Germany's Biggest Game 🇩🇪 (Feat. Nik Wildhagen)

BAYER LEVERKUSEN must beat BAYERN MUNICH to stay in the Bundesliga title race.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN are no longer invincible. In fact, they’re eight points behind perennial powers BAYERN MUNICH in the Bundesliga table.

The Werkself need victory when Bayern come to the BayArena on Saturday if they want to keep the title race a race, and there are a few points in their favor: Xabi Alonso has not lost any of his five matches managed against his old employers, and the visitors have not been particularly good away from home in big games recently. Bayern have rattled off seven Bundesliga wins in a row, however, and they bring with them the frankly ridiculous attack of Jamal Musiala, Michael Olisé, Harry Kane and more.

Meanwhile, honorary Bayern president Uli Hoeneß is making noises in the buildup about the Bavarians luring away Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz. I asked this week's guest, Nik Wildhagen of Talking Fussball, whether this is a classic pre-match mind game from the Bayern hierarchy. Plus: as a supporter of another Bundesliga club, how does Nik feel about FC Hollywood's dominance of the competition for years on end, and is there any prospect that Germany's (relatively) empowered fans could rally to change the dynamic?

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READS

⚽︎ Can I invite you to read the requiem for Goodison Park published around these parts on Wednesday? I’m told it does the Grand Old Lady justice.

⚽︎ It’s been a good week for Everton, but how did they get pulled into a shirt-sponsor drama that involves gambling and a porn actress?

⚽︎ Conor O’Neil dives deep into how red cards have impacted this Premier League season for The Athletic. One answer: not good for Arsenal.

⚽︎ “Qatar Sports Investments is considering reducing its stake in Paris Saint-Germain,” The Guardian reports, amid a complex investigation into club president Nasser al-Khelaifi.

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MORE MATCHES

LEICESTER CITY vs ARSENAL

Sat @ 7:30am ET, 12:30pm UK

The visitors are engaged in a thrilling experiment: what would happen if you played without strikers? Arsenal have lost all of theirs to season-ending injury, and now it falls to various False 9s—Leandro Trossard is probably first up—to fill the void up front. Leicester are probably the newly promoted side most likely to escape relegation, and they do have a #9: Jamie Vardy loves to play against Arsenal, the team he declined to sign for all those years ago.

MAN CITY vs NEWCASTLE

Sat @ 10am ET, 3pm UK

It’s the Petroderby, as a couple of plucky underdogs go at it for three points. City are fresh off an increasingly characteristic disaster in midweek, throwing away yet another lead—albeit against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Newcastle have been up and down over the last month, but consecutive victories in the domestic cups, including over Arsenal in a League Cup semifinal, will encourage them coming into this one.

MARSEILLE vs SAINT-ÉTIENNE

Sat @ 11am ET, 4pm UK

The Saint-Étienne away supporters have been banned from traveling to this match by the French football authorities, who cite the potential for a “real and serious risk of confrontation” with the Marseille folk. The two powers of French football for most of its history could serve up a tasty one here.

VILLAREAL vs VALENCIA

Sat @ 3pm ET, 8pm UK

The Derbi de la Comunitat pits nearby cities on the coast of the Balearic Sea against one another. It came to prominence when ceramics and supermarket magnate Fernando Roig took over Villareal in 1998 and shot the club from relative obscurity to prominence. Valencia are historically one of Spain’s great clubs, but they’re in deep trouble now, mired in the relegation zone. It’s packed down there, though, so a win could send them as high as 15th. Villareal are fifth and deep in the hunt for Europe next season.

LIVERPOOL vs WOLVES

Sun @ 9am ET, 2pm UK

Are we seeing one or two signs of fragility from the league leaders? Liverpool looked borderline rattled at Goodison Park in midweek after dropping two points at the death, and they’ll be desperate to right the ship against lowly Wolves at home. The West Midlands outfit are in a relegation scrap with two of the three newly promoted sides—Southampton are fully cooked—now that Everton, West Ham, and Tottenham have put some daylight between themselves and the bottom-feeders.

TOTTENHAM vs MAN UNITED

Sun @ 11:30am ET, 4:30pm UK

The Tinpot Big Club Derby has a lot of potential for goals, comedy, and generalized chaos. Both of these sides are Top Six in reputation only, 14th and 13th in reality, and they each ship lots of goals to the opposition. United haven’t scored too many—only four teams in the division have bagged fewer than their 28—but you’d back them to find a way against Tottenham’s defence. Odds are that both managers will be head-in-hands on the sideline at some point, possibly at the same time.

JUVENTUS vs INTER

Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

In terms of spectacle, Juve have been stinking it up at times this season, but this is the Derby d'Italia and respect must be paid. Inter are certainly a good watch, and they’re one point off Napoli at the top of the table. Perhaps they can squeeze a good match out of Thiago Motta’s side, who will surely set up to defend first, score second, even at home. This is, after all, an Internazionale side who’ve scored 147 goals since the start of last season.

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GEAR

👕 Admiral is out with a collection of New York Cosmos gear that would make Pelé or Beckenbauer proud, especially this polo-ish number.

👕 Classic Football Shirts has a massive deal on 2024-25 Inter Miami shirts (Lionel Messi edition) if that’s your cup of tea. You won’t do better than $58 if you’re looking to pledge your allegiance to the man who’s made Soccer into America’s Pastime.⚽︎