A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Saturday:
GERMANY
Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich hosts improving Borussia Dortmund for “der Klassiker,” a game that could potentially reopen the title race. Bayern is only two points ahead of Leipzig with 11 rounds remaining, meaning if Dortmund can stretch its winning run to five games across all competitions, it would give Leipzig the chance to go on top. Leipzig visits Freiburg earlier. Dortmund stars Jadon Sancho, Raphaël Guerreiro and Giovanni Reyna are out of Saturday’s showpiece. Bayern has gotten over its bumpy patch – two games without a win – and resumed normal service in the league by routing Cologne 5-1 last weekend. Third-place Wolfsburg visits Hoffenheim and fourth-place Eintracht Frankfurt welcomes Stuttgart. Borussia Mönchengladbach hosts Bayer Leverkusen for a clash between two teams in crisis, and Hertha Berlin bids to end its nine-game winless run with a victory over Augsburg.
ENGLAND
A slump in form has seen Leicester’s grip on a top-four place in the Premier League loosen. The third-place team plays away at Brighton with injuries to Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, Ayoze Perez, Dennis Praet, Jonny Evans, James Justin and Wes Morgan straining the resources. Arsenal goes to Burnley 10 points from the top four. Aston Villa is two points above Arsenal as it hosts Wolverhampton and is set to be without captain Jack Grealish for a fourth game. Villa’s pursuit of European qualification was dented on Wednesday by a 1-0 loss at last-place Sheffield United, which plays Southampton. Injury-hit Southampton has lost eight of its last nine league matches, dropping to seven points above Fulham, which is in the final relegation spot.
SPAIN
Barcelona visits Osasuna trailing leader Atlético Madrid by five points. Atlético hosts third-place Real Madrid on Sunday, when Barcelona holds elections for a new club president. Ronald Koeman’s side is flying high after fighting back to beat Sevilla this week and reach the Copa del Rey final. It is also undefeated in 15 league matches. Barcelona defender Gerard Pique will miss the match with a leg injury. Fourth-place Sevilla will try to rebound from its cup elimination when it visits Elche. Also, Eibar and Valladolid must win respective matches against Cádiz and Getafe to ensure they don’t fall into the relegation zone.
ITALY
When Juventus hosts Lazio, the nine-time defending champion will be facing an opponent that has given it fits recently. Juventus has won only once in four meetings with Lazio since the start of last season, having been beaten twice by the Roman squad last season — once in Serie A then again in the Italian Super Cup. In their first meeting this season, an injury-time equalizer from Felipe Caicedo earned Lazio a 1-1 draw. Making matters more complicated for Juventus is that midfielder Rodrigo Betancur is out after contracting the coronavirus, and striker Paulo Dybala is still unavailable due to injury. Also, Sassuolo visits Udinese and Benevento visits Spezia.
FRANCE
Titleholder Paris Saint-Germain welcomes back winger Angel Di Maria from injury for the French Cup match away to Brest. But striker Neymar has not yet fully recovered from a left adductor injury sustained playing in the same competition last month. He has resumed light training with a view to being ready for next Wednesday’s game against Barcelona in the Champions League. PSG travels to the Brittany port city of Brest without striker Moise Kean as he continues his recovery from the coronavirus. In the other main Cup matches, Lyon will be without injured forward Tino Kadewere for the home game against second-tier Sochaux, while in-form Metz visits second-tier Valenciennes.
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