The Euro Preview: Madrid derby and Napoli’s new plans for this season

The big game in Europe this weekend is the Madrid derby between Real and Atletico, while Napoli refocus their efforts following Juve’s torrid pace.

La Liga

Barcelona may be sucking all the air out of the Liga room with their domination this season, but the attention will be on two different clubs this weekend. Those teams, Real Madrid and rivals Atletico Madrid, are playing for the chance to challenge Barca for the title this season.

Atletico have had a strong season, but Real, after a poor start, have surged in recent months. The teams meet Saturday at the Wanda Metropolitano. These evenly-matched sides are sure to play a riveting game, although expect the Atleti faithful to come out in force to support their team.

“I don’t care,” Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told the Spanish sports daily Marca when asked if Atletico fans would throw things at him. “If this makes them [Atleti fans] happy then good for them. If they want to throw things at my head next week then that’s fine, it won’t affect me and will be extra motivation.”

Barcelona, meanwhile, will play on Sunday on the road against Athletic Bilbao. Expect another Lionel Messi-Luis Suarez show, arguably the best attacking duo in all of European soccer this season. Messi, however, had another injury scare last weekend, fueling speculation that he could be sidelined for the game.

In other games: Getafe host Celta Vigo on Saturday, while the following day will feature Sevilla at home against Eibar and Levante travel to Alaves on Monday.

Serie A

Juventus enter the weekend with a nine-point lead atop the table over Napoli. While catching up isn’t completely impossible, the Partenopei under Carlo Ancelotti have shifted gears and are looking to refocus their goals for this season.

Napoli have always set their sights on the Scudetto (attempting to win it for the first time since 1990), but Juve have just been too dominant over the past decade. Nonetheless, Juve have not played well (they crashed out of the Coppa Italia last week), but continue to find ways to amass points in the league.

Under Ancelotti, Napoli have used the turnover and given minutes to an array of players this season —something their previous manager, Maurizio Sarri, never did — and the Europa League this spring could present itself with a great opportunity at a trophy.

Napoli hit the road Saturday to take on Fiorentina, the place where they surrendered the title to Juve last season, while Juve are at Sassuolo the following day. In other games with ramifications for the top half of the season: Roma play at Chievo on Friday, Parma host Inter Milan the following day and AC Milan host Cagliari on Sunday at the San Siro.

Bundesliga

Forget about that Bayern Munich surge — it’s Borussia Dortmund that have the upper hand for now.

BVB now have a seven-point lead of their rivals after injury-ridden Bayern’s shock 3-1 road defeat last weekend to Bayer Leverkusen. Bayern return home on Saturday to take on Schalke.

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Dortmund are also at home the same day against Hoffenheim. BVB look to take the three points with the defense keeping things tight at the back, while team captain Marco Reus has had a wonderful season so far after tallying 13 goals and seven assists in 19 matches.

“We have always stressed that we want to win every game,” Reus told reporters after the 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt last Saturday. “That’s how we act. We have to concentrate on ourselves, the rest will come by itself.”

With Dortmund fighting on multiple fronts heading into February, look for them to keep dominating as the Bundesliga enters another exciting weekend.