This has been a gripping week in football with Jose Mourinho finally being sacked by Manchester United and Germany’s top team, Borussia Dortmund, finally losing a league game.
That sets up an exciting round of fixtures across Europe in the upcoming weekend, with the La Liga title race potentially taking another twist and Juventus and Roma taking centre stage in Serie A.
Here’s a look at the games to watch in Europe’s top five leagues this weekend.
SERIE A
MATCH: Juventus vs Roma
WHERE: Allianz Stadium
WHEN: 11:30PM GST, 22nd December, Saturday
Last season, this was a clash between Italy’s best team and its third-best – though there was an 18-point gap between Juventus and Roma at the end of the season. Right now, Roma are down in seventh and already 22 points behind the league leaders.
A trip to Juventus is never an easy prospect, far less so when you’re out of form. Roma fans have been protesting against the owner in recent weeks, and if their team is handed a thrashing by Cristiano Ronaldo and company, the atmosphere will only get worse.
Saturday’s fixture is a chance for Juventus to twist the knife.
No stopping Ronaldo and Juventus.
PREMIER LEAGUE
MATCH: Cardiff City vs Manchester United
WHERE: Cardiff City Stadium
WHEN: 9:30PM GST, 22nd December, Saturday
In a nice twist of fate, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first match in charge of United will come against another former club. Solskjaer was Cardiff City manager in 2014, taking over in January but managing just nine wins in 30 games – and only three in 18 in the Premier League, as Cardiff were relegated.
Fans of the Bluebirds would be forgiven for being bemused that Solskjaer has now taken over at United, based on that record.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on United’s starting XI, and then on how they perform against a team that has recently climbed out of the relegation zone.
Solskjaer’s time as Cardiff manager was a disappointment.
LA LIGA
MATCH: Barcelona vs Celta Vigo
WHERE: Nou Camp
WHEN: 9:30PM GST, 22nd December, Saturday
Celta Vigo have been a bogey side for Barcelona in recent years, consistently offering the La Liga champions a tough game. Both league fixtures between the two sides last season finished 2-2, though Barca did win 5-0 at home in the Copa del Rey.
That was actually the third straight season in which Barca had beaten Celta by five goals at the Nou Camp, as the famous defeats have come away from home – 4-1 in 2015/16, 4-3 the following season.
Lionel Messi, fresh off another hat-trick, will be looking to weave his magic again to ensure no shock defeat happens on Saturday.
Celta have a good recent history against Barcelona.
LIGUE 1
MATCH: Montpellier vs Lyon
WHERE: Stade de la Mosson
WHEN: 12AM GST, 23rd December, Sunday
This weekend’s trip to the south coast will offer a good test for Bruno Genesio’s side, who are caught in a three-way battle with Lille and Montpellier for the honour of finishing as runners-up to Paris Saint-Germain.
Lyon are currently third, with a game in hand on Lille who are three points above them, and two points ahead of Montpellier – who, in turn, have a game in hand on Lyon, and have the league’s best defence outside of PSG. Memphis Depay, Nabil Fekir, and company will not find have an easy game – but a win could be priceless.
Memphis Depay and company have a tough fixture coming up.
BUNDESLIGA
MATCH: Borussia Dortmund vs Borussia Monchengladbach
WHERE: Westfalenstadion
WHEN: 11:30PM GST, 22nd December, Saturday
Borussia Dortmund’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end on Tuesday, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Fortuna Dusseldorf. The week doesn’t get any easier from there, as Borussia Monchengladbach come to town with aspirations of cutting Dortmund’s lead at the top even further.
Gladbach are six points behind in second place, with Bayern Munich a further three back in third. If Dortmund were to lose a second straight, optimism about someone finally dethroning Bayern will start to disappear.
Both Gladbach and Dortmund will have something to say about that over the rest of the season. For now, they’ll do battle as the Bundesliga‘s top two.
Paco Alcacer will be looking to continue his scoring run.
