Atletico Madrid Leapfrog Barcelona and Bayern Munich

Only one club stands in the way of Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid completing their heroic rise to be considered the best club in Europe after the latest UEFA rankings put Los Rojiblancos in second place of their continental rankings.

Perched on 133.799 points, Atleti are now only behind Real Madrid's tally of 151.799 having been beaten by Zinedine Zidane's men in two of the past four finals.

It means that Simeone's side have jumped German champions Bayern Munich and LaLiga rivals Barcelona in the UEFA rankings, in spite of their inferior financial and historical muscle.

Unsurprisingly, second constitutes the club's best ever position in the charts having been seventh in 2012/13 on 119.542 points, nudging up to fourth after their first final at the end of the following year.

After two years in fourth, Atletico have stepped onto the podium after another semi-final outing last campaign to emphasise just how far they've come in a short space of time.