Sports

Bayern Munich beat Real Madrid and PSG to become UEFA’s top-ranked club ahead of 2026/27 season

Nairavoice · Jun 9, 2026 · 2 min read

FC Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart

Bayern Munich’s last five seasons have been fruitful; Die Rekordmeister has claimed four Bundesliga titles, one DFB-Pokal, and three Franz Beckenbauer Supercups. Despite Bayern’s shortcomings in the Champions League, losing out to the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Paris Saint Germain, UEFA still considers the German side as the best team in the world.

According to UEFA’s latest rankings — based on a rolling five-year period — Bayern have overtaken Real Madrid to become the top ranked club coming into the 2026/27 season.

The Athletic’s Colin Millar explains Bayern’s rise to the top while exploring the other big movers.

Bayern Munich have leapfrogged Real Madrid to become UEFA’s top-ranked club ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Advertisement

Rankings are determined using a point-based system over a rolling five-year period, with points based on the club’s performances in continental competitions and measured using a weighted algorithm.

Aston Villa the biggest movers — up 29 places to 17th.

Chelsea have dropped five places to 12th after their last-16 Champions League loss to PSG.

Manchester United have slipped from 11th to 21st after a season without any European football.

Bayern Munich have leapfrogged Real Madrid to become UEFA’s top-ranked club ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Rankings are determined using a point-based system over a rolling five-year period, with points based on the club’s performances in continental competitions and measured using a weighted algorithm.

Aston Villa the biggest movers — up 29 places to 17th.

Chelsea have dropped five places to 12th after their last-16 Champions League loss to PSG.

Manchester United have slipped from 11th to 21st after a season without any European football.

Bayern’s successive victories against Real Madrid in the 2025/26 Champions League Quarter-final is the crux of the German side leapfrogging Los Blancos. Combined with their consistency in Europe — reaching the Quarter-final or better in the last five seasons — Bayern claim top spot in UEFA’s rankings.

As for PSG, their failure to reach the the top-eight in the league phase since the competition’s reformatting appears to have constrained the French side to third position, despite winning back-to-back Champions Leagues.

Bayer Leverkusen (9th), Borussia Dortmund (11th), and Eintracht Frankfurt (18th), are the Bundesliga’s other representatives in the top 20.