Barcelona reclaims its No. 1 spot

You missed us. And we appreciate it. We skipped out last time for MLS Cup duty which, of course, left a big hole in all our club-ranking hearts. But seriously, how are we supposed to focus this week? Admit it: We've all got World Cup fever. Six months is just far too long to wait. Even looking down this week's rundown, we're finding it hard to look at each club objectively. All we see is Barcelona and Real Madrid, each with five Spanish national-teamers, Manchester United with five England players and Chelsea, the grand-daddy of them all so far, with as many as 20 players who likely will play in South Africa next summer -- eight of them in the Group of Death alone!

Still, we have a job to do here. So enjoy this week's rundown, and remember to click on the "Email Jonah" link above to spit venom in my general direction. (And stay tuned for SI.com's very first Soccer Podcast, co-hosted by yours truly and Goal.com's Noah Davis -- we'll break down the World Cup draw and speak with three-time World Cup veteran and former U.S. national-team legend Brian McBride.)

Note: All rankings, records and statistics are through Dec. 9.

World Soccer Power Rankings