Real Madrid vs Barcelona: El Clasico the pick of Sunday's mouthwatering action

Sunday kicks off March and there is enough action across Europe to fill March Madness and then some. In England the race for the top four will take another turn as Tottenham host Wolves and Manchester United face Everton, not to mention the Carabao Cup final. There's a massive derby in France as Lyon welcome Saint-Etienne to Parc OL, while in Germany; title chasing RB Leipzig take on Bayer Leverkusen. 

On such an action-packed afternoon, WhoScored.com pick out the three top games well worth watching... 

Real Madrid vs Barcelona - LaLiga 

What better place to start than arguably the biggest club clash in world football. The duo suffered contrasting fortunes in their respective Champions League outings as Barcelona earned a creditable draw in Naples, while Real Madrid were shocked by Manchester City on home turf as goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne cancelled out Isco's opener for Los Blancos, who face an uphill struggle to secure a quarter-final berth following Sergio Ramos' late red card. 

It's been a fairly disastrous week for Real Madrid, who sacrificed top spot to Barcelona last week after the Blaugrana romped to a 5-0 home win over Eibar and the capital outit fell to a 1-0 loss at Levante hours later. Now two points behind Barcelona, Real Madrid are aware they need to avoid defeat at all costs if they are to wrestle LaLiga away from the current league leaders. However, Barcelona hold the upper hand coming into Sunday's hotly anticipated affair. 

Indeed, they have won six of their last seven competitive visits to the Bernabeu and have Lionel Messi back among the goals at just the right time, with the Argentine ending his four-match goalless run in some style as he notched four times in the aforementioned win over Eibar. That said, only three of Messi's 18 league goals this season have been scored away from home, though he has already netted in Madrid this term having scored the only goal of the game in Barcelona's 1-0 win at Atletico in December. 

Real Madrid also have a solid home record to fall back on, with Zinedine Zidane overseeing a 12-match unbeaten league run at the Bernabeu this season. And while Barcelona have excelled in recent meetings between the two sides in the Spanish capital, they have won just five of 12 away LaLiga matches this season, with their narrow 3-2 win at Real Betis earlier this month ending a three-game away winless streak. 

The possible absence of left-back Jordi Alba robs Barcelona of one of their key attacking outlets, while the much-publicised injuries to Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele hasn't helped their cause, even with the controversial addition of Martin Braithwaite. For Real Madrid, Rodrygo's suspension is arguably the bigger blow, with the teenager banned after his red card for Real Madrid B, than injuries to Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio given the former's lack of impact following his arrival from Chelsea and the latter's lack of action this season. 

Juventus vs Inter - Serie A 

Inter sit six points behind Juventus at the top of Serie A, but hold a game in hand over the defending champions after their clash with Sampdoria was postponed due to a Coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy. It means this match will be played behind closed doors in what is a headline-grabbing tie in Italy's top tier this term. Like their LaLiga counterparts before them, both sides endured contrasting fortunes in European action this week. 

Juventus were handed a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Lyon in France, while Inter secured their place in the next round of the Europa League after their 2-1 home win over Ludogorets Razgrad saw them progress to the last-16 of the competition 4-1 on aggregate to set up a meeting with Getafe. Inter will, of course, be out to exact revenge upon the Old Lady, who inflicted a 2-1 defeat upon the Nerazzuri at San Siro in October, while Antonio Conte is aiming to get one over his former employers in his and Inter's bid for glory. 

For all of Juventus' struggles, however, they have still been solid in front of their own fans in Turin. They have dropped just two of 36 available points at the Juventus Stadium this season and hold the greater head-to-head record between the two teams on home turf having won every Serie A Derby d'Italia in Turin since 2012. Inter, meanwhile, have won only two of their last five away league matches and their sole away loss came in their title clash with Lazio last time out. 

