A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Wednesday:
ENGLAND
Manchester City takes its club-record 12-game winning streak to Burnley. The Premier League leader is level on points with Manchester United but has a superior goal difference plus two games in hand. Burnley’s 13 goals are the fewest in the league, while City’s defense has been virtually impenetrable in manager Pep Guardiola fifth season in charge. Liverpool, four points off the lead in third place, will look for its third consecutive win when it hosts Brighton. Leicester is a point behind the defending champions and visits Fulham. Leeds hosts Everton and West Ham is at Aston Villa.
SPAIN
Still reeling from the embarrassing leak of Lionel Messi’s contract, Barcelona visits Granada to try to return to the Copa del Rey semifinals. The Catalan club made it to the last four nine straight seasons before losing to Athletic Bilbao in the quarterfinals last year. Barcelona is enjoying a good run despite its off-the-field struggles, having won four consecutive matches in all competitions. Granada was a semifinalist last season, also being eliminated by Athletic. In the other quarterfinal, Levante hosts Villarreal. The quarterfinals are being decided in one-game series.
ITALY
Defending champion Napoli hosts Atalanta in the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal. Atalanta will be looking to bounce back from Sunday’s league defeat at home to Lazio, after beating the same opponent in the Italian Cup quarterfinals last week. Napoli beat Parma at the weekend to move above Atalanta into fifth place in the league. Juventus won 2-1 at Inter Milan in the other semifinal on Tuesday, with the return legs scheduled for next week. The final is on May 19.
GERMANY
Leipzig needs to get past second-tier Bochum to claim a spot in the quarterfinals of the German Cup. Leipzig is one of the clubs sensing a chance to win a domestic trophy after Bayern Munich was eliminated from the cup in the second round. Borussia Mönchengladbach is unbeaten in seven games across all competitions as it visits Stuttgart, while Champions League-chasing Wolfsburg hosts struggling Schalke, which must adapt its defense after loaning Ozan Kabak to Liverpool on the last day of the transfer window Monday. Replacement Shkodran Mustafi is unable to play because of quarantine rules after arriving from Britain on loan from Arsenal.
FRANCE
While defending champion Paris Saint-Germain has already lost five league games this season, Lille and Lyon have taken advantage to create the closest title race in many years. PSG’s shock loss at lowly Lorient on Sunday dropped it down to third place behind Lyon and leader Lille. PSG should bounce back with a home win against last-place Nimes, while Lyon travels to play next-to-last Dijon and Lille has a tricky assignment at mid-table Bordeaux. Fourth-place Monaco, meanwhile, is creeping up behind PSG after winning five straight league games and taking 19 points from the last 21. Kevin Volland is in fine form with 11 goals so far, and the German forward will look to add to his total as Monaco hosts nearby rival Nice in the French Riviera derby.
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