Nantes coach Antoine Kombouare has the opportunity to lift the French Cup for the fifth time. Toulouse sits nine points above Nantes in the league but won’t be the favorite because it plays in a cup final for the first time in its history. Blas scored the lone goal in the semifinal win over Lyon this month as well as in the final against Nice last year. A four-time French Cup winner, Nantes will rely on midfielder Ludovic Blas for more silverware.
Nantes looks to retain the French Cup when it faces Toulouse in the final. Also, Eintracht Frankfurt welcomes Augsburg, and Borussia Mönchengladbach visits Stuttgart, then Werder Bremen plays at relegation-threatened Schalke. Freiburg visits Cologne, while Leipzig – two points further back in fifth – hosts Hoffenheim. The top four qualify for Europe’s premier competition. Alonso’s team was six points behind fourth-placed Freiburg with five rounds remaining. Leverkusen still has an outside chance of Champions League qualification thanks to its timely good run under coach Xabi Alonso. Union is riding high in third place with five rounds remaining and keen to defend its 20-game unbeaten run at home. Union Berlin hosts in-form Bayer Leverkusen for a Bundesliga clash with European qualification at stake. Napoli was supposed to play Salernitana but that potentially title-clinching match was moved to Sunday. That win boosted Atalanta’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League as, despite being seventh, it is only four points below Milan. Two late Roma goals helped it snatch a 2-2 draw at Milan in January. Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker at the end of the season. Roma is below fourth-placed Milan on goals scored. Roma hosts AC Milan in a direct battle for a Champions League spot. mindful of the Copa del Rey final and Champions League semifinals looming. Madrid midfielder Luka Modric will miss the game after injuring his left thigh. Madrid hosts Almeria after it also was embarrassed at Girona 4-2. Fifth-placed Betis needs to win to stay in the fight for a top-four finish and Champions League berth. But Barcelona has won only one of its last four league games and lost at Rayo Vallecano this week.
Barcelona has an 11-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid. Dembélé has been sidelined with a left thigh injury since January. Ousmane Dembélé and Andreas Christensen are back from leg injuries and on Barcelona’s squad for its home game against Real Betis. Crystal Palace and West Ham - teams who have recently moved away from relegation danger - meet in the lunchtime kickoff. Brighton is still in the mix for that ahead of a home match against Wolverhampton. Brentford is also coming off a midweek win - at Chelsea, 2-0 - and is in ninth, perhaps a little too far away from challenging for European qualification.
Forest is one point outside the drop zone. Forest ended an 11-match winless run by rallying to beat Brighton 3-1 on Wednesday. 5, Nottingham Forest will look to pull clear of the bottom three by beating Brentford. Out of the Premier League relegation zone after a first win since Feb. A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Saturday:
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