ESPN's World Club Top 25
18.12 || Seamus

AC Milan, boosted by a pair of victories away from home this week, held onto the top spot in the ESPN World Club Top 25 for the second consecutive week. Filippo Inzaghi scored the game-winning goal in Dortmund while Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko scored the winner over Como in Serie A action on Sunday.


The ESPN World Club Top 25, a computer based ranking of the world's top clubs, was developed by the staff at ESPN International in 1999. Now in its fourth season, the Top 25 formula takes into consideration performances in league, continental and cup competitions.

The Top 25 will be released every Sunday night throughout the football club season during ESPN's SportsCenter broadcast from Buenos Aires.

ESPN's World Club Top 25: December 15, 2002
Club Country Points Last Week Comment


1. AC Milan Italy 275.00 1 Serie A leaders en route to UCL quarterfinals

2. Arsenal England 265.44 2 1-1 draw in London derby at Tottenham

3. Valencia Spain 260.00 4 Carew: Two goals in win over Villarreal

4. Inter Milan Italy 259.50 6 Di Biagio: Two goals vs. Leverkusen


5. Manchester United England 259.36 5 Wins vs. Deportivo, West Ham at Old Trafford

6. Real Madrid Spain 257.38 8 Nine goals in last two league games

7. Bayern Munich Germany 246.10 3 Held to scoreless draw by Schalke

8. Lazio Italy 244.33 10 Fiore: Two goals in win at Juventus


9. Borussia Dortmund Germany 243.15 9 Rebound from Milan loss with 4-0 win at weekend


10. Juventus Italy 238.50 7 Loss at home to Lazio

11. Real Sociedad Spain 221.92 12 Third straight win; running away with La Liga

12. Ajax Netherlands 219.88 11 First loss in league play this season


13. Independiente Argentina 218.68 13 Idle

14. FC Porto Portugal 216.14 16 Still unbeaten in Portugal

15. Santos Brazil 213.39 25 First Brazilian league title in club history


16. Deportivo La Coruna Spain 211.57 19 Unbeaten in last eight in La Liga


17. Morelia Mexico 208.86 20 Advance to Mexican final

18. Liverpool England 207.56 14 2-1 loss at Sunderland

19. San Lorenzo Argentina 204.00 16 2002 Copa Sudamericana Champions

20. Newcastle United England 201.29 17 1-1 draw at Southampton


21. Boca Juniors Argentina 197.97 21 Idle

22. Celtic Scotland 197.50 24 Advanced to fourth round of UEFA Cup

23. Besiktas Turkey 195.66 NR Moved into fourth round of UEFA Cup

24. Werder Bremen Germany 195.40 NR Six points behind Bayern in Bundesliga

25. River Plate Argentina 194.73 23 Idle

Dropped out:
No. 15 Real Betis (Spain)
No. 18 Celta Vigo (Spain)


Arsenal and Valencia are chasing Milan for the top spot. The two clubs played to a scoreless draw in London this week in Champions League action.

Inter Milan and Manchester United are not far behind in the rankings. Both clubs also picked up a pair of wins this week.

Real Madrid rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Recreativo 4-2 in Madrid on Sunday. Raul netted his fifth goal in his last three overall matches.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich tumbled out of the Top 5 after being held to a scorless draw by Schalke.

Dutch league leaders Ajax suffered its first defeat of the season in a 4-2 loss to rivals PSV on Sunday.

Morelia advanced to Mexican Apertura final despite a 2-1 loss to UNAM on Sunday. Morelia will meet Toluca in the two-leg final this week with the hopes of winning its second winter title in three seasons.

Santos recorded its first Brazilian title since the league was created 30 years ago. Santos, the eighth seed in the playoffs, defeated Sao Paulo, Gremio and Corinthians en route to the championship.

San Lorenzo won the Copa Sudamericana with a 4-0 aggregate victory over Atletico Nacional this week. San Lorenzo, the 2001 Mercosur Champions, took home a trophy for the second straight season.

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