5️⃣ spicy fixtures you must watch this weekend 🌶 | OneFootball

The weekend is here and it promises to be another exciting weekend of football, especially if you like it spicy.

Here’s what to look out for.

Bayern Munich v Schalke

There are just three matches remaining of this Bundesliga season and, unusually for this time of year, we are still blessed with a title race.

Reigning champions Bayern Munich are one point ahead of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table and the race is firmly in their hands, with two home matches remaining before a trip to Köln on the final day of the season.

The first of those home assignments takes place on Saturday for Thomas Tuchel’s side, and it’s a match between two sides who really don’t like each other which could have huge implications at both ends of the table.

As Lewis Ambrose detailed here, Schalke are currently in the midst of one of the Bundesliga’s great relegation escapes, with a dramatic late penalty giving them a victory over Mainz last weekend that moved them out of the drop zone for the first time since October.

But Thomas Reis’s side could well end the weekend back in danger after a daunting meeting against their least favourite opponent in the country.

Schalke haven’t won any of their last 24 competitive meetings with Bayern dating back to March 2011, and have lost each of their last 11 against the Bundesliga’s record champions. It is the club’s longest losing run against a single club in German professional football, and their last visit to Munich ended in an 8-0 thrashing back in September 2020.

Bayern’s title rivals Dortmund will be hoping and praying for a miracle from their fierce local rivals. Stranger things have happened, but not much stranger.

Spice rating: Mild 🌶

Espanyol v Barcelona

Over in Spain and the LaLiga title is very close to being sealed. If Barcelona beat local rivals Espanyol on Sunday night the title will officially return to Camp Nou for the first time since 2019.

After a tumultuous season off the pitch, it will be a moment to savour for the Blaugrana and a just reward for the excellent work coach Xavi has done since taking the reins in November 2021, not to mention another league winners’ medal to add to the eight he earned as a player.

But Espanyol will have more than just spoiling Barça’s party on their minds heading into this Derbi Barceloní. A 3-2 defeat to Sevilla last weekend leaves Luis García’s side mired in the relegation zone and in danger of heading back to the Segunda División two years after being promoted back to the top flight.

Espanyol managed a 1-1 draw when the two sides met at Camp Nou earlier in the season, but they have now gone 25 derbies in a row without beating Barça in LaLiga, and Barça are unbeaten in their last 14 LaLiga trips to Cornellà-El Prat.

Another win for Barça this weekend would have the double whammy of delivering the title and sinking a rival further into the mud. It will be one to watch for sure.

Spice rating: Medium 🌶 🌶

Rangers v Celtic

This fierce derby would normally be higher on the spice-ometer, but Celtic sealing the Scottish Premiership title last weekend has dampened its importance slightly.

Not that there isn’t still plenty at stake for both sets of supporters, as there always will be when these two sides meet.

Treble-chasing Celtic have a piece of Scottish football history in their sights, with a record 107 points up for grabs if they win all of their remaining games.

Rivals Rangers will naturally be doing everything in their power to stop that from happening when the two sides meet at Ibrox on Saturday, and a strong finish to the campaign will give Michael Beale’s side hope that next season will be a better one from their perspective.

And the blue side of Glasgow will probably feel they are due a win over their enemy, having lost all four derbies so far this season. The Gers have only lost two of their last eight home league meetings with Celtic, but the Hoops are unbeaten in their last two trips to Ibrox.

There will once again be no love lost between these two clubs on derby day, you can be absolutely sure of that.

Spice rating: Hot 🌶 🌶 🌶

Championship play-offs

The regular Championship season concluded in dramatic fashion on Monday, and now it’s time to find out who will be joining Burnley and Sheffield United in the Premier League via the play-offs next season.

Millwall’s final day capitulation against Blackburn handed Sunderland an unexpected spot in the top six, and the Black Cats (who were in League One last season) will be hoping to return to the Premier League for the first time since their 2017 relegation.

Standing in their way in the semi-final are a Luton Town side who were relegated from the top flight in 1992 and have therefore never even played in the Premier League. It would be a remarkable achievement for Rob Edwards’s side if they were to get promoted, and even more remarkable to see the league’s leading lights playing at Luton’s 10,000-capacity Kenilworth Road ground next season.

The other semi-final is just as interesting, with Coventry City aiming to end a 22-year spell outside the top division, during which time they have moved stadiums and come dangerously close to going out of business.

They will face a Middlesbrough side in the semi-final managed by former Manchester United and England midfielder Michael Carrick, who earlier this week Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tipped for the top job at Old Trafford one day.

The Championship play-offs are always great value, and this year will undoubtedly be no different.

Spice rating: Fire 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶

Chelsea v Manchester United

It’s FA Cup final day on Sunday, with two Women’s Super League title chasers locking horns at Wembley.

Manchester United’s WSL win over Tottenham last weekend was their seventh consecutive victory in all competitions – a run which leaves Marc Skinner’s side top of the table with just two games of the season remaining.

Incidentally, their last defeat came at the hands of Chelsea back in March, and it is also Emma Hayes’s team who are breathing down their necks in the title race, just one point behind and with a game in hand.

Perhaps there is therefore more than just silverware at stake this Sunday, with whoever lifts the FA Cup also getting a valuable psychological edge in the title race.

Chelsea are aiming to lift the FA Cup for a third consecutive season, while United were only formed in 2018 and have never been as far as the final before.

All 90,000 tickets have sold out for this showpiece event at the national stadium, meaning the attendance record for a Women’s FA Cup final will be smashed, and with a potential domestic double on the line, it promises to be a cracking affair.

Spice rating: Insane 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