25/04 - 20:00
European football continues its intriguing season this weekend. Playmaker has a look at the biggest games of the weekend from each of Europe’s six major leagues.
ENGLAND
Chelsea vs Manchester United
16:30 on Sunday. It is the league leaders and current European champions hosting, arguably, the biggest club in the country – under new management.
📉 Fewest goals conceded after 50 games in charge of #Chelsea (fr. 2000):
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) November 24, 2021
24⚽️: 🇩🇪THOMAS TUCHEL🇩🇪
27⚽️: José Mourinho
32⚽️: Avram Grant
44⚽️: Carlo Ancelotti
46⚽️: Maurizio Sarri
49⚽️: Antonio Conte#CFC @AbsoluteChelsea pic.twitter.com/IUdMKBsqfW
Thomas Tuchel continued his extremely impressive reign as Chelsea boss with a 4-0 thumping of Juventus in midweek. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Mason Mount and Trevoh Chalobah all featured, highlighting the impact of Cobham and their academy. A 3-0 hammering of Leicester last weekend showcased the depth of talent in the Chelsea squad.
Reports on Thursday suggested that Ralf Rangnick was set to be appointed as Manchester United’s interim manager until the end of the season. Michael Carrick will still likely be in charge for this trip to Stamford Bridge as the caretaker boss. United’s 2-0 win at Villarreal was a classically poor Red Devils performance before late goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho. United could end up in the bottom-half if results go against them ahead of this one.
FRANCE
Saint-Etienne vs Paris Saint-Germain
12:00 on Sunday. French football is under immense pressure due to its recent hostility in the stands and Saint-Etienne themselves have been found guilty of bad behaviour so an aggressive atmosphere is expected.
Claude Puel’s St Etienne have had a shocker of a season and they have been among the bottom three for pretty much the entire campaign. However, back-to-back victories either side of the international break means that the hosts come into this in some majorly much-needed form.
PSG suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Manchester City in midweek in another result that didn’t necessarily reflect their performance – 2-1 flattered the Ligue 1 league leaders. Mauricio Pochettino’s pressing style of play does not work with the personnel he has and this could be an energetic match which leaves the possibility of a shock on the cards.
GERMANY
RB Leipzig vs Bayer Leverkusen
16:30 on Sunday. The match between two sides looking to smartly challenge Bayern Munich with innovative and forward thinking off-field decision making.
Jesse Marsch has had a difficult beginning to his tenure as RB Leipzig manager. His move from affiliate club Red Bull Salzburg in the summer came after he created an extremely enjoyable to watch Salzburg side and Leipzig have been similar. Their high-scoring, sometimes rushed play is thrilling but can often be catastrophic defensively.
Bayer Leverkusen have been exceptional since the appointment of Gerardo Seoane in the summer. Their attacking play is also evident with their 3-2 victory against Ange Postecoglu’s Celtic on Thursday night featured a late Moussa Diaby goal. Diaby forms a part of their attacking intent and this game should be an entertaining one.
ITALY
Juventus vs Atalanta
17:00 on Saturday. This is a game between arguably the biggest club in Italian football and the upstarts seeking to continue their breaking into the Serie A establishment.
Massimiliano Allegri’s second spell in Turin as the manager of Juventus has not gone very well. Their league season has been consistently poor with The Old Lady sitting in the middle-of-the-table and that poor form continued into Europe in midweek with a 4-0 defeat away to Chelsea in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Atalanta have been the highest scoring team in Italy for the last three seasons but they began quite slowly this time around. Gian Piero Gasperini’s intense summer training schedule took its tole but the Bergamasci are now clicking into gear and their thrilling 3-3 draw with Young Boys in midweek is expected to be a sign of the things to come in terms of entertainment.
PORTUGAL
Belenenses vs Benfica
20:30 on Sunday. This is a massive game which affects both ends of the Primeira table in what is becoming a fascinating campaign in Portugal.
Belenenses come into this on the back of a thrilling 5-3 victory away to Caldas in the fourth round of Taca de Portugal last weekend, following the international break. Nuno Oliveira’s side sit just above the relegation places but did win their most recent home game against Santa Clara at the end of October.
Benfica spent big in the summer of 2020 as they looked to build a side capable of reaching the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. Their strong squad is competing with Barcelona to get through this season after they failed to qualify for the groups last year. Their league season started extremely impressively but just four wins in their last ten matches in all competitions has complicated things.
SPAIN
Real Madrid vs Sevilla
20:00 on Sunday. This is a game that is not just massive historically and not just the return of Julen Lopetegui to the Bernabeu but it also has a real impact on this year’s title race.
Real Madrid have been strong and controlling under Carlo Ancelotti this season but there is a defensive naivety that can still be exposed as well as a lack of cohesive incision in attack at times. Despite that, Los Blancos remain fearsome for Sevilla and the Andalusians will have to overcome an inferiority complex.
Julen Lopetegui has not been back to the Bernabeu since he was sacked in the Autumn of 2018. He returns with a Sevilla side that are extremely strong defensively but can be overly cautious at times which is preventing them from mounting a serious title challenge. Lopetegui is performing impressively but could do with his side taking that next step and what an opportunity this weekend could be.
