With the European football season approaching its culmination, the title races in Italy and Spain have still been neck and neck with others already been decided.
At the moment Barcelona has a three-point lead over Real Madrid in La Liga, consequently, it is possible that El Clasico which will be played on May 11th will decide the title this year.
The team from Catalonia has been just unstoppable, stayed unbeaten for the whole of this calendar year despite the tough April games where they played against three of the top-10 teams in La Liga.
Their May games are less stressful, with the exception of the very important game at Santiago Bernabeu, their home game against Real Madrid.
Real Madrid’s schedule seems a bit easier in the immediate future having three opponents from lower standing, the only exception being the Athletic Bilbao game, which is a major challenge for Carlo Ancelotti’s squad. Both Spanish superpowers are still juggling their workloads mainly due to their participation in the Champions League and the Copa Del Rey.
In Italy, leaders Inter Milan are at the top of the table but only 3 points ahead of last year’s champions Napoli in Serie A. Besides having some favorable matchups in the home stretch, Napoli also enjoys a lead of three points over the rivals.
Inter, on the other hand, are the front-runners, but they still have a lot to catch up on, considering their domestic league and European league commitments.
Internazionale have just started their pursuits in Coppa Italia and Champions League and have made it to the top in Serie A, so they should take care of the harder challenges that are coming up next, including a couple of games against the top-eight teams of the division. On the other hand, Napoli has been doing well and they have only one match against a lower team that will be played away from home.
The fact that Bayern Munich is comfortablely leading with a gap of 6 points over Bayer Leverkusen does not necessarily take away the pressure from the team. But since the fixture list of Bayern for the end of April and for May seems tough – games against Mainz, RB Leipzig, and Borussia Mönchengladbach are included – the above-mentioned breathing room could evaporate quite fast.
Leverkusen, in summary, was unable to turn Bayern’s defeats of the last month into an overall advantage. As a result, they are left with a much less difficult part of the date time table to handle, although they still need to pay a visit to Mainz and go through quite tough fixtures such as the matches with Augsburg and Freiburg. The title is not yet lost for Leverkusen, but it basically asks for Bayern to make a mistake.
The way it is, Paris Saint-Germain triumphs in Ligue 1 seems inevitable now with the team 21 points ahead of Monaco at the top of the table. Twenty percent of Paris Saint-Germain’s fourth title after another one more win throughout the season, becoming all the more likely, but yes, the… focus likely shifting toward Champions League last sixteen is real and the goal is still there.
The Premier League, similarly, has seen Liverpool comfortably lead throughout the season and the race has been so far one-sided. The difference of twelve points from Arsenal and the near lineup of straightforward games before them are all the necessary requirements so that the Reds can proclaim themselves the winners of the 20th English Premier League edition.
Some of today’s La Liga matches are particularly exciting, and one such game is hosting Real Betis by Barcelona at 8:00 PM. There are high hopes that the championship leaders will… of the top saying that a win over a challenging Betis side will increase their advantage in the table.
The Santiago Bernabeu game, Real Madrid vs. Valencia, which will kick off at 15:15, is known to be a particularly crucial one overall season as it is Real Madrid’s turn to win a three-pointer today.
Barcelona will have to face their rival opponent while other matches will be played like Girona vs. Alaves and Real Mallorca vs. Celta Vigo. It will definitely be an exciting day of football.
The action at Serie A has reached a fevered pitch, not to be outdone by the race to the top by the two Milan clubs. The first of the two matches offered by Milan is against Fiorentina at 7:45 PM, with Parma playing Inter Milan in the earlier match at 5:00 PM. Monza vs. Como is the early fixture at 2:00 PM.
Also scheduled are two Bundesliga games, one of them being Leipzig against Hoffenheim and another being Freiburg versus Dortmund, both of which will be played at the same time, 2:30 PM. On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen is off to visit 1.FC Heidenheim for a game that is also scheduled for the same time, with them vying for a seat to the top of the standings alongside Bayern Munich.