Can Barcelona stop its current skid and salvage its season?
No, you're not reading a post from a year ago, and no, I'm not writing about Ecuadorian soccer. The above line was a bit of a joke aimed at FC Barcelona's two-match win-less streak.
Yes, that is how good Barcelona has been all season that a two-game stretch without a blowout victory makes you wonder if something is wrong. Well, there isn't really a reason to panic yet, but a loss against Atletico Madrid this weekend would certainly make you start to wonder.
With Real Madrid now just seven points back of Barcelona, Pep Guardiola's men can't afford to slip up now. A Barca loss and Real Madrid win would close the gap to four points with the sides still to face each other on May 3rd at the Bernabeu.
The Barcelona-Atletico Madrid match-up is just one of several pitting European cup participants against one another. Bayern Munich-Werder Bremen and AS Roma-Inter are just a few of the quality match-ups on tap this weekend.
Here is a rundown of the Top 10 matches to watch this weekend, as well as the weekend's full TV schedule:
Top 10 Matches to Watch
1. Barcelona at Atletico Madrid. Fresh off its first league loss of the new year, and a mid-week Champions League tie, Barcelona looks to get back to its winning ways against a dangerous Atletico squad.
2. AS Roma at Inter Milan. Inter is running away with Serie A but Roma is battling for a Champions League place and won't lay down in what should be a contentious affair.
3. Bayern Munich at Werder Bremen. Will Landon Donovan dress or not? If he doesn't, then you can feel free to root for Bremen to knock off their second straight team with a Galaxy player on loan (after eliminating AC Milan from the UEFA Cup at mid week).
3. Rennes at Lyon. Carlos Bocanegra's squad needs points against a Lyon team that will be looking for some revenge for the early-season loss it suffered to this same opponent.
4. Hoffenheim at Borussia Dortmund. You can expect some fireworks here as Hoffenheim looks to try and stay in the title race, while Dortmund tries to stop the slide down the standings.
5. Manchester United vs. Tottenham. So why isn't the Carling Cup Final higher on the list? Because it's the Carling Cup and Manchester United will probably field a B team. It will be as good a B team as you will ever see, but a B Team nonetheless.
6. Espanyol at Real Madrid. Espanyol, the team that just knocked off Barcelona, looks to make it two La Liga powers in a row. Real Madrid will come in with some Champions League distraction and could suffer a similar fate as Barca.
7. Napoli at Juventus. Remember when Napoli was near the top of the Serie A standings and looking like a real threat? Right, neither do we. Seriously though, Napoli may struggle, but they still have some fun players to watch and should be able to push a Juve team with Champions League thoughts on the brain.
8. Fulham at Arsenal. Can you really miss the chance to see red-hot Clint Dempsey go up against a shaky Arsenal team that scored a much-needed win in Champions League play?
9. Pachuca at Chivas de Guadalajara. Jose Francisco Torres and first-place Pachuca take on Chivas and American-born striker (but as yet undeclared international) Jesus Padilla.
10. San Luis at Club America. Watch Michael Orozco tell Edgar Castillo that he picked the wrong national team (okay, so maybe that won't happen, but you can still get to see Orozco in action).
