Steve Luckings looks at five games not to be missed this weekend, including a winner-takes-all duel in the Championship, the fight for survival in the Premier League and former Bayern Munich, Juventus and Italy striker Luca Toni's last match.
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ENGLAND’S CHAMPIONSHIP: Middlesbrough v Brighton & Hove Albion, beIN Sports, Saturday, 3.30pm
A game that quite simply, with the new Premier Legaue bonanza television deal to kick in from next season, impossible to put a price on. Middlesbrough are currently second in the Championship on 88 points, ahead of Saturday’s opponents, Brighton & Hove Albion on goal difference only. Victory for either club will guarantee them Premier League football next season alongside Burnley, who can finish no worse than second, with the top two guaranteed promotion. Defeat will mean the losing team having to negotiate the end-of-season play-offs with Hull City, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday. Neither team will give an inch.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Sunderland v Chelsea, beIN Sports, Saturday, 6pm
Promotion-chasing Championship clubs are not the only teams vying to secure their Premier League status on Saturday. Third-bottom Sunderland take on Chelsea at the Stadium of Light while Newcastle United, currently 17th on 33 points, just one ahead of their North-east rivals, travel to already relegated Aston Villa, as close to a “gimme” as you can get these days in terms of three points. Sunderland know anything less than victory against last season’s champions will most likely consign them to relegation. Norwich City, 19th in the table and two points from survival, welcome a resurgent Manchester United to Carrow Road.
BUNDESLIGA: Ingolstadt v Bayern Munich, beIN Sports, Saturday, 5.30pm
While a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in Tuesday wasn’t enough to send Bayern Munich to this month’s Uefa Champions League final in Milan – Atletico advanced 2-2 on aggregate on away goals – the Bavarians still have the small matter of clinching the Bundesliga title ahead of rivals Borussia Dortmund to tend to. Pep Guardiola has said previously that critics will see his three-year tenure at Bayern as a failure for not winning the European Cup, but it would amount to something of a disaster if they failed to win the league as well before he departs in the summer for Manchester City. Victory at Ingolstadt will mean Bayern win the title with a game to spare.
PRIMERA LIGA: Barcelona v Espanyol, beIN Sports, Sunday, 7pm
The Barcleona derby has plenty riding on it for both teams. Barcelona need to keep winning to reclaim the Primera Liga title while Espanyol will feel that a point or better will secure their top-flight status in Spain for another season. With midweek Champions League matches no longer an issue and the Copa del Rey still three weeks away, Barcelona should be well rested for the visit of their city rivals to Camp Nou. Barca coach Luis Enrique has fitness concerns over goalkeeper Claudi Bravo, who was replaced for the final few minutes of the win over Real Betis last week with an injury to his right leg meaning understudy Marc-Andre ter Stegen could deputise.
SERIE A: Verona v Juventus, beIN Sports, Sunday, 10.45pm
The Italian champions versus Serie A basement boys. Doesn’t sound like much of a draw, does it? Except that for Luca Toni it will be the last time he plays professional football. The Verona frontman announced Wednesday he will retire after the match against one of his many former clubs, bringing down the curtain on a goal-laden career. While Al Nasr fans probably don’t rememberhim that fondly following a seven-game spell in 2012, Italian and European fans will get a chance to see the 2006 World Cup winner of Italy hang up his boots at age against a Juventus side who were crowned Serie A champions for a fifth successive year last month.
