LONDON (AP) - Manchester City is again at the top of The Associated Press global football 10 after securing its second Premier League title in three seasons.
Robert Lewandowski won the player vote this week after scoring twice in Borussia Dortmund’s 4-0 rout of Hertha Berlin. It was Lewandowski’s final appearance for the club ahead of his transfer to Bayern Munich.
City has four representatives in the top 10 of the player poll, including Vincent Kompany in second and Samir Nasri in third. Both scored in City’s 2-0 win over West Ham on Sunday.
Yaya Toure is sixth after scoring in the win against Aston Villa in midweek, while Edin Dzeko is seventh after netting twice in the same game.
“The Citizens didn’t flinch in the final week of the Premier League season, winning two games, scoring six goals and conceding none to secure their second title in three seasons,” Marco Monteverde of News Corp. Australia said.
Fellow voter Cedric Rouquette of Eurosport in France gave special praise to Kompany, the City captain.
“His season has been monstrous,” Rouquette said. “Beyond his level of play, it was a captain whose performance on Sunday gave life to what he has long claimed: his club is building a team identity and a soul.”
Lewandowski was honored after making sure to finish his Dortmund career on a high.
“Robert Lewandowski showed his class and professionalism by saying goodbye to Dortmund with a top performance,” Soren-Mikael Hansen of Politken in Denmark said.
Serie A winner Juventus was second behind City after its late 1-0 win against Roma saw it move to an Italian league record points tally of 99. Pablo Osvaldo’s stoppage-time winner saw him enter this week’s poll in 10th.
Paris Saint-Germain also set a points record in the French league with a 3-1 away win at Lille. The victory takes it to 86 for the season and like Juventus, it still has a game remaining.
In Spain, Celta Vigo’s shock 2-0 win against Real Madrid means the Spanish league will be decided when Atletico Madrid plays Barcelona next Sunday, in a weekend where all three title hopefuls stumbled.
A double from Celta striker Charles saw Madrid’s hopes extinguished and he placed fourth in the player vote. Fifth is Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero, whose impressive display meant his side drew 1-1 with fellow league hopefuls Atletico Madrid. The result put his team in 10th in the poll.
Elche held Barcelona to a 0-0 draw to earn eighth place. Next weekend, Atletico need only to draw to win the Spanish league for the first time since 1996. Barcelona needs a win to defend its title.
“Respect to Elche and Malaga for drawing against Barca and Atletico respectively to ensure a mouthwatering winner-takes-all showdown in La Liga next week,” James Porteous of The South China Morning Post said.
Also, Napoli was sixth after its 5-2 win at Sampdoria while Inter Milan is ninth after thrashing Lazio 4-1 in captain Javier Zanetti’s final game at the San Siro before retiring.
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AP Global Football 10 rankings for week ending May 13:
Teams:
1. Manchester City, 145 points.
2. Juventus, 94.
3. Paris Saint-Germain, 75.
4. Celta Vigo, 72.
5. Borussia Dortmund, 62.
6. Napoli, 47.
7. Atletico Madrid, 42.
8. Elche, 30.
9. Inter Milan, 29.
10. Malaga, 28.
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Players:
1. Robert Lewandowski, 91.
2. Vincent Kompany, 87.
3. Samir Nasri, 60.
4. Charles, 53.
5. Willy Caballero, 38.
6. Yaya Toure, 33.
7. Edin Dzeko, 29.
8. Rodrigo Palacio, 25.
9. Lucas Moura, 24.
10. Pablo Osvaldo, 23.
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