Malta Independent

What to watch in main competitio­ns

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What to watch in the leading soccer competitio­ns in Europe this weekend:

SPAIN

Zinedine Zidane's second stint as Real Madrid coach begins on Saturday with a home match against a Celta Vigo team which has dropped into the relegation zone after nine losses in its last 11 matches.

Zidane is back at the helm nine months after he led Madrid to a third straight Champions League title. The former player returned this week to replace Santiago Solari, who was released after the team was eliminated from the Copa del Rey and the Champions League and saw its Spanish league title hopes virtually end.

Madrid is 12 points behind league leader Barcelona and five points behind second-place Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona, the only Spanish team to advance to the Champions League quarterfin­als, visits Real Betis on Sunday. Atletico, trying to regroup from its loss to Juventus in the European competitio­n, plays at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. Atletico's only shot at a trophy is in the league, a competitio­n it last won in 2014.

Celta, 18th in the standings and one point from safety, has two draws and a win in its last 12 league matches. The game against Real Madrid will be the team's second under coach Fran Escriba.

Surprising Getafe will keep fourth place — and its hold on the final Champions League spot — even if it loses at seventh-place Valencia on Sunday. It has a fourpoint gap to fifth-place Alaves, which visits last-place Huesca on Saturday.

ENGLAND

Manchester City looks to keep alive its bid for an unpreceden­ted quadruple by beating second-tier Swansea in the FA Cup quarterfin­als on Saturday.

Manchester United looks to be City's biggest threat in the competitio­n, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team is away at Wolverhamp­ton Wanderers later in the day in an all-Premier League meeting.

In the other last-eight matches, Crystal Palace travels to Watford on Saturday and second-tier Millwall hosts Brighton.

There are five Premier League games — one of which sees Liverpool visit Fulham on Sunday with the aim of returning to the top of the standings, above City. Liverpool is a point behind in second place.

Chelsea is away to Everton in Sunday's other game.

On Saturday, it's: Bournemout­h vs. Newcastle, Burnley vs. Leicester; and West Ham vs. Huddersfie­ld.

GERMANY

Borussia Dortmund visits Hertha Berlin on Saturday hoping to reclaim the Bundesliga lead — temporaril­y at least — before Bayern Munich hosts Mainz on Sunday.

Bayern, which finally caught Lucien Favre's side last weekend and currently leads on goal difference, will be keen to atone for its Champions League exit to Liverpool in front of its own fans by bouncing back to form in the Bundesliga, where the side has 18 goals in its past five games and has won 12 of its last 13 games.

Mainz does not have any great expectatio­ns after losing five of its last six games.

But the club did win in Munich in March 2016, one of only three defeats Bayern suffered in its last 64 games at home.

Dortmund, which labored to beat Stuttgart last weekend, cannot afford any more slip-ups if it is to maintain its challenge before a potentiall­y league-deciding clash in Munich on April 6.

Hertha, which ended Dortmund's winning start to the season in October, is unbeaten in four meetings between the sides.

Fourth-place Moenchengl­adbach 26th round with a Freiburg on Friday.

ITALY

The two Milan clubs haven't been in the Champions League together for seven years.

The chances of that happening for the first time since the 2011-12 season would be boosted if Inter Milan beats its city rival in Sunday's Derby Della Madonnina.

AC Milan's five-match winning run has seen it move up to third, a point above Inter, which has won one of its past three league matches.

Mauro Icardi scored a stoppageti­me winner when Inter beat Milan 1-0 back in October but there is little chance he will repeat that feat on Sunday.

Icardi has not played in more than a month, since being stripped of his captaincy amid protracted contract negotiatio­ns. The 26-yearold Icardi has said he has a knee injury, although the club has said that tests have not revealed any particular problem.

A loss for Inter on Sunday, coupled with a victory for Roma at relegation-threatened Spal earlier in the day, would leave the two teams level on points, closely followed by Atalanta and Torino.

Those two sides are six points behind Inter and both have home matches against teams in the bottom three.

Juventus can extend its lead to 21 points with a victory over Genoa on Sunday, with second-place Napoli not playing Udinese until the evening.

FRANCE

Borussia begins the visit from

After crashing out of the Champions League last week, perennial European underachie­ver Paris Saint-Germain hosts Marseille, the only French club to win Europe's top tournament.

With a 17-point lead atop the French league, PSG has no real

Today

14:30 Alessandri­a-Entella 14:30 Carrarese-Arezzo

14:30 Novara-Cuneo

14:30 Olbia-Pisa

14:30 Pro Vercelli-Arzachena 16:30 Albissola-Gozzano

16:30 Siena-Lucchese

18:30 Piacenza-Pistoiese

20:30 Pontedera-Juventus U23

Serie C - Group B

Today

20:30 Renate-AlbinoLeff­e Tomorrow

14:30 Vis Pesaro-Sudtirol

16:30 FeralpiSal­o-Sambenedet­tese 16:30 Giana Erminio-Gubbio

16:30 L.R. Vicenza-Triestina

16:30 Rimini-Ravenna

16:30 Teramo-Virtus Verona

16:30 Ternana-Imolese

Serie C - Group C Tomorrow

14:30 Bisceglie-Siracusa

14:30 Casertana-Viterbese 14:30 Catania-Juve Stabia

14:30 Cavese-Paganese

14:30 Rieti-Catanzaro

14:30 Sicula Leonzio-Monopoli 14:30 Virtus Francavill­a-Trapani 18:30 Vibonese-Rende

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