Barcelona Tops Early AP Soccer Poll With Man U Second; Robin Van Persie Ahead Of Leo Messi In Player Rankings

The first soccer poll by The Associated Press was recently released and to no surprise, many of the usual suspects find themselves at or near the top of the list. Rankings were introduced for the first time this season assigning point totals to the top players and teams across the wide spectrum of soccer. The final poll for the 2012-2013 season saw Barcelona beat out Bayern Munich for the top spot while Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus rounded out the Top 5. Lionel Messi was tabbed the 2012-2013 AP Player of the Year with Cristiano Ronaldo finishing second and Man U's Robin van Persie coming in third.

For the first round of this year's team poll, Barcelona grabbed top honor with a total of 221 points, comfortably ahead of Manchester United and first-year head coach David Moyes who came in with 189 points. While Atletico Madrid filled out the top 10, Real Madrid - who finished fourth in last season's final poll - did not land a Top 10 position on the early list. As far as the player rankings are concerned, Robin van Persie controls the early No. 1 spot after scoring 2 goals in Old Trafford's 4-1 victory over Swansea while Leo Messi - who also recorded 2 goals - slides into the No. 2 position, a spot down from where he finished a year ago.

"Van Persie's goals were outstanding and broke open a tight game that wasn't always going Man United's way in the early going," AP panelist Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post said recently regarding the voting process. "The only reason I put him ahead of Messi was that he did it against better competition."

While van Persie's performance was certainly strong, Leo Messi and Barca put a crushing 7-0 hurting on Levante in the Spanish League, something that had Paris writer Mark Rodden excited about the club, especially the way they played in the opening 45-plus.

"Six of their seven goals came in a scintillating first half display," Rodden said. "The scary thing for the rest of La Liga is that new Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino thinks they can still improve."

Top 10 Clubs (Week Ending August 23)

1. Barcelona (221 points)

2. Manchester United (189 points)

3. Juventus (114 points)

4. Chelsea (87 points)

5. Monaco (80)

6. Aston Villa (68)

7. Bayern Munich (64)

8. Hoffenheim (54)

9. Manchester City (47)

10. Atletico Madrid (46)

Top 10 Players