Three To See – The Weekend’s Football (28.2.09 – 2.3.09)

Last weekend we introduced a new feature on Just Football named ‘Three to See’. Each week we will diligently peruse the global football sphere to find and preview what we consider three unmissable games coming up that weekend. Last week we brought you a top of the table clash in England (Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea), the Lisbon derby of Sporting Lisbon v Benfica, won 3-2 by a Sporting side who were then humiliated 5-0 at home by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and Bayer Leverkusen’s crucial game against Hamburg. Hamburg emerged 2-1 winners. This week:

1, Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur (League Cup Final) 15.00 GMT, Sunday 1st March 2009

The first domestic honours of the season are up for grabs in England on Sunday as red takes on white in Sunday’s Carling Cup final at Wembley. Tottenham are looking to retain the trophy they won last season when they pipped Chelsea to the post in a thrilling game, while Manchester United are ostensibly still in the hunt for a clean sweep of trophies this year, with the League Cup final presenting their first chance at domestic silverware this season.

Spurs have won the League Cup four times to United’s two triumphs, and the Red Devils have lost in the final of this competition four times previously. Sir Alex Ferguson will be hoping it is not a fifth taste of final defeat for his boys. Having said that, the Carling Cup is not a priority for United and Ferguson will stick with a young squad as he has done throughout the competition so far. A number of first team regulars are expected to miss out on Sunday, with Danny Welbeck, Darron Gibson, Ben Foster and Nani all set to start.

For Tottenham meanwhile the competition once again represents their only chance of silverware, and manager Harry Redknapp is so keen to make sure his team are ready for the match that he foresaked the club’s UEFA Cup campaign, naming a reserve side in order to keep his main players fresh for the Wembley showpiece. There is a hint of irony involved in giving up Europe in order to ensure maximum competitiveness in a tournament whose ultimate reward is entry into Europe, but perhaps that was lost on ‘Harry Houdini.’

While United are the bookies’ favourites, the competition means a lot more to Spurs and Redknapp, which will no doubt be reflected in team selection on Sunday. With that in mind it would be no surprise to me if the team in white is the one lifting the three-handed trophy come Sunday evening.

2, Inter Milan vs AS Roma (Italian Seria A) 20.30 GMT, Sunday 1st March 2009

It has not proved the best of weeks for Italian football this past seven days. The relative paucity of the nation’s calcio was cruelly exposed by England’s finest in the Champions League in midweek, and to make matters worse tournament favourites AC Milan were embarrassingly dashed out of the UEFA Cup by Werder Bremen. The ego of the Italian game may have taken a bit of a bruising, but Serie A aficionados can at least lick their wounds in front of a giant of a clash between Inter and Roma this weekend.

Inter currently hold a nine point lead at the top of Serie A. Some might consider this unassailable, but it is worth bearing in mind that they also had a twelve point lead this time last year and only went on to win the league on the final day of that season. An encouraging thought for Juve and AC Milan fans at least. Roma for their part are out of the title race, and are simply fighting to make sure they finish in a Champions League qualification spot this time around. Luciano Spalleti’s men are currently sixth behind Genoa and Fiorentina.

The Nerazzurri smashed Roma 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico back in October last year, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in imperious form, and a similar result for Jose Mourinho’s side on Sunday would see Inter take a giant step towards retaining the title they have so dominated in recent years. Roma, wounded both by that defeat and a generally disappointing league campaign, want revenge It should be a great game.

3, Brondby v FC Copenhagen (Danish SAS Ligaen) 19.00 GMT, Monday 2nd March 2009

The biggest game in Danish football takes place this weekend, with a clash between fierce rivals Brondby and FC Copenhagen. Brondby, the most successful club in Denmark, are from the western outskirts of Copenhagen, while FC Copenhagen, who were only formed in 1992, originate from the city’s centre.

As you might expect, the two do not like each other very much. FC Copenhagen fans refer to Brondby fans as pigs, with the Brondby Stadium their pigsty. The area around Brondby is considered run-down and derelict, and Copenhagen fans naturally play on this by aiming at Brondby supporters all the insults one might stereotypically associate with the socially deprived. Brondby fans respond with equal disdain for their neighbours, who they consider snobbish, and are only too keen to highlight their rival’s apparent lack of history and tradition. To them, FC Copenhagen fans are glory hunters on the bandwagon of a plastic football club. The dividing lines are drawn very clearly.

The game takes on added significance this season because the two clubs are direct rivals at the top of the table. While Aalborg ran away with the title last year, it is Brondby and Copenhagen who head up the Danish Superliga right now, with the former leading Stale Solbakken’s side by just two points.

The two clubs’ general dominance of Danish football is highlighted by the fact that 11 of the last 16 league titles have been shared between them. Brondby lead the way overall with ten championships to Copenhagen’s six, and after a dreadful season last year in which Brondby, nicknamed the ‘lads from the west’ finished eighth, a return to Denmark’s top table is definitely the club’s priority. This ‘New Firm’ derby will be as passionate as ever.

As always, do let us know which games you will be watching this weekend by leaving a comment
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AS Roma, Brondby, Danish Superliga, English League Cup, FC Copenhagen, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A, Manchester United, Three to See, Tottenham Hotspur