Barcelona play against Atlético Madrid, Manchester United meet Everton at home, a look at what is going on in European football on Saturday
Ronald Koemann. AP
Ronald Koeman could have his last game as Barcelona coach if there is a difficult trip to defending champions Atlético Madrid. The Dutch coach is under extreme pressure after Barcelona pegged embarrassing Champions League defeats and rumors in the Spanish sports press that he could be fired regardless of the result.
Koeman will not be in the dugout while he is Served the second of his two games suspension on protest. For striker Antoine Griezmann, the game will be the first since signing Barcelona on loan to return to Atlético. Radamel Falcao is set to continue his brilliant start with Rayo Vallecano by scoring a goal in Osasuna for the fourth game in a row. Cádiz welcomed Valencia after their coach publicly criticized some players who went to a club to party after losing without his permission. Mallorca host Levante, with several injured players missing on either side, including Mallorca’s striker Take Kubo.
For the third time this season, Manchester United will play on Saturday lunchtime as Everton travel to Old Trafford. It’s another quick turnaround for United, who played in the Champions League on Wednesday, when Cristiano Ronaldo’s late goal scored a 2-1 win over Villareal. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side lost a poor performance against Aston Villa last weekend in the league. It will be a tough test against Rafa Benitez’s side, who could go beyond United with a win. For the first time since 1964, five teams are without a win after six games in England’s top division: Newcastle, Leeds, Southampton, Burnley and Norwich.
There is a meeting in Turf Moor between Burnley and Norwich, which is at zero points. Southampton join Chelsea, one point behind leaders Liverpool. Leeds hosts Watford and Newcastle travels to Wolverhampton. Brighton got off to a surprisingly strong start, however, traveling to Arsenal in the late game after scoring 13 points out of the 18 available so far.
Juventus are fighting in Serie A and facing Turin in a derby to get at their champions League win against Chelsea. Returning Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri had been slow to put Federico Chiesa at the center of his attack but the Italian international got the job by default against Chelsea following the injuries suffered by Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata. Chiesa responded in an outstanding performance with a goal against Chelsea and is expected to play an important role against Torino as well. « This game will be tougher than the Chelsea game, » said Allegri. Defending champions Inter Milan can also extend their unbeaten start against a talented Sassuolo team. And Genoa will visit the last-placed Salernitana.
Borussia Dortmund will again have to do without the injured striker Erling Haaland in the eighth Bundesliga round. Marco Rose’s team sorely missed the Norwegian striker in the two away games: 0-1 against Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend, followed by an inconspicuous 0-1 win against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday. Dortmund clearly had to struggle without Haaland’s imposing presence. Wolfsburg welcomes Borussia Mönchengladbach in a fascinating duel, Stuttgart welcomes Hoffenheim and Freiburg visits Hertha Berlin before Leipzig welcomes newly promoted Bochum in the late game.
Amine Gouiri is making a name for herself with Nice by leading the league’s list of goalscorers. The skillful and mobile Gouiri has five goals and two assists before the home game against Brest. While Nice are in fourth place, Brest battling 19th and is one of only two teams that have yet to win. Another good news for Gouiri and strike partner Kasper Dolberg is that the Brest defense allowed 16 goals in eight games. In the other game, Montpellier welcomes Strasbourg with both of them in midfield. You score goals, but you concede too many.
New date:
October 02, 2021 10:32:46 AM
KEYWORDS:
The team was mocked by many of the 27,000 fans at Camp Nou Stadium after the final whistle, and it wasn’t long before critics began attacking manager Ronald Koeman for abandoning the club’s traditional passing game.
Frenkie de Jong was sent off in the 65th minute at the Ramon de Carranza Stadium, but Koeman, who also saw a red card in added time, will not appreciate keeping a tie.
Barcelona are in last place in Group E and are threatened with not making it into the knockout round for the first time in 20 years.
Sign up for a weekly curated briefing on key strategic matters from around the world.
Keywords:
