’s defensive tactics have brought a mixed reaction from the Roma faithful but they worked perfectly at the Stadio Olimpico on this occasion, and vindication could have arrived sooner had first-half chances been taken. Instead it took until the 79th minute, but after Roma had soaked up some pressure from Juventus, Alessandro Florenzi, captaining the side, found the back of the net – minutes after he had seemingly been mocked by Cristiano Ronaldo for his lack of height – and Edin Dzeko sealed the points in injury time to ensure they stayed in the hunt for a Champions League spot.

    2. Man City (beat Brighton 4-1)

    The title was slipping away. Liverpool scored at Anfield to take the lead in the as it stands table, then Manchester City conceded a shock opener to Brighton and it seemed like the twists and turns of a dramatic title race were set to claim Pep Guardiola’s side as their final victim. What followed was typical City, however. Sergio Aguero levelled the scores almost instantly, Aymeric Laporte put his side back in the driver’s seat before half-time, and the second half ended up being a procession as club-record signing Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan both scored wonderful goals to seal the title. 100 points last season, 98 points this, it’s been a remarkable two-year spell from City and they show no signs of slowing down.

    3. Lyon (beat Marseille 3-0)

    This was the toughest assignment left for Lyon in their bid for a top-three finish in Ligue 1, and the Champions League spot that comes with it. Saint-Etienne had lost earlier in the weekend to give Bruno Genesio’s side the advantage in the race and they didn’t waste the opportunity. Maxwell Cornet opened the scoring in the first half and after Marseille went down to 10 men, Lyon held all the cards and they duly wrapped up the win, with Moussa Dembele scoring and Cornet grabbing a second, to go four points clear of Etienne with two games to play.

    4. Atalanta (beat Genoa 2-1)

    Atalanta’s dream of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history remains on track. The side, which has thrilled Italy in recent years with their promotion of youth and free-flowing football, are three points ahead of nearest challengers AC Milan after a 2-1 win over Genoa. Gian Piero Gasperini’s team have been guilty of not taking their chances in recent games but on Saturday they did just enough, scoring two goals in seven minutes after half-time through Musa Barrow and Timothy Castagne before holding on. The result vaulted Atalanta into third place prior to Inter Milan’s game on Monday night, ahead of a momentous week for the club: on Wednesday they play Lazio in the Coppa Italia final, before facing Juventus on Sunday in their last major hurdle in the top-four race.

    5. Real Sociedad (beat Real Madrid 3-1)

    Zinedine Zidane may believe that Real Madrid‘s performance didn’t deserve a loss, but for Real Sociedad this was a worthy win. They bounced back from conceding an early goal, and ended the game with more possession (55 percent – 45 percent), more passes (535 – 452), better passing accuracy (85 percent – 82 percent), and far more shots (19-7) and shots on target (6-2). Mikel Merino, Joseba Zaldua, and Ander Barranetxea scored for the hosts, who are still in with a shot of qualifying for the Europa League. They need to win next weekend against Espanyol and hope Athletic Bilbao lose to Sevilla.

    6. Milan (beat Fiorentina 1-0)

    Fiorentina away is never an easy game and for a team which had lost three of their last 10, a run of form that saw Milan’s top-four hopes fade while they also lost the Coppa Italia semi-final, this was a crucial result. Hakan Calhanoglu’s goal sees Gennaro Gattuso’s men stay within three points of Atalanta, and they’ve closed the gap on Inter as well to just one point, though their derby rivals will play later on Monday. That all-important Champions League qualification remains up for grabs.

    7. Borussia Dortmund (beat Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-2)

    A topsy-turvy day in Germany saw the title race stay alive for one more week. Borussia Dortmund, as has become their norm, dominated but nearly threw the game away against Fortuna Dusseldorf. Christian Pulisic opened the scoring on his final home game for the club, but Dusseldorf equalised and then, after Thomas Delaney put Dortmund back in front and Mario Gotze grabbed an injury-time goal to seemingly seal the points. The visitors – by this point down to ten men – got one back and nearly found an equaliser that would have handed the title to Bayern Munich. But Dortmund held on and now go into their final game, against Borussia Monchengladbach, needing a win and a Bayern loss to win the Bundesliga.

    8. Cardiff City (beat Manchester United 2-0)

    It’s been a poor end to the season for Manchester United, but a relegated side showing up to Old Trafford and winning comfortably? Cardiff’s victory, courtesy of two goals from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, was perhaps made even sweeter because it came against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, their manager when they were last relegated from the Premier League. It’s one of the biggest results in the Welsh club’s history.

    9. RB Leipzig (drew with Bayern Munich 0-0)

    That the title race isn’t over in Germany has a lot to do with Bayern’s own stumbles, but it’s hard to classify this particular result as one. Third-place Leipzig on their home turf were always going to be tough opponents and they had their chances to beat the Bundesliga leaders, who might feel hard-done by when an incredibly tight offside call went against them, courtesy of VAR, when it looked liked Leon Goretzka had given them the goal that sealed the title. But Leipzig fought tooth and nail against the top-placed side, as one would expect, and ensured a nervous, dramatic finale to the season is still possible in Germany.

    10. Stuttgart (beat Wolfsburg 3-0)

    Nursing a six-point lead over Hannover for the dubious honour of playing in a relegation playoff rather than heading down to 2. Bundesliga automatically, Stuttgart needed a win to be mathematically safe from that possibility. But with a Wolfsburg side chasing a Champions League spot coming to town, there was a danger that this particular race could also come down to the final day. Instead, Stuttgart pulled off a stunning 3-0 win. They saw far less of the ball but matched Wolfsburg for chances, sealing their spot in the playoff.

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