Controversial ranking! Milan got out of the 10 best clubs in history

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A list of the best clubs in history does not include AC Milan among the top 10, which was criticized by the Italian team's supporters

The renowned French magazine France Football, published on 12 February the ranking of the 30 best football clubs worldwide, led by Real Madrid with 184 points, followed by FC Barcelona with 177 and Manchester United with 151.

However, the classification criteria are being questioned. For example, the Arsenal, Chelsea, and PSG, which according to the followers of the magazine on Twitter, claim not to have the qualities to enter the top positions. In addition, the non-inclusion of Milan AC has generated controversy, due to the trajectory of the legendary team.

Leer en español: ¡Polémico Ranking! El Milan quedó fuera de los 10 mejores clubes de la historia

Read also: The new owners of AC Milan are 'vultures'

Here's how the classification and scoring process was, according to an article published in the magazine France Football.

Five large groups were established, which were subdivided into ten categories to score each of the 85 participating clubs, which were:

• Successes: titles won and gold balls of their players (awarded by the same magazine).
• Fanaticada: assistance to their fans, television audience and transcendence in social networks.
• Income: club earnings and income from shirt sales.
• Expenses: players' transfers.
• Size: the value of the team in the market and the number of active world champions.
• The historical importance of the club: in the publication, the journal admits that it is a subjective point.

The score in each of the characteristics was from 1 to 20 and established for the number of titles won, criteria that could be applied to all clubs despite the continental differences, therefore, only accounted for the UEFA Champions League cups, CAF, CONCACAF, AFC, and Copa Libertadores, in addition, fan clubs were not included because their numbers were unreliable.

In total 85 clubs from 29 countries belonging to the five continents were evaluated, to finally obtain the 30 best clubs in the world.

However, the ranking has not been far from the controversy, since the seven-time champion of the Champions League, AC Milan, did not accumulate enough points to belong to the Top 10. Despite being the second team with the most Champions' cups, it was positioned below teams like PSG, Arsenal, Chelsea, according to what is outlined in Caracol Radio, in position 11 with 78 points, after the English club Arsenal with 88 points, who stayed with the tenth position.

Another point that sparked discussion was because the current Copa Libertadores champion, Argentina's River Plate, was not even included in the list of the top 30 clubs, according to Besoccer. In addition, no Latin American team is close to the Top 10; Argentina's Boca Juniors ranked 18th, Independiente de Argentina, América de México and Santos FC of Brazil tied in 27th place with 18 points, according to La Nación.

Other rankings

According to an article published by the BBC, in 2018 a study of the Soccerex firm was published in which the world football clubs with the greatest financial power were made known, due to the great reach of the Spanish teams Real Madrid and Barcelona FC and the wealth they have, it was thought that they would head the list, however, it was not like that.

According to the publication of the BBC, thanks to foreign investment, Manchester City has been potentiated and is the team with the most financial power. The variables that are taken into account in the calculation of the index are: "gambling and fixed assets, money in the bank, a potential purchase investment and net debt", Second is Arsenal, third PSG. According to the study, it is indicated that a possible capitalization of Real Madrid in the stock market would generate, undoubtedly, a rebound of the Spanish club in the ranking.

LatinAmerican Post | Daniela Escalante

Translated from "¡Polémico Ranking! el Milan quedó fuera de los 10 mejores clubes de la historia"