Given their game in hand, Inter can perhaps afford to not win here, but defeat would all but end their hopes of securing the Scudetto this season. Given Inter have failed to beat the teams around them in the league - Juventus, Lazio, Atalanta and Roma - on at least one ocsasion this term, it doesn't bode well for the Milan side in Sunday's showpiece Serie A fixture. For Conte at least, number one Samir Handanovic is expected to return between the sticks, which serves as a huge boost for Inter. For Juventus, captain Giorgio Chiellini is back in contention after recovering from a knee injury in this title defining clash. 

PSV vs Feyenoord - Eredivisie 

There is a top of the table clash in the Netherlands this weekend as AZ hope to beat Ajax in Amsterdam for the first time since 2015 to move level with the defending champions, but perhaps the more intriguing affair comes in Eindhoven, where PSV host Feyenoord as two of the Eredisivie's Big Three clash. 

PSV have fallen off the pace this season and it was a downturn in form that cost Mark van Bommel his job as head coach and while Ernest Faber has steadied the ship, they are still eight points off league leaders Ajax. Sunday's opponents Feyenoord sit just a point ahead of PSV and, like PSV, underwent a mangerial change earlier in the campaign as Jaap Stam departed the club at the end of October with the Dutch powerhouse languishing in 12th. 

Since then, however, Feyenoord are the Eredivisie's form side. Dick Advocaat marked his 12th game at the De Kuip helm with a 2-1 win over Fortuna Sittard to make it 10 wins and two draws from his 12 league games in charge. Had the 2019/20 season started at the beginning of November, Feyenoord would be top of the Eredivisie and having won their last seven league outings, they'll be looking to improve upon a record of just two wins in their last 15 visits to the Philips Stadion, which includes a 10-0 loss here in 2010. 

On home turf, PSV have excelled, too, even taking into account the sub-par form that saw Van Bommel relieved of his duties. Their only league defeat in Eindhoven this season came at the hands of AZ. The absence of top scorer Donyell Malen may have derailed their campaign, but PSV have lost just the once - a 1-0 defeat at defending champions Ajax - in the Eredivisie since the Dutchman was forced in mid-December, incidentally a 3-1 loss at Feyenoord. 

Feyenoord, meanwhile, remain without Nicolai Jorgensen and Luis Sinisterra, who have five league goals each this season, which ultimately limits Advocaat's attacking options, but having netted in all but two away league matches this term; Feyenoord will be confident of at least hitting the back of the net here.

Aston Villa vs Manchester City - Carabao Cup Final

Aston Villa are well versed in the demands that come with playing at Wembley and they'll hope to call upon their experience of playing at the national stadium when they face a Manchester City side boosted from their Champions League win at Real Madrid in midweek. City boss Pep Guardiola will write his name into the history books if he can guide the defending Premier League champions to a third successive League Cup triumph in Sunday's final, becoming the first manager since Bob Paisley from 1981 to 1984 to achieve the feat.

Guardiola would love nothing more than to witness a repeat of their 6-1 win at Villa Park earlier this season at Wembley this weekend as he looks to add to his, and City's, already impressive trophy haul. For Villa, their form has deserted them at just the wrong time with the Villans coming into this cup final on the back of three successive defeats, with manager Dean Smith revealing this week that a number of players played their way out of the reckoning for a spot in his XI against City in their 2-0 defeat at Southampton.

There is plenty of pressure, then, on captain Jack Grealish, who has excelled this season, but, again like Villa, the England hopeful has experience of playing at Wembley, which bodes well for the Midlands side. They've had longer than City to prepare for this clash, so Villa will be aim to capitalise on any possible fatigue in the Cityzen ranks to land a first domestic trophy since 1996.

Given Villa have won only one of the previous nine meetings between the two sides, though, they face an uphill task to return to Birmingham with the Carabao Cup. The absence of Laporte doesn't help City, but with Guardiola's side all but at full strength and riding the crest of a wave that came with the Real Madrid victory, the Manchester powerhouse are overwhelming favourites to win at Wembley, and for good reason too.