Well you did it. You survived the International break and all the pain it caused and now we’re back in the thick of club football for the remainder of the season. This week we’ve got the return of the Champions and Europa Leagues to keep you entertained through the week before a huge weekend that includes two Premier League derbies. Let’s go!
Tuesday 3rd April
We start our roundup the right way with two Champions League quarter finals. They are first legs so although you can’t win the tie on the night you certainly can lose it. The pick of the ties is Juventus against Real Madrid from Turin. You have to say Real Madrid have steadied their ship after a rocky winter, but their Champions League form has been fairly serene throughout and they will fancy themselves to progress here in a repeat of last year’s final. The second tie is Sevilla against Bayern Munich, which is maybe not as high profile but Sevilla really roped a dope to knock out Man Utd whereas Bayern Munich are always there or thereabouts after dismissing Besiktas. BT have both games with a 7.45pm kick off. Sky can offer the Championship as an alternative, Fulham vs Leeds may have been a big fixture a few months ago but Leeds’ form has fallen off a cliff from the early months of the season whereas Fulham are on fire, so this one may be a one sided contest.
Wednesday 4th April
Before we get to the Champions League, there’s the small matter of AC Milan against Inter Milan at 5.30pm on BT. Is a derby more or less intense if the two clubs share a stadium? Anyway, that’s the starter before your main course which is Liverpool against Man City. I’m really looking forward to this, there’s so much attacking talent in both teams. If you want a break from the English clubs, Barcelona vs Roma is on at the same time. Once again both are on BT at 7.45pm.
Thursday 5th April
The Europa League is also at the quarter final stage and Arsenal are flying the flag for England. It’s amazing what you can achieve when you don’t draw Bayern Munich at the first possible opportunity. They face CSKA Moscow at 8:05pm and Arsenal are putting most of their eggs in the Europa League basket due to being a mile off the top 4 pace. The pick of the other ties is Atletico Madrid against Sporting Lisbon, but at this stage they’re all good games.
Friday 6th April
England’s Women have a vital World Cup qualifier against Wales, that’s a 7pm kick off on BBC2. Even though it’s a Friday we still have a huge game to look forward to with the top two in the Championship coming to blows in Wales as Cardiff host Wolves. Elsewhere, St Etienne are at home to PSG in Ligue 1 (BT Sport, 7.45pm) whilst it’s Deportivo vs Malaga from La Liga on Sky at 8pm. Not bad!
Saturday 7th April
This is a day dominated by two fixtures. Firstly, the Merseyside Derby from Goodison Park sees Liverpool try to cement their place in the top 4, whilst Everton really only have pride to play for as they sit midtable. However, the 5.30pm game sees the ante upped even further. The Manchester derby will see Man City host Man Utd, where Man City will be crowned Premier League champions if they can beat their neighbours. This is probably the way you’d want to win a league title and no doubt Pep will be keen to get this done so they can turn their attention to the Champions League. Everything else is playing second fiddle to these two games really, with Norwich vs Aston Villa from the Championship being shown on Sky at 12.30 whilst Barcelona host Leganes at 7.45pm. BT have Sampdoria vs Genoa, also a derby, at the same time.
Sunday 8th April
There’s a shed load of games on to keep you busy on Sunday, including another derby as Real Madrid face Atletico Madrid at 3.15pm. The Premier League double header starts with Arsenal agaisnt Southampton at the unusual time of 2.15pm. I really don’t know how much Arsenal will care about this, it’s fair to say Southampton need the points more but it’s televised so enjoy it. Chelsea vs West Ham is the 4.30pm game, again this isn’t as big a game as it might have been as Chelsea are now some way off the pace for 4th and West Ham are pulling away from the bottom 3, but you never know. BT have Hamilton vs Celtic at 12.30pm where Celtic could seal the SPL title, whilst there’s also the Checkatrade Trophy final between Lincoln and Shrewsbury at 3pm on Sky. The evening’s entertainment can be found at Valencia vs Espanyol (Sky, 7.45pm) or Marseille vs Montpellier (BT, 8pm). You can then round off your weekend with Orlando vs Portland Timbers in the MLS at 9pm.
Monday 9th April
There’s no Monday night football so the best we can do is RB Leipzig against Leverkusen at 7.30pm on BT or Villarreal vs Atheltic Bilbao at 8pm on Sky. It’s not the best. Make the most of the weekend.
That’s all for this week then, there’s absolutely loads to keep you entertained but probably make plans for Monday. Keep the weekend free. See you next week!