It doesn't really matter what the context is, el Clasico is always gonna be a big deal. But of course that's just a naive interpretation in a year such as this one. Real is 1st in the league and Barcelona 3rd with just 10 games left, making this occasion a clear must-win for Barca, and not much less so for the Madridistas. This game won't determine the title by itself, especially not with Atletico still firmly in the picture, but that doesn't diminish its importance one bit. Barcelona are not completely over their rough patch, and every passing day brings more questions about Martino's future. Madrid have issues of their own to deal with, not least of which is Jese's season-ending injury. The young Spaniard had been a mainstay off the bench all season, and there were more and more whispers of including him on the loaded national team for this summer's jaunt in Brazil before his injury.

Over in the EPL we're about to hit a very interesting 10 days, with two gamedays (sort of) to account for some of the FA Cup delays. The big highlight is the first of the bunch, as Chelsea host the Gunners in the early game tomorrow. History seems to say that Arsenal will have its work cut out for it, what with Wenger never having beat Mourinho, who himself has never lost of league game at Stamford Bridge. But history has been known to be a fickle lass, so let's hope we get a more exciting outcome than their previous meeting (0-0). The other title hopefuls don't really face much of a challenge this week, what with Liverpool going to Cardiff and City hosting Fulham. Many eyes will still be on United who have to take on a Hammers squad with its version of Thor, Andy Carroll, finally fit. Much much more important for the Reds though will be the Manchester derby on Tuesday, although realistically this one is just for pride at this point. They are playing for the Champions League now first and foremost. The bottom of the table presents its own share of drama with Norwich-Sunderland and Hull v West Brom.

Spain: the above-mentioned game will attract all the attention, and then some, which should suit Atleti just fine as they travel to last-place Real Betis. All the teams will have a short turnaround as there is another gameday on Mon-Thurs

Italy: the pressure on Clarence Seedorf's job at Milan is already close to overwhelming, with the 4-2 loss to Parma serving to exacerbate the flames of recriminations from fans. This week's trip to Lazio doesn't help matters any more, as word of a switch to Pippo Inzaghi or Roberto Donadoni on the touchline becomes even louder

Germany: Bayern could mathematically become champions this weekend, which is just absurd. Of course for all intents and purposes they already are the champs, which will only help their focus on the Champions League as they try to go for the all elusive repeat

France: Monaco messed up Lyon's Champions League chances last week, they'll be hoping to do the same this time with 3rd place Lille's

EPL
SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014
8:45 ET Chelsea v Arsenal
11:00 ET Cardiff City v Liverpool
11:00 ET Everton v Swansea City
11:00 ET Hull City v West Bromwich Albion
11:00 ET Manchester City v Fulham
11:00 ET Newcastle United v Crystal Palace
11:00 ET Norwich City v Sunderland
1:30 ET West Ham United v Manchester United
SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014
9:30 ET Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton
12:00 ET Aston Villa v Stoke City

LA LIGA
FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014
4:00 ET Celta Vigo v Malaga
SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014
11:00 ET Granada v Elche
1:00 ET Espanyol v Levante
3:00 ET Real Valladolid v Rayo Vallecano
5:00 ET Athletic Bilbao v Getafe
SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014
7:00 ET Osasuna v Sevilla FC
12:00 ET Real Betis v Atletico Madrid
2:00 ET Valencia v Villarreal
4:00 ET Real Madrid v Barcelona

SERIE A
SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014
1:00 ET Torino v Livorno
3:45 ET Chievo Verona v AS Roma Bentegodi
SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014
7:30 ET Parma v Genoa
10:00 ET Bologna v Cagliari
10:00 ET Internazionale v Atalanta
10:00 ET Sampdoria v Hellas Verona
10:00 ET Udinese v Sassuolo
1:30 ET Napoli v Fiorentina
3:45 ET Catania v Juventus
3:45 ET Lazio v AC Milan

BUNDESLIGA
FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014
3:30 ET SC Freiburg v Werder Bremen
SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014
10:30 ET Hannover 96 v Borussia Dortmund
10:30 ET Mainz v Bayern Munich
10:30 ET Schalke 04 v TSV Eintracht
10:30 ET VfB Stuttgart v Hamburg SV
10:30 ET VfL Wolfsburg v FC Augsburg
1:30 ET Borussia Monchengladbach v Hertha Berlin
SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014
10:30 ET Nurnberg v Eintracht Frankfurt
12:30 ET Bayer Leverkusen v TSG Hoffenheim

LIGUE 1
FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014
3:30 ET Lorient v Paris Saint-Germain
SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014
12:00 ET Marseille v Stade Rennes
3:00 ET Bastia v Stade de Reims
3:00 ET Bordeaux v Nice
3:00 ET Nantes v Montpellier
3:00 ET Toulouse v Evian Thonon Gaillard
3:00 ET Valenciennes v AC Ajaccio
SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014
9:00 ET St Etienne v Sochaux
12:00 ET Guingamp v Lyon
4:00 ET AS Monaco v Lille

Barcelona v Atlético Madrid
Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund
Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea
Manchester United v Bayern Munich

not because I'm not confident, but they, along with Chelsea, really wear down an opponent and the intra-liga thing too. double whammy.

bayern got a fucking cakewalk. moyes is going to hurt. most interesting matchup is probably PSG/Chelsea. really not as interesting a quarterfinal as i was hoping. pretty much the least interesting, on paper, matchups we coulda gotten except for that one, imo.
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Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

Mourinho is certainly going to set Chelsea up more aggressively compared to the deep-counter style he had at Emirates.

