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UEFA recently released their new club rankings for the season 2023-24 with some rather surprising results, especially for clubs like Arsenal, Barcelona, and Napoli. Fans have started pouring their reactions on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter).
As expected, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City lead the ranking courtesy of stellar performances in the last few seasons. They are followed by Real Madrid with their record 15 Champions League titles. Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and AS Roma complete the top five.
One of the most astonishing results is the fact that Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are placed as low as 19th in the rankings and fans have come out in big numbers to show their frustration about the same.
Some of their reactions are as follows:
"Westham above Arsenal?! What's UEFA doing," commented one Gunners fan on X.
"What is this if its How good Watch team Are We should be 3-4th place," opined another.
"Arsenal on 19th??? Drug name please???" quipped another Arsenal fan.
Many others proceeded to diss the ranking system of UEFA because of the absurd positions some of the teams secured.
"This is like the international ranking by fifa where Belgium is always first but they’re the worst team," joked one fan on X.
"What do you think about it? Does it make sense to you??" commented another.
"Chelsea ahead of Manchester United? What a joke!" opined another.
Barcelona at 18th position was another hot topic of discussion in the comments section. Despite almost qualifying for the semifinals last season, they are ranked below the likes of Benfica, West Ham United, Manchester United, and many other clubs with significantly fewer achievements at the European stage.
Lamine Yamal is younger (16) than Barcelona’s rank(18)on UEFA website," opined one fan.
"It’s Biased, just look at where they put Barcelona?? See Roma & Villarreal," commented another.
"Barcelona was expected to reach the ucl finals but UEFA says they aren't even better than west ham.... Nice joke," exclaimed another Culer on X.
Why are Arsenal so low in UEFA club rankings?
One interesting factor to take into account is the fact that the club coefficients that determine the ranking depend on the team's performance in European tournaments like UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Europa Conference League over the last five years.
Arsenal have been firing on all cylinders in the last few Premier Leagues, but their Champions League performances haven't been stellar. The Gunners lost 3-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the quarter-final and didn't even qualify for the same in the 2022-23 season. The club lost to Sporting CP in the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League on penalties after the two legs ended in a 3-3 stalemate.
In the season before 22-23, the Gunners didn't even qualify for any European competition because they finished eighth in the Premier League table in the 2020-21 season.
