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The Euro Preview: La Liga’s fight for fourth and Inter’s Icardi drama continues

By Clemente Lisi

SEVILLE, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 17: Guillermo Maripan of Deportivo Alaves celebrates scoring his team's opening goal with team mates during the La Liga match between Real Betis Balompie and Deportivo Alaves at Estadio Benito Villamarin on February 17, 2019 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
SEVILLE, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 17: Guillermo Maripan of Deportivo Alaves celebrates scoring his team's opening goal with team mates during the La Liga match between Real Betis Balompie and Deportivo Alaves at Estadio Benito Villamarin on February 17, 2019 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images) /
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The fight for fourth intensifies in La Liga, while the drama surrounding striker Mauro Icardi has become the biggest distraction for Inter Milan this season.

La Liga

With another week of Champions League action behind us, Barcelona (after their continental slip-up against Lyon that resulted in a scoreless draw), hope to continue dominating domestically this season, while the two Madrid sides, Atletico and Real, battle for second. So what’s going on in the fight for fourth and that final Champions League spot?

Behind Spain’s big three, there are many teams fighting for fourth. Last weekend’s results continued a trend: Teams fighting not to finish in that position. Sevilla, who are currently fourth, were defeated 3-0 at Villarreal.

At the same time, fifth-place Getafe had the chance to overtake the Andalusians, but could only muster a 2-2 draw on the road against Eibar. Alaves, who are sixth, could also have surpassed Sevilla, but were stopped by Real Betis in a 1-1 draw.

A look at the table reveals an eight-point gap between Sevilla and 13th-place Espanyol, meaning that almost the entire top half still have a shot at that fourth place spot.

Matchday 25 features a series of interesting matches in the fight for fourth, while the top three will also have their hands full.  At the top, Barca, led by Lionel Messi, play Saturday at Sevilla, while Atleti are at home the following day against relegation-threatened Villarreal. Revitalized Real looked anything but in a stinging 2-1 defeat at home against Girona. Los Blancos face Levante on the road this weekend in another potential banana-skin game.

In the fight for fourth, there are several key matches: Getafe are home on Saturday to face Rayo Vallecano, while Alaves are also at home the same day against Celta Vigo.

Serie A

Juventus enter matchday 25 with a seemingly insurmountable 13-point lead over second-place Napoli. While the drama surrounding the Scudetto race appear to have waned, there is plenty of it to go around in Italy.

Most notably, the Mauro Icardi saga rages on at Inter (fueled in part by his wife/agent Wanda) — something that appears to be entering a breaking point as the third-place Nerazzurri prepare to play Fiorentina this Sunday in Florence.

The return of these unwelcome headlines have sparked outrage at the club and among the San Siro faithful who have had squabbles with the Argentine striker in the past.

After Icardi was stripped of his captaincy earlier this month, coach Luciano Spalletti, said: “There are certain things surrounding the lad which need to be fixed. These things have caused, and continue to cause, embarrassment to the team and the club of which he was captain.”

The issue has split the dressing room and Spalletti now has to deal with this growing problem that threatens Inter even further as the season comes down the final stretch. With talk of a possible Icardi exit (something the player and his wife have denied this week), this drama is bound to spill over into this weekend and beyond.

In games to watch: Juventus travel to Bologna on Sunday, while Napoli play at Parma the same day.

dark. Next. Where do Sarri and Chelsea go from here?

Bundesliga

The race in Germany is getting tighter as injury-riddled Borussia Dortmund continue their slow slide and Bayern Munich continues surging. This could be the weekend BVB and Bayern go level on points.

Bayern play Saturday when they host Hertha Berlin, while BVB, who could only muster a 0-0 draw in a clash against last-place Nurnberg, will take on Bayer Leverkusen the following day.

Dortmund was eliminated from the German Cup on via penalty kicks against Werder Bremen earlier this month and lost 3-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, there remain plenty of positives surrounding Bayern after a poor start to the season. In the Champions League this past Tuesday, coach Niko Kovac and his players were finally able to put together a brilliant performance in 0-0 draw against Liverpool.

A strong defense was a major positive, but the attacking prowess of James Rodriguez was severely lacking — something Kovac will have to consider heading into matchday 23.

In other key matches: Borussia Monchengladbach host Wolfsburg on Saturday, while RB Leipzig close out the matchday on Monday when they play at home against Hoffenheim.

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