The Superclásico, The Milan Derby, The Intercontinental, and MAN CITY vs ARSENAL
The Superclásico, The Milan Derby, The Intercontinental, and MAN CITY vs ARSENAL
Rivalry week!
It’s a big-game spectacular this weekend with headliners in the Premier League, Serie A, and even the Turkish Süper Lig. Yes, it’s FENERBAHCE vs GALATASARAY, plus the two Milan clubs go to battle in the Derby della Madonnina, there’s the Superclásico down in Buenos Aires, and then it’s MAN CITY vs ARSENAL in what looks an early-season title clash. There’s no podcast this week—I’m on the road in Utah, far away from microphones and mixers—but there’s still plenty to look forward to…..
SATURDAY
WEST HAM vs CHELSEA
7:30am ET, 12:30pm UK
It’s a London derby to kick things off, with the Hammers yet to find their style—or their substance—under new coach Julen Lopetegui. They’ve got four points from four games, a poor return, and Chelsea aren’t likely to provide much relief. Or will they? The Blues have been a bizarre side for a quite a while now and anybody could show up at the London Stadium.
LEICESTER CITY vs EVERTON
10am ET, 3pm UK
A relegation scrap! You could also look at SOUTHAMPTON vs IPSWICH TOWN for more of the same, and for some higher-brow fare, look to TOTTENHAM vs BRENTFORD or FULHAM vs NEWCASTLE, though the goings-on at Everton must be seen to be believed. Sean Dyche is surely in trouble, but will anything fix the situation at Goodison Park? Maybe it’s better that they’re on the road in the East Midlands.
FENERBAHÇE vs GALATASARAY
11am ET, 4pm UK
It’s the biggest match in Turkish football and a match of extreme intensity, the explosive kind that you don’t often see outside of Glasgow or Buenos Aires. (More on the latter down below.) They call this one the Intercontinental because, despite sharing a town, these two clubs are on different continents. Fenerbahçe is on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Strait that splits Istanbul, while Galatasaray is in Europe. These two have spent most of their history trading titles, but Fener are without a Süper Lig crown in a decade. Gala have rattled off two in a row.
JUVENTUS vs NAPOLI
12pm ET, 5pm UK
After a frankly disastrous title defense last term, the Neapolitans are back to causing trouble at the top of the league under Antonio Conte. The Italian firebrand gets results, particularly in his first couple of seasons with a club, and he gets results out of Romelu Lukaku, too. The Belgian has two goals in two appearances so far and will look to stay on the warpath as the Partenopei head up to Torino for a run-in with the Old Lady. Juventus haven’t exactly been free-scoring—this season or last—but they keep clean sheets and will expect to be in and around the Serie A summit. Right now, though, they’re all behind Udinese.
For a Premier League alternative, there’s always CRYSTAL PALACE vs MAN UNITED kicking off a half hour later.
BOCA JUNIORS vs RIVER PLATE
3pm ET, 8pm UK
The Superclásico. We’ve covered this one before—in the inaugural episode of the podcast, no less—and rest assured, it will be ferocious. River topped Group A in the Primera Division’s first phase, while Boca trundled into fourth in Group B. Now they’re thrown into the same pot together for the new phase, though don’t ask me to explain the format. The good news for Boca is that El Matador, Edison Cavani, is still kickin’ with 14 goals in 23 matches this season.
SUNDAY
BRIGHTON vs FOREST
9am ET, 2pm UK
Nottingham Forest are fresh off an historic triumph at Anfield, where they dispatched Liverpool 1-0 on Saturday with a vintage off-the-ball performance. (Though things very nearly went another way for goalkeeper Matz Sels.) Now they’re off to the South Coast to visit Brighton & Hove Albion, who are ahead of them on goal difference after a fine start to life under the offensively 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler.
MAN CITY vs ARSENAL
11:30am ET, 4:30pm UK
It’s the same old story here, at least on the early-season evidence. These two are set to duke it out for the Premier League title for a third consecutive year. The first two bouts went only one way, of course, and there’s no beating around it: City are in imperious form to begin this fresh Premier League season, with a maximum 12 points from four matches. They’re led, inevitably, by Erling Haaland, who’s got nine goals already, and by Rodri, who anchors the midfield as a very solid Ballon d’Or candidate. They’ve got a deep squad, weapons all over the pitch—and others ready to come on at a moment’s notice—with all the experience and know-how to win matches like this.
In other words, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team have their work cut out against his old mentor, Pep Guardiola, though they did take four points off the Sky Blues last term in their head-to-head meetings. That included a nil-nil draw at the Etihad in March, and there is a risk that the neutrals will once again declare this one a snoozefest. Goals may be in short supply, but either way this will be a supremely high-level tactical battle, one for the connoisseurs. And there’s a chance that this match breaks out and delivers the entertainment in a way we haven’t seen for a couple of seasons now.
In case this top-class Premier League match is somehow not to your liking, though, there’s a lofty Bundesliga encounter between STUTTGART and DORTMUND on at the same time. Then, an hour later, there’s a clash towards the top of La Liga between VILLARREAL and early leaders BARCELONA.
INTER vs MILAN
2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK
It’s the Derby della Madonnina, named for the wee statue of the Virgin Mary atop the Duomo in Milano. The San Siro will be mostly blue and black on this occasion, and the hosts come into this one as reigning champions of a particular variety: last year they secured their 20th Serie A title, pipping Milan to the feat—the red-and-blacks are still on 19—and the Nerazzuri didn’t do it just anywhere. They did it in this fixture, defeating their old rivals and shoving the achievement in their faces.
It was a question of when-not-if at that point considering the insurmountable points advantage that Inter had built at the top of the table, but their insistence on layering on just a bit more humiliation for their local enemies meant this one got a bit nasty at the end with three red cards in stoppage time. This one couldn’t be quite so spicy, could it?⚽︎