European round-up: Lazio and Roma in Coppa Italia final
- Published
Rome rivals Lazio and Roma will face each other in the Coppa Italia final for the first time on Sunday.
The derby will be held at their shared Stadio Olimpico home as they both look to salvage something from a disappointing season.
Lazio won three of the last four meetings but Roma finished a place above their rivals in the Serie A table this season in sixth.
A Europa League place will go to the winners.
The match comes barely a month after a Serie A game between the sides was
Fans from the two clubs have also been involved in incidents of racism this season.
Lazio were forced to play two home matches behind closed doors in the Europa League after their fans racially insulted Borussia Moenchengladbach players, their fourth racism offence of the season in European football.
Roma, meanwhile, have been given two successive 50,000 euros (拢42,400) fines by Italian football's disciplinary tribunal following racist chanting by their fans in the matches away to AC Milan and at home to Napoli.
Roma supporters will be buoyed by the likely return of hard-tackling midfielder Daniele De Rossi and defenders Federico Balzaretti and Marquinhos for Sunday's match, while Lazio have everyone available except the injured Louis Saha.
Spain
The race for the fourth Champions League play-off spot remains tight between Real Sociedad and Valencia with two matches of La Liga remaining.
The two teams are level on 62 points ahead of home games against Real Madrid and Granada respectively on Sunday.
Sociedad can secure fourth place if they beat Real Madrid and fifth-placed Valencia lose to Granada. That is because of their superior head-to-head record, which is the deciding factor if teams are level on points.
The bottom three could be relegated on Sunday. If 20th-placed Celta Vigo lose against Valladolid, and Real Zaragoza take at least a point against Atletico Madrid, Celta are relegated.
If they draw, Zaragoza draw or lose against Real Betis and Deportivo La Coruna lose against Malaga, Celta will still be relegated as they have a worse head-to-head record against Galician rivals Deportivo.
If 19th-placed Mallorca lose against Atletico Madrid, they are relegated because they have a worse head-to-head record against Deportivo and Zaragoza.
If Mallorca draw, Zaragoza win and Deportivo do not lose, Mallorca are relegated if Osasuna do not lose against Sevilla, and effectively relegated even if Osasuna do lose because their head-to-head record is identical but Mallorca's goal difference (-31) is significantly worse than Osasuna's (-16).
If Zaragoza lose against Real Betis, and Deportivo and Osasuna both win, they are relegated.
France
David Beckham could play the last game of his career for Ligue 1 champions Paris St-Germain at Lorient, while Joey Barton will play the final match of his loan spell for Marseille - who are already guaranteed second place and an automatic Champions League spot - versus Reims.
Third place reaches the Champions League third qualifying round, with Lyon in third, two points ahead of St Etienne and a win at home to Rennes will secure their spot.
If they draw, a win for St Etienne will see them take third because of their superior goal difference.
At the other end of the table, bottom-placed Brest and 19th-placed Nancy are already relegated.
Troyes are in the final relegation spot, three points behind Sochaux, Ajaccio and Evian going into the final weekend.
The most likely way for Troyes to save themselves is if they beat Valenciennes and Sochaux lose to Bastia, which would mean they stay up on goal difference. Otherwise, they will need a seven-goal swing with Ajaccio, who play Nice, and 11-goal swing with Evian, who play Bordeaux.
Netherlands
Utrecht host Twente on Sunday in the second leg of the Dutch Europa League play-off. Utrecht lead 2-0 from Thursday's first leg.
The Dutch relegation play-off second leg between Roda and Sparta Rotterdam is also on Sunday after a 0-0 first-leg draw.
Czech Republic
Viktoria Plzen are five points clear of second-placed Sparta Prague with two games left. The next round of games is on Sunday.
Austria
Austria Wien are already champions going into the final round of games.
At the other end of the table, one of SV Mattersburg, Wiener Neustadt, FC Wacker Innsbruck or FC Trenkwalder Admira can still go down.
Germany
FC Kaiserslautern trail TSG Hoffenheim 3-1 after Thursday's Bundesliga relegation play-off first leg. The second leg is on Monday as Hoffenheim look to escape relegation.
- Published24 May 2013
- Published24 May 2013
- Published19 May 2013
- Published19 May 2013
- Published19 May 2013