As Barcelona remain on the tail of Real Madrid in the race to the top of the table, the onus is on Zidane’s side to start the weekend with a win against Eibar, while Barcelona host one of their toughest opponents in recent times, Celta de Vigo in gameweek 26 of the Spanish La Liga.
Thomas Tuchel and his men will attempt to make it three wins out of three in the league as they prepare to host Bayer 04 Leverkusen in gameweek 23 of the Bundesliga as Bayern Munich travel to take on FC Köln.
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The Serie A kicks off with a fascinating encounter in the Italian capital as second-place Roma welcome third-place Napoli. While a victory for the Gli Azzurri will not help them oust Roma from their position, it will make the battle for Champions League qualification more interesting.
As we head into an action-packed European gameweek, here are the best statistics going into the weekend:
Eibar vs. Real Madrid
- As things at the top of the table heat up, there are some concerning statistics the Los Blancos need to be aware of. Sergio Ramos has conceded four penalties, more than any other player in the La Liga, and Keylor Navas has been involved in four errors that have directly led to goals, more than any other player in the league as well.
- However, Real Madrid have now scored in 45 consecutive games in all competitions, the best by any La Liga side, breaking Barcelona’s record of scoring in 44 games in a row.
Barcelona vs. Celta de Vigo
- Barcelona cannot be too happy about hosting Celta de Vigo when they have to maintain pressure on their league rivals Real Madrid. The visitors have the best record amongst all the teams in the division against Luis Enrique’s Barcelona, with three wins in all competitions, one of which includes a 0-1 home defeat.
- Lionel Messi has been in amazing form this season, even rescuing his side in the final moments of games on numerous occasions, a case in point being their match against Atletico Madrid last weekend. The Argentine has 36 goals in as many games in all competitions and will be keen to maintain his 100% record.
Deportivo Alavés vs. Sevilla
- Sevilla already have 55 points from 25 games this season. This is higher than the 52 points they collected in all of the 2015-16 season.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen
- Borussia Dortmund have won their last two games in the Bundesliga against Wolfsburg and SC Freiburg 3-0. Their fixture against Leverkusen this Saturday is their chance to win their third consecutive game with the same scoreline. They recorded 24 shots on goal against Wolfsburg and 27 against Freiburg, their highest so far this season.
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will look to get back on the scoresheet this weekend. The Gabon forward has scored 73 goals in 116 league matches for the side whereas Robert Lewandowski has managed 74 in 131 league games during his time with Bayern.
FC Köln vs. Bayern Munich
- Bayern Munich are so far unbeaten in the Bundesliga in 2017. They have netted the most goals so far – 54 and also conceded the least – 13.
- Seventh-placed FC Köln are yet to beat a top-eight team this season. In fact, they have never beaten the league-leaders since Schalke back in September 2008, making a victory against the Bavarians this weekend highly unlikely.
Roma vs. Napoli
- The last time Napoli scored away at Roma was in May 2013 when Edinson Cavani found the back of the net for the Partenopei Gli Azzurri – it has been 276 minutes since that goal was scored.
- Roma have won all four of their previous home games against third-placed Napoli. The second-place Giallorossi have lost only one of their 14 games, drawing four and winning nine.
Udinese vs. Juventus
- Udinese host Juventus on the back of three league defeats in the Serie A. They lost four games in a row all the way back in September 2015 but look set to repeat that feat this weekend.
- Paulo Dybala will relish the opportunity to go up against Udinese. The Argentine forward has been involved in nine goals in his six appearances against the side. He has scored five and made assists on four occasions.
