La Liga: Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid
Saturday, 9pm
GARETH BALE IS expected to make his home Real Madrid debut in the derby clash with Atletico after overcoming a thigh injury.
The world record signing has missed Real’s last two matches with the problem after pulling up in the warm-up ahead of the 4-1 victory over Getafe, but he returned to training on Thursday.
Bale rejoins a squad that will be full of confidence following their controversial victory over Elche on Wednesday, although they will likely still have the words of coach Carlo Ancelotti ringing in their ears.
Ancelotti’s side needed a highly debatable last-gasp penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo to secure the points with the last kick of the game in midweek, and the Italian admitted that his players must do more if they are to overcome their arch-rivals at the Bernabeu this weekend.
Playing the way we did (against Elche), we are not going to win the derby,” he said. “We need to play better, with more intensity and more personality.”
Atletico made it six wins out of six with their 2-1 win over Osasuna on Tuesday and they will be hoping to maintain their perfect record in the first derby of the season.
They won their last meeting with Real in extra time in last season’s Copa del Rey final but they have not tasted league success against their capital counterparts since 1999.
Coach Diego Simeone will be hoping to break that run of 23 league games without a win and they will be brimming with confidence after their perfect start to the Liga campaign.
On TV? Sky Sports 2
Bundesliga: Eintracht Frankfurt v Hamburg
Saturday, 5.30pm
Hamburg are accustomed to finding themselves at the business end of the table, but have endured a poor start and are stuck third from bottom.
Their bad run of form has cost manager Thorsten Fink his job, and the Imtech Arena outfit will be under the stewardship of former Netherlands boss Bert van Marwijk for the first time against Eintracht Frankfurt.
On TV? BT Sports 1
Ligue 1: Lyon v Lille
Saturday, 7pm
Lille’s Salomon Kalou. Credit: Michel Spingler/AP/Press Association Images
Lille make the trip to Lyon hoping to continue their fine start to life under Rene Girard.
After a 3-0 win over Evian on Tuesday thanks to goals from Salomon Kalou, Jesper Hansen and Ronny Rodelin, they currently sit in fourth, just four points off leaders Monaco.
Lyon, meanwhile, lost to Fabrizio Ravanelli’s Ajaccio in midweek and are without a victory in over a month.
On TV? BT Sport 2
Serie A: Roma v Bologna
Sunday, 7.45pm
HIGH-FLYING ROMA will hope to maintain their 100% record in Serie A on Sunday.
Rudi Garcia’s charges beat Sampdoria 2-0 on Wednesday to record five straight wins at the start of a Serie A campaign for the first time in their history, and will hope to extend that run when they play host to Bologna at the Stadio Olimpico.
The table toppers come up against a Bologna side that have failed fail to register a league victory, but with three draws from five games could cause an upset.
On TV? BT Sports 1
Iconic yes, but not exactly aesthetic
@Gareth Ward: ah I dunno, I like it. I was there last year for a game and it has that big football feel about it that you don’t get from modern stadia. That being said, the proposals for the new ground look unreal
@Gareth Ward: moron . One of the greatest stadiums in the world. I have been in most of the famous ones except the azteca. Abosolute philistine to suggest this is not one of the greatest .
@Shane Gill: i want to get to an inter game b4 they bulldoze it.are tickets hard got? My 2nd fav stadium ever since cameroon v argentina italia 90!!
@Nigel Delaney: didn’t have any trouble with tickets. Went to an AC game v Sampdoria and got tickets from the ticket centre at the ground the day of the game.
@Shane Gill: thanks lad.Trish is mad to get to Milan too.win win!!
Fabulous stadium.
Was there a while ago. It’s definitely seen better days.
Amazing that two internationally renowned teams playing the same sport can use common sense and share a stadium.
The Aviva and Croke Park are underutilized assets, money going/gone towards paying the debts could have been put into grassroots.
At least the Bertie Bowl wasn’t built
@Goban Saor: By “sharing” you mean the professional rugby and soccer guys want to use the facilities of their more successful amateur counterparts.
@Goban Saor: They are only still doing it now due to Italian politics making it really difficult for many teams to get approval to build stadiums in Italy. A lot of the stadium are owned by City Council who don’t want to lose out on rent and have empty stadium.
@Seamus Cummins: That’s problem in a nutshell. Napoli have had same issues with renovating Stadio San Paolo. Naples Municipal Council owns the stadium and doesn’t want to pay for upgrades.