We're approaching the first-quarter pole of the European soccer season. The second round of Champions League matches is about to kick off. The women's club season is underway as well. The season is a super-slow build, with each month more important than the one before it, and that makes October the most important month yet! Even with another international break messing with its rhythm!
From the Premier League to the Concacaf Nations League and everything in between, here are the most interesting and impactful matches -- five for each category -- of the coming month.
UEFA competitions
- Oct. 4: Barcelona at Porto (Champions League)
- Oct. 5: West Ham United at Freiburg (Europa League)
- Oct. 24: RB Salzburg at Inter Milan (Champions League)
- Oct. 25: AC Milan at PSG (Champions League)
Obviously, take your pick on Champions League days (can't really call them "European nights" in the U.S. time zones). If you want to focus on Milan at Borussia Dortmund -- aka Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah vs. Gio Reyna -- on Oct. 4, for instance, hell yeah, go for it.
But these five are most interesting to me when it comes to group-stage standings. Real Madrid and Barca would seize total control of Groups C and H, respectively, with wins in Naples and Porto, and after Salzburg's win at Benfica established an interesting hierarchy in Group D, Salzburg-Inter could be for control of that group, too. And hey, Milan-PSG just feels like a big one.
Meanwhile, in UEFA's best competition*, the Europa League, Freiburg-West Ham is a big matchup of teams from Europe's Big Five leagues that would benefit pretty significantly from winning their group and scoring a bye into the round of 16.
* Why do I love the Europa League (and its cousin, the Conference League) so much? Because it offers semi-realistic opportunities for lots more clubs with pretty spectacular fanbases to win some matches and advance pretty far. On television, the atmospheres for matches like Freiburg-Olympiacos, Real Betis-Rangers, Sporting-Sturm Graz and Liverpool-LASK on the first matchday seemed as fun and lively as anything we had seen on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of the Champions League. Also, with so many matches going on at once, the format of "The Golazo Show" worked incredibly well.
Nedum Onuoha reacts to Arsenal breaking the WSL attendance record in their clash with Liverpool in the opening weekend of the competition.
English Premier League
- Oct. 8: Manchester City at Arsenal
- Oct. 8: Liverpool at Brighton
- Oct. 21: Everton at Liverpool
- Oct. 21: Arsenal at Chelsea
- Oct. 29: Manchester City at Manchester United
Manchester City began the season with six consecutive Premier League wins and an easy victory in their first Champions League match. Even though we know it's nearly impossible, it was easy to get this doom vision of a City sextuple -- Champions League, Premier League, FIFA Club World Cup, both domestic cups and the UEFA Super Cup -- and a lack of excitement in England's (and Europe's) major competitions.
Granted, they could still win most of the trophies they're pursuing, but this past week was a nice reminder that nothing is settled this early in the year, especially with six teams still within three points of first place. City bowed out of the EFL Cup with a 1-0 loss at Newcastle, then fell 2-1 to Wolves on Saturday.
City face a big October. They head to Germany for a Champions League match against RB Leipzig on Wednesday -- likely their toughest match of the group stage -- and they begin and end the month with huge Premier League road tests: first at Arsenal this coming weekend, then at Old Trafford for the Manchester derby on the last Saturday of the month. In between, we get a particularly interesting Liverpool trip to Brighton and a Merseyside derby with both title and relegation implications.
Spanish LaLiga
- Oct. 8: Real Sociedad at Atletico Madrid
- Oct. 22: Almeria at Girona
- Oct. 22: Athletic Club at Barcelona
- Oct. 22: Real Madrid at Sevilla
- Oct. 29: Real Madrid at Barcelona
Granted, the air kind of came out of the balloon when they were so routinely dispatched 3-0 by Real Madrid on Saturday, but Girona remain the story of the young season in Spain. They stand third, two points behind Real Madrid, one behind Barcelona and three up on Atletico Madrid.
Underdog stories don't tend to last very long, especially in LaLiga, where three of the top four spots are usually taken from the start of the season. But Girona remain a story, and the atmosphere in their home match against Almeria after the break should be delightful.
