6 days ago
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Market value rankings
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The seventh matchday of the Champions League group stage is now over and we're well and truly getting to the business end of the tournaments first major round. A number of clubs have already booked their spot in the knock-out rounds, while even more go into the final matchday in desperate need of points to avoid dropping out of the competition entirely. So which of Europe's top clubs are currently over and under performing in the continents premier competitions? Let's find out.
It can often be hard to get a definitive answer on which clubs outrank all others as the de facto favourites for the Champions League each season, but Transfermarkt’s market values are often a good judge of the capacity of any given squad. And when we take a look at each of the 36 teams in this season’s group stage and rank them by their squad market value, we can then quickly tell which clubs are overperforming based on their rank in the competition and which ones should be doing much better. Here’s how things look after the seventh matchday.
Which clubs are overperforming in the Champions League?
While our ranking of the most over-performing clubs in the competition may not line up with the real group table, they do point out that some of Europe’s smaller clubs have well and truly made a big impression in the competition this season. As we can see in the table above, of the bigger clubs throughout the continent, Bayern Munich (+8), Tottenham (+4), Liverpool (+4) and Newcastle (+4) all remain among the top performers in the Transfermarkt power rankings. But the more interesting stories can be found in the less valuable squads that picked up big results.
A good example of this is Azerbaijani side Qarabağ, who continued to pick up big scalps this week with a dramatic 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Due to the fact that the Azerbaijani club have the 35th most valuable squad in the competition but are ranked 18nd in the league table, they boast the highest score in our power rankings at +17. Just below them in the rankings are Turkish giants Galatasaray, who boast a power ranking score of +10 after a 1-1 draw with Atletico moved them up to 17th in the group table. Atalanta (+8), Sporting (+6) and Copenhagen (+6) also rank highly thanks to their ability to punch above their weight this season.
Which clubs are underperforming in the Champions League?
When we then flip the script and take a look at which clubs are doing far worse than their squad market value would suggest, we can see where some of Europe’s biggest clubs have clearly struggled this season. The biggest culprit of this is are none other than Bundesliga side Frankfurt's with a score of -13, following the aformentioned defeat in Azerbaijan knocking them out of the competition. They're joined by none other than Manchester City, who linger in 11th place in the group table with a power ranking score of -9, following a 3-1 defeat to Bodø/Glimt in midweek. Level on points with Pep Guardiola's side are Villarreal, who sit joint bottom of the group table despite having the 26th most valuable squad in the competition.
