Direct clashes between relegation candidates and title challengers, as well as intensifying Top 4 battles all around Europe!
There are only a handful of matches left in all of Europe’s top leagues for this season and we are still none the wiser to so many things! Will this weekend help us at all? Teams fighting relegation will stand up to face title leaders, with Top 4 battles across competitions that still have so many candidates fighting for the Champions League qualification positions. Everything will go right to the wire!
Not sure who to take a punt on? Then read our preview and place your bets wisely!
Contents:
- Premier League – Everton vs Manchester City
- Bundesliga – Union Berlin vs SC Freiburg
- LaLiga – Espanyol vs Barcelona
- Serie A – Race for the Top 4
Premier League – Everton vs Manchester City
Well, what a phenomenal result for Everton last weekend. Not only was their sensational 5-1 victory over Brighton only their 2nd win away from home all season, and their 1st win in 8 matches home or away, but the 3 points were absolutely vital in seeing the Toffees jump out of the relegation zone with just 3 games to go in the Premier League. The win came at a crucial time, if they had lost it would have been even bleaker going into this match against league leaders Manchester City, but now there is some optimism. Not necessarily optimism for a victory here, because Everton have only won 1 of their last 19 PL meetings against Man City, but optimism for potential survival in these final 3 games. However, who knows what will happen, they will know that City will throw huge priority at their Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg just 3 days after this match, so maybe Everton will face an opponent that is resting key players? Sean Dyche’s men will want every advantage as they go in search of winning consecutive league games for the first time since October.
The Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg cannot be understated for Manchester City. Pep Guardiola will be happy with their performance in the 1st Leg, a 1-1 draw away from home against Real Madrid which sees the Citizens returning to the Etihad, with home advantage, in an attempt to reach the Final. Let’s not forget, the UCL is the trophy that has forever evaded Man City, they’ve won everything else, and have been desperate for years to get their European crown. Perhaps the indication is already there that Guardiola will rest key players, the Spaniard made no substitutions in that Semi-Final 1st Leg, so a rest against Everton will be seemingly vital for his star players. Amongst them of course are Kevin De Bruyne, the goalscorer at the Bernabéu, and indeed Erling Haaland, scorer of 51 goals in all competitions this season, totally otherworldly compared to the mere 7 goals by Everton’s top scorer Dwight McNeil. Despite all of this UCL priority, let’s not forget Man City are in pole position in the Premier League title race with 4 games to go (they have a game in hand over Arsenal), and a stretch of 10 consecutive league wins suggests that, whoever they field, they will not want that run to stop. With 5 consecutive victories at Goodison Park, too, City will want to make that 6.
Bundesliga – Union Berlin vs SC Freiburg
Defeat for both teams last weekend was disastrous. Whilst it has just about kept Union in the Top 4 (4th), Freiburg have fallen out of the Champions League qualification positions (5th). With only 3 games to go, this could be THE crucial match here.
Let’s not forget, neither of these teams have ever qualified for the Champions League in their history and, with 6th-placed Leverkusen 8 points behind Union Berlin and Freiburg, at least 1 of them will make it. Union Berlin are in a better position thanks to a marginally better goal difference (+12 compared to Freiburg’s +8) and they have one group to thank for this: the defence. Die Eisernen have the best defence in the Bundesliga, conceding only 32 goals, evidently the main reason for their success given that Union have scored the fewest goals out of any team in the top half of the table (just 44). Ironically, 4 of these 32 goals conceded came against Freiburg earlier in the season in a 4-1 defeat but this time, playing at home at the Alten Fӧrsterei, the expectation is to take revenge: Union Berlin have lost just 1 of their last 6 home games against Freiburg (won 2, drawn 3). Even better, Urs Fischer’s men remain unbeaten at home all season (won 9, drawn 6), form which has contributed to this being the best-ever season in the Bundesliga. They won’t stop there however!
Form for both teams has dropped at the wrong time. Union have won just 1 of their last 5 Bundesliga matches and, whilst Freiburg have better league form than that (won 3 of their last 5), that won’t hide from the pain of consecutive defeats in all competitions, both at home against Leipzig, one of which eliminated them from the DFB-Pokal at the Semi-Final stage. Pair that with the Breisgau-Brasilianer falling out of the Top 4, and it’s been a bad couple of weeks for Christian Streich’s men. However, all is not lost, victory here against Union would throw them back into the Champions League qualification spots with just 2 games to go, and any form of repeating the performance of the reverse fixture earlier in the season (4-1 win vs Union) would be massive. For a while, it seemed Top 4 was destined, but perhaps the main reason for Freiburg’s slip has been their performances in big games: of the 7 games they’ve lost in the Bundesliga this season, 6 of them have come against the 4 teams ahead of them in the league table. Big games need to be won and, having won against Union earlier in the season, another here gets you one step closer to the UCL!
