European Football Preview with Liberty Shield VPN

With so much still to be decided, all eyes will be on the top European Football leagues as the 2020/21 season reaches its climax.

Europe’s top five leagues all reach their conclusions this weekend and while three, England, Germany and Italy, have all crowned their Champions, it’s down to the wire in the Spanish and French title races. Both have been hard fought and filled with drama. Both see underdogs built on great defences ahead of the Goliath opposition who tend to dominate their respective leagues. Fun Fact: European Football VPN is one of the most searched terms on Google.

Our European Football VPN articles are brought to you in partnership with EPL Index, and Dave Hendrick – host of the Two Footed Podcast, offering FREE podcasts to football fans.

There is, of course, a Premier League preview here on Liberty Shield which takes a look at the three games that can impact the race for Champions League spots. You can read that by clicking here, but we also wanted to highlight the games around Europe that won’t just decide titles, but also Champions League qualification in Serie A, and relegation in the Bundesliga.

⚽ Werder Bremen vs Borussia Monchengladbach
🇩🇪 Bundesliga
📅 Saturday 23 May 2021
⏰ 1430 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ BT Sport Live Streaming

We begin in Germany where Werder Bremen currently occupy 16th place in the table, a spot that would see them take part in the relegation play-off against one of Vfl Bochum, Holstein Kiel or Furth who currently sit 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 2.Bundesliga table, with just 3 points separating 1st and 3rd, heading into the final day of season. It’s not where Werder want to be, but more worrying for them is that Koln sit just one point behind them in 17th and take on Schalke who sit 18th and were relegated months ago. A Koln win will vault them above Werder, unless Werder can take all three points this weekend.

Werder spent most of the season sitting comfortably in mid-table before a run of eight defeats in nine games left them in a precarious position, needing to win their own game or rely on help from others. They made the bizarre decision to sack manager Florian Kohfeldt this week, in the middle of preparations for this game. Results dictated that removing Kohfeldt was the correct decision but why wait so long? Who will make the decisions ahead of such a massive game on Saturday?

Borussia Monchengladbach appeared as if they could contend for a top four finish again this season, after managing one last time around, but the mid-season announcement that Marco Rose will leave this summer to take over at Borussia Dortmund caused the team‘s form to collapse and they could well miss out on European competition for next season altogether as they sit behind Union Berlin in the race for 7th place and a spot in the Europa Conference League. They need to win this game, though maybe not quite as much as Werder.

For the Bundesliga to see two huge clubs like Schalke and Werder Bremen relegated in the same season would be monumental. Even if Werder or Koln survive automatic relegation, they could go down in the playoff meaning that three historic clubs could fall into the 2.Bundesliga where Hamburg and Fortuna Dusseldorf will be waiting for them.

⚽ Valladolid vs Atletico Madrid
🇪🇸 La Liga
📅 Saturday 23 May 2021
⏰ 1700 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ Premier Sports Live Streaming

Atletico Madrid go into this weekend knowing that a win over Valladolid will guarantee them the second La Liga title of Diego Simeone’s reign as manager, an incredible achievement considering the financial gulf between themselves and the Real Madrid/Barcelona axis of debt that has dominated La Liga for the majority of the past 35 years. They could seal the title with a draw, assuming that Madrid don’t wallop Villareal but with the Yellow Submarine focused on the Europa League final, it’s possible that Real could take advantage of a weakened team. El Cholo will want to leave nothing up to chance and will have his side fully focused on the task at hand.

Atleti have sat atop the table for most of the season and barring a New Years wobble they have been consistently the best team across the season. They have earned this title by retaining their exception defensive record while also becoming a more attacking side than those we have seen from Diego Simeone in recent years. With Thomas Lemar and Marcos Llorente becoming more important players this season, and a resurgent Luis Suarez on a mission to prove that Barcelona were too quick to jettison him, they have been a formidable force going forward this season. Only Barcelona have scored more than their 65 goals, and they have once again conceded the least goals because that’s just what Atletico do. Three wins from their last four have meant they have seen off Barcelona, who they drew with in the other of those four games, and maintained their two point lead over city rivals Real.

Valladolid for their part are also desperate for victory, knowing that a win is the only thing that will save them from relegation. It’s been a very difficult season for the Blanquivioletas who are owned by Brazilian legend Ronaldo. Manager Sergio has had a tough time getting his team to discover the form they showed last season when they finished comfortably in mid-table. Promoted in 2018, survival is the only goal at Valladolid and unfortunately it seems unlikely that they will achieve that this season. A return to the Segunda division is bleak but they are not a club who has relied heavily on loan players and without any major financial worries hanging over them, they should be able to retain the majority of their squad and make a strong push for promotion next season.

