MATCHDAY: Brentford, Fulham meet with eye on European spots

Published Mar. 5, 2023 6:29 p.m. ET

A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Monday:

ENGLAND

Brentford and Fulham can both strengthen their improbable pushes for European spots when they meet at the Gtech Community Stadium. Few would have expected either of the London rivals to be competing at the higher end of the Premier League this season but both are in contention to qualify for Europe. Seventh-place Fulham is four points ahead of Brentford having played two games more.

SPAIN

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Osasuna looks to end a losing run at home when it hosts Celta Vigo in the Spanish league. It is coming off losses to Atletico Madrid and to Real Madrid, when it failed to score any goals. Osasuna needs a win to get back to seventh place. It's been boosted by a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals. Celta, sitting in 13th place, has won three of its last five league games. It routed Valladolid 3-0 in the previous round.

ITALY

After finally getting its first win of the league season, Cremonese will be looking to build on that first success when it visits Sassuolo. Cremonese surprisingly beat Roma on Tuesday for its first win in 24 league matches but remains nine points from safety. Sassuolo is just nine points above the bottom three. Bologna also got a surprise result in the last round when it beat Inter Milan. That was its fourth win in five matches and has left Bologna dreaming of qualifying for Europe as it is seven points behind sixth-place Atalanta. Next up for Bologna is a trip to Torino which has seen its own European hopes dented by just one win in its past five league matches. It is nevertheless only four points below Bologna.

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