{"id":124080,"date":"2023-11-27T10:27:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T10:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/11\/27\/the-best-teams-in-europe-week-8\/"},"modified":"2023-11-27T10:27:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T10:27:13","slug":"the-best-teams-in-europe-week-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/11\/27\/the-best-teams-in-europe-week-8\/","title":{"rendered":"The best teams in Europe \u2013 Week 8 \u2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Following an international break in which:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Gareth Southgate\u2019s England bored Three Liones\u2019 fans to tears<\/p>\n

\u2013 Italy just about qualified for Euro 2024 thanks to a dubious penalty decision.<\/p>\n

\u2013 And most of the world tried to watch as little football as possible.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re back ranking the ten best club football teams in Europe ahead of the return to regularly scheduled domestic football this weekend.<\/p>\n

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On the watchlist<\/h2>\n
\"Victor<\/figure>\n

Man Utd are winning games \/ Robbie Jay Barratt \u2013 AMA\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, Manchester United, Benfica, Barcelona<\/h3>\n

Over in the Super Lig, arch rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasaray have both won 10 of their 12 league games so far, and a few more positive results \u2013 particularly in European competitions \u2013 could see them sneak onto this list.<\/p>\n

Despite a measly 13 goals in 12 games in the league,\u00a0Manchester United\u00a0are quietly putting together a decent run of form recently. Erik ten Hag\u2019s side need to improve their Champions League results in order for us to take them genuinely seriously though.<\/p>\n

And over on the Iberian peninsula, Benfica and Barcelona are two teams mounting title challenges that we\u2019re keeping a close eye on too.<\/p>\n

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Axed this week<\/h2>\n
\"Ange<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s all gone wrong \/ Visionhaus\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Tottenham Hotspur<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s really has all gone Pete Tong for Tottenham Hotspur.<\/p>\n

The injuries to their two best players of the season Micky van de Ven and James Maddison, along with Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero\u2019s suspensions, have seemingly derailed their Premier League title challenge in the space of a week.<\/p>\n

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.<\/p>\n

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The 10 current best teams in Europe<\/h2>\n

10.\u00a0Juventus (re-entry)<\/h2>\n
\"Massimiliano<\/figure>\n

The Juve manager \/ Jonathan Moscrop\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Juventus aren\u2019t a particularly fun football team to watch, but bah gawd are they an effective one.<\/p>\n

Utilising peak Max Allegri-ball,\u00a0Juve\u00a0have eked out 29 points from 12 games by managing to concede just seven goals.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s boring, but it\u2019s working.<\/p>\n

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9.\u00a0PSV Eindhoven (-)<\/h2>\n
\"Malik<\/figure>\n

Playing well \/ BSR Agency\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

PSV\u2019s Eredivisie season so far:<\/p>\n

Played:\u00a0<\/strong>12
Won:<\/strong>\u00a012
Lost:\u00a0<\/strong>0
Goals scored:<\/strong>\u00a040
Goals conceded:\u00a0<\/strong>5<\/p>\n

That\u2019s quite good, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

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8.\u00a0Atletico Madrid (-)<\/h2>\n
\"Antoine<\/figure>\n

Top player \/ Quality Sport Images\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Following a rather disastrous defeat to Las Palmas, Atleti bounced back well just prior to the international break.<\/p>\n

The followed up a 6-0 thumping of a very terrible Celtic team in the Champions League with a comfortable 3-1 win over Villarreal in La Liga.<\/p>\n

They are firmly the dark horses to win the title this season.<\/p>\n

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7.\u00a0Girona (up 3)<\/h2>\n
\"Savio<\/figure>\n

Girona\u2019s star man \/ Angel Martinez\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

From dark horse to\u2026favourites?<\/p>\n

Weirdly, Girona are still top of La Liga.<\/p>\n

Part of the City Football Group, they are two points clear of Real Madrid thanks to their recent run of five straight wins.<\/p>\n

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6.\u00a0Aston Villa (-)<\/h2>\n
\"Unai<\/figure>\n

Emery has done a fantastic job \/ Shaun Botterill\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now been over eight months since Aston Villa last dropped points at home in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

Eight months<\/em>.<\/p>\n

That is astonishing, and it\u2019s all thanks to the brilliance of their manager Unai Emery, who is getting career-best performances out of basically every single player in his squad right now.<\/p>\n

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5.\u00a0Inter (-)<\/h2>\n
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\nhttps:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=MK29ZGXS1DA%3Ffeature%3Doembed\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

For Federico Dimarco\u2019s goal\u00a0alone<\/em>\u00a0(you can watch above), Inter deserve to be considered one of the top ten teams in Europe.<\/p>\n

Add to that the fact that said goal was scored in their sixth consecutive win in all competitions, and you have a team that\u00a0definitely<\/em>\u00a0deserve to be considered a top five team in Europe right now.<\/p>\n

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4.\u00a0Manchester City (down 2)<\/h2>\n
\"Manuel<\/figure>\n

Not a great result \/ Robin Jones\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Down two after a very surprising 4-4 draw with Chelsea prior to the international break \u2013 a result for which City can thank Pep Guardiola\u2019s odd decision to play one defensive midfielder.<\/p>\n

City head into this weekend\u2019s clash with Liverpool knowing that a defeat could see them drop off top spot in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

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3.\u00a0Bayern Munich (up 4)<\/h2>\n
\"FC<\/figure>\n

Kane is brilliant \/ Marcel Engelbrecht \u2013 firo sportphoto\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one reason Bayern Munich have been motoring recently: Harry Kane.<\/p>\n

The England captain is in remarkable form in Bavaria, banging in 21 goals of his own and setting up seven for others already this season.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the only thing more remarkable than Kane\u2019s form is the fact that, despite it, Bayern still aren\u2019t top of the Bundesliga because of\u2026<\/p>\n

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2.\u00a0Bayer Leverkusen (up 1)<\/h2>\n
\"Xabi<\/figure>\n

His team are flying right now \/ Lars Baron\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

\u2026Xabi Alonso\u2019s Bayer Leverkusen.<\/p>\n

Having won 12 games on the bounce in all competitions, Bayer have been utterly unstoppable of late.<\/p>\n

First ever Bundesliga title incoming? It could well be.<\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0Real Madrid (-)<\/h2>\n
\"Carlo<\/figure>\n

Ancelotti has injuries to contend with \/ Denis Doyle\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

No Jude Bellingham? Surprisingly, no problem.<\/p>\n

Without their injured superstar, Real Madrid actually put in their best performance of the season so far against Valencia prior to the international break thanks to Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo stepping up.<\/p>\n

The recent injury to Vini, as well as one to Eduardo Camavinga, may hinder their form for the rest of 2023 though.<\/p>\n

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