Domestic Leagues

Weekend Bangers: The highlighted fixtures for the coming weekend.

By Odd Yellah

Posted on April 5, 2024

The football weekend brings forth the following matches:

🇪🇸 A cup final in Spain, where Athletic Club and Mallorca compete for the Copa del Rey title.
🇮🇹 The Rome derby, as Roma seeks to widen the gap on Lazio in Serie A.
🇳🇱 De Klassieker, as Feyenoord aims to secure points against Ajax to aid their slim chance of retaining the Eredivisie title.
🇵🇹 A Lisbon derby, which is bound to influence the Primeira Liga title race.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Northwest derby, as Liverpool searches for the points from Manchester United to help their Premier League title race.

There are no 🇪🇸 La Liga games scheduled for the weekend.

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THE SHOTS TO TAKE THIS WEEKEND

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Friday, April 5, 2024

🇪🇸 Fernando Morientes turns 48, 🇩🇪 Thomas Hitzlsperger turns 42, 🇲🇦 Yassine Bounou (Morocco) – 33.

🇮🇹 Salernitana vs. Sassuolo (italian serie a)
The bottom two teams in Serie A will face off, with Salernitana trailing Sassuolo by 10 points. While hope may seem futile for Salernitana in the relegation battles, Sassuolo remains in a position to maintain optimism. These points are crucial for both clubs to improve their chances, but it’s likely that Sassuolo will make the stronger push for maximum points.

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Saturday, April 6, 2024

🇺🇸 Herculez Gomez turns 42, 🇦🇷 Nahuel Molina turns 26.

🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven vs. AZ Alkmaar (dutch eredivisie)
Both teams are coming off midweek league games, each experiencing different outcomes. PSV Eindhoven secured a 2-0 victory on Tuesday against Excelsior, rebounding from their first league defeat of the season. Meanwhile, AZ Alkmaar endured a shocking 5-0 loss to Excelsior, a team struggling to gather points to stave off relegation on Wednesday. PSV emerged victorious with a 4-0 win in the previous encounter between the two sides.

🇵🇹 Sporting CP vs. Benfica (portuguese primeira liga)
Lisbon Derby – It’s a two-horse title race in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. The contenders meet again for the second time in five days. They clashed on Tuesday, resulting in a 2-2 draw which was sufficient for Sporting CP to secure a spot in the Taca de Portugal final with a 4-3 aggregate victory. Another draw would suffice for Sporting CP, as they currently lead the title race by a point and also have a game in hand.
In the reverse fixture, Benfica emerged as 2-1 winners. They require another victory here to climb to the top of the league standings and narrow the advantage Sporting CP holds with their game in hand.

🇮🇹 Roma vs. Lazio (italian serie a)
Rome derby : Lazio eliminated Roma from this year’s Coppa Italia with a 1-0 victory in the quarterfinals, and their previous league encounter resulted in a goalless draw.
Roma recently played to a goalless draw with Lecce in their last league fixture, while Lazio secured a 1-0 win against Juventus. Despite this, Roma currently holds a six-point lead over Lazio in the Serie A standings, with eight more rounds remaining in the season.

🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund vs. Stuttgart (german bundesliga)
A victory for Dortmund would narrow the gap between them and Stuttgart to just one point. For Dortmund, winning is also the sole means to secure their league position, unless RB Leipzig fails to secure a win against Freiburg.

🇪🇸 Athletic Club vs. Mallorca (copa del rey final)
Although Mallorca is the more recent winner of the competition, Athletic Club boasts a significantly superior history of success in the tournament. Athletic Club seeks their 23rd Copa del Rey title, while Mallorca pursues their second.

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Sunday, April 7, 2024

🇮🇹 Marco Delvecchio turns 51, 🇫🇷 Franck Ribéry turns 41, 🇺🇾 Martín Cáceres turns 37, 🇵🇹 William Carvalho turns 32, 🇳🇱 Andries Noppert turns 30.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester United vs. Liverpool (english premier league)
An English classic – Manchester United will host Liverpool for the Premier League point.
The reverse fixture ended in a goalless draw, while their recent meeting in the FA Cup quarter final saw Manchester United emerge victorious with a 4-3 win after extra time.
Liverpool is contending for the league title, making the points in this match vital for their pursuit. Manchester United’s season has been marked by inconsistency, with unpredictability becoming the only consistent aspect. Anything other than a heavy defeat will be considered progress for them.

🇳🇱 Feyenoord vs. Ajax (dutch eredivisie)
De Klassieker – The last two Eredivisie champions face off, with Ajax far from being a contender, and Feyenoord struggling to maintain their title defense against the impressive season PSV Eindhoven has had.
Feyenoord were 4-0 winners in Amsterdam in the reverse fixture. It is up to Ajax to respond.

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Monday, April 8, 2024

🇵🇱 Grzegorz Lato turns 74, 🇷🇺 Aleksandr Chivadze turns 69, 🇧🇷 Mazinho turns 58, 🇹🇳 Khaled Badra turns 51, 🇷🇺 Igor Akinfeev turns 38, 🇦🇺 Mathew Ryan turns 32.