⚽ Atalanta vs AC Milan
🇮🇹 Serie A
📅 Sunday 23 May 2021
⏰ 1945 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ Premier Sports Live Streaming

Atalanta have, due to Serie A’s usage of head to head rather than goal difference, already secured a spot in next season’s Champions League. They hold a three point lead over Juventus, and a two point lead over Milan and Napoli but due to superior head to head records, have assured themselves of a top four finish. Milan hold the head to head advantage over Juventus but with only a one point advantage in the table, they risk falling out of the top 4 and missing out on the return to Europe’s premier competition, which they so desperately crave.

Atalanta are not one of Serie A’s traditional powerhouses. They are not a big club. They do not have a big budget. What they do have is an incredible recruitment staff and, in Gian Piero Gasperini, an outstanding manager who has created a strong culture, and an environment that enables players to thrive. By taking an analytic approach, Atalanta have been able to find undervalued players and build their team on a budget. They have also excelled at find young stars that can sold for massive fees. Amad Diallo and Dejan Kulusevski came through the academy, played a combined eight games for the first team and were sold for a combined £75mil to Manchester United and Juventus respectively. They’ve also been brilliant at rejuvenating the careers of older players, like Josip Ilicic. With Gasperini preaching an attacking mindset, the team from Bergamo have become the great entertainers of Italian football and are the neutrals favourites because of the high scoring nature of their games.

AC Milan spent a large part of this season top of the table and looked set to challenge for the title until neighbours Inter found another gear and pulled away at the top of the table while Milan stumbled. Milan have been stumbling for most of the past decade, bouncing from one rebuild to another without ever really building anything. That appears to have changed now and although far from perfect, this Milan team shows signs of promise. With the double pivot of Franck Kessie, signed from Atalanta, and Ismael Bennacer, once of Arsenal, controlling games in the middle of the park, Milan have been a formidable side this season and it will be tough on them if they miss out on next season’s Champions League. To qualify, they need to win this game. Juventus take on 11th placed Bologna at the same time and should win, meaning that anything other than three points for Milan won’t be enough.

⚽ Angers vs Lille
🇫🇷 Ligue 1
📅 Sunday 23 May 2021
⏰ 2000 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ BT Sport Live Streaming

Just like Atletico, Lille know that a win will seal the title for them. Unlike Atletico, they don’t have any room for potential error as they hold only a one point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table and with PSG away to 16th placed Brest it’s a safe bet that they won’t be dropping any points. Lille could have given themselves some wiggle room last weekend but they drew at home with St-Etienne and allowed the Parisiens to close their three point gap to one.

Having been so good, and so consistent, all season Lille won’t want to allow a first title in 10 years to slip through their fingers when they take on 12th placed Angers this season. The last time Les Dogues claimed the Ligue 1 crown, Eden Hazard was their star man, Moussa Sow and Gervinho fired home the goals and the tandem of Yohan Cabaye and Rio Mavuba kept things ticking in the centre of midfield. Paris St-Germain finished fourth that season, the last time they finished outside the top two. Interestingly, the last time PSG failed to win the title they were knocked off their perch by the Monaco team of Mbappe, Lemar, Fabinho and Falcao. The architect behind that team who Luis Campos, who is also the man who built this Lille team before his departure in December.

Angers are currently 12th, one spot below the 11th place they finished in last season. If offered that before the season they’d likely have taken it after selling their best player, Baptiste Santamaria, and loaning out their best young player, Rayan Ait-Nouri, over the summer. Manager Stephane Moulin is set to leave the club after 10 years in charge and leaves the club as an established Ligue 1 side having taken over a club who had been rotting in Ligue 2 for years before his arrival. With nothing to play for, Angers might enjoy the role of spoilers.

How to watch every European Football match from anywhere…

How can I watch BT Sport FA Cup VPN 20/21 matches live?

As well as the FA Cup VPN, BT Sport has the rights to just over 50 Premier League fixtures during the 2020/21 campaign, and will also carry coverage of the UEFA Champions’ League and Europa League until 2024. Subscribers can watch BT Sport on their computers as well as their various apps on connected devices. They do offer a Monthly Pass with no contract, which will give customers access to the BT Sport mobile app. BT Sport Box Office will no longer show the matches via the now scrapped pay-per-view offering, but is it too late and have customers already moved towards illegal streams and IPTV providers?

Remember that BT Sport also features coverage from the Bundesliga, and holds rights to Moto GP, UFC and WWE coverage as well.  After a long delay the BT Sport app is now available on several models of Smart TV as well as Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices.