Barcelona will be riding on a high as they enter Gameweek 27 of the Spanish La Liga with an away game against Deportivo La Coruna. Even though they sit at the top of the table with a one-point lead and a considerably superior goal difference from Real Madrid, the Los Blancos have a game in hand.
Zinedine Zidane’s men play hosts to Real Betis, a game they are favourites to win.
Over in the Bundesliga, Matchday 24 will see Bayern Munich host Frankfurt in a bid to win all three points. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund, who have turned things around after a sluggish start to the year travel to the capital to take on fifth-place Hertha.
The Serie A, on the other hand, kicks off later tonight with the historic battle between Juventus and AC Milan.
With a lot of interesting developments set to take place this weekend, here are the 12 best statistics going into the European gameweek:
Deportivo la Coruna vs. Barcelona
- The Estadio Riazor is Lionel Messi’s favourite stadium to score in away from home. The Argentine has 10 goals against Deportivo la Coruna and is likely to add to his tally of 23 goals in the league.
- It’s been 13 games since Deportivo last won against the Blaugrana including four draws and nine victories for the visitors. The hosts have also failed to score in eight of those fixtures.
Real Madrid vs. Real Betis
- Real Madrid’s fixture against Real Betis is likely to go the Los Blancos’ way with their last defeat against them coming in October 1998 when the game ended 0-1. Since then, Madrid have gone unbeaten for 13 games with 10 wins and three draws – similar to Barcelona’s record against La Coruna.
- Real Madrid have now scored in 47 consecutive games in all competitions, the best run by any La Liga side in history and are likely to extend the record to 48 this weekend.
Bayern Munich vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
- Frankfurt have already picked up a point against Bayern Munich this season when they held the Bavarians to a 2-2 earlier this season. However, the last time they earned points in both the home and away legs of the fixture in a single Bundesliga season was in 1995-96.
- Philipp Lahm is on the verge of another career landmark. The Bayern captain is just 16 touches away from hitting the 300,000 mark – something that is sure to happen in the capital this week. The record, obviously, does not include players from before official data collection became a practice.
Hertha BSC vs. Borussia Dortmund
- Former Hertha defender Lukasz Piszczek scored only three goals in 68 appearances for the side between 2007-10. However, at Borussia Dortmund, he has five goals so far this season, more than any other defender in the league.
- The Olympiastadion is not one of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s favourite destinations. Not only has he never scored against them in the capital but has also suffered defeat there in the DFB Cup finals on three occasions.
Juventus vs. AC Milan
- One of the biggest fixtures in Italy, this Friday’s game between Juventus and AC Milan is the 164th meeting between the two sides in the Serie A with Juventus have losing and drawing the most number of league games against AC Milan – 54 draws and 49 losses.
- After seven consecutive victories against the Rossoneri in the league, Juventus lost their first game in the reverse fixture at the San Siro this season. However, the Bianconeri have an impeccable record against AC Milan at the Juventus Stadium which includes 5 wins and three clean sheets.