This weekend's Soccer on TV
SATURDAY
7:40am- Setanta USA- West Brom at Everton
10am- Setanta USA- Liverpool at Middlesbrough
10am- FSC- Fulham at Arsenal
11:30am- GolTV- Hoffenheim vs. Borussia Dortmund
Noon- FSC- Bologna at Lazio
2pm- GolTV- Sevilla at Athletic Bilbao
2:30pm- FSC- Napoli at Juventus
2:5pm- Setanta USA- Toulouse at Auxerre
4pm- GolTV- Espanyol at Real Madrid
5pm- Setanta USA- Wigan at Chelsea
6pm- Fox Sports Espanol- Atlante at Cruz Azul
6pm- Telemundo- Toluca at Monterrey
6:15pm- GolTV- Cucuta at Millonarios
8pm- Telemundo- Pachuca at Chivas de Guadalajara
8pm- Azteca America- Atlante at Cruz Azul
8:15pm- GolTV- Santa Fe at Medellin
10:15pm- GolTV- Guarani at Palmeiras
SUNDAY
7:25am- Setanta USA- Manchester City at West Ham United
7:15am- ESPN360.com- Birmingham at Sheffield United
7:30am- ESPN360.com- Ajax Amsterdam at FC Utrecht
9:30am- ESPN360.com- Vitesse Arnhem at Feyenoord
9:55am- Setanta USA/ESPN360- Manchester United vs. Tottenham (Carling Cup Final)
10am- FSC- Stoke City at Aston Villa
11am- GolTV- Bayern Munich at Werder Bremen
Noon- FSC- AC Milan at Sampdoria
1pm- GolTV- Barcelona at Atletico Madrid
1pm- Telemundo- Tigres at UNAM Pumas
2:30pm- FSC- AS Roma at Inter Milan
2:55pm- Setanta USA- Rennes at Lyon
3pm- Telefutura- Santos Laguna at Necaxa
3pm- Azteca America- Atlas at Puebla
3pm- GolTV- Sao Paulo at Santos
4:30pm- FSC- Newcastle at Bolton
5pm- Setanta USA- Blackburn at Hull
5pm- Univision- San Luis at Club America
6pm- Azteca America- Jaguares vs. Indios
3am- FSC- River Plate at San Lorenzo
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Which match-ups are you looking the most forward to? Think Barcelona will continue to slide? Will you be watching the Carling Cup final? Are you secretly starting to become a fan of the Mexican Soccer league because of all the games on TV?
Share your thoughts on this wekeend's soccer on TV in the comments section below.
I’m definitely becoming a fan of the Mexican league because of the exposure of their teams on TV. I’ve not heard of the Azteca America channel however. Who carries that it?
nil nil… Good to take a point away from arsenal. Their fans were booing, HAHA. We owned that game.
Clint ran himself ragged today. Good work.
Bradley has 3 goals in 18games i believe.
He is starting to become a goal-scoring machine. If BMG go down, i can see him joining a team like Wolfsburg or Borussia Dortmund.
Dempsey looked really active in the first few minutes but fulham attack primarily went through davies and zamora on the right for most of the play. Hope he can light it up in the second half
Soccernet reports Baby Bradley hit a penalty to bring the score to 2-1 BMG behind.
Michael Bradley scored off a PK for Monchengladbach. They are down 2-1 to Hertha Berlin. Twenty minutes left in the game.
fulham are leading at the half in possession by 4%
Where the eff is John Pantsil??????????????????
why didn’t he start or on the bench for baird??? too many yellows? ARGH
Edu will become a Rangers star in due time. At least he is playing after months on the bench.
Beasley should try France/Spain. A mid-table UEFA Cup seeking team would love to have him.
Agree about Donovan. He should try Wolfsburg or Borussia Dortmund. Quality teams seeking UEFA Cup. Or join France/Spain.
Yes. Come on Dempsey lead the Whites to victory. Fulham is no.8 and so close to Europe.
I believe Everton will snag no.5 from Arsenal and that will begin the exodus of Van Persie and Adebayor.
Fulham will easily have no.7 as Wigan’s form is dropping. Come on You Whites.
What a game!!!!
Johnson, Dempsey, Davies, Murphy and Zamora are all linking up incredibly well!!!! had 4 great chances to score in 13 minutes. ON the other end Schwarzer has been unstoppable!!!
DEUCE ON TV IN 10 MINUTES….COUNTING DOWN! AYE YAYAYA AYE~!!!!
GUNNERS ARE GOING TO GET OUTGUNNED! LIKE THIS
http://global-ussoccer.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html#1989898744116674686
WOOHOO
Posted by: ThaDeuce | February 28, 2009 at 09:50 AM
fulham v arsenal on FSC!!!
http://soccernet-akamai.espn.go.com/gamecast?id=243775&cc=5901&league=ENG.1
Posted by: ThaDeuce | February 28, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Rangers win 1-0 with Edu playing a full 90 and no PT for Beasley. Dont really know how he played other than he may have had one pretty good shot from just outside the box.
