European football: Crucial Madrid and Manchester derbies headline action-packed weekend

Real Madrid head into the derby against Atletico with a spring in their step, Bayern Munich face one of the stories of the German season so far, and there is a threat to Paris Saint-Germain’s position at the top of Ligue 1.

In the Premier League, Manchester United’s early Champions League exit means Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s position is back under scrutiny ahead of Manchester City’s visit to Old Trafford for a game neither side can afford to lose.

The Manchester derby is the most eye-catching fixture during a Premier League weekend that includes a trip to Crystal Palace for leaders Tottenham and a date at Fulham for champions Liverpool.

Ahead of a European football weekend that seems pivotal in every sense of the term, here are things to look forward to.

Real to end Atletico run?

Zinedine Zidane has stepped back from the brink again at Real Madrid after they qualified for the Champions League last 16 on the back of a vital La Liga win at Sevilla.

Now, though, they face Atletico in the derby. There have not been many meetings of these sides in recent times where Atletico have appeared favourites even as the away team, but Diego Simeone’s side are in frightening form.

Atletico are a point clear at the top of La Liga with at least one game in hand on the teams beneath them. They are six points above Real at fourth and have won their last seven La Liga games. They are on a club-record run of 26 unbeaten league games.

However, Real were the last team to beat them domestically, back on February 1, and they have not lost any of their last eight La Liga meetings with their city rivals. With Sergio Ramos back, Real could end Atletico’s current streak and breath new life into their title defence?

Historically, Real have always had the upper hand in this rivalry. Will that be the case again on Saturday?

Manchester derby

Both Manchester clubs have recovered from slow starts after having barely two weeks of pre-season due to European commitments in August.

Solskjaer’s men, following a run of four straight league wins, can claim to be in the hunt for a first league title since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 sent the Red Devils into a spiral of decline.

But the helter-skelter nature of some of those victories, allied to the shoddy defending that led to a 3-2 defeat to RB Leipzig in midweek, means the pressure is once again on the Norwegian. A fourth defeat in six Premier League games at Old Trafford this season could see the Red Devils finish the weekend eight points off the leaders, albeit with a game in hand.

City are a point behind United at seventh, but Pep Guardiola’s men appear to be coming into form after recording back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.

In stark contrast to United’s Champions League woes, City’s serene progress into the last-16, with two games to spare, allowed Guardiola to leave Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus in reserve for the derby.

However, for all United’s inconsistencies, Guardiola will be wary of their pace.

City were repeatedly undone by United’s quickfire counter-attacks last season – losing three of four meetings – and have shown signs in defeats to Tottenham and Leicester this season that they have not resolved the issue.

It will also be a battle between perhaps the Premier League’s top two midfielders, De Bruyne and Fernandes. The result will depend on who comes out on top in this battle.

Premier League title race

United and City are just two of five genuine title contenders, with Chelsea perched just two points behind Tottenham and Liverpool at the top of the table.

A slip in the standards set by Liverpool and City in recent seasons promises the most open race for years.

New Chelsea signings Edouard Mendy, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva and Timo Werner are making a big impact for Frank Lampard’s men, who are on a 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions, excluding the penalty shootout defeat to Tottenham in the League Cup.

The Blues can leapfrog Spurs when they travel to Everton on Saturday evening, with Tottenham seeking to extend their own unbeaten run in the league to 11 games at Crystal Palace a day later.

Tottenham have not won the league since 1961 but, in Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, currently have the most lethal strike duo in the league and have conceded just one goal in their past six league games.

Liverpool are well-placed, with their injury crisis easing. Trent Alexander-Arnold started for the first time in a month on Wednesday, captaining his boyhood club at just 22 in the 1-1 Champions League draw against Midtjylland.

Union without Kruse against Bayern

Bayern have displayed some signs of fallibility recently, even if they remain top of the Bundesliga and have lost once in 49 games.

They had to come from behind to draw their last two Bundesliga home matches, and on Saturday they go to Union Berlin, who have been the story of the German season so far.

Union are sixth, having gone eight games unbeaten before losing 3-1 to Hertha in last weekend’s derby.

Only Bayern have scored more goals than Urs Fischer’s side, who have been led by Max Kruse, the Germany international who returned home in August when he signed for Union from Fenerbahce. He has six goals and five assists but will be absent against Bayern because of a thigh injury.

Title race in France?

Could there be an actual title race this year in France?

A third of the way through the campaign and the five teams below Paris Saint-Germain are all within five points of the leaders. Marseille are four points back but have two games in hand.

Lyon, meanwhile, are two points behind the reigning champions thanks to a 10-game unbeaten run and they visit Paris on Sunday.

They will hope PSG are feeling the effects of completing their midweek Champions League match against Istanbul Basaksehir 24 hours later than planned, although Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are in fine fettle just now.

Conte irritated and under pressure

Antonio Conte is again in the firing line after Inter were dumped out of the Champions League in the group stage for the third season running, the second straight year under his stewardship.

Conte, who was also knocked out in the group stage in his last season at Juventus, was clearly irritated in an interview with Sky Italia after his side’s European elimination, telling the presenter to “think before asking questions” and having a disagreement with Fabio Capello.

The pressure on him will only grow if Inter fail to beat Cagliari, as the Nerazzurri aim to stay in touch with unbeaten Serie A leaders AC Milan, who are five points clear of their city rivals.

Schalke hurtling towards unwanted record

Schalke are bottom of the Bundesliga and in dire straits. They have not won in 26 league games since January and are closing in fast on the Bundesliga record for the longest run without a victory.

That record is currently held by Tasmania Berlin, who in their one Bundesliga season, in 1965/66, went 31 matches without winning. Schalke are doing their best to outdo them and on current form are hurtling towards the second division after 30 unbroken seasons in the elite.

Arsenal struggles

Arsenal are the only member of the so-called “Big Six” who have lost touch with the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are a lowly 15th in the table after their sixth defeat in 11 games at the hands of Tottenham last week.

The main problem for Mikel Arteta’s men is the lack of goals – only the current bottom three have scored fewer than Arsenal’s 10 so far and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has not found the net from open play in the league since the opening weekend.

But the Spaniard was buoyed by his side’s reaction after the defeat to Spurs, saying he sees a team with “big belief”.

(With AFP inputs)