Another exciting weekend jammed-full of cracking fixtures across Europe’s top football leagues is ahead of us.
Let’s have a look at the three most intriguing match-ups to look forward to in the next couple of days.
Chelsea vs Manchester United
Fresh from a 4-0 hammering of Juventus in midweek Champions League action, Chelsea can now turn their attention back to domestic affairs as they welcome an underperforming Manchester United to Stamford Bridge.
A mouth-watering encounter in west London pits the in-form league leaders against the out-of-sorts visitors in a high-stake Premier League fixture.
A potential failure would see Chelsea allow their closest followers Manchester City and Liverpool to bridge the gap at the summit.
Meanwhile, another failed attempt to land the three points could throw Man United’s top-four hopes into doubt, as they already trail fourth-placed West Ham by six points.
Last weekend’s 4-1 romping at the hands of Watford saw the Old Trafford powerbrokers sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
After leading the Red Devils to an all-important 2-0 Champions League win over Villarreal in midweek, caretaker manager Michael Carrick will surrender his place to Ralf Rangnick.
Rangnick’s first task as an interim boss will be to extend Man United’s three-match unbeaten Premier League streak at Stamford Bridge against the high-flying hosts.
Juventus vs Atalanta
Tuesday’s humiliating 4-0 away defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League must have been a devastating psychological blow for Juventus ahead of their intriguing Serie A match-up versus Atalanta.
Sat four points adrift of fourth-placed Atalanta, the record-time Italian champions face a prime opportunity to get back in contention for a top-four finish.
But even though they’ll enjoy the privilege of playing at their Allianz Stadium, a return of just two wins from their last nine Serie A H2Hs is a worrying sign.
Indeed, Juventus failed to beat Atalanta in both last season’s top-flight duels, drawing 1-1 in this exact fixture back in December 2020 before slumping to a 1-0 loss in Bergamo April.
That alone should be enough of a motivation for Massimilano Allegri’s men, how have won just 50% of their Serie A home outings so far this season.
As for Atalanta, they head into proceedings as the only Serie A team yet to lose an away league game this season, winning the last three in a row by an aggregate score of 9-3.
Real Madrid vs Sevilla
The stage is set for La Liga toppers Real Madrid and warm title candidates Sevilla to exchange courtesies in a handsomely-looking affair at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Los Merengues received the morale booster they needed in midweek by putting three unanswered goals past Sheriff Tiraspol to book their place in the Champions League knock-out stages with a game to spare.
That, coupled with their eye-catching 12-game unbeaten run in home La Liga H2Hs, explains why Carlo Ancelotti’s side are pre-match favorites against such a top-class opposition.
Coming into this matchday, Sevilla are unbeaten in their last six league games on the trot and could leapfrog Madrid in the standings with a win here.
However, after scoring under 1.5 goals in six of their seven top-flight travels this season, Julen Lopetegui’s team might have a thing or two to think about ahead of this trip.
With just four points separating the top-four sides ahead of the weekend’s fixtures, the title race in Spain is wide open, suggesting this match-up could be of paramount importance for both teams.