It is Champions League Final weekend in the showpiece club football event in Milan between Madrid rivals Atletico and Real Madrid. The build up to the European Championships commences on Sunday with world cup winners Germany facing off against Slovakia and Antonio Conte's Italy playing Scotland as well.
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Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid - BT Sport - Saturday 28th May 2016 at 19:45
Real Madrid face off against bitter rivals Atletico Madrid at the San Siro in the final of the 2016 UEFA Champions League, in the premier European club competition.
Real come into this match in excellent form and will be looking to better maintain that form ahead of this huge showpiece final. They ended the season as runners up in La Liga, losing out to champions Barcelona by an agonising one point in the end and they will be looking to salvage their season with an eleventh win in Europe's elite club competition.
They don't come much bigger than city rivals Atletico Madrid, who will also be looking to avenge the 4-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of Los Blancos two seasons ago. Gareth Bale has been stoking the fires this week by incredibly insisting that none of the Atletico squad would make it into the Real Madrid side and Real will be hoping it is a PR stunt that does not backfire on the Welshman.
Real have lost just one fixture in the Champions League this season and that was a resounding 2-0 defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg but they were able to put that right in the second leg winning by a 3 goal margin. There were question marks about Cristiano Ronaldo's fitness ahead of this showpiece event but he has insisted he is fully fit and will take his place in the starting XI in Milan.
The last time they played Atletico earlier in the season they were beaten by 1-0 against Diego Simeone's men but they do have the psychological advantage in Europe where they beat Atletico 4-1 in extra time to lift their 10th Champions League crown. They will be hoping history repeats itself in Milan.
Real Madrid remain the favourites at 6/4 with Cristiano Ronaldo the favourite to score first for Real at 7/2.
Atletico Madrid come into this match looking to win their first Champions League title and go some way to avenging the 4-1 defeat they suffered in the 2014 Champions League final against Real Madrid.
Atletico come into this match in mixed form and will be looking to produce another excellent result against Los Blancos this season having beaten them 1-0 at the Bernabeu in February of this year.
They finished third in La Liga and had an excellent season, it was only a shock loss against relegated Levante that ended their interest in a league and cup double, with Barcelona narrowly securing back to back La Liga titles. Diego Simeone will be very keen to add a Champions League win to his CV and that would complete a clean sweep of trophies for him as Atletico manager.
Atletico have lost three games in the Champions League this season but have progressed to the final the hard way, by beating pre tournament favourites Barcelona and Bayern Munich over two legs and beating city rivals Real really would be the icing on the cake for Diego Simeone and his charges.
Fernando Torres will have extra motivation for this match with Atletico not only his hometown club but he has despite an excellent season failed to earn a place in Vicente Del Bosque's European Championships Squad, he will be keen to show him exactly what he is missing on the biggest stage.
Atletico are the underdogs at 11/5 with Antoine Griezmann the favourite to score first at 9/2.
Germany vs Slovakia - BT Sport 2 - Sunday 29th May 2016 - 19:45
Germany face off against Slovakia at the SLG Arena in Augsburg in a crucial fixture as they begin preparations to win the upcoming European Championships in France, which commence in just a week's time.
Germany come into this match in mixed form in their last six matches, having won three and lost three of their last six matches. The defeats have come against England, France and the Republic of Ireland and they will be keen to ensure they are a lot more consistent at the tournament in France as they remain one of the favourites to win the competition.
They did have an excellent record in qualifying and topped their respective group D with 22 points having won 7, drawn one and lost two matches. They are the reigning World Champions and will be looking to add the Euros to that list in the same way that holders Spain managed to do in the 2012 edition in Ukraine and Poland.
Germany have an excellent record against their opponents in this match Slovakia and will be looking to add to their three wins in four matches ahead of their opening fixture in the Euros against Ukraine.
They do come into this match having beaten Italy in a resounding 4-1 win and they do have a fixture against Hungary next Friday before they begin their assault in France.
Germany are the favourites for this match and are at 100/30 on to win with Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller the favourites to score first at 3/1.
Slovakia come into this match in good form themselves having beaten Georgia 3-1 in their last friendly on Thursday and will use this match against Germany as a marker for their own hopes in the Euro's.
This is a match that both Chris Coleman and Roy Hodgson will be watching intently as the visitors will be in Group B along with England, Wales and Russia.
Slovakia qualified for the tournament having finished runners up in Group C with 22 points, in a group that contained holders Spain, Ukraine, Belarus, Luxembourg and Macedonia. Slovakia on the basis of those statistics alone will be no pushovers in this tournament and indeed this match and they will be confident of causing an upset against pre tournament favourites Germany.
They have this fixture against Germany followed by another friendly against Northern Ireland next Saturday, their first Group B fixture will be against Chris Colemans Wales and the Slovakians will also be casting a keen eye on the performance of Gareth Bale in Saturday nights Champions League final.
They are the underdogs in this tie and to secure the win they are 17/2 with Adam Nemec at 11/1.
Italy vs Scotland - Sunday 29th May 2016 - 19:45
Italy face off against Scotland at Ta'Qali National Stadium in Malta in one of the final fixtures for the Italians before they begin their Euro 2016 campaign next week.
Italy come into this match in mixed form in Internationals, the last match they won was back in October against Norway, they have had four matches since then, all friendlies against Belgium, Spain, Romania and Germany. The main statistic that will worry coach Antonio Conte is that they failed to win any of these matches, they were against top sides but they will need to beat those sides if they are to progress to the latter stages of the tournament.
They did have an excellent record in the qualification campaign, they topped their respective Group E with 24 points and they were one of only a few sides to progress through qualification without losing a fixture, which is an excellent achievement with seven wins and three draws from ten matches.
There will be question marks over both their preparation, with matches against Scotland and Finland (neither side will be at the Euro's) and over selection, with the much maligned Mario Balotelli and Andrea Pirlo failing to make the squad. They have both been excellent for Italy in tournament football down the years and it could be a tactic that backfires on Italy.
Italy remain favourites at 4/6 with Graziano Pelle at 9/2 to score first.
Scotland come into this match looking to build towards their World Cup qualifiers in September having been the only home nation to fail to make it to this summer's tournament in France.
Scotland come into this match in excellent form and will be looking to maintain that form in this match against Italy, who are in a poor run of form in comparison with the Scots.
They will feel unlucky that they failed to qualify having been stuck in a very difficult group and it will hurt even more seeing the other four home nations qualify for the tournament as well.
They finished fourth in Group A which contained World Cup Finalists Germany, Poland, Republic Of Ireland as well as Gibraltar and Georgia. Much like Celtic the way for Scotland to move forward as a country is to finally qualify for a major tournament.
They will be looking to make an impression on the European stage and these friendlies will go a long way to determining and setting the tone for their crucial World Cup Campaign that starts in September.
They will be looking to maintain their incredible run of results against Italy, which has seen them record two wins from two matches and a third win will be an excellent result and will dent Italy's preparation heading into the tournament.
Scotland remain underdogs and are at 17/4 with Steven Fletcher to score first at 8/1.
Today's Selections
Tip 1 – Atletico to win 2-1 @ 11/1 and Fernando Torres to score first @ 13/2
Tip 2 – Germany to win 3-1 @ 9/1 and Thomas Muller to score first @ 3/1
Tip 3 - Italy to win 2-1 @ 15/2 with Graziano Pelle at 9/2 to score first.
All Tips Courtesy Of Sky Bet.