Cancel plans for Sunday... 'El Clásico', United-Liverpool, 'OM-PSG' & Derby d'Italia all on same day!
Soccer fans are in for a treat on Sunday next, as four of the biggest fixtures in European football take place across the continent on the same day.
Every so often the 'fixture list gods' smile down on soccer fans across the world and treat us to a veritable feast of top class fixtures with Sunday next being one of these days when the stars align and four of the biggest games in LaLiga, Premier League, Ligue 1 and Serie A will take place on one day.
Cancel all plans and here's all you need to know ahead of what really is 'Super Sunday'.
El Clásico: FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid (10:15 ET/16:15 CEST start)
Arguably the biggest game in domestic club football (despite many still lamenting the lack of icons such as Lionel Messi, Cristano Ronaldo and even Sergio Ramos) opens the football fest with Real Madrid traveling to Camp Nou to face a Barcelona side in disarray both on and off the field. Under pressure coach Ronald Koeman saw how is side manage to eek out a 1-0 home win over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League in what was a 'must-win' game for the Catalans who languish in eighth place in the LaLiga table.
Carlo Ancelotti heads into his first 'El Clasico' of his second tenure on the Bernabéu bench buoyed with a rather more emphatic win too over Ukraine opposition as 'Los Blancos' secured a 0-5 away win over Shakhtar Donetsk. Real Madrid hold the upper hand over Barça in their competitive 'Clásico' meetings with the side from the Spanish capital having won 98 of their meetings to Barcelona's 96.
AS prediction: Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid
Players to watch: Ansu Fati (Barcelona) / Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid)
Manchester United-Liverpool (11:30 ET/17:30 CEST kick-off)
Both sides go into Sunday's Premier League clash on the back of 3-2 wins in the midweek Champions League action with United securing the victory in more dramatic fashion having trailed 0-2 to Atalanta at the interval in front of a nervy Old Trafford. A solid second half performative from the 'Red Devils' momentarily alleviated dome of the pressure from under-fire manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who had Cristiano Ronaldo to thank as the Portuguese striker nodded home in the final minutes to keep United on track in the Champions League.
Liverpool too had a roller-coaster match at the Wanda Metropolitano as they saw off Atletico Madrid in a high octane European night in the Spanish capital. Klopp's men remain unbeaten in both the Premier League and in the Champions League and 'Reds' fans will be more than satisfied with a repeat of the corresponding scoreline from last season's meeting in Manchester where goals from Jota, Mo Salah and a brace from Roberto 'Bobby' Firmino helped the visitors to a 2-4 win.
AS prediction: Man United 1-1 Liverpool
Players to watch: Bruno Fernandes (Man United) / Mo Salah (Liverpool)
Le Classique: Olympique Marseille vs. Paris Saint-Germain (14:45 ET/20:45 CEST start)
Despite a brief wobble against RB Leipzig midweek in the Champions League, a double from Messi was enough to keep PSG on track to top Group A as the Parisian side maintain their quest for the highly sought after Champions League title so badly craved by the club.
All eyes, inevitably will be on the Rosario born striker on Sunday night at the Veledrome as he swaps 'El Clasico' for 'Le Classique' as Ligue 1's fiercest rivals Marseille and PSG face each other for the first time this season.
Third-placed OM are 10 points behind leaders PSG with one game in hand and Jorge Sampoli will be hoping for a positive showing in the Europa League fixture against Lazio ahead of Sunday's clash.
Upon being asked about Sunday's fixture, OM midfielder Matteo Guendouzi was in a bullish mode claiming that he was confident that the boost of home fans at a packed Veledrome (away fans are banned from attending this fixture) would rally Marseille on to secure maximum points against their rivals from the French capital.
AS prediction: Olympique Marseille 0-2 PSG
Players to watch: Dimitri Payet (Marseille) / Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
Il Derby D'Italia: Inter vs Juventus: (14:45 ET/20:45 CEST start)
Multi screen options will be very much needed by fans hoping to watch both 'El Classique' and the San Siro clash as current Serie A champions Inter (who thwarted the Turin based side from securing a tenth consecutive 'Scudetto)' welcome Allegri's 'Bianconeri' to Milan.
The fixture between both Northern Italian giants hailing from the most populous cities of Milan and Turin was baptized the 'Derby D'Italia' in the 1960s by Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Gianni Brera and has become one of the most high profile games in the Serie A calendar along with the Rome, Milan and Genoa derby games.
Despite an early season wobble, Juventus seem to have recovered with Massimiliano Allegri back on the Juve bench for his second spell in charge and a win at San Siro on Sunday would propel Juve back into a Champions League place in the Serie A standings.
Inter go into the game looking to make ground on runaway leaders Napoli who have won all eight games this season and who are playing wonderful football under Luciano Spaletti.
AS prediction: Inter 1-1 Juventus
Players to watch: Lautaro Martinez (Inter) / Federico Chiesa (Juventus)
