'Super Saturday' could decide Europe's two most exciting title races 💥 | OneFootball

There are usual Saturdays and then there’s today.

This ‘Super Saturday’ could be the day that title races in both Germany and Spain are won and lost.

In an astonishing turn of events, the fixtures in the Bundesliga and LaLiga have coalesced so that the top two meet each other at exactly the same time later on this afternoon.

And both matches have an eerily similar narrative surrounding them.

In Germany, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen have the chance to go five points clear of challengers Bayern Munich with a win.

Winning has become something of a habit for the Werkself over the past six months with Leverkusen currently on a run of 30 matches unbeaten under their remarkable Spanish tactician.

Things haven’t been entirely plain-sailing at the BayArena – especially post-Christmas – with the club labelled ‘Neverkusen’ for their inability to win trophies going against history and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat on a number of occasions.

Last minute wins over Augsburg, RB Leipzig and Stuttgart in recent weeks have seen Xabi Alonso hail his side’s mentality.

A more negative assessment though, could ask why Leverkusen have let themselves get in those positions in the first place.

Some sloppy defending and often a sense of panic in the final third have meant that those trio of games have needed last-gasp goals to secure wins.

Which is almost exactly what happened when these two teams met back in September.

Leon Goretzka’s 84th minute strike seemed to have earned Bayern a 2-1 win at the Allianz Arena.

But, in the fourth minute of injury time, Exequiel Palacios netted from the penalty spot as Leverkusen maintained their unbeaten start to the new campaign.

At the time it proved their credentials as a potential title challenger but arguably no one outside of the club would have imagined being in this situation right now.

There’s also the small matter of Xabi Alonso’s future come the end of the season and whether that external noise will penetrate inside the dressing room and have a negative effect on the pitch.

At the moment that doesn’t seem to be the case but don’t be surprised if, once Leverkusen lose a game, the blame game starts and a rot sets in.

Thomas Tuchel’s side will be hoping that rot starts this weekend with the reigning champions likely to be without the talismanic figure of Manuel Neuer between the posts.

The veteran goalkeeper suffered a minor injury in training this week and although it’s not too serious, it is serious enough to see him on the sidelines later tonight.

That will undoubtedly be a huge blow for the Bavarian giants but with Harry Kane in record-breaking form in front of goal, Bayern will hope that the loss of Neuer will be negated by the genius of the England international.

In Spain, Girona are dealing with a similar headache too as they face being without three of their key stars for this weekend’s top of the table clash with Real Madrid all whilst keeping one eye on another unique Englishman.

The Catalan minnows are set to be without Daley Blind and Yangel Herrera through injury whilst star striker Artem Dovbyk is touch and go and will be given a late fitness test.

It’s a huge loss for Michel’s men in what is easily the biggest game of their season so far and potentially the biggest game in their history.

Girona have been astonishing so far this term, scoring a LaLiga-leading 52 goals and currently sitting just two points behind Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Their remarkable rise up the table hit a slight snag in January with disappointing draws against Almeria and Real Sociedad but if one result proves that Girona can mix it with the big boys, it’s their victory over Atlético de Madrid on January 3.

Three goals in 40 first half minutes gave some indication as to how fired up Girona were for the arrival of Diego Simeone’s side but despite being pegged back by an Alvaro Morata hat-trick, they bagged the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.

A trip to Santiago Bernabéu this weekend clearly offers up a different sort of challenge, especially with Los Blancos having not lost a game at home this season and with Jude Bellingham in Ballon d’Or-winning form.

Girona though, seem to be the masters of playing away this term having not lost a game on their travels in 11 attempts.

Simply put, this is going to be one of the most fascinating games in Europe in 2024.

Fire up the TV, get that laptop open and enjoy double-screening your way through the best Saturday of European football we can remember in a very long time.