I'm turning this shit off at the half, because there's no point.

Looks like we'll be going through Champions League qualifying.

the pockets and really give this dude money to buy real players in their prime. Not class b players, or players who are gonna come develop there and bolt when they are ready for primetime. This way there will be no excuse to fire the dude and get a manager to lead you out of the desert like the Israelites.

If they had one of their best starts to the season ever, and still know they ain't winning shit, what use is it?

get to watch el clasico from there

Enough to get it done vs subpar teams but when the rubber really hits the road against better teams on the road, we collapse like paper mâché. You need ultimate composure and execution when shit hits the fan...we don't have it.

Until I see this team handle itself with belief and confidence on the road vs top contenders, I'll know we aren't true title contenders. Mourinho has already instilled that ability into this Chelsea team in year ONE....0-0 at Man U (very early in the season), 1-0 at Man City, 0-0 at Emirates....that's a 5 point differential right there. His formula is so damn effective and logical: Win at home, win on the road vs subpar, get any points you can on the road vs top 4. Liverpool, in Rodger's 2nd year, is already trending toward that as well.

http://abload.de/img/untitled-28oij8a.gif

good lord.

why did barca let him go. i know it was playing time and busquets but fuck. he's such a beast.

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Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

heads up play by 300K but damn goalie. do better.

They've had a few decent results (eg the 3-0 win at White Hart Lane that had some pundits calling Big Sam "Allardici") but they have always been followed by letdown.

editorials about how Moyes' men stood up and got counted (against Olympiakos no less), or how we beat West Ham (another bullshit game that saw Kigawa playing winger, and a silly goalkeeper), or how great Giggs is (the fact that he is a starter and shit still, is all needs be said)...now we have to watch this shit show for the rest of the season. We could have cut ties, hired a real manager, and fixed this team. All of this delays the inevitable, and right thing to do. The nightmare continues...Man United, Lakers, Yankees, Federer, Tiger.....apart from Seb Vettel, and CR7, I feel like an eternal Cubs fan.

>Man United, Lakers, Yankees, Federer,
>Tiger.....apart from Seb Vettel, and CR7, I feel like an
>eternal Cubs fan.

>Man United, Lakers, Yankees, Federer,
>Tiger.....apart from Seb Vettel, and CR7, I feel like an
>eternal Cubs fan.

they are not being subtle about it, that's for sure. At this point all they're missing is an interview with the groundskeeper

i got nervous it was at 3 instead of 4 like i had thought for a minute before i checked the bein schedule on my tv. smdh.

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Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

cause if RM wins La Liga is over for Barca

http://abload.de/img/untitled-5zmj4p.gif

that's a really awkward place for a ball to come in and he did it perfectly.

I just hope he stays in beast mode for 4 more months or so

this was a text book striker's goal

Great football

Ray Hudson might not make it to the end, hope he takes his pills at HT

That was the only thing missing up until that point

About to go find the party right now!

Some of the defensive decisions were honestly comical...of course each of these sides puts a lot of pressure on you defensively but the consistency of questionable defensive moments just left me honestly bewildered.

Everytime Eriksen takes the field it becomes more and more apparent that he was a huge steal for Tottenham. Chadli's form has been great with this match and vs. Benfica, and a Siggy sighting is always good.

Cristiano complaining about the refs and saying RM have never benefitted from the refs, Ramos talking about how the red card was pre-meditated....LOL, talk about a bunch of bs.

El Clasico's are fun but man, the amount of theatrics and crying is just stale.

but alas, it's too deeply engrained.

whatever, at least the game was good this time.

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Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

fixing his face to say something along the lines of "THE MAN doesn't want Real Madrid to win"

amazing

At least for Citeh...

Everton has a game in hand, now only down 6 points, and if we lose to Man City over the weekend w Everton playing Fulham, we're in legitimate jeapordy to not qualify for CL.

Exactly what I was afraid of is coming home to roost: the lack of depth not only leads to injuries because key players accumulate so many minutes but then, to make matters worse, the quality behind those players isn't up to par. Outside of 20 minutes vs Bayern, I haven't been impressed since before the new year....sloppy, sloppy football...costing us huge points man. FA Cup title or not, the gap between us and the title contenders hasn't decreased, arguably it has widened. Same ole shit and it will continue to be so until we get some damn steel on this team...Petit and Viera absolutely drove our title contending teams with not only their ability but with their physicality, attitude, and composure.