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- The Assist: The Manchester Derby and 10 litres of milk
The Assist: The Manchester Derby and 10 litres of milk
Plus Barcelona, Bayern, and England's most exciting title race
Man United vs. Man City
The Premier League made a welcome return to action in midweek, and you’ll be pleased to learn that it’s back to normal service over the weekend as well, with Sunday’s Manchester Derby as the headliner.
Pep Guardiola’s City picked up a routine win over Leicester on Wednesday, a game most notable for Jack Grealish scoring his first league goal since December 2023. The result also saw them move back in to the top four, for 24 hours at least, and they remain in the fight for Champions League qualification.
United, for their part, suffered a frustrating 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday. That was their 13th defeat of the season and they are now at risk of equaling the club record of 14 losses in a single Premier League campaign, a record set last year.
To avoid that unwanted milestone, or millstone, in the case of manager Ruben Amorim, the Portuguese coach will no doubt be invoking the spirit of United’s performance in the most recent derby. In December, late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo saw United come from behind to win 2-1 at the Etihad. That was early in Amorim’s tenure, but remains the best of six victories that he’s overseen in the league.
Barcelona vs. Real Betis
Barcelona currently lead the way in LaLiga, sitting three points clear of eternal rivals Real Madrid, and nine above Atlético Madrid, whose title challenge is fading fast.
Hansi Flick’s side have won nine in a row in the league and have yet to lose a game in 2025. Yep, they’re unbeaten in 21 games across all competitions since the turn of the year, a run in which they’ve scored a massive 68 goals!
On Saturday night, however, they face the only side who can come near them in the current form table. Betis have won six straight games in LaLiga, including last weekend’s derby vs. Sevilla — their first victory against their city rivals in the league since 2018.
Both sides have big European quarterfinals coming up in the week — Barca in the Champions League, Betis in the Conference League — but Betis will have two extra days to recover before their game. Can they afford to go out guns blazing against Barcelona’s formidable attack?
Augsburg vs. Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich are well and truly back on top in Germany’s Bundesliga. Six points clear of defending champions Leverkusen, the pretenders to their crown, Vincent Kompany’s side have already drawn both league games against them, and crushed their spirit over two legs in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
And yet, Bayern are not quite over the line as Die Roten now enter the most crucial period of their season. They face Bavarian neighbours Augsburg on Friday, then Inter Milan in the first leg of their quarterfinal in the Champions League on Tuesday. Next weekend it’s the small matter of Der Klassiker against Dortmund before their trip to Italy for the return leg against Inter.
On paper, the hour journey to Augsburg looks the easiest in that run of games, but it is a trip where Bayern have come unstuck before. FCA, forever in the shadow of their Munich counterparts, have won two of the last four home derbies (in 2021 and 2022), and are currently on a club record unbeaten run of 11 games in the Bundesliga.
FC Porto vs. Benfica
Portugal’s biggest game is another highlight of Sunday’s match feed as Porto meet Benfica in O Clássico. Yes, Sporting may have broken the big two’s hegemony in recent seasons but this remains a big deal, particularly to Benfica, who are currently level on points with their Lisbon neighbours at the top of the table.
With seven games remaining Benfica sit second, trailing Sporting only on their head-to-head record, and goal difference. To avoid handing the title to them for the second year running, they must beat their other most hated rivals at the Estádio do Dragão.
Porto finished last season in third, missing out on Champions League football for the first time since 2016. They’ll be determined not to let that happen again with the gap between themselves and the top two already standing at nine points.
Ángel Di María inspired Benfica to a 4-1 win over Porto in Lisbon back in November, while Porto won the corresponding fixture last season 5-0 on their home turf. Consequently, and with so much at stake, there could be goals again in this one.
You all saw the goalkeeper who won 10 dozen eggs as a Man of the Match prize in Norway, right? Well, as reported by TV 2, Bryne’s Jan de Boer then used 30 of those eggs as payment to a teammate who let him borrow his car so he could pick up his girlfriend from the airport!
Bryne are newly promoted to the Eliteserien and hail from the farming heartland of Norway. Previously best known for being the club that gave a professional debut to a certain Erling Haaland, the club may become more famous for their authentic MOTM prizes.
Never afraid to embrace their locality, Bryne have hosted tractors by the pitch, launched kits in a potato field, and next up, we’re hearing they will award 10 litres of cow’s milk to their next MOTM.
Five divisions below the glamour of the Premier League, perhaps the most dramatic title race in English football is currently being played out in the National League South.
Worthing lead the way, driven on by inspirational owner George Dowell - three points clear of a trio of sides all level on 77 points. With just one automatic promotion place on offer and five games to play, the South Coast club known as the Rebels will determine where the title lands.
That’s because they still have to play three of the sides directly below them in the playoff spots, starting with third placed Truro City on Saturday. They then face Sussex rivals Eastbourne (who are fifth) and promotion favourites Dorking Wanderers (currently second) in the space of four days over Easter.
Already playing at the highest level in their history, Worthing are on the verge of making history again.
It’s not quite the Messi vs. Ronaldo battles of old but big name players from Barcelona and Real Madrid are once again battling it out in the pursuit of the Pichichi top scorer award. And Graham Ruthven argues that could decide which of Spain’s big two come out on top in LaLiga this season.
UK broadcaster Sanny Rudravajhala has seen the worst happen to Bury, the club he supports, when the former-FA Cup winners were expelled from the English Football League. So who better to explore the similar situation that Reading, a Premier League club as recently as 2013, find themselves in at the moment. The EFL originally imposed today as a deadline for current owner Dai Yongge to relinquish control of the team, but after this piece went live, that has been extended to the 22nd April.
David Skilling explores the nature of the Manchester derby in the modern age, a contest United once dominated in terms of results but must now contest on a global, not local scale, and against a superior team. This is why the rivalry has more weight now, not less. Particularly in a season where City have suffered setbacks while United are seemingly stuck in a series of rebuilds.
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