Welcome back to On the Continent, where every Thursday we tell you the need-to-knows around the swashbuckling world of European football. With the Champions League last-16 set in stone, players and managers return to their local fights, where in most cases, there’s still everything to play for:

ii. There is a lot to cover from yesterday’s Champions League (see: that wild finish between Juventus and Galatasaray, or Vinícius Júnior's revenge game at the Bernabéu). For a full recap of the day’s results, watch Rog & James Horncastle’s breakdown of all the action here. 📺

iii. A top, top, top-notch goal you might've missed from earlier in the week: Please watch FC Köln's Ragnar Ache pause space and time to land one of the most picture-perfect bicycle kicks ever caught on film. 🇩🇪

iv. However, that is somehow not to be outdone by one of the best goal-line clearances you will ever see, courtesy of Ayumu Ōhata in Japan’s J-League. That level of floating body control is just outstanding. 🇯🇵

Cheers,
Tommy Stewart & Max Bonem

PS - This reaction from Dortmund’s Maximilian Beier during their loss to Atalanta yesterday feels ripped right out of “The Office,” and it’s perfect. 😑

Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

When millions of football fans around the world lock in to witness Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park decked out like the Bumblebee transformer and sounding like an AC/DC gig, it’ll be like Millhouse playing Bonestorm. Each of these German giants have only lost once in the Bundesliga this season and Dortmund cannot afford defeat here. A victory for Niko Kovač’s side would leave them just five points behind Bayern, but yesterday’s UCL battering in Bergamo will still be fresh on his players’ minds. Canadian roadrunner Alphonso Davies misses out (hamstring), but otherwise, Vincent Kompany’s side is fresh, and Harry Kane is in form and hunting Robert Lewandowski’s Bundesliga goal record.

Barcelona vs. Villarreal (Saturday, 10:15 a.m. ET, ESPN+)

Across three different stadiums, Barcelona have won all their La Liga home games this season, but Villarreal defender Santiago Mouriño has challenged his teammates to end their streak and close the gap on the champions. Hansi Flick’s side buried two consecutive losses with a convincing 3-0 win over Levante last weekend, and with Marcus Rashford back from a knee injury, he’ll hope to add to the 23 goal contributions he’s already hit this season. Marcelino García Toral’s El Submarino Amarillo are third in La Liga and a win would take them seven points behind the leaders.

Real Madrid vs. Getafe (Monday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Many football fans love to hate Real Madrid, but it was hard not to smile when Vinícius Júnior scored to seal a victory over Benfica yesterday. In a 2-1 loss to Osasuna last weekend, Álvaro Arbeloa’s side surrendered their La Liga lead having only held it for a week, and while they’re just a point behind Barcelona, the 26-mile trip south to mid-table Getafe’s Coliseum Stadium is no joke. Manager José Bordalás is a proponent of football’s dark arts who has the know-how to painstakingly strangle out a result.

Inter Milan vs. Genoa (Saturday, 2:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

It was all coming up Cristian Chivu until Bodø/Glimt sieged the San Siro and dispatched his 2025 UCL finalists at the first-round playoff stage. Domestically though, things couldn’t be better, but despite Inter leading second-placed AC Milan by a mammoth 10 points, as Italy’s habitual European flag bearers, their pride will be in the gutter. Roman gladiator re-gen Daniele De Rossi and his 14th-placed Genoa side will travel to Milan to try and pounce on a wounded beast. 

Cremonese vs. AC Milan (Sunday, 6:30 a.m. ET, Paramount+)

Christian Pulisic returned to the starting XI for AC Milan’s crushing 1-0 loss to Parma last weekend, and although Max Allegri’s men drift distantly from their San Siro bedmates, the six-time Scudetto winner will not tap out until his team are deemed mathematically breathless. With a 12-match winless run that stretches back to early December, unlike their striker Jamie Vardy, Cremonese are very much not having a party and should be prime fodder for the Rossoneri to return to winning ways. 

