The National Top 20 Power Table: Barcelona on top; Bayern, Juventus follow – who else?

Voting: Each writer picked their top 20 teams. We then assigned points to each vote, with 20 points awarded for a first place vote, 19 for second, 18 for third and so on. to create the final list.

Presenting the first edition of The National’s European football Power Table, our view of the top 20 European clubs as voted on by Thomas Woods, Jonathan Raymond, Jon Turner and Steven Luckings.

1 – FC Barcelona, 80 points

A unanimous choice for the European champions, whose perch atop La Liga solidified after beating domestic rivals Atletico Madrid, making this an easy selection.

2 – Bayern Munich, 75 points

Cruising along in Germany, none appear to expect that Pep Guardiola’s impending departure will affect the Bavarian superpower.

3 – Juventus, 71 points

After a turgid start to the Serie A season, Juventus are on the cusp of setting a club record for consecutive league wins and look the Champions League finalists again.

4 – SSC Napoli, 62 points

The only club of a handful in Italy to survive an early surge into February still in the scudetto title race, firing behind a top-form Gonzalo Higuain.

5 – Atletico Madrid, 60 points

A loss to Barcelona can be forgiven for Diego Simeone’s side, who still surely count a formidable threat in the Champions League.

6 – Paris Saint-Germain, 58 points

Not a blemish in their record, but the sense is that exceedingly weak competition in France clouds the picture about how truly good this side is.

7 – Real Madrid, 54 points

Interspersed with four La Liga wins in their last six matches by a 19-2 combined scoreline are draws with Real Betis and Valencia, furthering the idea this year’s Real outfit are flat-track bullies.

8 – Manchester City, 52 points

England’s first team to make an appearance, as despite a sluggish Premier League campaign they nonetheless remain near the top and appear best positioned for a Champions League challenge.

9 – Arsenal, 51 points

Inconsistent, but through the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are on their day as potent as any club in Europe – the question is just how many of their day they’ll have.

10 – Tottenham Hotspur, 45 points

Quietly cruising in the Europa League, quietly in possession of joint-best goal difference in the Premier League, and, believe it or not, lurking among Europe’s elite.

11 – Leicester City, 40 points

Probably deserving of better, but the world, or at least our staffers, just aren’t ready to commit to Leicester City as a true title threat in England.

12 – Borussia Dortmund, 39 points

The Bundesliga may be no Premier League in its title race, but it’s no Ligue 1 either at least thanks to Dortmund, eight points off Bayern, and the on-fire Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

13 – Villarreal, 22 points

Haven’t lost in the league since November. Go figure. Since a 1-0 win over Real on December 15, Villarreal have taken 20 of 24 points in a scorching run.

14 – PSV Eindhoven, 21 points

Just overtook Ajax atop the Dutch Eredivisie and effectively took Manchester United out of the Champions League earlier this season, underscoring their quality.

15 – Olympiakos, 16 points

A 19 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses tally with 52 goals to only 11 conceded in the Greek Super League illustrate one of the widest divides in European domestic football in Greece.

T16 – Fenerbahce, 15 points

Solidly on top in the Turkish Super Lig and riding an unbeaten streak that stretches back to September across 25 matches in all competitions.

T16 – Benfica, 15 points

Only second in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, two points behind Sporting Lisbon, but they count 11 better in goal difference and among the Champions League last 16.

T18 – Sporting CP, 9 points

Given credit as league leaders and having come out on top in all three meetings so far with Benfica this season – winning the Portuguese Super Cup, edging them in the league in October and advancing past them in the Taca de Portugal in November on penalties.

T18 – Manchester United, 9 points

More or less residing in the back of the top-20 by default, although their generally lifeless play under Louis van Gaal belies some generally solid standing – that is, if they were a club not named Manchester United.

20 – KAA Gent

Improbably among the last 16 in the Champions League, where they stand a reasonable chance of upending Wolfsburg for a quarter-final spot, while maintaining league leading position in Belgium.