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Power Rankings: The best teams in Europe – Week 3

Following a week in which:

– Newcastle United beat Paris Saint-Germain 4-1.

– Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Manchester City 2-1.

– Lens beat Arsenal 2-1.

We at 90min have ranked the best teams in Europe once again (spoiler: most of them lost this week).

Jacob Ramsey, Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash, Douglas LuizJacob Ramsey, Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash, Douglas Luiz

Villa thumped Brighton / Nathan Stirk/GettyImages

In October 2022, under the guidance of Steven Gerrard, Aston Villa were sitting just one point outside of the relegation zone.

In October 2023, under the guidance of Unai Emery, Aston Villa are sitting fifth in the Premier League table having just thumped Brighton and Hove Albion 6-1.

The job Emery has done at Villa Park is genuinely remarkable.

Bukayo SakaBukayo Saka

Injured / Alex Pantling/GettyImages

Things were going quite well for Arsenal and then the bad thing happened: the over-worked Bukayo Saka hobbled off with a suspected hamstring injury.

Without their ‘starboy’, the Gunners looked utterly devoid of creativity and pace in the offensive third and ultimately lost to Lens on Tuesday night.

Now they look set to face off against Manchester City this weekend without Saka too.

In short: it’s not looking good.

In long: it’s reallllllllllyyyyyyy not looking good.

Ferran TorresFerran Torres

Narrow win / BSR Agency/GettyImages

Did Barcelona deserve to beat Porto?

Judging by the five saves, disallowed goal and two clear penalties that weren’t given, we’d say they probably didn’t.

They did though, so they stay in eighth place this week. Performances need to improve if they’re going to climb back up the rankings anytime soon.

Kyle Walker - English Soccer Defender, Rayan Aït-NouriKyle Walker - English Soccer Defender, Rayan Aït-Nouri

A first Premier League defeat of the season / Visionhaus/GettyImages

Finally, a Premier League team was able to beat Manchester City.

It wasn’t exactly the Premier League team we were expecting to beat Manchester City, but Wolves were surprisingly able to expose a few weak chinks in the treble-winners’ armour over the weekend – particularly their susceptibility to quick and aggressive counter attacks.

Juergen KloppJuergen Klopp

Not a happy man / Justin Setterfield/GettyImages

You’ve already read roughly a billion (if not a trillion) articles on the VAR incident in the Tottenham vs Liverpool game, so let’s just focus on the result and the reason why the Reds are down five spots:

Liverpool scuppered the opportunity to go top of the Premier League at the weekend by losing 2-1 to Tottenham in north London. As such, they have dropped off top spot in these rankings.

FC Internazionale v SL Benfica: Group D - UEFA Champions League 2023/24FC Internazionale v SL Benfica: Group D - UEFA Champions League 2023/24

An impressive win / Giuseppe Bellini/GettyImages

Inter bounced back well from their shock first defeat of the season to Sassuolo over the last week.

Simone Inzaghi’s side reasserted their dominance in Serie A by thumping Salernitana 4-0 – going top again thanks to this result – before earning an impressive Champions League win over Benfica on Wednesday. Good stuff all round.

Jude BellinghamJude Bellingham

Great goal / Francesco Pecoraro/GettyImages

Vinicius Junior is back from his spell on the sidelines, Jude Bellingham is still the best thing since sliced bread and Real Madrid are really starting to flex their offensive muscles again.

The only issues are the lack of fit centre-backs and the whole ‘Kepa Arrizabalaga in net’ thing they have going on…but we’ll focus on the positives for now.

Ange PostecoglouAnge Postecoglou

Postecoglou’s team are rolling / Ryan Pierse/GettyImages

Tottenham’s final two games of September were supposed to be the time when Ange Postecoglou’s side were ‘found out’.

Instead of being ‘found out’, however, the Lilywhites drew 2-2 with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium before beating Liverpool 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

They’re one of only two unbeaten teams in the Premier League and an absolute joy to watch.

Xavi AlonsoXavi Alonso

Another win / Alex Grimm/GettyImages

After winning their 11th consecutive Bundesliga title, Bayern Munich went out and signed Harry Kane and everyone collectively sighed: “Well, that’s Bayern winning every league title from now until the end of time…which is probably quite soon due to the climate crisis.”

However, we’re now six weeks into the 2023/24 season and it’s Bayer Leverkusen, not Bayern Munich, who are top of the league.

They’re top thanks to five wins and one draw – with Bayern – in their first six games. W.

Miguel Almiron, Bruno GuimaraesMiguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes

Stunning win over PSG / Marc Atkins/GettyImages

Armed with Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and Jamaal Lascelles, Newcastle United were able to thump Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.

That is not something we ever thought we’d write.

The win was the Magpies’ fourth in a row in all competitions, scoring 15 goals and conceding one in that run.

READ 90MIN’S PREMIER LEAGUE POWER RANKINGS IN FULL

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