🇮🇹 Udinese vs. Inter Milan (italian serie a)
Another opportunity for Inter Milan to close out the title race. They will be away against Udinese.

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(STANDINGS) THE TITLE RACE IN THE TOP 7 LEAGUES:

🇮🇹 Serie A: Inter Milan with a 14-point lead.
🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen with a 13-point lead.
🇫🇷 Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain with a 12-point lead.
🇳🇱 Eredivisie: PSV Eindhoven with a 9-point lead.
🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Madrid with a 8-point lead.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Premier League: Liverpool with a 2-point lead.
🇵🇹 Primeira Liga: Sporting CP with a 1-point lead and a game in hand.

🇮🇹 Serie A:
1st | Inter Milan (30) – 79 points
2nd | AC Milan (30) – 65 points
3rd | Juventus (30) – 59 points
4th | Bologna (30) – 57 points

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THE FIXTURES INVOLVING THE LEAGUE LEADERS:

Apr 6.
🇩🇪 Union Berlin vs. Bayer Leverkusen (german bundesliga)
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain vs. Clermont (french ligue 1)
🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven vs. AZ Alkmaar (dutch eredivisie)
🇵🇹 Sporting CP vs. Benfica (portuguese primeira liga)

Apr 7.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester United vs. Liverpool (english premier league)

Apr 8.
🇮🇹 Udinese vs. Inter Milan (italian serie a)

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HIGHLIGHTED FIXTURES

Your football watchlist for this weekend:

Apr 5.
🇫🇷 Lille vs. Marseille (french ligue 1)

Apr 6.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City (english premier league)
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Aston Villa vs. Brentford (english premier league)
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Arsenal (english premier league)
🇮🇹 AC Milan vs. Lecce (italian serie a)
🇮🇹 Roma vs. Lazio (italian serie a)
🇩🇪 Heidenheim vs. Bayern Munich (german bundesliga)
🇩🇪 Freiburg vs. RB Leipzig (german bundesliga)
🇩🇪 Union Berlin vs. Bayer Leverkusen (german bundesliga)
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund vs. Stuttgart (german bundesliga)
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain vs. Clermont (french ligue 1)
🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven vs. AZ Alkmaar (dutch eredivisie)
🇳🇱 Twente vs. Fortuna Sittard (dutch eredivisie)
🇵🇹 Braga vs. Arouca (portuguese primeira liga)
🇵🇹 Sporting CP vs. Benfica (portuguese primeira liga)

Apr 7.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester United vs. Liverpool (english premier league)
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sheffield United vs. Chelsea (english premier league)
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tottenham Hotspur vs. Nottingham Forest (english premier league)
🇮🇹 Monza vs. Napoli (italian serie a)
🇮🇹 Juventus vs. Fiorentina (italian serie a)
🇫🇷 Brest vs. Metz (french ligue 1)
🇫🇷 Monaco vs. Rennes (french ligue 1)
🇫🇷 Nantes vs. Lyon (french ligue 1)
🇳🇱 Feyenoord vs. Ajax (dutch eredivisie)
🇵🇹 Porto vs. Vitória de Guimarães (portuguese primeira liga)

Apr 8.
🇮🇹 Udinese vs. Inter Milan (italian serie a)

🇪🇸 🏆 Athletic Club vs. Mallorca: Copa del Rey Final Showdown

Athletic Club earned their spot in the final through a challenging path, eliminating Barcelona in the quarterfinals and overcoming Atletico Madrid in the two-legged semifinals.
In contrast, Mallorca’s journey to the final was less straightforward. They narrowly edged past Girona in the quarterfinals and survived a penalty shootout against Real Sociedad in the semifinals.
Regardless of their differing paths, both teams have earned their place in the 2024 Copa del Rey final. The ultimate champion will be decided on Saturday.

Although Mallorca is the more recent winner of the competition, Athletic Club boasts a significantly superior history of success in the tournament. Athletic Club seeks their 23rd Copa del Rey title, while Mallorca pursues their second.

FC Barcelona (31), is the only club with more Copa del Rey titles than Athletic Club.

Athletic Club’s history in the Copa del Rey final has been marked by heartbreak in recent years. Their last appearance was in 2021, where they suffered a 4-0 defeat to Barcelona, continuing a streak of consecutive final defeats after losing to Basque rival Real Sociedad the previous year with a score of 1-0.

This upcoming final will be Athletic Club’s third Copa del Rey final in the last five years, yet they have not managed to secure a victory. Their most recent title win dates back to 1984, and despite reaching the final on six occasions since then, they have been unable to claim the trophy. The plan will be to finally end the drought by winning the title in their seventh final since their last Copa del Rey title success.

Mallorca clinched their only Copa del Rey title in 2003, marking their sole triumph in the competition to date. This victory came in their last appearance in the final, where they emerged victorious with a 3-0 win against Recreativo de Huelva. The Copa del Rey triumph in 2003 stands as arguably the most prestigious trophy in Mallorca’s history.

Athletic Club have secured the Spanish Super Cup on three occasions since 1984: in 1985, 2016, and most recently in 2021, but 1984 marked the last successful year in Athletic Club’s history. They achieved a domestic double by clinching both the league title (8th) and the Copa del Rey (23rd).