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The Assist: A decisive weekend and searching for Sergio Ramos
Plus El Clasico, Wrexham on the verge, FA Cup semi-finals
Ahead of a weekend where Liverpool’s pursuit of the Premier League title and an El Clásico Copa Del Rey final are the headliners, we’re here to distract you with additional games to look out for — plus news on Sergio Ramos’ first season down in Mexico.
From the FA Cup and Women’s Champions League semi-finals, to Wrexham’s promotion hopes and a bilingual town in Switzerland, we’ve got you covered.
Liverpool vs. Spurs
Arne Slot goes in to the clash with Spurs knowing that a point is all his Liverpool side need to claim their 20th Premier League title in front of their own fans. That’s thanks, in part, to Arsenal dropping points against Crystal Palace in the week.
With Spurs 16th in the table on 37 points, Ange Posteteglu’s job might not be the safest, but the club are now mathematically assured of their place in the Premier League next season.
Liverpool have only lost once at home in 2024/25 and Spurs, who likely have one eye on next week’s Europa League semifinals, haven’t won at Anfield since 2011. Surely this is the weekend that the Reds finally get over the line?
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
The final of the Copa Del Rey takes place in Seville on Saturday night and we’ll be treated to this season’s third edition of El Clásico as a result.
Despite rumours to the contrary, Carlo Ancelotti has remained in his position as Madrid boss, so will be determined to switch the narrative having watched their hated enemies destroy his side 4-0 in LaLiga and 5-2 in the final of the Super Copa in the past few months.
For Hansi Flick, Barca’s recent dominance over Madrid will mean nothing without silverware. With the two also embroiled in a two-way title race in LaLiga (Barca lead Madrid by four points), this final serves as a warmup to their league meeting in May, a game likely to determine the destination of this year’s title.
FA Cup semi-finals
Away from this weekend’s Premier League action there’s the small matter of the semifinals in the world’s oldest cup competition to contend with.
On Saturday, Crystal Palace make their 12th visit to Wembley, where they take on Aston Villa. Unai Emery’s side are enjoying a positive campaign but were beaten in the Champions League quarterfinals and currently sit outside the qualifying places for next year’s competition in the Premier League. A first FA Cup win since 1957 would shift this season from encouraging to remarkable. For their part, Palace have never lifted the famous old trophy.
Then, on Sunday, Nuno Espírito Santo’s Nottingham Forest meet Manchester City. City have made the last two finals but face a stern test against the side who are currently battling them for third place back in the league. Forest are aiming to reach the final for the first time in 34 years.
This weekend’s encounter is the 264th superclásico, with hosts River Plate hoping to edge closer on the overall head-to-head statistic: Boca 92 wins, River 87.
Boca Juniors lead Zone A and would guarantee top spot with a win at El Monumental, while River Plate are fourth in Zone B. But, with only two games left, the higher River Plate can finish, the more favourable the draw for the next stage — a play-off with the top eight teams each from Zone A and Zone B making a Last 16 knockout competition.
The two rivals could potentially face off again in the quarter-finals, should both sides win their playoff first round ties.
Christopher Hylland is the author of “Tears at La Bombonera: Stories from a Six-Year Sojourn in South America” and “Dame Bola: A Journey Through the Language of Argentinian Football”
Wrexham vs. Charlton
Further down the pyramid, we could see something quite unprecedented with Welsh side Wrexham on the verge of a third straight promotion. This has never been done before in the professional levels of the English game but the celebrated side do come up against Charlton Athletic, another storied club battling to get out of League One.
For Wrexham to go up this weekend, they need to beat Charlton in Saturday’s late kick off and hope Wycombe fail to beat Leyton Orient earlier in the day. Otherwise, this one will go to the final day.
Inter vs. Roma
Over in Serie A, defending champions Inter and Napoli are locked on 71 points each at the top of the table. With five rounds to play, the consensus is that it’s the challengers who have the easier run in.
Therefore, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter need to start with three points against Claudio Ranieri’s top-five-chasing Roma — and end a winless run of three games that has seen them beaten by Bologna in the league, and knocked out of the Coppa Italia by city rivals Milan.
UWCL semi-finals
The second legs of the Women’s Champions League semifinals both take place on Sunday.
Both English clubs left in the competition, Chelsea and Arsenal, have the unenviable task of overturning first leg deficits. And against the two most successful club sides in recent years.
First, Chelsea face the forlorn task of trying to come back from 4-1 down against two-time defending champions Barcelona. And then the Gunners travel to record winners Lyon, where they start 2-1 down on aggregate against former Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro.
Watch enthusiasts might already know the uniquely-named, bilingual Swiss city of Biel/Bienne as the home of Rolex and Omega, but now the city’s football club is hoping to put the place on the map for sporting reasons.
On Saturday, third-tier Biel/Bienne face giants Young Boys in the semifinals of the Swiss Cup. In what has been a good year for lower league sides in cup competitions, Biel/Bienne might look across the border to German 3.Liga side Arminia Bielefeld for inspiration. They knocked out reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen to reach the final of this year’s DFB Pokal.
After a season back at boyhood club Sevilla, and an unsuccessful attempt to volunteer his services to an injury-ravaged Real Madrid, everyone’s favourite antihero Sergio Ramos spent eight months on the sidelines.
But in February, Ramos was unveiled in front of thousands at the Estadio BBVA, home of five-time Liga MX champions Monterrey.
Wearing 93 on his back, in an apparent nod to his fateful equaliser in Real Madrid’s 2014 Champions League final triumph over Atlético Madrid, the larger-than-life centreback has gone about Liga MX like a man possessed.
There’s been goals, there’s been a red card, and Monterrey snuck themselves into the play-offs, which start Sunday.
For more details on Ramos’ first chaotic campaign in Mexico, check out this fun long read from Alex Roberts here.
Like most sane commentators, Graham Ruthven has taken a look at the goalkeeper situation at Old Trafford and decided that this is a crisis entirely of the club’s own making.
The Brentford forward is on a hot streak that has lasted all season. Sam McGuire delves in to the numbers to see whether that is sustainable, and whether the likely transfer interest in Mbeumo is warranted this summer.
If you’ve been paying attention to our socials, we’ve been reporting on the rise of Norwegian champions Bodø/Glimt for years. Now the side from inside the Arctic Circle are preparing to meet Spurs in the final four of the Europa League
Goalkeepers don’t often get the attention they deserve (Did a keeper write this? Yes.) so in our latest update we added shot maps as a part of their match stats.
Tap on a keeper from the lineup page and get a view of their day on the job.