The Final Stretch

The last international break of the season has came and gone, and with almost all the participants for the mundial known, its time for players and coaches to focus on the most important part of the club season. The part where the winners and losers will be clear, where there will be tears and joy, where clubs will go down and come up. So with club football resuming this weekend, Matchday take a look at the final stretch of Europe football season. 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The champions league round of 16 concluded just before the last international break and the draws for the quarter finals was made promptly. The draw threw up interesting fixtures with Real Madrid v Chelsea the pick of the bunch, elsehwere, reigning Premier league champions Manchester City will take on Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, Liverpool will lock horns with Benfica, and Bayern Munich play Villarreal. Each team already know their path to a potential final, so everything is set for a tantalizing finish to the biggest club competition. 

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

As usual, the Premier League is at it dramatic best. Just one point separate first and second, either of Arsenal, Manchester United, or Tottenham still have a big chance of clinching the last Champions league spot with West Ham also having an outside chance, the Premier league relegation battle is also well documented, and although Norwich looked nailed to go down, the likes of Watford, Leeds, Burnley, Newcastle knows they are not safe from the drop yet. There are still big games to come, and the biggest is when Man City host Liverpool at the Etihad, a match that will surely be pivotal in the destination of the crown.

SPANISH LA LIGA

Just before the international break, Barcelona reminded the world they are getting back to their best with a resounding 4-0 victory against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, but even with that result, they are still twelve point behind their arch rivals albeit a game in hand and nine games left to play. Real Madrid sit comfortably at the top with a 9 point lead over second place Sevilla, Los Blancos look set for a 35th title, only a major disaster will stop them. Eight points seperates Second place Sevilla and sixth place Real Sociedad, and six point seperate fouth place Atletico Madrid and sixth, which means there are still three champions league spots up for grabs in the Spanish top flight. Levante look set to drop down a division after a really poor season while two out of Rayo Vallecano, Elche, Getafe, Granada, Cadiz, Alaves, Mallorca can still go down. 

ITALY SERIA A

AC Milan, Napoli, Inter Milan, Juventus in that order occupy the top four, with just seven points seperating first and fourth, indeed the Seria A title race is the most intriguing in Europe as four teams have the title in their sights with just eight games left. While the top four has seemingly cemented their place and locked the top four, the likes of Roma, Atalanta, Lazio, Fiorentina are left to feed off scraps with two European places(Europa and conference league) still up for grabs. Salernitana sit rock bottom, and barring any miracle they are destined to go down. Two out of Udinese, Sampdoria, Spezia, Cagliari, Venezia, Genoa will join the bottom side downgrading to Seria B.

German Bundesliga

Its business as usual for Bayern Munich in Germany but their short seven point gap over second place Dortmund with seven games to go means they are not over the line just yet. Dortmund inconsistency means they are not likely to overtake the Bavarians, and another second place finish looks far more likely. If Bayern to become champions again looks inevitable, the fight for champions league places looks set to go down to the wire. Dortmund have a stronghold on second spot, but who will finish third and fourth is anyone's guess, just four points seperate third place Leverkusen and sixth Hoffeinheim, with Leipzig and Freiburg in between. 

FRENCH LEAGUE

Even a disastrous campaign cant stop PSG from winning the league once again. For all the troubles of the Parisiens, they still hold a twelve point lead over second placed Marseille, and if not that they are out of the champions league, they can rest key players till the end of the season and still win the league with games left to spare. The poor quality of the league means only one more team can join PSG in the champions league, Marseille currently occupies that second spot but they are only nine point clear of eighth place Lens with nine games to go.

EUROPA LEAGUE AND CONFERENCE LEAGUE

Just like the Champions league, the Europa league and Conference league quarter final draws were made before the internationals and will resume next mid-week. Barcelona are favourites to lift Europe second tier competition but they will first have to navigate past Eintracht Frankfurt, Lyon play West Ham, RB Leipzig take on Atalanta, and Braga play Rangers. In the conference league, Marseille are up against PAOK Thessaloniki, Leicester v PSV, AS Roma v Bodo Glimt, Feyenoord take on Slavia Prague, just as the champions league, the remaining teams in the Europa league and Conference league knows their path to the showpiece.