LaLiga – Espanyol vs Barcelona
The Derbí Barceloní is always a huge occasion in the region of Catalunya, but this particular derby is particularly crucial for both of these teams, distanced at opposite ends of the table.
For Barcelona, it’s simple: if they win here, they will be crowned LaLiga champions for the first time in 4 years. Even a draw and both Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid failing to win their games would be enough to see the blaugrana win the league, and Xavi Hernández’s men will be desperate to achieve that here. Why? Well, what better way to win the league than at the home of your bitter rivals! Barcelona have always enjoyed playing against their neighbours, they’ve got an unbeaten stretch of 25 LaLiga games against Espanyol (won 18, drawn 7), and have indeed travelled well to the home of their rivals with 14 games undefeated here (won 7, drawn 7). It’s been a dominant season for Xavi’s men, 26 victories in the league is 5 more than any other team, with Barça failing to win just 7 games so far. Coincidentally, 1 of these 7 was against Espanyol (a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou), so there is added motivation here to get that derby victory. Even more so, perhaps, when we see that Barcelona have failed to win their last 2 away games (drawn 1, lost 1).
Perhaps Espanyol can take advantage of this Barcelona blip? Whilst Barça want the win in this derby to become league champions, Espanyol need victory just as desperately in their fight to avoid relegation. Currently 19th and 3 points from safety with just 5 games remaining, los Periquitos have it all to do to turn their fortunes around, starting with a derby where they absolutely cannot allow their rivals to win the league on their own turf. In that regard, Espanyol will make it as difficult as possible, despite the fact they haven’t beaten Barcelona since 2009, but when fighting relegation anything can happen! When you’re down towards the bottom you are forced to find small positives, but encouragement for Luis García will be that his team did win their last home match (1-0 vs Getafe) and they were unfortunate to lose away from home against Sevilla 3-2, having led 2-1 at one stage. Goalscoring has never been their issue, 40 scored is the second-best tally out of teams in the bottom half, with Espanyol scoring in 9 of their last 10 league games. However, against the best defence in the league (just 11 conceded), can they end their winless curse against rivals Barcelona?
Serie A – Race for the Top 4
Rather than a particular game this weekend in Serie A, we deemed it best to focus on the ever-changing, ever-thrilling race for the Top 4 that remains still so tight with just 4 games remaining. We’ll focus on the teams from 4th-7th, Inter (4th – 63 points), Milan (5th – 61), Atalanta (6th – 58) and Roma (7th – 58).
Form has hit Inter at the perfect time. For a brief period a few weeks ago, it seemed like the Nerazzurri season would end in total disappointment and, yet, suddenly everything is to play for. A total of 4 consecutive wins in Serie A, some of which came against fellow Top 4 competitors Lazio and Roma, has catapulted Simone Inzaghi’s men up the table and in a good position to make the Champions League qualifiers. However, all attention still remains on this season’s Champions League, as Inter managed to earn a 2-0 victory in their Semi-Final 1st Leg against bitter rivals Milan, seemingly one foot in the Final. With their match against Sassuolo sandwiched between these Semi-Final matches, how much will Inzaghi prioritise this league game?
As for Milan, a truly disastrous Semi-Final 1st Leg, and they have it all to do next week to turn things around in an attempt to reach the Champions League Final. With that in mind, we can assume Stefano Pioli will rest some key players over the weekend against relegation-threatened Spezia, in order to keep them fresh for the next game against Inter. One of those, Raphael Leão, missed the 1st Leg due to injury and the priority will certainly be to get him ready for the 2nd. However, with a Top 4 finish uncertain this season, how much of the team can Pioli rotate? He will still need a victory in this match, nothing else will help, and just 1 win in their last 5 league away games is a bad run that cannot continue. A big week awaits for the Rossoneri.
Atalanta and Roma sit a bit further away from the Top 4 action (6th and 7th, both on 58 points), but a good run of form towards the end of the season could see things change dramatically. However, unfortunately for both teams, they each lost their last Serie A fixture (Atalanta lost 2-0 to Juventus, Roma lost 2-0 to Inter) which has seen those teams above them create a bigger gap. Wins are crucial for both teams and, fortunately for Atalanta, their next game comes against Salernitana, a team who are seemingly safe from relegation and have little to play for. Better yet, the reverse fixture earlier in the season ended 8-2 to Atalanta, and how Gian Piero Gasperini would love a similar outcome here. As for Roma, an away trip to Bologna awaits, another team who have little to play for in the remainder of this season. That doesn’t always guarantee an easy game, but the Giallorossi will be grateful to know they’ve only lost 2 of their last 13 visits to Bologna (won 7, drawn 4). However, with a crucial Europa League Semi-Final against Leverkusen, José Mourinho will also need to balance his priorities.