The British team was scheduled to 17 the Italian team in the game.
答案：(D) compete against
compete against the Italian team（與義大利隊競賽）表示英國隊原定要與義大利隊比賽；oppose to（語意與文法不符，表示「反對」，且常用 be opposed to）、fight over（為……爭奪）、battle for（為……而戰）均不符合此處運動賽事的語境。
四個選項的中文都能說成「對抗、爭奪」，你會憑中文挑一個，不會去檢查它後面該不該接介系詞。
先數句子成分：空格後面緊接著名詞組 the Italian team，中間沒有介系詞的位置，所以空格填的必須是一個「後面可以直接接受詞」的及物用法。這一招一次刷掉三個：oppose to 本身就是錯的形態（oppose 是及物動詞，直接接受詞 oppose the plan，不接 to）；fight over 與 battle for 後面接的都是「爭奪的東西」，不是對手。剩下 compete against（與……對抗、較量），後面接的正是對手，填進去讀成 was scheduled to compete against the Italian team（預定要對上義大利隊）。compete 這個字的三種搭配值得一次記起來：compete against 或 compete with 接對手，compete for 接爭奪的目標。
oppose to 的冠詞與介系詞就不齊，形態本身有問題，這一招在片語題裡常常一眼刷掉一個選項；fight over a toy（為一個玩具吵架）、battle for independence（為獨立而戰），把 the Italian team 放進這兩個位置，會讀成「爭奪義大利隊」，語意不對。
compete against（與……對抗、較量）、compete with（與……競爭）、compete for（爭取、爭奪）、be scheduled to V（預定要做某事）、fight over（為……爭吵）、battle for（為……而戰）。
In 1985, a riot at a Brussels soccer match occurred, in which many fans lost their lives. The 16 began 45 minutes before the start of the European Cup final. The British team was scheduled to 17 the Italian team in the game.
Noisy British fans, after setting off some rockets and fireworks to cheer for 18 team, broke through a thin wire fence and started to attack the Italian fans. The Italians, in panic, 19 the main exit in their section when a six-foot concrete wall collapsed. By the end of the night, 38 soccer fans had died and 437 were injured. The majority of the deaths resulted from people 20 trampled underfoot or crushed against barriers in the stadium.
As a result of this 1985 soccer incident, security measures have since been tightened at major sports competitions to prevent similar events from happening.