Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué captured the lead in the FTBL World Ranking of defenders last week, but the gap between him and his nearest rival, Chelsea’s John Terry, of just 0.6 rating points should worry the Catalan. He will have a high plank of 17.25 rating points to beat in his next appearance, a plank he set in Barcelona’s 1:0 victory in the UEFA Supercup against Shakhtar Donetsk. The plank will be even more daunting, considering that Barcelona play Inter Milan next in the Champions League’s group stage, and in Italy. In addition, because the group stage is lower in category than the national leagues, a victory for Barca will bring Piqué just 14.6 rating points in our system.
For Piqué to retain the top spot in the ranking, he will need to score, since every goal carries a reward of 6 rating points.
In the meantime, Blues skipper John Terry will face a less daunting task, on paper at least, as he has a plank of 11 rating points to beat when Chelsea host Portuguese side FC Porto in the Champions League’s group stage. It appears safe to bet the Blues will have no particular problems coming out on top in this encounter. If on top of a win they concede no goals, Blues defenders like Terry will receive a bonus of 14.6 rating points in our system.
True, Terry will lose 2.33 rating points as early as tomorrow dues to the discarding of the game of 18 months ago against Sunderland, in which he scored the winner. But considering Piqué’s own anticipated losses, this can only delay Terry’s ascent to the top until Wednesday, when Barca take on Inter Milan.
So FTBL.com predicts that John Terry will take the lead in the world ranking of defenders as early as Wednesday.