SuperSport: Mamelodi Sundowns, Barcelona and Juventus in action during packed week

Goal is delighted to introduce SuperSport’s football schedule for the coming week, with a series of blockbuster contests across African and European competition.

Mamelodi Sundowns will be in action twice over the coming week, with both their Caf Champions League clashes against Cote d’Or and their MTN 8 meeting with SuperSport United set to be televised.

Saturday’s game against Cote d’Or of the Seychelles is a clash that Downs really ought to be winning considering the different statures of the two sides.

However, the Brazilians will be conscious of their opponents’ qualities, with the Praslin-based side having eliminated Comoran outfit Fomboni 3-3 on aggregate in the previous round.

Cote d’Or demonstrated their threat on the counter by netting twice in Moroni, but they were on the brink of elimination—saved only by Tony Kizito’s 90th-minute equaliser in the second leg—in the reverse match, and shouldn’t pose too much of a problem to the Brazilians.

Pitso Mosimane will also be aware of the plight of South Africa’s other Caf CL representatives—Orlando Pirates—who were ousted by Green Eagles of Zambia in the previous round, thus missing out on the opportunity to progress to the lucrative group stage.

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Hlompho Kekana is suspended from the first leg and Rivaldo Coetzee is injured, although Kennedy Mweene has returned to the fold and travels with the team.

Likely higher on Mosimane’s agenda is next Wednesday’s MTN 8 semi-final second leg clash at home against SuperSport United.

The visitors held the Brazilians 1-1 at home in the first leg, and have demonstrated their ability to go toe to toe with some of South Africa’s giants following a 3-0 victory over Orlando Pirates and a 1-1 draw away at Kaizer Chiefs already this season.

Jeremy Brockie won’t be eligible to take to the field against his parent club, although even beyond the Kiwi, SSU have ample offensive firepower to trouble Mosimane’s troops.

SuperSport United’s PSL meeting with Cape Town City FC will also be available to watch on Saturday, in a meeting that represents a stern test for both sides.

City did the league double over SuperSport last term—and defeated them in the 2018 MTN 8 final—so revenge may well be on the agenda when these two collide this weekend.

In European action this week, SuperSport are delighted to present two blockbuster showdowns in the Spanish and Italian leagues this weekend, as well as live Champions League meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

On Sunday, make sure to tune in for Barcelona’s La Liga meeting with Valencia, as these two domestic giants go toe to toe.

There are issues for both of these sides before their weekend showdown.

Barca will be without Lionel Messi, who is continuing his personalised rehabilitation work away from the squad as he waits for his first competitive appearance of the campaign, having picked up a calf injury ahead of a pre-season friendly against Napoli.

Luis Suarez is also absent for Ernesto Valverde’s side, meaning that wonderkid Ansu Fati—Barcelona’s youngest ever scorer—will likely continue to deputise.

Valencia, however, have problems of a whole different scale, having sacked coach Marcelino ahead of upcoming clashes against Barca and Chelsea. They sit 10th in La Liga, with four points from their opening three games, ahead of this weekend’s bout.

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In Italy, Juventus’ away game against Fiorentina will also be shown on Sunday.

There’s a traditional rivalry between these two sides, but La Viola will be quietly confident of getting one up on the reigning champions in this clash, following the signings of Franck Ribery and Kevin-Prince Boateng.

However, these two have had very differing starts to their campaigns, with Juventus having claimed a maximum of six points after two victories to date.

Fiore, by contrast, have lost both of their openers, but they may be optimistic they can trouble an Old Lady backline which has already shipped three goals so far this term.

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As if all that isn't enough, SuperSport will also be presenting midweek action from the Champions League, where there are full match schedules on Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

One subplot to watch will be Percy Tau's group-stage debut for Club Brugge when they face Galatasaray on Wednesday, with the South Africa international set to follow in the footsteps of Lucas Radebe, Benni McCarthy and other Bafana Bafana greats in featuring in the competition proper.

He's already demonstrated his qualities in Europe so far this season, having contributed an assist in Brugge's play-off victory over LASK as the Belgian heavyweights reached the group stages, and will now get to test himself against Turkish giants Galatasaray.

Champions League fixtures available on SuperSport this week

Tuesday 17 September
Inter Milan vs Slavia Prague SS3 (SA) & SS5 (ROA) Kickoff at 18:55 (CAT)
Lyon vs Zenit St Petersburg SS5 (SA) & SS6 (ROA) Kickoff at 18:55 (CAT)
Liverpool vs Napoli SS3 (SA) & SS5 (ROA) Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Chelsea vs Valencia SS5 (SA) & SS6 (ROA) Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Borussia Dortmund vs Barcelona SS6 (SA) & SS3 (ROA) Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Salzburg vs Genk SS8 Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Benfica vs Leipzig SS11 Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Ajax v Lille SS12 Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
 
Wednesday 18 September
Olympiacos vs Tottenham Hotspur SS3 (SA) & SS5 (ROA) Kickoff at 18:55 (CAT)
Club Brugge vs Galatasaray SS5 (SA) & SS6 (ROA) Kickoff at 18:55 (CAT)
Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid SS3 (SA) & SS5 (ROA) Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Atletico Madrid vs Juventus SS5 (SA) & SS6 (ROA) Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Manchester City SS6 (SA) & SS3 (ROA) Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Bayern Munich vs Red Star Belgrade SS8 Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Bayer Leverkusen vs Lokomotiv Moscow SS11 Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)
Dinamo Zagreb vs Atalanta SS12 Kickoff at 21:00 (CAT)