Top 3 Sunday Derbies

57

Sunday 19th March is a huge day in the European football calendar as we have three massive derbies taking place across the continent.

We begin in Spain with El Clásico and this is arguably the biggest match in domestic European football. Barcelona and Real Madrid meet at the Camp Nou and there is a lot riding on the game, including the destination of the league title.

Barcelona currently top the table and a win for them would see them as the overwhelming favourites to land the La Liga title. However, a victory for Real Madrid and they would close the gap on the leaders and could mount a title challenge.

This will be the 186th El Clásico in La Liga and Real Madrid lead the way with 77 victories in comparison to the 73 wins for Barcelona. In terms of matches at the Camp Nou, Barcelona have a clear advantage, winning 50 times in comparison to the 22 victories of Real Madrid.

A look at recent fixtures shows Real Madrid have been dominant, winning 5 of the last 6 El Clásico matches in the league. There have been over 2.5 goals scored in each of the last 5 league fixtures between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Moving to Italy and to kick things off on the Sunday we have the Derby della Capitale between Lazio and AS Roma in Serie A. Lazio are the designated home team for this game and that means the majority of fans inside the Stadio Olimpico will be cheering on I Biancocelesti but Roma share the same stadium, so they will know what to expect.

Not only is this a massive fixture in its own right but Champions League qualification is on the line, so there is added incentive which is only going to intensify the tremendous atmosphere. This will be the 158th meeting between the teams in Serie A and Roma hold the advantage with 56 wins to their name in comparison to the 41 victories of Lazio.

However, in the 8 most recent Serie A games between the teams, Roma have recorded only 2 wins. Only once in the last 5 Serie A meetings between Lazio and Roma have both teams scored.

Our final top derby match on Sunday is also in Italy and is the Derby d’Italia. This is the fixture between Inter Milan and Juventus and the game will be played at San Siro. Despite being second in the table, Inter Milan are too far behind Napoli to challenge for the title so the top four is their aim this season.

Having had a points deduction, the top four looks out of reach for Juventus and it would require a miracle for them to qualify for the Champions League via Serie A this season. In terms of Serie A, Juventus have a huge advantage in the Derby d’Italia having won 86 times in comparison to the 48 victories of Inter Milan.

However, in terms of recent results in all competitions, Inter Milan have won 3 of the last 4 matches and will be hoping to claim another win in-front of their own fans on Sunday.