A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Sunday:
ENGLAND
Leicester continues its defense of the FA Cup away to Nottingham Forest in the fourth round boosted by the return of Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho from the African Cup of Nations. Nampalys Mendy is still out in Cameroon, though, with his Senegal side in the final on Sunday against Egypt. Wesley Fofana, Jamie Vardy, Jonny Evans, Timothy Castagne and Ricardo Pereira remain out injured. Second-tier Forest ousted Arsenal last month. New Liverpool signing Luis Diaz might only be on the bench for the visit of Cardiff. Jürgen Klopp’s side has already reached one final this season — with Chelsea awaiting in the climax to the League Cup on Feb. 27. Fifth-tier Boreham Wood faces a tough match at Bournemouth.
SPAIN
Barcelona hosts Atlético Madrid in a fight for fourth place in the Spanish league and the last Champions League spot. Xavi Hernández has included Ousmane Dembélé in his Barcelona squad despite the winger’s refusal to sign a new contract or secure a move to a new club in the winter transfer window. Barcelona’s new signings, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traoré, could make their debuts against Atlético. Leader Real Madrid welcomes Granada and third-place Real Betis faces Villarreal. Midfielder Giovani Lo Celso could make his debut for Villarreal after his loan from Tottenham. Real Sociedad visits Valencia trying to stop its slide down the standings. The Basque Country club has only one win in its last eight league games.
FRANCE
Runaway league leader Paris Saint-Germain has a point to prove when it visits defending champion Lille, having lost and drawn against the northern side last season without scoring a goal. PSG is 10 points ahead of second-place Marseille and 11 clear of third-place Nice, which is at home to struggling Clermont. Lille has improved after a poor start to the season but is only midtable heading into the game and has conceded 30 goals in 22 games — seven more than it did all last season. PSG will be without striker Mauro Icardi because of a minor foot injury. He was ineffective and had a poor game in Monday night’s French Cup quarterfinal defeat against Nice.
GERMANY
Borussia Dortmund is under pressure from above and below when it hosts Bayer Leverkusen – from above as Bayern Munich stretched its lead to nine points on Saturday, and from below as Leverkusen is third, eight points behind Dortmund. Dortmund will be without the injured Erling Haaland but American forward Gio Reyna could return after missing 25 games through an injury sustained on international duty last September. Leverkusen’s attack is its best ever in the Bundesliga (49 goals in 20 games) and coach Gerardo Seoane appears to have addressed the team’s defensive frailties. Relegation-threatened Wolfsburg hosts last-place Greuther Fürth to close the 21st round. Wolfsburg hasn’t won in 11 games across all competitions, while Fürth is improving.
ITALY
Napoli has the chance to move level on points with second-place AC Milan if it wins at lowly Venezia in the Italian league. Serie A leader Inter Milan has a one-point lead over city rival Milan. Fourth-place Atalanta hosts relegation-threatened Cagliari. In other games, fifth-place Juventus hosts Verona and Torino plays at Udinese.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
