Weekend Watch: Bringing you to your knees

And on the sixth and seventh day God created football and he commanded us all to watch. This weekend sees the return of the FA Cup in England, some critical games in league competitions and a plethora of games that you and I will never ever see unless an awesome brawl breaks out and it ends up on YouTube. As is custom at this time of the week, we present some randomly selected games that will bring you to your knees.

Saturday

FA Cup Semifinals – Saturday it is Watford versus Manchester United. Sunday it is Blackburn against Chelsea. Monday it will probably be talk about how Manchester United and Chelsea could face each other in the FA Cup final, Champions League final and a crucial English Premier League match all within a matter of weeks of one another.

PSV Eindhoven v Twente Enschede – If you enjoy watching train wrecks, and who doesn’t, than you are having a blast watching PSV Eindhoven limp home at the end of the season. The front runners in the Dutch Eredivisie host fast charging Twente Enschede, who are in fourth place just six points from the top.

Valenciennes v Olympique Marseille – Marseille make their first visit to Valenciennes since 1993, the infamous year in which they bribed three Valenciennes players to throw a match. There will probably be no foul play this week, although Marseille could use the points in the race to finish second in Ligue 1.

Sunday

Boca Juniors v River Plate – This will be the 179th time the two Argentine rivals have played El Superclasico in league play and the 299th time overall they have met. Boca lead the league series with 65 wins to River Plate’s 60. If you want to experience goose bumps this weekend listen to the crowd as the players enter the pitch. The atmosphere is awesome.

Scottish Cup Semifinals On Saturday it is St Johnston against Celtic and on Sunday it is Hibernian against Dunfermline. Yes, that is the same Dunfermline that is in last place in the Scottish Premier League. They would be the Watford of the Cup if it weren’t for St Johnston, a team in Scotland’s second division that have advanced to take on the country’s top team.

Wanderers v Danubio F.C. – If you haven’t checked in with the Primera Division in Uruguay lately you probably don’t know that Danubio FC are on top of the table with Wanderers ensconced in fifth place. Your Wikipedia fact of the week about Danubio: ” It was founded by the Bulgarian born brothers Miguel and Juan Lazaroff on March 1, 1932 alongside with other kids of the “Republica de Nicaragua” school in Montevideo. Native from the city of Plovdiv, the Lazaroffs followed their parents to Uruguay where they’ve spent all of their lives. Its name refers to the Danube river in Europe (Danubio is Spanish for Danube) and was invented by the mother of Lazaroff brothers — Maria.”

Kashiwa Reysol v Urawa Red Diamonds – The season is still young in Japan’s J-League but this is a big game. Kashiwa Reysol are in first place, but they don’t have much distance between themselves and last year’s champions, Urawa Red Diamonds. Worth noting that Kashiwa Reysol have three Brazilians and a player from the Ivory Coast on their roster, while Urawa Red Diamonds feature three Brazilians and a Spanish player, Sergio Ariel Escudero. I wish I could see more of the J-League. It has a fun style of play to watch.

Some Related Stories:

Category: World Football