In the month since our last World Club Power Rankings, the biggest change has been teams' form. Rather than using their time away from European competition to pad their resumes, most clubs have given us reason to doubt. Juventus keeps drawing, Manchester City has lost three times, while Bayern has coughed up the lead in Germany. Whereas there's always been a gap between our list's top two (Barça, Real) and the rest of the group, now the divide is huge. Four or five teams have a claim to sit third, but none have the form to make a straight-faced claim for second.

That chasm should give us pause. While many fans have derided the Spanish league for being a duopoly, the bigger European picture isn't much different. True, the gap between Barcelona and Valencia in Spain is huge, but the space between Real Madrid and the Bayerns, Milans and Citys of the world is no more encouraging.

How interesting can a rundown be if the top two never change? If Justin Bieber and whomever else the kids are listening to were always 1-2 in the charts, wouldn't we eventually stop checking?

With European competition restarting, those clubs will have a chance to make their case for a spot on the list, potentially seizing opportunities presented as top ten clubs pick each other off. For now, they sit on the outside looking in along with the two clubs who lost their spots:

Dropped out
 

Inter Milan (last month: 10) - The Nerazzurri's surge up the table in Italy earned them a spot in the list, making it four Serie A teams amongst our top ten. Since then, Claudio Ranieri's team has fallen back to earth and out of our countdown.

Udinese (8) - Even though Udinese remain in Italy's title race, they've lost three of their last five. Their place in the top ten was tenuous to begin with. Now, they're out.
 

Spurs failed to take advantage of a weakened Manchester City squad on Jan. 22, losing at the Etihad. They also drew at Anfield (Monday) and were drawn at home by Wolves on Jan. 14. Wins over Everton and Wigan have allowed Tottenham to maintain their comfortable third place perch; still, the last month has shown Spurs are not quite ready for a title challenge. Their ranking on our fake list has been adjusted accordingly.

Upcoming matches: Newcastle (Saturday, Premier League)

Manchester United's only loss in the last 30 days may have been an understandable one at Anfield, but there was little to recommend the Red Devils after Sunday's match at Stamford Bridge. While Alex Ferguson's side has deserved to be lauded for their perseverance, their comeback requires context. It's been a while since Chelsea has been very good, yet Manchester United found a way to spot them three goals. They needed two Howard Webb interventions to pull close enough to salvage a point, and on the back of last month's thrashing at the hands of Newcastle the game served as a further reminder that United is a very good but very flawed team.

Upcoming matches: Liverpool (Saturday, Premier League)

Dortmund may be in first place in Germany, but they carry what is at best a mixed resume. Their rock bottom finish in an easy Champions League group gives detractors a megaphone, but as more time passes and Dortmund continues accumulating wins, it becomes easier to see their Champions League struggles as merely a phase.

But on its own, Dortmund's record doesn't justify a spot on this list above a Paris Saint-Germain (first place in France) or Zenit (first place in Russia). This is a case where the eye test becomes a deciding factor.

BVB look the part. They're playing like a top ten team, thrashing opponents since returning from break. Having scored 14 goals in four matches since the restart, BVB's play hints they've refound the stride that allowed them to comfortably secure last season's Bundesliga title.

Upcoming matches: Bayer Leverkusen (Saturday, Bundesliga)

The "Last 30 days" mark obscures the Rossoneri's more recent form: one point from their last two games and only two wins in their last five. Were it not for that dip, Max Allegri's team would be in the top half of this list.

Milan will have a chance, over the next week, to prove this drop too harsh. They look to hand Juventus their first loss of the season on Wednesday, the Old Lady visiting the San Siro for the first leg of the clubs' Coppa Italia semifinal. Three days later Milan is in Udine, with the club's Champions League campaign resuming on the 15th against Arsenal.

Should Milan run the table, they're likely to bounce all the way to number three.

Upcoming matches: Juventus (Wednesday, Coppa Italia), at Udinese (Saturday, Serie A)

The last time we gathered, Manchester City was coming off three losses and paid the price for it, dropping from four to six. Now City's form has only marginally improved, though their three losses come in a slightly different context. For much of this span, they've been without Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli. While teams will always miss players and should be expected to adapt to challenges, the reasons those three have been out are unlikely to be repeated anytime soon.

But the real reason City hasn't dropped farther is the failure of others. Milan hasstumbled, United is still a mixed bag and Spurs lost at the Etihadt to a Kompany/Toure-less side. Like many others on this list, City owes its spot more to other's shortcomings than its own accomplishments.

Upcoming matches: at Aston Villa (Sunday, Premier League)

Benfica has now won 10 in a row, a streak that is over two months old. They are five points up on Porto in the league and have outscored opponents 29-6 since being eliminated from the Taça de Portugal at the beginning of December. Ultimately, fifth spot may prove too high, but their résumé justifies this placement, as does their personnel and their to-the-eye form.

The only reason the Eagles wouldn't be ranked this high is an inherent belief teams from Portugal (and similar leagues) can't be this strong, a belief this list dismisses.

Benfica may not stay here long, but for now, they've earned the spot.

Upcoming matches: Nacional (Saturday, Liga), at Zenit (Wednesday, Champions League)

Coming out of Germany's winter break, Bayern won only one of three league matches, begging two questions (as it pertains to our little list). First, how far should they drop? And second, should Borussia Dortmund, now sitting top of the league, rank above FCB?

Let's start with the second. Why do we have Bayern above Dortmund? With only two points separating the clubs in the league, it's not too difficult to craft an argument as to why Bayern deserves the better ranking, particularly when you consider the clubs' results in Europe. Bayern is a dark horse contender in Champions League, and while Dortmund has the better form of late, they're out of Europe entirely. Considering Bayern has the slightly better goal difference in the league (for what that's worth), reasonable minds can both disagree and be justified in their logic.

The second question is much easier to answer. It's hard to fall very far when nobody's stepping up to take your spot. City's "Last 30 days" are the worst on the countdown, and Milan stumbled this week. The best arguments are for Benfica and Dortmund, one of which will be in this spot soon unless Bayern rights its ship.

Upcoming matches: at Stuttgart (Wednesday, Pokal), Kaiserslautern (Saturday, Bundesliga)

With nine draws in league play, Juventus has rarely looked like the third-best team in the world. Third, however, is a relative distinction, and if nobody's going to outperform them, the Old Lady gets the spot.

To imply that the place has defaulted to them undersells Juventus' accomplishments. True, they had a disappointing weekend draw against Siena, but before that? A convincing victory over an improving Roma and three points from third place Udinese reminded us Juventus is undefeated for a reason.

In other years (and on other lists), this Juve team may not rank this highly, but after a January that saw many list stalwarts stumble, Juventus is a clear number three.

Upcoming matches: Cagliari (Sunday, Serie A)

Still only the second-best team in the world, Real Madrid's performance in the second leg of the Copa del Rey Clasico showed the gap between them and their rivals is not as big as some imagine. Should the teams meet in Champions League, it's not inconceivable that Real Madrid could have a plan in place to dethrone Europe's champions, but until we see that plan work, los Merengues stay firmly entrenched at number two.

Upcoming matches: Levante (Sunday, Liga)

The blind Madridista will want El Real's large Liga lead to catapult them to number one, but to put Barcelona anywhere but number one would be a bit disingenuous. Even Barça's most ardent hater has to concede this is the best team in the world. Something beyond a few draws needs to happen in order to knock them from this spot.

Upcoming matches: Valencia (Wednesday, Copa del Rey), at Osasuna (Saturday, Liga), at Bayer Leverkusen (Tuesday, Champions League)