Best Ranked Football Clubs in 2022

Last year was a particularly eventful year in football. With supporters back in stadiums and schedules no longer interrupted by the pandemic, competitions across Europe were able to run as normal again. There were thrilling title races in England and Italy, one of the most exciting Champions League campaigns of all time, and the first time ever that the biggest international tournament in the world was held in November and December instead of during the summer.

We are focusing on the club game in this article, though. We have analysed how 2022 went for sides across Europe and picked out the 10 that performed the best.

10. Trabzonspor

For the first time in 38 years, Trabzonspor were crowned champions of Turkey in 2022. In recent years the Super Lig has been dominated by the big three from Istanbul, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas. But the triopoly was broken by Abdullah Avci’s side in impressive fashion.

Trabzonspor won the title pretty comfortably. After losing just three of their 38 encounters, they finished eight points clear of runners-up Fenerbahce. Most impressively, none of those three defeats came by one of Turkey’s traditional powerhouses.

9. Villarreal

Villarreal’s place on this list is almost exclusively down to their exploits in the Champions League. Indeed, the Yellow Submarine were somewhat disappointing in La Liga, finishing seventh and not getting anywhere near the battle for the top four.

However, Unai Emery once again proved to be a master of European competition. His side qualified out of a tricky group comprising Manchester United, Atalanta and Young Boys, then shocked Juventus and Bayern Munich to reach the semi-finals.

8. Roma

In the inaugural edition of the Europa Conference League, Jose Mourinho became the first manager to win all three of the continent’s current competitions (alongside previous successes in the Champions League and Europa League).

The Giallorossi saw off teams like Vitesse and Leicester City on their way to the final in Albania, where Nicolo Zaniolo’s goal earned them a 1-0 victory over Feyenoord. Roma did not fare so well domestically, finishing sixth in Serie A.

7. Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga title in 2022, but that is par for the course these days. Their financial dominance is such that the Bavarian outfit have now finished on top of the pile in Germany for 10 consecutive campaigns, which is not a particularly healthy state of affairs for football in that country.

Yet although they were domestic champions, we cannot rank Bayern any higher than seventh due to failure to win the DFB-Pokal and their elimination from the Champions League in the quarter-finals.

6. Porto

After ending 2021 empty-handed, Porto dominated Portuguese football this year. The club from the second city finished top of the Primeira Liga, picking up six more points than a good Sporting CP side after winning 29 and drawing four of their 34 games. That gave them a tally of 91 points – the highest in the history of the Portuguese league.

Porto also picked up the Taca de Portugal, beating Benfica and Sporting CP on their way to the final, where they got the better of surprise package Tondela.

5. Eintracht Frankfurt

A glance at last season’s Bundesliga table would appear to suggest that Eintracht Frankfurt endured a disappointing year. An 11th-place finish was certainly an underachievement based on the club’s ambitions before the 2021/22 campaign got under way.

However, Frankfurt are one of the five top performing clubs over the last 12 months because of their triumph in the Europa League. Oliver Glasner’s side knocked out Real Betis, West Ham United and Barcelona to reach the final, where they beat Rangers on penalties.

4. AC Milan

After a difficult decade on and off the pitch, AC Milan won their first Serie A title since 2011 this year. It was a fantastic accomplishment given the Rossoneri began the campaign as third-favourites behind Inter and Juventus.

Milan accumulated 86 points across 38 matches, 26 of which ended in victory. Their success was in large part down to a solid defence, with no team in the division conceding fewer goals than Stefano Pioli’s. However, finishing bottom of their Champions League group was a disappointment.

3. Liverpool

Right up until the final few weeks of the 2021/22 campaign, Liverpool were in with a chance of winning an unprecedented quadruple. That would have been an extraordinary achievement, but in the end the Reds fell just short in the two competitions that matter most.

Indeed, while Jurgen Klopp’s side managed to add an FA Cup and an EFL Cup to the club’s trophy cabinet at Anfield, they finished as runners-up in the Premier League and the Champions League.

2. Manchester City

Manchester City once again came up short in the Champions League, losing in dramatic circumstances to Real Madrid in the semi-finals. They also failed to win either domestic cup competition, but another Premier League title triumph puts them in second place in our ranking of the best football clubs in 2022.

Pep Guardiola’s side amassed 93 points after winning 29 of their 38 matches. They also scored 99 goals without a recognised centre-forward, and conceded just 26.

1. Real Madrid

This was close to the perfect year for Real Madrid, who won both the La Liga title and the Champions League. They did it the hard way too, beating Paris Saint-Germain (the champions of France), Chelsea (the holders), Manchester City (the champions of England) and a strong Liverpool side on their way to glory in Europe.

Domestically, Madrid finished 13 points clear of second-placed Barcelona and were top of the table after 33 of the league’s 38 matchdays.

Last updated: August 10th, 2023