Liverpool FC are looking very strong as they head into their all-England UEFA Champions League final versus Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid on June 1. at arch-rival Manchester United. Their fine form (third highest season point total in Premier League history/most points ever for a runner-up) has resulted in their retaining the top spot this week in Shaka Hislop’s global power rankings.
The table composed by the former goalkeeper and current ESPN FC pundit is a world order, but it’s all Europe this week, and almost every week. With both Euro finals being all-England match-ups, it’s no surprise that British sides dominate the list.
In addition to Liverpool topping the list, Tottenham are second, and you have three more Premier League sides make the rankings, which goes 10 deep. In fact, the EPL represents five of the top seven. For the full list go to this link.
While the Reds missed out on the Premier League title, they are heavily favored to claim the UCL silverware, and that’s to be expected, given their rich history in the competition.
Club legend Vladimir Smicer played a big part in their hoisting the trophy in 2005, as supporters will never forget his goal from way out against AC Milan in the tournament finale. We had an exclusive interview with him by phone last week, and we asked him why he thinks LFC do so well in this tournament.
“I don’t know, we really do well in Europe, in the ’70s and ’80s, we were winning these trophies,” Smicer answered.
“And it’s maybe in our DNA that we can do really well in Europe.”
We’ll see if this tradition continues in the Spanish capital in a couple of weeks. It’s certainly a longer than usual wait for the Euro final (both of them actually), and thus the anticipation for the match will only grow.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.