Whatever your plans were for this weekend cancel them. Graham Caygill picks out five games not to be missed.
Saturday, 7pm, beIN Sports
The second La Liga Madrid derby of the season, and this is a game that neither side can afford to lose, while drawing does them no real favours either. With Barcelona charging away at the top of the table, they now have a lead of eight points over Atletico, with Real a further point adrift. Real have grounds for optimism in that they have a 100 per cent record at the Bernabeu since Zinedine Zidane took over as coach last month, winning all four games, with 20 goals scored in the process. Diego Simeone's side can take heart from the fact that they are unbeaten against Real in their past five league meetings, a run that stretches back to April 2013.
Sunday, 6.05pm, beIN Sports
A big match for contrasting reasons. United need the points to try to kick-start their sputtering Premier League campaign and reignite their bid to finish fourth, with Louis van Gaal's men currently six points adrift of that target in fifth place. Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck will come up against his former side having scored the winner against Leicester City 11 days ago that moved the London side to within two points of Leicester at the top of the table. Arsene Wenger will be keen to see a quick response from his side following their disappointing 2-0 loss to Barcelona at home in the first leg of their last-16 Uefa Champions League tie on Tuesday.
Sunday, 8.30pm, beIN Sports
Both sides have enjoyed success in the League Cup in recent years. Liverpool won it under Kenny Dalglish in 2012, while City came from behind to beat Sunderland 3-1 in the 2014 final. City will start as favourites in Sunday’s final at Wembley Stadium, but will be wary of a Liverpool side that produced their best performance of the season at the Etihad Stadium in November, when a Philippe Coutinho-inspired side thrashed the home side 4-1. The sides will become familiar opponents to each other this week, with another meeting, this time in the Premier League, scheduled for next Wednesday evening at Anfield.
Sunday, 11.45pm, beIN Sports
All good things must come to an end eventually, and having only known victory in Serie A since October 31, Juventus' 15-match winning streak came to an end last weekend as they were held to a goalless draw by Bologna. The run has transformed their season as they have recovered from a poor start to lead the table by a point, and the champions were further galvanised in midweek as goals from Paulo Dybala and Stefano Sturabo saw them come from two down to draw 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the Uefa Champions League. Juve will expect to return to winning ways against fifth-placed Inter, who are 10 points behind them in the standings.
Sunday, midnight, beIN Sports
On paper when the fifth-placed side in the table hosts the league leaders, with three months of the season still to go, there should be plenty of stake. But that is not the case in Ligue 1 this season where Paris Saint-Germain go into the game with a resounding 24-point lead at the top, with Lyon 34 points adrift of Laurent Blanc's men. PSG are yet to lose this season, with 23 wins and four draws, and will look to strike pairing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani, whose tally of 35 goals between them is only three less than Lyon's entire total in 27 games, to fire them to victory again.
