A look at what’s happening in European football on Saturday: England Defending Premier League champion Manchester City visit Old Trafford and hope to contain Cristiano Ronaldo. United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says “we’ve moved on” from the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool that called his leadership into question. Since then, United have a win over Tottenham and a draw at Atalanta in the Champions League. A derby victory heading into the international break would take pressure off Solskjaer as well as put the team level on points with third-place City. Current league leader Chelsea host always-stubborn Burnley and again is without injured striker Romelu Lukaku. Crystal Palace are coming off an upset of City and face a Wolverhampton team that is unbeaten in its past five games. The league’s last two winless clubs are in action: Norwich are at Brentford; and Newcastle visit Brighton.
Spain Barcelona visit Celta Vigo in their last game under caretaker coach Sergi Barjuan. The Catalan club has secured the return of former player Xavi Hernández as their new full-time coach, but he won’t arrive until Monday. Barcelona are mid-table and need to win to not fall further behind in the Spanish league standings. Real Madrid host crosstown rival Rayo Vallecano, one of the surprises of the campaign. Madrid can overtake leader Real Sociedad, who play on Sunday. Rayo have the best home record in the competition but have only one once on the road. Espanyol seek their first win in four rounds when they host Granada, while Levante, the league’s only winless side, visits Alavés after 12 games without a victory. Italy Perfect in the Champions League, Juventus continues to struggle in Serie A. The Bianconeri are coming off consecutive defeats in the Italian league entering a match against visiting Fiorentina. “In order to play with a lot of attacking players you need offensive players who pay attention to the defensive phase,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, who has had a rough start to his second term in Turin. “Otherwise you become vulnerable and you win one, you draw one and you lose one.” Fiorentina are in seventh place, three points ahead of ninth-place Juventus. Also, fifth-place Atalanta visit last-place Cagliari coming off a draw with Manchester United in the Champions League; and relegation-threatened Spezia host Torino. Germany
Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich host the only unbeaten team, Freiburg, who have conceded just seven goals in 10 league games this season. Bayern is the top-scoring team but has concerns over a defence which conceded nine goals in its last three games in all competitions. S till without injured striker Erling Haaland, Borussia Dortmund visit a struggling Leipzig team which was boosted by its 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday. New Wolfsburg coach Florian Kohfeldt looks to continue his winning start against Augsburg. Stuttgart host Arminia Bielefeld and Bochum plays Hoffenheim. France Lionel Messi must wait even longer for his first league goal for Paris Saint-Germain. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner will miss the away game against Bordeaux because he is nursing minor knee and hamstring injuries. Messi then travels to meet up with Argentina for World Cup qualifiers. The 20 November home game against Nantes will be his next chance to net his first league goal after drawing a blank in five games since joining from Barcelona, although he has netted three times in the Champions League. In the other match defending champion Lille look to move away from midtable with a home win against eighth-place Angers.
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