Videos Live Scores Podcasts Opinion Interviews Business of Sport Inside Story Football Cricket Tennis Formula One Golf NBA UFC UAE Racquet Sports Fitness

Juventus can twist the knife into Roma in Europe’s headline fixture for the weekend

Aditya Devavrat

19:22 19/12/2018

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.

More from european

From Morocco to Abu Dhabi: Zakaria El Jamari’s incredible martial arts journey

French-Algerian Anissa Meksen gets chance to be first to claim new ONE Championship gold

Adrian Lee’s ONE Championship debut confirmed as he looks to further family legacy

NBA 3X ABU DHABI an unparalleled success with legends LaMarcus Aldridge and James Worthy in attendance

ONE Friday Fights 59: French-Algerian looks to maintain KO momentum in headliner

New ONE Championship king Alexis Nicolas ready to fight ‘the world’

Most Popular