What to watch in international soccer this weekend
With the German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 off until the new year — and all of European soccer off on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day — the calendar is a thin one this weekend. But a huge game in Spain on Saturday will more than fill that void.
La Liga: In an age when hyperbole and exaggeration have become part of normal conversation, it’s rare that any game referred to as a “classic” lives up to the billing. But soccer’s “El Clasico,” which matches Barcelona and Real Madrid and their respective superstars, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, may be an exception. We’ll find out Saturday when the rivalry is renewed in the Spanish capital. You’ll have to get up early to see this one, though, since the afternoon start in Madrid means a 4 a.m. PST kickoff (BeIN Sports).
Serie A: Only three points separate the top four teams in the Italian league table and two of them square off Saturday when fourth-place Roma travels to Turin to meet second-place Juventus. And the teams come in hot with both unbeaten in their last nine. (BeIN Sports, 11:45 a.m.).
EPL: With a victory Saturday over visiting Bournemouth (NBCSN, 7 a.m.), Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team will run its winning streak to 17 games in league play, second-most ever in a major European league behind Bayern Munich’s 19-game streak from 2013-14. The coach of that team? Pep Guardiola.
Follow Kevin Baxter on Twitter @kbaxter11
