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SB Nation Soccer News | October 24, 2014

What to watch this weekend in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga - October 24

(click to expand schedule)

Premier League

Saturday October 25

7:45 ET West Ham United vs. Manchester City video
10:00 ET Liverpool vs. Hull City video
10:00 ET Southampton vs. Stoke City video
10:00 ET Sunderland vs. Arsenal video
10:00 ET West Bromwich Albion vs. Crystal Palace video
12:30 ET Swansea City vs. Leicester City video

Sunday October 26

09:30 ET Burnley vs. Everton video
09:30 ET Tottenham Hotspur vs. Newcastle United video
12:00 ET Manchester United vs. Chelsea video

La Liga

Friday October 24

15:00 ET Celta de Vigo vs. Levante video

Saturday October 25

10:00 ET Almería vs Athletic Bilbao video
12:00 ET Real Madrid vs. Barcelona video
14:00 ET Valencia vs. Elche video
16:00 ET Córdoba vs. Real Sociedad video
16:00 ET Córdoba vs. Málaga video

Sunday October 26

07:00 ET Málaga vs. Rayo Vallecano video
12:00 ET Espanyol vs Deportivo La Coruña video
14:00 ET Sevilla vs. Villarreal video
16:00 ET Getafe vs Atlético Madrid video

Bundesliga

Friday October 24

09:30 ET Werder Bremen vs. Köln video

Saturday October 25

09:30 ET Augsburg vs. Freiburg video
09:30 ET Borussia Dortmund vs Hannover 96 video
09:30 ET Eintracht Frankfurt vs Stuttgart video
09:30 ET Hertha BSC vs Hamburg SV video
09:30 ET Hoffenheim vs. Paderborn video
12:30 ET Bayer Leverkusen vs Schalke 04 video

Sunday October 26

10:30 ET Wolfsburg vs. Mainz 05 video
12:30 ET Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Bayern Munich video

Serie A

Saturday October 25

09:00 ET Empoli vs. Cagliari video
12:00 ET Parma vs. Sassuolo video
14:30 ET Sampdoria vs. Roma video

Sunday October 26

10:00 ET Chievo vs. Genoa video
10:00 ET Juventus vs. Palermo video
10:00 ET Udinese vs. Atalanta video
13:00 ET Cesena vs. Inter Milan video
13:00 ET Lazio vs. Torino video
13:00 ET Napoli vs. Hellas Verona video
15:45 ET AC Milan vs. Fiorentina video

3 To Watch
  • Real Madrid vs. Barcelona

    It's Barcelona against Real Madrid. You'll be watching it.

    Wait, we need more? Stupid word counts. Right, well, let's start with the league. Barcelona are top, undefeated, having dropped just two points from eight games. Eight games in which their defence, not the strongest on paper, has yet to concede a goal. They've scored the small matter of 22 at the other end … which is eight fewer than Madrid. The Meringues currently sit in third place having lost twice early on, but have been scoring goals in sadistic piles. If there's one near-certainty about the game, it's that nobody's here for the nil-all.

    Then there's Him, and also Him. The informal rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is, while almost certainly overstated and overplayed, still absolutely fascinating. The pendulum of public opinion is currently swinging towards the free-scoring Portuguese (who has 18 goals from 12 matches this season) and away from the diminutive Argentine (who has a mere 9 from 11), and Ballon d'Or voting season is fast approaching. There are people who will tell you that comparing them is futile, and they might be right, but even they secretly have a favourite. So do you. And if you can't enjoy a clash between two of the greatest players in history, who don't seem to like one another a huge amount, then you might be clinically dead.

    Then there's the supporting cast (and it says much about those two that a collection of players of this quality are just that). In the white corner, while Gareth Bale is missing through injury, the massed qualities of Luka Modric, James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema; in the red-and-blue, Neymar, Andres Iniesta, and perhaps one one of football's favourite villains, in both the pantomime and actual sense. Despite some last minute legalistic quibbling from the Madrid side of things, Luis Suarez should be eligible to make his Barcelona debut at some point on Saturday afternoon. Always compulsive viewing, the fact that he'll likely square up against Pepe raises the possibility of hitherto unplumbed depths of twattishness. That or he might score a good goal. He does those too.

    In short, this is as concentrated a shot of footballing quality as the world has to offer. And the two teams measure up against one another in interesting ways. Madrid are perhaps favourites; their attacking power looks, at least in theory, like it could be too much for a shonky-looking Barcelona. But if the visiting side can keep the ball -- traditionally a strength -- among themselves, or at least away from Ronaldo's feet, then they've the ability to find a way through a Madrid midfield that looks, from some angles, just a little soft. And Iker Casillas' halo is dimming with every flapped-at cross and patted-back shot.