Of course, the real delight comes Oct. 29, when we get our first El Clásico of 2023-24. Real Madrid have been plodding through the early season, using late goals (usually from Jude Bellingham) to survive shaky play and a load of injuries.
They should be in decent health and form by late October. Barcelona, on the other hand, remain unbeaten in league play and are dominating the ball and the most dangerous areas of the pitch, like we grew to expect from them long ago. They got off on the right foot in Champions League play for once, too. This should be a, well, clasico.
German Bundesliga
- Oct. 7: Union Berlin at Borussia Dortmund
- Oct. 8: Freiburg at Bayern Munich
- Oct. 21: Bayer Leverkusen at Wolfsburg
- Oct. 28: Hoffenheim at VfB Stuttgart
- Oct. 28: Freiburg at Bayer Leverkusen
For most leagues, the top of the table is still pretty cluttered this early on, simply because no one's had enough time to pull away. But there are storylines galore to take from the current top five teams, all of whom are within three points of first.
1. Bayer Leverkusen (16 points, plus-14 goal differential)
2. VfB Stuttgart (15 points, plus-12)
3. Bayern Munich (14 points, plus-14)
4. Borussia Dortmund (14 points, plus-6)
5. RB Leipzig (13 points, plus-10)
Unfortunately, after delightful Bayern-Leverkusen and Bayern-RBL draws in September, none of these teams actually play each other this month.
We've got an "upstarts derby" between Stuttgart and sixth-place Hoffenheim, and both Union Berlin and Freiburg, last year's fourth- and fifth-place finishers, have some huge matches and a desperate need to move back up the table. But most of the top teams have chances to continue stockpiling points for a huge November.
Italian Serie A
- Oct. 8: Fiorentina at Napoli
- Oct. 22: Juventus at AC Milan
- Oct. 23: Lecce at Udinese
- Oct. 29: AC Milan at Napoli
- Oct. 29: Roma at Inter Milan
Are Roma ready to rally after a dismal start? Have Napoli shaken off their hangover and their bad mood (and unforced errors)?
Have things completely fallen apart for either or both by late October? Is this race destined to be one extended Milan derby? (Inter and Milan are tied at 18 points, and no one else has more than 14.)
Can upstarts such as Fiorentina or Lecce (or a rebounding Atalanta) keep things going? Can a Europe-free Juventus keep doing some damage (and is manager Max Allegri really capable of doing some damage with them)?
October's going to answer a lot of questions in Italy, and thanks to the back-loaded schedule -- most of the headliners spent the opening weeks of the season playing the assumed also-rans -- we get quite a few sparkly matchups like Juventus-Milan, Milan-Napoli and Roma-Inter.
French Ligue 1
- Oct. 7: Monaco at Reims
- Oct. 22: Strasbourg at PSG
- Oct. 22: Marseille at Nice
- Oct. 29: PSG at Brest
- Oct. 29: Lyon at Marseille
Honestly, Ligue 1 might be the most interesting league in Europe right now. Eight of 18 teams are within four points of first, and nearly-annual champions PSG are stuck in fifth. Ahead of them are a ridiculously watchable Monaco -- now made even more watchable with the addition of Folarin Balogun -- plus Nice and a pair of upstarts: Brest and Reims. Brest have scored only eight goals in seven matches, but they've allowed only six.
And they host PSG at the end of the month. They're probably not long for this race, if we're being honest, but I'm a sucker for atmosphere. That atmosphere should be fun.
Monaco could stick in this race for a while. And seriously, watch any Monaco match you can -- seven matches have produced 28 total goals, more than anyone else in the league.
Meanwhile, we've got another interesting subplot: unrest. Marseille are wallowing in 12th place and have already changed managers (from Marcelino to Gennaro Gattuso), but they're smoking hot compared to Lyon. The seven-time league champions are winless and in last place at the moment. Lyon! Champions League semifinalists in 2020! Last place!
They've scored three goals and allowed 13! Needless to say, they've already changed managers, too, but Fabio Grosso, appointed on Sept. 18, has overseen two more losses. The Oct. 29 derby with Marseille will have a level of desperation we rarely see in a matchup of strong brands.