Jig – Deuce has been on great form. He just plays LM and not FW so he isn’t stacking up the goals, but his level of play has been outstanding.
Edu starting today with Rangers and Beasley’s on the bench.
Fulham’s strong run of play coincides with Zoltan Gerra being dropped and Dempsey getting a regular palce in the starting eleven. Clint is in fine form,…probably Fulham’s best player the past six weeks or so. I think Fulham might be prmed for a good result v. the Gunners.
EJ,…take your chance mate!!
Feddie,…come back to MLS a get some playing time!!
Landon,…there are some good Bundesliga teams that could use your services,…don’t get down about the situation at FC Hollywood.
::sigh:: I wish I had Setanta Sports.
Clint has had a match rating of 7.5 on skysports.com for 5 of the last 6 league matches…to me that pretty damn hot considering a 7.5 is a very strong rating…
Freddy…seriously… get the phuck away from these whack job Portuguese speaking managers… clearly these guys don’t like you… perhaps La Liga for you?
YA is reporting:
“Freddy Adu will not dress for Monaco when his club plays host to AS Saint-Etienne on Sunday.”
I wouldnt exactly call dempsey “red hot”
For sure Tottenham will beat Man U in the Carling Cup.
But they will qualify for the UEFA Cup regardless if they win? Man U is for sure in the Champions League so the runner-up will go to Europe.
So Tottenham doesnt really have to play their A team.
I’m banking on Dempsey to score for Fulham and beat Arsenal.
If the Gunners lose and Everton beat West Brom and they are sure 2, than Everton is 1 point behind Arsenal. I have a feeling Everton will snag no5. spot away from the Gunners.
I agree. EJ this is your last chance. Your next stop is the Swedish league. You will get good pay but you’re dropping off to 3rd tier Europe. Dude get your ass on the level.
Ives,
Houston signed a homegrown academy player to a pro contract:
http://houston.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20090227&content_id=220222&vkey=pr_hou&fext=.jsp&team=t200
Word on the street is that Eddie Johnson is going to start for Cardiff tomorrow with Michael Chopra and Jay Bothroyd both serious doubts…It is a weaker team and Eddie will surely get a chance to score…perhaps it is actually time for another Eddie scoring fest over the next few weeks…
Come on Johnson this is surely your final chance to impress anyone that still cares about you….
Barca to go back up 10 pts of Putos Blancos!!!!! , this really sucks . . . Vamos Asspanyol – puke
Forca Barca
Clint, do the Brads a favor and get a hat trick tomorrow.
atleti… come and get your whoopin. the beast that is fc barcelona is hungry.
shocker of the week- spurs pull it off and win the cc
Chelsea Wigan is also an important game. On my personal list (no disrespect to Ives’ list) I’d have that rated ahead of any Serie A game. That league never fails to put me to sleep. Chelsea need 3 pts to stay ahead of Villa who are rested and facing Stoke.
Thanks for putting the ESPN360 info up there. I think ESPN360 is another good resource for watching certain games…I am PRO-ESPN360, especially for soccer!
Ives, Arsenal may be shaky on offense but definitely haven’t been so on defense with 7 clean sheets in their last 9 games. Sorry, but I don’t see Deuce finding the back of the net.
THE DEUCE ON FSC TOMORROW/SATURDAY MORNING AT 9:00!!!!!!!!
WOOOHOOOO…..
THIS IS WAY BETTER THAN WHEN I WAS LITTLE AND WAITED UP FOR SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS. CAN’T WAIT. DEUCE SCORES A HAT TRICK AGAINST GUNNERS.
Joke? After De la Pena scored his second last week Ray Hudson asked aloud if that was the goal to end Barcelona’s title hopes.
Who knew it’s not always good to have a mouth that bypasses your brain?
Boca at Lyon — if I had Setanta.
Espanyol travels to Barca and RM on consecutive weekends? Ouch.
hopefully, dempsey scores, and fulam win.
Good game Pachuca v. Chivas.