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Tuesday Kickoff: Champions Leagues resume, Americans Abroad and more

ManUCelebrates (Reuters)

The UEFA Champions League quarterfinals kick off today, with Manchester United facing Bayern Munich (2:45pm, Fox Sports Espanol/FSN) and Lyon taking on Bordeaux (2:45pm, Fox Soccer Channel).

Manchester United will be looking to make its third straight Champions League final, but will need to hold off a dangerous Bayern side to do so. With Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand fit for the match, the Red Devils will have

the all-France quarterfinal will have its own intrigue as long-time power Lyon battles reigning Ligue 1 champions Bordeaux. Lyon is currently in fifth place in Ligue 1, but just three points out of first place, and will be looking to ride the momentum of its round of 16 upset of Real Madrid. Bordeaux is struggling a bit, having won just once in its past four league matches.

Europe isn't the only place with Champions League action today.

Jose Francisco Torres and Pachuca take on Toluca in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal series (10pm, Fox Soccer Channel). Torres started in Pachuca's 1-0 win vs. Morelia in league action on Saturday, and should get the nod again tonight.

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Torres isn't the only American in action today. DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu will lead Rangers against St. Johnstone today, while Jay DeMerit and Watford face Crystal Palace today.

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The action for American soccer fans isn't limited to players playing. MLS commissioner Don Garber is in Toronto today, where he will announce Toronto as the host of the 2010 MLS Cup Final in November. It will mark the first time the MLS Cup Final is played outside the United States.

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The latest European-based player to be linked to a move to MLS? Colombian goalkeeper Farid Mondragon, who currently plies his trade at German side Cologne, is reportedly pondering a move to MLS. He's 38 for those of you wondering. Why MLS would need a 38-year-old goalkeeper when established veterans Jon Busch and Kevin Hartman are currently back-ups in MLS is beyond me, but we all know how the rumor mill works.

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Who do you see winning today's UEFA Champions League matches? Will you be rooting for Torres and Pachuca through the rest of the CONCACAF Tournament?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Well after yesterday, Manchester is in a good position to move forward with the away goal.

    However, Bayern completed dominated Man U yesterday and have a better overall team. Man U without Rooney is still a hell of a team, but not a Champions League or EPL winner. They are completely reliant on him for goals and you saw Demichellis and Van Buyton mark him out of the game…

    However, Fergusons tactics were a bit negative for most of the game.

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  2. As an Atlanta resident, I second this sentiment. In Atlanta, at least, it may have something to do with the lack of Atlanta-born citizens. People often say it’s hard to find many people ACTUALLY born and raised in Atlanta. Lots of folks here from other areas (e.g. NY, Chicago fans). Interesting “fans” we have here.

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  3. Whichever team overspends wildly only to fight endless battles with injuries, incompetent management, and infighting, loses every “derby” and ends up relegated = Mets

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  4. Sadly, I think many baseball fans prefer reading spreadsheets of stats to watching (let alone thinking about) the game. I like baseball, but I’m with you. Soccer is more gripping, more fluid, and has every bit as much drama. (Most on this blog would say a lot more.)

    Baseball does, however, provide the “advantage” of numerous opportunities to break away for a word from our sponsors.

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  5. You probably needed to ante up for the “Spanish” or “Latino” package, which often means ESPN Deportes and FSE are included, not to mention Telefutura, which carries some MLS games and is usually but not always the broadcast home of US games on the Univision networks. That last is important for those of us who have to DVR the games, ESPN often switches channels while Univision family almost always has the games a go on the channel they list at first.

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  6. ironically, the Braves can’t fill their own stadium and when the Cubs, another network-driven team comes through town, close to a majority of fans are Cubs fans….

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  7. listening to any baseball game is “like being slowly suffocated to death by a decomposing elephant carcass.”

    how americans call soccer boring but love baseball still boggles my mind.

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  8. No, people do not “become fans” by simply picking a really good team they can watch frequently. That is how people become frontrunners.

    The Braves example is kind of ridiculous in that they have not been able to maintain a wide-ranging national fan base despite some success, probably because listening to their announcers was like being slowly suffocated to death by a decomposing elephant carcass.

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  9. Just wondering why you wouldn’t have picked one of the closer London teams if you were in Suffolk.

    To be fair, as you indirectly pointed out, the vast majority of American United fans were not stationed at a US base in England. They picked the most successful team during the ’90s when the Premier League was picking up steam and TV stations started showing the games. If this happened in the ’80s, it would have been Liverpool or Everton.

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  10. In Stanley Villa’s defense I get FSC and FSC plus on DirectTV. The Bayern game is not being shown on either channel in my market. It is being broadcast live on MSG and CSN, not Fox. I am not sure if I get either channel, I think I do though.

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  11. because the only local team of note at the time i was stationed in England was Ipswich Town. who would you pick?

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