With FIFA’s extended 16-day international break coming to an end, club football came back to the fore over the weekend. The action did not disappoint, especially in Europe, where some of the game’s biggest teams and players wowed fans before the spotlight shifted to the full slate of UEFA Champions League fixtures in midweek.
Before those games kick off, here are the top clubs in the world seven weeks into the 2026-27 season:
Register: 3-1-1
Now 3-1-1 after Saturday’s 4-3 triumph away to Mainz, Leverkusen is alone in 4th place in the Bundesliga.
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(Photo by Pau Barrena/Getty Images)
Register: 5-1-0
Life is good in Roma’s blue team, with Lazio still unbeaten (4-0-1) and even on points with Serie A leaders and Scudetto holders Inter.
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Register: 2-4-0
Like Brighton, Brentford are what the standings say: a Champions League qualifier on goal difference if the Premier League season ends today.
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Register: 8-0-0
It’s hard to argue with an 8-0 record, which is what Porto has in the Portuguese League so far. They will go for their first Champions League win on Wednesday, across the Spanish border against Betis.
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(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Register: 2-3-1
The Reds’ reputation precedes them, which is why the 2025 Premier League champions are here despite a slow start to life under new Spanish boss Andoni Iraola. With just two wins from six games after Sunday’s one-sided defeat to City, Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League. They will have to bounce back next weekend at fourth-placed Brentford, but first must travel to Austria for a midweek Champions League clash with LASK.
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Register: 4-2-0
Monaco have recovered from a seventh-placed finish in France’s top flight last season to lead Ligue 1 six games into the 2026-27 season. And they’ve done so largely without US World Cup star Folarin Balogun, who has logged just 46 minutes since losing four games immediately before and after his deadline day move to Everton collapsed at the 11th hour.
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Register: 4-2-0
Last season, Roma finished in Italy’s Top 3 for the first time in seven years. The Giallorossi occupy the same spot more than six weeks into the new Serie A season. However, maintaining that position will depend on how well Paulo Dybala and his teammates manage to fight on multiple fronts; Roma hosts Real Madrid in the Champions League match on Wednesday.
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(Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Register: 3-1-2
The Blues are looking good under first-year manager Xabi Alonso, who oversaw Chelsea’s biggest win of the season on Saturday, a 5-1 thrashing of usually rich Bournemouth. Led by England players Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers and Brazilian striker João Pedro, the London club are well placed to challenge for a top-3 finish for the first time since 2021-22.
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Register: 4-1-0
In fairness, Freiburg could probably be even higher on this list. It is no coincidence that they are leading the Bundesliga ahead of Dortmund and Bayern’s five games. The Breisgau Brazilians remained unbeaten on Sunday despite playing the last 26 minutes of their 2-1 win over Schalke with 10 men.
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Register: 6-1-1
Real Betis are even on points in La Liga with Atleti in second place and one clear of Real Madrid in fourth, with a 6-1-1 record so far. They beat Osasuna 5-2 on Sunday. Is Betis the real deal? We’ll find out as soon as Saturday when the Heliopolitanos welcome table-topping Barcelona to the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville.
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Register: 4-1-1
Given the hardware-laden history of some of the names on this list, Brighton seems like an outlier. But there’s no arguing with the Seagulls’ notoriously unforgiving Premier League results. With four wins and a draw in their first six games, including that demolition of Arsenal, the BHA are deservedly all alone in third place – ahead of regular top-six contenders Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle and Tottenham.
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(Photo by Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Register: 6-0-2
With 15 European titles, the team from world football’s most decorated club has more than twice as many as any of its competitors. It is therefore jarring to see Real languishing in bottom of the Champions League in Spain, or far behind in 13th place in the current league stage standings. At least the latter is deceptive: José Mourinho’s side opened this season’s European schedule with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Inter. They visit Roma on Wednesday, but Los Blancos’ biggest test this month is their six-pointer with La Liga leaders Barcelona on October 25.
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Register: 4-1-0
Despite reaching the Champions League final in 2024, the Blacks’ most famous achievement in recent years has been producing global superstars Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland before selling them to Real Madrid and Manchester City respectively. But BVB are currently tied with Freiburg for most points in the Bundesliga – Dortmund last won the German title in 2012 – and two points clear of powerhouse Bayern, who they visit on Halloween.
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(Photo by Florence Tan Jun/Getty Images)
Register: 6-1-1
Spain’s second-placed side are a point clear of cross-city rivals Real Madrid – who they beat 2-1 on September 20 – after eight games in La Liga. Diego Simeone has just two defeats in all competitions so far, one in the Champions League opener at Liverpool. Atleti hosts Manchester United on Tuesday in the second leg of the league stage.
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Register: 5-1-0
With three Serie A titles in the last six seasons, Inter have been Italy’s most dominant team this decade. Led by Argentinian striker Lauturo Martinez, the 2023 and 2025 European silver medalists are again leading the race for the six-match Scudetto this season. The host startup can continue. The Nerazzurri play three of their next four games at the San Siro, including winnable Champions League games this month against Belgium’s Club Brugge and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.
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(Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images)
Register: 3-2-1
The championship hangover has been real for the second time for the Parisians, who are sixth in Ligue 1 after six games and would not even qualify for Europe’s top club competition if the French season ends today. They have only lost once yet, narrowly, to league leaders Monaco earlier last month. Upcoming tests against Man City (Wednesday) and Barcelona (October 20) will reveal a lot about how seriously PSG will fight for a third successive Champions League crown.
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Register: 3-2-0
Although Harry Kane & Co. top the respected Elo club rankings ahead of Arsenal and City, they are third in Germany after five games played in the Bundesliga. The ranking is misleading for a club that has lifted the price in 13 of the last 14 seasons, including 2025-26. Bayern have scored four or more goals in four of their last seven games. Chasing their first Champions League title since 2020, FC Hollywood then travel to the Norwegian city of Stavanger to face Viking on Tuesday.
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Register: 5-0-1
Despite a shock 3-0 defeat to Brighton just before the start of the international break, last year’s Premier League winners and European runners-up remain near the top of the club game. The Gunners have won their last six games, including Saturday’s hard-fought 2-1 victory over Leeds in North London. They topped Napoli in Italy last month, keeping a clean sheet, and should fight for English and Champions League honors again in the 2026-27 season. After losing to PSG in the final on penalties last season, Arsenal’s trip to German titans Bayern on October 21 will be important.
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Register: 8-0-0
Led by newly minted World Cup teenagers Pau Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal and 30-year-old Ballon d’Or winner Rodri – who Barca signed from Manchester City after Spain’s mid-July triumph in New Jersey – the Blaugrana have started their La Liga title defense 8-0. Only goal difference separates them from PSG and Bayern Munich at the top of the Champions League table; Barcelona, who travel to Turkey to face Galatasaray on Tuesday, defeated Dutch powerhouse Feyenoord 5-1 in the first leg.
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(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Register: 6-0-0
It is wrong to have Man City at the top of this list given the financial scandal that has engulfed the Abu Dhabi-backed club in recent weeks. But hey, (supposedly) the trick works. While it remains to be seen whether the Sky Blues will remain in the Premier League if they lose the case again on appeal, Sunday’s 3-0 demolition of Liverpool at Anfield confirmed that City, now a perfect 6-0 to start the new Prem season, are the best team in the world’s best domestic circuit.
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Enzo Maresca’s side also opened their UEFA Champions League campaign last month with a 2-0 win away to Porto. The Cityzens host two-time defending European champions Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday in one of the first round fixtures.