Weekend Watch: When Maldini Met Totti, the finale

By: chris | March 14th, 2008

Saturday

Roma v Milan: Because it’s two of the biggest clubs in Europe fighting for two vastly different spoils, and not what you’d usually expect. Roma is fighting to keep the scudetto race alive, now sitting behind a topsy-turvy Inter, and are heading in with tons of confidence after beating Parma, Real Madrid and Napoli convincingly over the last few weeks. Milan, on the other hand, are fighting to get that golden 4th Champions League spot in a very off year for the Rossoneri. On an individual level, it’s Il Capitano v Il Capitano as Francesco Totti takes on Paolo Maldini for perhaps the last time ever. Not one to miss.

Derby vs Manchester United:

Things aren’t looking good for Derby County, are they? After this week’s 6-1 capitulation to Chelsea, they’re very much on track to be the worst team in the Premier League. Not just this season, but ever. Worse than Mick McCarthy’s Sunderland chumps even. And a visit from Manchester United is only going to push the Rams further in that direction. So either we’ll see a Man Utd goalfest (which would be entertaining in a morbid sort of way) or we’ll see a heroic FA Cup style underdog performance from a Derby team out to prove they’re not as bad as they looked in midweek.

Valencia vs. Sevilla
It’s the battle between two La Liga underachievers. Both were expected to do well this year, but Valencia is currently sitting tenth after an early-season game of managerial musical chairs. On top of that, they just swapped out presidents this week, so everybody has to be a little edgy. And they’ve now gone five games without a win. Sevilla, on the other hand, is clinging to sixth place by their fingernails (and goal differential.) Both would like to take maximum points to increase the possibility of seeing Europe next year.

Sunday

Juventus v Napoli: Just watch the highlights of their highly controversial first go around and you’ll understand why the Bianconeri are salivating for some revenge against the Southsiders. (And Napoli, like every team in Italia, just wants to kick the shit out of Juve.)

Zenit St. Petersburg v Spartak Moscow: Zenit will defend their title against Spartak, who wore the bridesmaid outfit last year - surely looking for some early revenge. Zenit has an early leg up, however, as they’ve played twice this week already, with a win over Lokomotiv Moscow in the Super Cup - thanks to some sensational goalkeeping - and a 2-0 victory at home to sneak into the final eight of the UEFA Cup. Big start for a league getting bigger every year.

Lens vs. Marseille

Marseille is struggling to overcome a disappointing ouster from the UEFA Cup this week. They’re also three points behind third-place Nancy and battling for a Champions League spot next year. Lens, on the other hand, needs the points for an entirely different reason. They’re currently sixteenth in the table and struggling to remain out of the relegation zone.