Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard dropped from 1st to 6th place in the FTBL ranking of European midfielders after losing approximately 40 rating points as the Reds fell to Fiorentina (0:2) in Champions League action yesterday (146.06 points).

Chelsea’s Frank Lampard has now returned to the top of that chart with a tally of 176.01 points, but he will have a hard time remaining there after today’s Champions League game against APOEL Nicosia as he faces a daunting plank of more than 36 rating points to beat. A Blues victory will not be enough here: he needs to score a couple of goals himself.

Which means the road seems all cleared for Barcelona’s Xavi (pictured) to rise to the top. After the 2:0 win over Dynamo Kyiv yesterday, the Spain international is now less than a single rating point behind Lampard (175.26 points). If that happens, the entire top tier of the European chart will be filled by La Liga players, as is the case in our world ranking.