A falling giant meets an already fallen one while Postecoglou heads to Rangers, Real Madrid could be in for a harrowing evening and a future England star takes on Barcelona.
Game to watch: Juventus v Manchester City
The Kevin De Bruyne-inspired victory over Nottingham Forest never looked like the end of the crisis and a collective shrug at a draw with Crystal Palace is a telling indictment of how far Manchester City’s stock has fallen. They are now just another Premier League team.
Juventus know exactly what a fall from a pedestal feels like. No Scudetto for four years after nine on the bounce, City will hope their own quick and painful slide into mediocrity isn’t the start of an extended period in the shadows as it’s been for the Old Lady.
Remarkably, Juventus are yet to lose a game in Serie A this season but find themselves in sixth, seven points off Atalanta at the top of the table, having drawn nine of their 15 games. Like City, they’ve got eight points in the Champions League after two wins, two draws and a defeat, and while they’ve had significant injury problems this season, Thiago Motta will feel he needs a landmark victory to keep the wolves from the door.
Crisis or not, City are a big enough scalp to get on-the-fence Juventus fans on his side.
It’s not just that City look nothing like a Pep Guardiola team right now but that they’ve lost interest in trying to become one again – like it’s too much effort to do so. They could really just do with something, anything to stop them plodding through the season.
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Team to watch: Real Madrid
No matter how much we love Carlo Ancelotti, are rooting for Jude Bellingham and admire the ridiculous things Luka Modric and others have done in this Real Madrid team over the last decade, we would take great pleasure in seeing them dumped out at the almost-impossible-to-get-dumped-out-of group stage of the inaugural All New Champions League, created in no small part because of their own greedy angling for more games against top European opposition.
They are currently two points clear of The Dump Zone after losing three of their five games, having been entirely outplayed by Liverpool last time out. They’ve got RB Salzburg and Brest to come in January as a disappointingly soft end to their fixtures, but the French side have impressed so far and they may well have to win at least one of those games to earn a play-off spot after a trip to play the in-form team in Europe on Tuesday.
A significant hangover from their Europa League win at the end of last season saw Atalanta collect just seven points from their opening six Serie A games in a run which also saw them lose the Super Cup to Real Madrid 2-0, but a truly extraordinary uplift has seen them win all of their last nine in the Italian top flight, including a 3-0 thumping of then league leaders Napoli in Naples, with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side scoring 27 goals in the process.
They’re also unbeaten in the Champions League and will all but seal automatic qualification with a win over the European champions on their own patch.
Manager to watch: Ange Postecoglou
What better way to get over losing a two-goal lead to one of your closest and most irritating rivals to spark their title challenge than a trip to face your former closest rival, whose fans will unquestionably let you know what they think about your current job performance and, by the end of the game, may well be joined by your own fans in advising you that come sunrise you may be seeking alternative employment.
Postecoglou’s last game against Rangers ended in a 3-0 loss, albeit at the end of the 2022/2023 season after Celtic had already secured the title, and although Daniel Levy has come out in support of the Spurs boss following the embarrassing loss to Chelsea, you can’t help but feel defeat of any sort to the Scottish side – who are currently above Spurs in the Europa League table on goal difference – would be hard to come back from with plenty of Tottenham fans already calling for his head.
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Player to watch: Jamie Gittens
“Thomas Tuchel, are you watching?” was the commentary call after Gittens’ goal in Der Klassiker. A solo effort so good that in isolation it would have been enough to make the England boss take notice, as he stepped over the ball on the the byline on halfway, ran prime Gareth Bale-esque directly towards goal and fired the ball over Manuel Neuter’s head into the roof of the net. But he’s been very good for much of what is a breakout season for yet another ludicrously talented young English forward.
He’s got four of his nine goals in the Champions League, including one against Real Madrid, and has another opportunity to turn heads in a home clash against Barcelona, whom they’re level on points with in the automatic qualification spots.
EFL game to watch: Leeds v Middlesbrough
Only Norwich (35) have scored more goals than Leeds and Boro (33), who are second and fifth respectively. Defeat for Michael Carrick’s side could see them cut adrift from what’s starting to look like a top four as they’re currently five points behind Sunderland in fourth – though depending on Premier League results he may not be in that job for much longer, with West Ham among his admirers.
Leeds will be looking to get their own back having lost to Boro in the League Cup back in August, and Elland Road has become something of a fortress for Daniel Farke’s side, who have won all seven home games since defeat to Burnley in September, scoring 17 and conceding just one.