The Euro Preview: Real Madrid’s high-stakes El Clasico against Barcelona

El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona dominates the weekend’s matches, while Napoli-Roma offers up a tasty Serie A matchup.

La Liga

After midweek Champions League clashes, the much-anticipated El Clasico between Real Madrid and league champions Barcelona on Sunday at the Camp Nou couldn’t have come at a worst time for the European champions. The club have fallen to seventh place after recording three defeats in nine games. This past Saturday’s 2-1 loss at home to Levante was just the latest misstep for a team that sorely misses both manager Zinedine Zidane and striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

Julen Lopetegui’s days do appear to be numbered and the game against Barcelona could very well seal his fate. He’s been called everything from a “dead man walking” to “a condemned man.” Sid Lowe, writing in The Guardian, observed, “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day and soon, he will be sacked. The same lack of alternatives and time that helped put him in the job are all that keep him in it.”

Lopetegui’s make-or-break weekend may have owner Florentino Perez thinking of changing managers, but players have publicly showed support for him.

Real Madrid captain and defender Sergio Ramos said “changing coaches is never good” with a season already underway.

“Julen has the support of the players and we all have to overcome this together,” Ramos told reporters. “Obviously this is a very bad streak for Madrid and that can’t happen, but we are still very much alive in the league, there’s not a huge difference in points to the teams at the top.”

Barcelona, meanwhile, are in first and four points up on Real. Lionel Messi suffered an injury to his arm in last week’s 4-2 win against Sevilla. Messi will miss the Clasico and is expected to be sidelined for a month.

Serie A

While Juventus continue to maintain a hold on first place in Italy, its Napoli who are right on their heels as the title race intensifies this weekend. Second-place Napoli host Roma on Sunday at the Stadio San Paolo in a big game for the Partenopei, who are just four points behind the defending league champions.

Roma, who are currently seventh, have underachieved so far this season and will need tom put in a solid performance in order to compete with coach Carlo Ancelotti’s depth and attacking flair of Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens. Insigne leads the team with seven league goals.

In an interview with France Football, Ancelotti said he believes he has “a high-level squad” and admits he doesn’t have “a particular style.”

“It’s a different Napoli today,” he added. “We don’t have [Diego] Maradona, but a high-level squad has been built, in particular with young players. Napoli have been playing well for several years now, so the quality is there. I’ll try to bring some experience, help the team to have more personality and courage in the moments where we aren’t playing so well.”

Juventus play away on Saturday against 18th-place Empoli in a game that looks like an easy win for the Bianconeri.  In other games to keep an eye on this weekend: AC Milan host Sampdoria on Sunday, while Inter Milan travel to Rome on Monday to take on Lazio.

Bundesliga

Borussia hope to maintain a hold of first place when they host sixth-place Hertha Berlin on Saturday. Second-place Borussia Monchengladbach, just three points behind BVB, play Friday at Freiburg. Werder Bremen, who are also in second, host 13th-place Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

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Bayern Munich, who are fourth and four points off the pace, play on Saturday at 12th-place Mainz. Bayern endured back-to-back defeats, against Hertha Berlin and Borussia Monchengladbach, just before the international break earlier this month.

“In a long season these things always happen,” Bayern striker James Rodriguez told the league’s official website. “There are bad games, there are good games. This bad phase has already gone. Now comes something good.”