Roma vs. Juventus (Sunday, 2:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

Despite heroically beating Galatasaray with 10 men only to get knocked out of the UCL in extra time yesterday, the pride Juventus fans showed in defeat, could mark a turning point for Luciano Spalletti. Before this confusing victory, the Old Lady had suffered three devastating losses on the spin, but Spalletti’s special boy Weston McKennie has thrived regardless, which should seal him an improved contract. Roma are four points above fifth-placed Juve and their manager Gian Gasperini admitted the UCL-spot scramble “will be a battle to the very end.”

No Scottish team has broken the Old Firm’s stranglehold on the Scottish Premier League title since a certain Sir Alex Ferguson did it with Aberdeen in 1985. That’s the measure of Derek McInnes’ achievements as the manager of Edinburgh’s Hearts of Midlothian (not to be mistaken with Logan Roy’s beloved Hibs), who lead Rangers by four points and Celtic by six ahead of the two Glaswegian sides coming to blows this Sunday. The Jam Tarts welcome Ferguson’s old side this Saturday, but injuries to three key players will hinder the underdogs. 

The Scottish capital is a prosperous city and a cultural hub, but Hearts’ Tynecastle stadium is based in a working class area to the west of the city center called Gorgie. According to legend, the club was formed in 1874 after an evening dance ended in locals borrowing a ball from a local cricketer and playing football with it until it burst, inspiring them to start their own football club. In 2021, Hearts became the biggest fan-owned club in the UK, which is one of many reasons their title march is so seismically historic; if they win the SPL, it’ll be their first in 66 years!

Rangers vs. Celtic (Sunday, 7 a.m. ET, Paramount+)

Ange Postecoglou recently claimed there’s no bigger derby in football than Glasgow’s Old Firm, but not since Rangers won the SPL in 2021 has this historically, politically and emotionally charged fixture mattered so much. Both Rangers’ 36-year-old Danny Röhl and Celtic’s 73-year-old Martin O’Neill have been stoic firefighters after calamitous managerial appointments from both clubs, and even though they’re at opposite ends of their careers, neither has likely coached such a consequential match.

More: Huge news for Scotland fans ahead of this summer's World Cup as sporrans will officially be allowed into stadiums.

442 ‘Infinite Light.’ The boot for those that are in it for the love of the game.

At just 18-years-old and only 5’6”, Bayern Munich’s Lennart Karl has forced his way into Vincent Kompany’s plans way ahead of schedule. He debuted aged 17 at last year’s Club World Cup and has since played 31 times for the Bavarians, chipping in with 11 goal contributions. Despite not being capped yet, the ambitious teenager's next aim is sealing a seat on Germany’s flight to the USA this summer. 

“I [am] sometimes surprised at how everything [has] turned out,” the academy graduate said of his stratospheric ascendance into the hearts of the Bayern faithful. They’ve been waiting for a star in Karl’s mould since the emergence of Thomas Müller in 2008, as most of their attacking talent in recent years has been bought and paid for. 

While the young star spends most of his time training and playing football, he is reportedly “really looking forward to driving” on his own soon, as his parents have been transporting him to and from Bayern’s campus for some time now. We’ll just leave that here to let it sink in for a while.

Congratulations to last week’s winner, John Story, who was the first to correctly answer that Pep Guardiola was the manager who hasn’t coached in England, Italy AND Spain. Your patch is in the post, John.

🐦‍⬛ We’ll see you again tomorrow. In the meantime, you can send us your stories, questions or suggestions for the best biergarten in Dortmund to [email protected].

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Correction: Last week we referenced João Pereira as the manager of Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon. However, while Pereira did briefly take over in 2024 after the departure of Ruben Amorim (remember him?), the Portuguese side is now managed by Rui Borges, who led them to last season’s Primeira Liga title. We apologize for the error.

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