After a long week with UEFA Champions League and Europa League matches as well as plenty of midweek games from around the world, we have five intriguing matches in store for us this weekend.

All kickoffs listed are Eastern United States time zone.

 

EIBAR VS. BARCELONA
Saturday, February 17, 10:15 a.m. ET, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, iGol, Sling Latino, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier

If there is to be a La Liga title race in the final weeks of the season, you feel as though Eibar will need to produce something special at Ipurua against Barcelona on Saturday.

After all, at the moment there aren’t many tougher challenges for teams in La Liga than taking on Eibar on their own patch. The Basque outfit continue to upset the odds this season and their cohesive and combative brand of football has pushed them up to seventh position in the table; they’ll be dreaming of a European finish.

Barcelona, meanwhile, have shown some signs of tiredness in recent weeks, with consecutive draws against Espanyol and Getafe allowing Atletico Madrid to close the gap to just seven points. While there’ll be no fear from the Blaugrana camp yet, Ernesto Valverde will want to see his side rekindle their spark.

Eibar will make this tough, as they’re so hard to break down and increasingly effective in the way they attack opponents. If Barcelona are to emerge with three points here, then you suspect they’ll have played especially well.

 

TORINO VS. JUVENTUS
Sunday, February 18, 6:30 a.m. ET, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, iGOL, Sling Latino, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier

After their Champions League slip-up against Tottenham Hotspur, Juventus will resume their battle with Napoli at the top of Serie A this weekend. Local rivals Torino will be hoping to deflate their charge.

Juve have looked imperious for long spells in recent weeks and were exceptional in taking a two-goal lead against Spurs. However, they let their focus slip, allowed Spurs to fight their way back into the contest and now face a huge challenge if they’re to progress in the second leg at Wembley in three weeks.

In Serie A they’ll be hoping to get a sense of normality back and after winning their last eight in succession in the division, Juve will be confident of keeping the pressure firmly on Napoli at the summit. Showdowns with Torino have typically brought out the best of the Bianconeri lately too.

Indeed, Torino have only one Derby della Mole win since 1995 and while the home crowd always relish this occasion, their team hasn’t looked like one capable of troubling Juve. They’re in ninth after an inconsistent term, with star striker Andrea Belotti only able to muster five goals this season.

 

ATLETICO MADRID VS. ATHLETIC
Sunday, February 18, 10:15 a.m. ET, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, iGol, Sling Latino, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier

Although they still have a lot of ground to make up on Barcelona, for Atletico Madrid it’s imperative no mistakes are made in the coming weeks.

Athletic Club would usually represent a testing opponent for Diego Simeone’s side too, as they are blessed with a number of dangerous attacking players. However, they’ve lost star defender Aymeric Laporte and are subsequently struggling to find any consistency; they head to the Wanda Metropolitano without a win in five.

Atletico, meanwhile, have settled into a familiar groove. Simeone’s side are assured when they get into a leading position and are so watertight at the back. Remarkably, they’ve only conceded nine goals in their 23 La Liga games.

There’s a sense that there’s more to come from Atletico too, with Diego Costa and Vitolo both slowly getting up to speed after their January moves. Should Barcelona fail to win at Eibar, which is by no means an outlandish prospect based on recent evidence, then this clash at the Wanda is potentially huge for Atletico.

 

ROCHDALE VS. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Sunday, February 18, 11 a.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier

The FA Cup takes centre stage in England this weekend and for the second consecutive round, Tottenham have lower-league opposition to negotiate away from home.

This time it’s Rochdale that’ll take on Mauricio Pochettino’s side. They sit at the bottom of League One after a torrid campaign, although the FA Cup has offered them something of a reprieve, with the win over Millwall last time out giving the side a fillip of positivity to cling to; the visit of Spurs will be a huge day for all associated with the club.

Tottenham will hope to do a professional job and given they came close to being upset by Newport in the previous round, there’ll be no complacency from the visitors this time. Spirits will also be high in the squad following their sensational comeback against Juventus, although some key men may need a rest after such a colossal effort.

One of the main talking points ahead of this encounter has been the poor condition of the Rochdale pitch, although the club have splashed out to relay the surface ahead of Spurs’ visit.

 

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT VS. RB LEIPZIG
Monday, Monday 19, 2:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 2, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier

The battle for second in the Bundesliga looks set to be a thriller and two of the main challengers in that race will scrap it out on Sunday at the Waldstadion.

Frankfurt are enjoying a campaign to remember and sit in fourth position in the German top flight. Manager Nico Kovac has done a stellar job with Eintracht, getting the best out of a fascinating squad of players. Experienced men like Kevin-Prince Boateng have gelled well with rising stars, including Marius Wolf and Sebastien Haller.

If they were to win on Sunday, then they’d potentially end the weekend as high as second and certainlu ahead of their opponents RB Leipzig. However, last season’s runners-up have started to find some consistency in their recent outings; key men Naby Keita and Kevin Kampl were excellent in the win over Augsburg last weekend.

Frankfurt will feel as though there’s an opportunity here, especially after Leipzig’s trip to Napoli in the Europa League on Thursday.