Elsewhere in Europe
- Oct. 8: Rangers at St. Mirren (Scottish Premiership)
- Oct. 21: LASK at FC Salzburg (Austrian Football Bundesliga)
- Oct. 21: Zurich at Young Boys (Swiss Super League)
- Oct. 29: Ajax at PSV Eindhoven (Eredivisie)
- Oct. 29: Royal Antwerp at Club Brugge (Belgian Pro League)
Sometimes it takes underachievers to make some European title races interesting. But wow, do we have some underachievers right now.
Rangers have already lost three matches in Scotland, and they're in third place behind St. Mirren, whom they play this coming weekend. (September darlings Motherwell has already fallen to fifth.)
One of the delights in falling down the soccer rabbit hole is realizing how cozy and fun so many Scottish home stadiums are, and St. Mirren qualifies as both cozy and fun. Sunday's matchup will please the aesthetics.
Elsewhere, Salzburg have dropped a few points and haven't yet been able to shake Sturm Graz in Austria; they're only one point up, and they play third-place LASK in a few weeks. Ajax are in dire straits in the Netherlands -- they're currently one point outside of the relegation zone, and they have a huge matchup looming against first-place PSV. Throw in typically interesting title races in Switzerland and Belgium, and you've got quite an interesting October ahead.
Women's European matches
- Oct. 6: Arsenal at Manchester United (Women's Super League)
- Oct. 8: Chelsea at Manchester City (Women's Super League)
- Oct. 10 and 18: Paris FC v. Wolfsburg (Champions League qualification)
- Oct. 10 and 18: PSG v. Manchester United (Champions League qualification)
- Oct. 14: Eintracht Frankfurt at Bayern Munich (Frauen-Bundesliga)
With the Women's World Cup (and at least a few weeks of recovery) in the rearview, the women's club season is fully underway, and we've had a few surprising results -- Liverpool beating Arsenal, Freiburg drawing with Bayern, Barcelona only scoring four goals in two games -- right out of the gate.
October will give us a couple of big matchups between England's big four, and it will give Eintracht Frankfurt the biggest week (okay, nine days) imaginable. On Oct. 10 and 18, Eintracht will play Sparta Prague in Champions League qualification; in between, they'll play the defending German champs. Eintracht won seven Frauen-Bundesligas and four Champions Leagues as 1. FFC Frankfurt but haven't done anything in Europe since 2016. Big opportunity here.
Oct. 10 and 18 will give us a couple of name-brand matchups, too. Manchester United will have to top mighty PSG to qualify for its first Champions League group stage, while 2023 Champions League runners-up Wolfsburg will have to beat the early first-place team in France (and a team that eliminated Arsenal last month), Paris FC.
Men's international matches
- Oct. 12: Scotland at Spain (Euro qualification)
- Oct. 13: France at Netherlands (Euro qualification)
- Oct. 14: Kazakhstan at Denmark (Euro qualification)
- Oct. 15: Jamaica at Haiti (CONCACAF Nations League)
- Oct. 17: Italy at England (Euro qualification)
We'll leave out the USMNT friendlies here -- Germany on Oct. 14, Ghana on Oct. 17 -- because you already know to watch those. Instead, let's actually take a look at the competitions that are the primary focuses of International Break No. 2.
The biggest, of course, is Euro 2024 qualification. The top two from 10 groups will automatically qualify, and we're just past the midway point there. There are some pretty interesting second-place battles in Group B (Netherlands and Greece tied with nine points), Group C (Italy, Ukraine and North Macedonia tied with seven) and Group E (Czech Republic tied with Moldova?), and the six-team Group H is an absolute logjam with Slovenia and Denmark at 13 points and Finland and Kazakhstan at 12.
Oct. 14 and 17 will be huge for Group H, but we've got some pretty big name-brand matchups as well -- the Netherlands could really use a win over France, and Italy would be well-served beating England at Wembley Stadium like they famously did a couple of summers ago.