Preview

Spain and France stand in direct clash for the first place in their group, which immediately gets the team in the World Cup finals. After failing at home against Finland, the Spaniards left behind 2 points from "Roosters" and eventual loss or even a draw in this match can crash the hopes of the team for a first place in the group. The main reason for this is the fact that this is the second meeting between Spain and France, and the other three teams in the group seem easy to overcome for the "Roosters".

Hercules team is in a very bad situation and to the end of the season they will have to get quite a few points to avoid relegation. Hercules currently occupies the penultimate place in the standings by 5 points from the 18th Rescue position.

Villarreal is facing a poor performing lately team of Recreativo (Huelva) in a match of the Spanish Segunda Division. Recreativo conceded 4 consecutive losses, but the decent results earlier in the season put the team in the middle of the table. The guests have no real chances to get among the first 6 teams in the standings, but are also 9 points above the relegation zone, which means the team has no real struggle for this season.

About 8 teams from Ligue 2 have a real chance to qualify for the Ligue 1 this season. The battle for the top 3 places in th standings is fierce, and the team of Caen is just 3 points behind the third position, but with a game less and significantly better goal difference than Guingamp, who currently occupies the third place. Undoubtedly, Caen will do everything possible to take full advantage of the home game against Istres.

An interesting fact regarding the matches between these two teams over the past 13 years is that none of them has ended in a draw. Northampton has 7 wins against 6 for Oxford. Both teams are in pretty good form as managed 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss of their last 6 games.

In Group A of the World Cup Qualification UEFA the teams of Croatia and Belgium lead the standings with 10 points for each undisturbed by the other national formations. The third team in the table, which is Serbia has collected only four points and respectively the win from this meeting is mandatory for the team, if Serbia is to enter the serious battle for qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil.

Stevenage team will travel 308 km distance to Bury for a match of the English League One hoping to improve its record against the team currently positioned at the bottom of the table.

Dynamo Dresden and Köln meet in interesting clash in the German Bundesliga.

After 25 games, the hosts take 16. place in the standings, while guests from Köln gradually established themselves as one of the leaders in the league and are currently fourth.

Tottenham has become a nightmare for the team of Inter. In the last three meetings between these two teams, the Tottenham players managed to score 9 goals (3 goals per match). Inter certainly is in poor form and only the absence of Gareth Bale due suspension seems good news for the "Nerazzurri".

Bayern München are performing flawlessly this season and the team tops the Bundesliga standings by being 20 points ahead of the second Borussia Dormund. Bayern have won 6 of their last 6 games. Furthermore, while playing at home at the Allianz Arena this season, the team conceded only one loss. Arsenal's chances to continue to the next phase of the tournament are very small, but sometimes we witness miracles especially in the Champions League.

The hopes of winning the Champions League declined significantly in the players of Barcelona. After 3 losses in their last 5 games, it is clear that the team has a drop in form. Making up the two goals against Milan seems a daunting task, but not impossible for Barcelona. The hosts are with fresh strengths as this week Messi, Iniesta, Busquets, Alba, Pique and Pedro were rested. Xavi is very likely to take part in this game, although his light unjury that torments him.

After dropping out of the Champions League, Sir Alex Ferguson will be highly motivated to win the FA Cup and will no doubt rely on his strongest players for this match. Manchester United and Chelsea already made two great games against each other as they exchanged an impressive win for each. In these two matches a total of 14 goals were scored.

The team of Udinese is one of the best hosts in Serie A and even the Italian giants Inter and AC Milan were defeated at Udine. In their last three home matches, Udinese did not concede a single goal and although very small, the team still has a chance to qualify for the Europa League. Lazio and Inter are in poor form and this is a perfect opportunity for teams like Roma and Udinese to catch up in the standings.

One of the most attractive clashes in the Europa League is definitely the one between the teams of Tottenham and Inter. The hosts are in great form and what about the form of Gareth Bale, who just cannot stop scoring. The team of Inter still preserves some bad memories of Bale after his hat-trick at the San Siro, where his star shined for the first time.

Jose Mourinho rested many of his key players this weekend, despite the opponent, which was Barcelona and Real Madrid still managed to reach the victory. After the two consecutive impressive triumphs over their greatest rival, in Real`s squad the confidence will be at very high level for the match against Manchester United. The Champions League title will no doubt erase the poor performance of Real Madrid in the Primera Division, but the path to the most valuable football trophy goes through beating, Sir Alex Ferguson`s team, which is in an astonishing form.

The spectacle is guaranteed in the matches between Tottenham and Arsenal, which quite often end in a lot of scored goals. 12 of the last 13 such matches ended with over 2.5 goals. This time Arsenal is 4 points behind Tottenham, so the win is mandatory for the visiting team. This London derby is largely a decisive match for a place in the first four in the standings. After Arsenal failed in all competitions, it seems that the only way the team can please its fans is by getting in the top four. However to achieve this, a win in this game is a must for Wenger`s squad.

After winning the Capital One Cup the atmosphere at the Liberty Stadium will be overwhelming. Swansea crushed its opponent Bradford in the final and deservedly won the trophy, which culminated the team`s good performance this season. Winning the cup and securing participation in the Europa League, however, can affect negatively the performance of Swansea from here to the end of the season in the league. Such an outcome of the events had been witnessed several times. After winning this trophy Liverpool played at a very low level in the league, and when Birmingham lifted the League Cup, the team then relegated.

After Real Madrid`s spectacular win at the Camp Nou with 1-3, just three days later, once again we will have the opportunity to enjoy the Clasico. This time, however, the game is not of high importance as Real Madrid has no chances for the title. Furthermore the team has acknowledged the loss of the La Liga title. Moreover, on Tuesday the "White Ballet" will face Manchester United in a match of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. Despite the impressive victory over Barcelona with 1:3, the future of Mourinho at Real is largely dependent on the team`s performance in the Champions League. It will not be a surprise if Mourinho makes ​​some serious changes in his squad for this Clasico, in order to preserve the fitness of his main players.

Sevilla and Atletico Madrid will determine the second finalist for the Copa del Rey. The first match of the tournament between these two teams ended in a 2-1 score for Atletico and Sevilla now has the difficult task to make up the difference of 1 goal. The matches between these two teams are very tight in recent years, as Sevilla has 10 wins, while Atletico has won 9 times.

Another Clasico will delight the football fans around the world. Barcelona has an advantage of one away goal, which means that the guests will go hard for the first goal of the match. This game is definitely of high importance for Real Madrid as the team lost almost all chances for the Primera Division title. Furthermore, Jose Mourinho declared the loss of the league title, stressing that his team will focus on the Champions League and Copa del Rey.