Bayer and Deportivo look for moment of maiden crowning glory

Should Barca flop, then even their autocratic coach Louis van Gaal might pay more heed to the thousands of white handkerchiefs that were waved at him in Wednesday’s lacklustre 2-1 Champions League semi-final second leg win over Valencia – the Catalan giants exiting nevertheless 5-3 on aggregate.

In France there is one Champions League place to be decided, fourth-placed Bordeaux can clinch it if they beat Bastia away and current third-placed Lyon fail to take three points away at tailenders Montpellier.

Juventus just need to win to regain the Serie A crown no matter what closest rivals Lazio manage at Reggina – Juventus lead Lazio by two points with one match to play. However, in most non-Juventus fans eyes it will be a title overshadowed by the controversial refereeing decision last Sunday that saw a last minute Parma equaliser against the Turin club ruled out and almost virtually handed the crown to them at the expense of their Roman rivals.

The normal Italian hysteria followed with death threats against the referee Massimo de Santis’ mother and cries of foul play which usually comes from the southern Italian sides who consider that their northern cousins, including AC Milan and Inter, are heavily favoured by referees.

However, realistically, when the dust settles Lazio will have to look at themselves and wonder how did they let a second successive title slip from their grasp – they went down by a point to AC Milan last year – and coach Sven Goran Eriksson may well pay the penalty for that.

Despite spending lavishly and bringing in virtually a whole new midfield in the shape of Argentine stars Diego Simeone and Juan Veron they once again succumbed to another period of mid-season blues allowing the much more mundane but consistent Juventus to slip through on the inside.

Juventus, for whom Dutchman Edgar Davids has been the star, should have no trouble in wrapping up the three points required at Perugia, whose form has slipped alarmingly in the last few weeks. Perugia’s owner Luciano Gaucci has tried to gee his players up this week with the threat that they are playing for their careers against Juventus but with safety assured and little else to play for it is hard to imagine that they will heed his words – despite the fact he has gone through 13 coaches in nine years.

Lazio should also prevail at Reggina, who have performed miracles to stay up following their promotion last season, and hang on to the hope that somehow Juventus slip-up as they did against unfashionable Verona a fortnight ago when only Davids looked as if he was interested.

Leaders Deportivo La Coruna, who play at Real Santander on Sunday, are just two matches away from their first ever Spanish title having led for the last six months. Deportivo, who let a 2-1 lead slip last weekend after Djalminha was sent off and ended up with just a point, are three points ahead of Barcelona and will be hoping their jinx of 1994 does not strike again.

A missed penalty by Yugoslavian Miroslav Djukic, who is now with Champions League finalists Valencia, in the final match of the season, after Brazilian Bebeto refused to take the spot kick, handed the title to Barcelona. Yet again, Barcelona, who are at Real Sociedad on Sunday, are breathing down the neck of Javier Irrreta’s side.

The outside chance of taking the title lies with Real Zaragoza, who are five points behind Deportivo in third and could mathematically still win the title. Meanwhile Real Sociedad will be looking to dismiss any lingering doubts about first division survival against Barca. A victory for Deportivo this season would signal the first league title for the club since its founding in 1906 at the expense of Barcelona.

Bayer Leverkusen go into this weekend’s penultimate Bundesliga round on the threshold of greatness. A victory over Eintracht Frankfurt and either a loss or draw by Bayern Munich at Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday would give them their first ever German league title. Leverkusen on 70 points hold a three point lead over Bayern but no one is daring to pop the champagne just yet.

When news leaked that city mayor Paul Hebbel was organising a reception the club’s weighty manager Rainer Calmund almost exploded. "I will personally shoot anyone who talks about a champions banquet," he warned.

Brazilian star Emerson expects to return after a month away with knee trouble, while the visitors are likely to rush back playmaker Horst Heldt after his torn calf muscle. Having lost their appeal this week against the German Football Federation’s decision to dock them two points at season’s end for bookkeeping irregularities Frankfurt need a win to protect against relegation.

Not that Leverkusen should feel overconfident. Frankfurt may be 13th on the table but they have really turned it on of late and are currently one of the league’s most in form teams. Bayern Munich also travel to a club far beneath them on the table but Arminia Bielefeld still have a theoretical chance of staying in the top flight and will fight tenaciously to protect that.

Bayern played valiantly against Real Madrid this week but came up short in the Champions League semi-final, losing defender Jens Jeremies in the process to a broken collar bone. The rest of the Bayern team are quite simply mentally and physically exhausted. Leverkusen, however, are fresh after a two week break in which Bayern played the German Cup final and two draining games against Real.