Juventus’ title test, Intercontinental derby, Pochettino’s PSG face Le Classique and what to watch in Europe

It hasn’t all gone to plan so far, though, with PSG losing to Lorient just over a week ago – and this time out they face one of France’s biggest fixtures, Le Classique, away to Marseille. Back in September, Marseille won the reverse fixture in a game which saw one goal and five, yes five, red cards late on.

Of course, OM themselves have been in a state of shambles recently, with supporters storming the training ground, manager Villas-Boas criticising the signing of a player against his will, tendering his resignation and then being sacked anyway.

PSG haven’t always been the most stable of clubs themselves, but they seem to be building and settling more now – certainly compared to the tidal wave of destruction Marseille have found themselves in the path of recently.

Lille are three points clear at the top and, even with their opponents in disarray, there’s no guarantee PSG will close the gap this weekend, as Pochettino still searches for a consistent winning combination.

Best of the rest

A couple of intriguing fixtures in LaLiga take place over the weekend, notably manager Marcelino facing former club Valencia with his new side Athletic Club. Marcelino took Los Che to the Copa del Rey final and ended an 11-year wait for silverware for the Mestalla club, but in true Valencia fashion they opted for self-implosion and sacked him soon afterwards.

He took over at Athletic at the start of January and has already beaten Real Madrid and Barcelona to win the Supercopa and he’d no doubt love to further disrupt the season of his old club, who he looked to be on the verge of taking back to their former glories before his dismissal.

Elsewhere, bottom club Huesca face third-place Real Madrid, but Real lost last time out while Huesca won. Will recent form continue, or will quality prevail? Zinedine Zidane needs a result.

In the Bundesliga, five of the top six teams play away from home this week, starting with Bayern Munich on Friday night, and in Portugal it’s third vs. second as Braga host Porto on Sunday.

But the biggest game outside of Europe’s top leagues is the Intercontinental derby, as Turkish Super Lig leaders Fenerbahce face second-place Galatasaray.

It’s one of the most notable and tempestuous derbies in all of European football, a clash which divides the nation as much as the city of Istanbul, and it could well determine the fate of the title this year.

Of course, the relentless and famous atmosphere simply won’t be there this time, with games still behind closed doors, but there’s as much as ever on the line as Fener try to close the gap on their eternal rivals in terms of titles won in their history. And yes, Mesut Ozil is likely to be involved, after making his debut last time out.

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