    On a more general note, this fixture is, perhaps, the emblematic fixture of this particular phase of footballing history. Two superclubs that have in many senses outgrown their home country, their squads swollen by the finest footballers on the planet, their brands likewise, their reputations contingent not just on their performance in La Liga but in the Champions League, in the transfer market, and on Facebook, on Twitter, on Sina Weibo. One English paper has dubbed this the world's "first ever €1bn match", and while their counting might be up for debate, the slogan feels about right. This fixture, more than any other, is modern football, in all its glitzy, cloying, ultra-hyped, cash-soaked glamour.

    Ultimately, though, it's Barcelona against Real Madrid. You'll be watching it.

  • Manchester United vs. Chelsea

    It's been a while since a title-chasing team visited Old Trafford as such overwhelming favourites. Actually, that's not true; Liverpool and Manchester City both visited last March at the very lowest point of the Moyes adventure, and both left with comfortable 3-0 wins. Still, there's something odd about teams rolling up to Manchester United not just in the hope but the expectation of a win

    But if last season had any lasting effect beyond damaging David Moyes' career prospects, then it came with the destruction of the Old Trafford aura. Seven teams left with three points last season; three more snaffled a draw. It took one short season to knock down the castle that Alex Ferguson spent more than twenty years building. Though Louis van Gaal has repaired some of the damage, winning the last three home games, and while United remain strong compared to most of the Premier League, it's unlikely that many teams are going to arrive in a state of trepidation.

    Chelsea, for their part, might as well arrive with bibs tucked into their shirts. The Londoners are by some distance the league's most effective attacking side, and even if reports of Diego Costa's lack of fitness have not been exaggerated, the combined talents of Eden Hazard, Oscar, Cesc Fabregas and Willian will be looking forward to spending some time with the comedy stylings of Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Rafael and Luke Shaw. Rumours that one or both of Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher might be deployed to protect United's exposed back four are, if true, vaguely amusing in and of themselves.

    As such, if United are going to get anything from this game -- and they're not -- then they'll have to attack. Reports suggest that Angel di Maria could well be fit; ahead of him, with Wayne Rooney suspended and Robin van Persie in a hideous run of form, Radamel Falcao will have to relocate his striking boots. As for who might play alongside them, well, your guess is as good as ours. Juan Mata in the hole? Adnan Januzaj, poor against West Brom, on the wing? Even, perish the thought, Ashley Young?

    Of course, the possibility always remains that Jose Mourinho might deploy his giant fire-blanket of joy-smothering cynicism, but let's be optimistic. The options are: a mutual goalfest, a Chelsea-inflicted massacre, or United suddenly clicking and overturning the best team in the land. Each, in its own way, appointment viewing.

  • Lyon vs. Marseille

    It's rare a French match not featuring Zlatan Ibrahimovic attracts much attention these days. But more and more eyes are starting to drift toward Ligue 1, and they're not looking at the big money playing in Paris. They're not even shaking their heads at the way Monaco have become a non-entity. Instead, it's French former powerhouse Olympique Marseille that are turning heads.

    Simply allowing Marcelo Bielsa to take the reigns this season was likely enough to convince people to take another look at Marseille. But the Argentine isn't simply spending time sitting on cups of coffee. He's led his side to eight straight wins, which has them sitting top of the table, seven points clear of PSG. They're also scoring at will, with 25 goals in ten games. Fans are responding, filling the newly-remodeled Stade Vélodrome in record numbers.

    It would seem, then, that the visitors would be the clear favorites. After all, that other Olympique, Lyonnais, sit fourth, eight points behind and with a mere 20 goals scored. Lyon even managed to get themselves eliminated by Romanian side Astra in the Europa League playoffs. Eliminated by a team that sounds like a character from the Jetsons!

    But this match isn't likely to be a one-sided affair. Lyon, too, are hitting their stride, and are unbeaten in their last five -- a run that began with a late-equalizer at PSG, stretched over a 3-0 win over Lille and continued with last week's 5-1 drubbing of Montpellier. It seems like the handsome Hubert Fournier is finally making his mark on the side, getting the best out of his talented young attackers, and that should make the visitors just a bit nervous.

    Two sides averaging more than two goals per game. Two exceedingly in-form strikers in André-Pierre Gignac (ten goals for Marseille) and Alexandre Lacazette (eight for Lyon). And two teams with not just the hope, but the talent, to challenge for the title, bringing a much-needed sparkle back to French football. The question isn't why would you watch, it's why wouldn't you?

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