It’s the final weekend of 2024 in which clubs across all of Europe’s major leagues will be in action and it’s fair to say the year is ending in style with some huge clashes on the cards.
Sunday, December 22nd
11:30 CET – Good morning! Welcome back to our Football Tracker as we look ahead to a fascinating day of action across Europe’s top leagues.
The headline game of the day comes in the Premier League, with Arne Slot’s Liverpool travelling to Tottenham at 17:30 CET.
Elsewhere, there are plenty of big teams in action, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Saturday, December 21st
22:55 CET – I think only Barcelona will know how they didn’t manage to find a winner late on against Atletico Madrid after countless chances came and went and then a dagger in the last seconds through Alexander Sorloth who helped the visitors steal a win.
Barcelona weren’t clinical enough and Jan Oblak was in prime form to deny the hosts time and time again. 2-1 it finishes and a huge win for Diego Simeone’s side in a game they deserved nothing from. Atletico are very much in this title race.
22:42 CET – Lazio have avoided a potentially disappointing evening with a 2-1 win against 10-man Lecce after a late winner from defender Adam Marusic.
The visitors were pegged back in the 50th minute but found a way against the 10 men of Leece to stay in the hunt for the Scudetto at the winter break.
22:21 CET – Out of nowhere Atletico Madrid are level! Rodrigo de Paul is the fastest to react to a rebound and he makes no mistake by firing the visitors level. Smash, grab and 1-1.
21:07 CET – Play is back underway in LaLiga!
21:50 CET – Barcelona take a deserved lead into the break after a comprehensively dominant first half display. Pedri was the coolest man in the stadium with his smart finish just past the half hour mark and that remains the difference between the title rivals.
21:37 CET – A largely frustrating first half ended on a positive note for Lazio who first won a penalty and saw Lecce reduced to 10 men for a careless foul inside the box before Taty Castellanos dispatched the spot kick to take a lead into the break.
21:33 CET – And after over half an hour of domination, Barcelona take the lead! In classic Barca style, a lovely passing move is finished off calmly by Pedri who side-footed an effort into the bottom corner. 1-0.
21:10: CET – As we move into the 10th minute in Barcelona, it is the host dominating proceedings and will feel unlucky not to have an early lead. If the match carries on with this pattern then there will only be one winner.
21:00 CET – It is time for the big clash at the top of LaLiga as Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid kicks off!
20:45 CET – We are around 15 minutes away from an absolutely massive LaLiga clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid – the two teams sitting at the top of the table. A win for either side would be a massive statement of intent, and both teams are coming in in contrasting form.
Barca have just one win in their last six league games, while Atleti have won 11 in a row in all competitions.
20:30 CET – Arsenal have returned to winning ways in the Premier League, putting in a really superb offensive performance to obliterate Crystal Palace 5-1 at Selhurst Park. Gabriel Jesus continued his good form with a brace.
20:27 CET – Bayer Leverkusen have claimed their seventh win in a row in all competitions, thumping Freiburg 5-1 with Patrik Schick bagging four of the goals. They move four points off Bayern Munich in top spot.
19:58 CET – Napoli have claimed a battling 2-1 win away at Genoa to clinch a crucial three points which sees them – at least temporarily – move to the top of Serie A.
19:23 CET – It’s half-time in the clash between Palace and Arsenal, and it has been a fantastic 45 minutes of action. Gabriel Jesus has continued his fine form following a hat-trick in the EFL Cup against the same opposition on Wednesday, scoring twice here today to help the Gunners to a 3-1 lead. Kai Havertz also got on the scoresheet, while Ismaila Sarr bagged for the hosts.
18:06 CET – Arsenal take on Crystal Palace in 25 minutes with the chance to go three points behind league leaders Liverpool in the Premier League. Also kicking off at the same time are Bayer Leverkusen, who are hosting Freiburg in the Bundesliga.
17:53 CET – Nottingham Forest are having a spectacular season, and an impressive 2-0 win against Brentford has moved them up to third in the Premier League. Even more impressive considering Brentford were yet to lose at home this season.
Alexander Isak was the hero for Newcastle, bagging a hat-trick as they thumped Ipswich 4-0. Meanwhile, West Ham and Brighton fought to a 1-1 draw.
17:45 CET – It is proving to be a thrilling Serie A title race, and next, Napoli visit Genoa in 15 minutes, as they aim to go top of the table – at least temporarily.
17:31 CET – It’s been a disastrous day for Frankfurt, who would have gone second in the Bundesliga with a win but lost 3-1 at home to Mainz despite the fact that the visitors had a man sent off after just 21 minutes.
Wins for Gladbach and Werder Bremen mean that things are looking very tight indeed in the race for European football.
16:50 CET – The half-time whistles are blowing in England where Nottingham Forest and Newcastle are both on track to pick up wins that would see them move up to third and seventh respectively.
Alexander Isak is stealing the show for the latter side with the striker opening the scoring after less than a minute and making it 3-0 just before the break.
Brentford 0-1 Nottingham Forest
Ipswich 0-3 Newcastle
West Ham 0-0 Brighton
16:00 CET – The late-afternoon action is now underway all over Europe with three league matches being played in England, five in Germany and one in Italy, while teams in France are contesting the third round of the cup.
Nottingham Forest can go third in the Premier League with a win over Brentford, while Frankfurt can go second in the Bundesliga if they beat Mainz, but they’re currently trailing 2-0.
15:43 CET – Manchester City lose again! The reigning champions’ remarkably poor run of form has continued with Aston Villa claiming a deserved 2-1 win to leapfrog their opponents in the Premier League table.
Read more about the match here.
14:34 CET – The afternoon kick-offs in the Bundesliga are just under an hour away, with Eintracht Frankfurt in action against Mainz.
You can follow all the matches here.
12:35 CET – Both managers have made big calls for the clash between Aston Villa and Manchester City, with Unai Emery starting Jhon Duran over Ollie Watkins and Pep Guardiola dropping Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne.
Here’s how the sides will line up:
10:02 CET – The fun will begin in just over three hours with Manchester City’s trip to Villa Park, but while you’re waiting for that, you can kill some time by reading about another English giant – specifically, Sunderland’s increasingly successful efforts to return to the Premier League.
Check out that piece here.
09:45 CET – Hello and welcome to Flashscore’s coverage of this weekend’s football!
The majority of clubs in Europe’s major leagues will be playing their final matches of 2024 over the next few days so will be giving their all to head into the winter break on a high, but doing so won’t be easy even for some of the strongest sides.
These are the biggest games on today’s agenda:
Aston Villa vs Manchester City – 13:30 CET
Genoa vs Napoli – 17:00 CET
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal – 18:30 CET
Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg – 18:30 CET
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid – 21:00 CET