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panish La Liga football club, Barcelona, have been named the world’s most valuable football club, valued at USD$4.76 billion (AUD$6.21 billion), according to Forbes.

The ranking listed the top 20 of the world’s most valuable clubs, and saw Barcelona narrowly edge out Spanish rivals, Real Madrid, who were valued at USD$4.75 billion (AUD$6.2 billion).

Rounding out the top five are German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, and English Premier League clubs Manchester United and Liverpool.

The 2021 edition marks the first time Barcelona have topped the ranking and the first time a club other than Real Madrid or Manchester United have been the most valuable in the past 16 years.

In the report, Forbes revealed the average value of the top 20 clubs has increased by 30% to USD$2.28 billion (AUD$2.97 billion) in the past two years despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused financial stress for the majority of sporting clubs across the entire world.

Out of the top 20 ranking, the English Premier League clubs lead all other leagues with nine entries, followed by the Italian Serie A with four clubs, Spain’s La Liga with three clubs, Germany’s Bundesliga with two clubs, and one from both France’s Ligue 1 and the Netherland’s Eredivisie.

Forbes reported the average revenue for the 20 teams was USD$441 million (AUD$575 million) for the 2019-20 season, a drop of 9.6% from 2017-18.

The list was generated by an examination of enterprise values through a look at equity plus net debt and according to Forbes include the economics of the club’s venue.