DERBY DELIGHT
Relax, the international break is almost over. On the continent, club football returns with a bang onnext Saturday evening when Diego Simeone’s Atlético host Zinedine Zidane’s Real in the Madrid derby, kick-off 7.45pm. Real sit on top of La Liga without yet being at their sparkling best and this game is more important for the hosts who are six points adrift of their neighbours. Before that, watch Der Klassiker as Bayern Munich travel to face the exciting, but unreliable, Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm).
HOLLOWAY’S RETURN
Saturday is also comeback day for Ian Holloway, who assumes duty at Queens Park Rangers a decade after last taking charge at Loftus Road. Since then he has had mixed results at Plymouth Argyle, Leicester City, Blackpool, Crystal Palace and Millwall – much like QPR, who sit equidistant between the play-offs and relegation.
WIGGINS WAVES GOODBYE
Sir Bradley Wiggins climbs on to his saddle for the final time in the city where it all began. The Ghent Six Day race begins on Tuesday and, in a repeat of last month’s event at London’s velodrome, Wiggins will join Mark Cavendish for a competition that the 2012 Tour de France winner has described as “the Monaco Grand Prix of six-day racing”. The pair finished second in London – can they go one better and make sure Wiggins signs off on a high? “It feels like the right place to bring it all to an end,” he said.
FAIRWAY FAREWELL
The European Tour season winds up with the, uh, Race to Dubai – starting Thursday – after this weekend’s penultimate event in, um, South Africa. Henrik Stenson, the 2013 winner, is the overwhelming favourite to claim the $1.5m bonus and he could have it clinched before travelling to the UAE. Danny Willett retains a slim chance, but he looks set to continue a remarkable run of Englishmen finishing second. That has happened in all but one year since the season finale was renamed from the Order the Merit – and, even then, Paul Lawrie of Scotland was next best in 2011.
THE REMATCH
Last Saturday, in Chicago, Ireland ended 111 years of hurt by beating New Zealand in rugby union at the 29th time of asking. So what now? A rematch at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday at 5.30pm. One surprising headline last week was “Ireland can down New Zealand again, says Pope”, though it turned out not to be the view of the Vatican, but the verdict of RTE’s Kiwi analyst Brent Pope. “New Zealand will be nervous about that game,” he said.” People are saying that Ireland will get a backlash, but this All Blacks may not be able to recover all that quickly.” One to watch.
