You'd be hard-pressed to find a match with more storylines heading into it than this weekend's installment of the Milan Derby.
As if the rivalry didn't have enough history, you also have AC Milan and Inter Milan squaring off in a battle for first place in Serie A, as well as Leonardo leading his new team against the same AC Milan side he managed last year.
This weekend's slate of matches on TV features top battles all over the world. Whether it's first-place Palmeiras taking on Santos in Brazil, or FC Twente facing PSV Eindhoven in a battle of the Netherlands' best, third-place Villarreal playing host to defending Spanish champions Barcelona, to Bayer Leverkusen facing Hannover 96 in a match-up of two of the top three teams in Germany, there is something for every international preference.
If MLS is more your thing then this week's schedule has a few good treats as well. The Los Angeles Galaxy plays host to the surprising Philadelphia Union, while San Jose looks to keep Seattle's early-season struggles going.
Here is a closer look at This Weekend's Soccer on TV, starting with SBI's Top Ten Matches to Watch:
SBI'S TOP TEN MATCHES TO WATCH
1. AC Milan vs. Inter Milan. Milan derby, first place on the line. Can't-miss.
2. Villarreal vs. Barcelona. Can Giuseppe Rossi keep scoring goals? WIll Lionel Messi be healthy enough to work his magic?
3. Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Philadelphia Union. The Philly Union's hot start will face its toughest test in a road trip to Home Depot Center to face a Galaxy team needing a win.
4. Borussia Dortmund vs. Hannover 96. With Bayern Munich lurking, and second-place Bayer Leverkusen within striking distance, Dortmund and Hannover face off in a match both need points from.
5. Napoli vs. Lazio. Napoli is within arm's reach of the Milan clubs in Serie A, but Lazio needs a road win here to push for a Champions League place.
6. Everton vs. Aston Villa. Tim Howard vs. Brad Friedel. Enough said
7. Panama vs. USA (CONCACAF Under-20 Championships). The match may be meaningless, but it will give us a chance to catch a glimpse of some future American stars.
8. Santos vs. Palmeiras. First-place Palmeiras takes on a Santos side ready to make a move up the standings.
9. FC Twente vs. PSV Eindhoven. Another clash of table-toppers, with Oguchi Onyewu a potential participant.
10. Benfica vs. FC Porto. Porto is running away with the league, but its unbeaten record will be tested at Benfica.
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THIS WEEKEND'S SOCCER ON TV
FRIDAY
7:30pm- Fox Soccer Channel– Columbus Crew vs. FC Dallas
8pm- ESPN3.com– Canada vs. Costa Rica (CONCACAF Under-20 Championship)
10pm- ESPN3.com– Trinidad & Tobago vs. Mexico (CONCACAF Under-20 Championship)
10:10pm- Azteca America– Necaxa vs. Chivas Guadalajara
SATURDAY
7:45am- ESPN2– West Ham United vs. Manchester United
7:45am- Fox Soccer Plus– Leeds United vs. Nottingham Forest
9:30am- GolTV– Borussia Dortmund vs. Hannover 96
10am- Fox Soccer Channel– Stoke City vs. Chelsea
10am- Fox Soccer Plus– West Bromwich Albion vs. Liverpool
10am- FoxSoccer.tv– Birmingham City vs. Bolton
10am- FoxSoccer.tv– Everton vs. Aston Villa
10am- FoxSoccer.tv– Newcastle United vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
10am- FoxSoccer.tv– Wigan Athletic vs. Tottenham
Noon- ESPN3.com– Real Madrid vs. Sporting Gijon
Noon- Fox Soccer Plus– Brescia vs. Bologna
12:30pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Arsenal vs. Blackburn
12:45pm- ESPN3.com– FC Twente vs. PSV Eindhoven
1pm- Direct Kick– Toronto FC vs. Chivas USA
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv– Arles vs. Monaco
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv– Lille vs. Caen
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv– Nancy vs. Bordeaux
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv– Paris St. Germain vs. Lorient
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv– Stade Rennes vs. Auxerre
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv– Sochaux vs. Brest
2pm- GolTV– Getafe vs. Valencia
2:45pm- Fox Soccer Channel– AC Milan vs. Inter Milan
3pm- FoxSoccer.tv– Toulouse vs. Montellier
3pm- ESPN2– England vs. USA (Women's Soccer)
4pm- GolTV– Villarreal vs. Barcelona
4pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Wigan vs. Tottenham (Delayed)
5pm- Fox Soccer Channel– Everton vs. Aston Villa
6pm- ESPN3.com– Panama vs. USA (CONCACAF Under-20 Championship)
7pm- Direct Kick– Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Sporting Kansas City
7pm- Azteca America– Jaguares vs. UNAM Pumas
7:30pm- Direct Kick– New England Revolution vs. Portland Timbers
7:30pm- MSG/Direct Kick– New York Red Bulls vs. Houston Dynamo
7:30pm- GolTV– America de Cali vs. Deportivo Cali
8pm- ESPN3.com– Honduras vs. Guatemala (CONCACAF Under-20 Championship)
8:55pm- Telefutura– Santos Laguna vs. Cruz Azul
9:30pm- GolTV– Junior Barranquilla vs. Real Cartagena
10:30pm- Direct Kick– Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Philadelphia Union
10:30pm- Direct Kick– San Jose Earthquakes vs. Seattle Sounders
11pm- Telefutura– Atlas vs. Estudiantes Tecos
SUNDAY
6:30am- Fox Soccer Plus– Napoli vs. Lazio
8:30am- Fox Soccer Plus– Fulham vs. Blackpool
9am- Fox Soccer Channel– Catania vs. Palermo
9am- ESPN3.com– Lecce vs. Udinese
9:30am- ESPN3.com– FC Cologne vs. FC Nurnberg
11am- Fox Soccer Channel– Manchester City vs. Sunderland
11am- ESPN3.com– Espanyol vs. Racing Santander
11am- DirecTV– Levante vs. Malaga
11am- DirecTV– Deportivo La Coruna vs. Mallorca
11am- FoxSoccer.tv– Nice vs. Olympique Lyon
11am- FoxSoccer.tv– Saint Etienne vs. Valenciennes
1pm- GolTV– Sevilla vs. Real Zaragoza
1pm- Azteca America– Morelia vs. Pachuca
2:45pm- Fox Soccer Channel– AS Roma vs. Juventus
3pm- ESPN3.com– Osasuna vs. Atletico Madrid
3pm- Fox Soccer Plus– Lens vs. Olympique Marseille
3pm- GolTV– Santos vs. Palmeiras
3:30pm- ESPN3.com– Benfica vs. FC Porto
5pm- Univision– Club America vs. Puebla
7pm- Galavision– Colorado Rapids vs. D.C. United
7pm- ESPN3.com– Brazil vs. Ecuador (Copa Sudamericana U-20 Championship)
9pm- ESPN3.com– Argentina vs. Colombia (Copa Sudamericana U-20 Championship)
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Which matches are you most looking forward to? How many matches will you be watching this weekend? Who do you see winning the Milan Derby?
Share your thoughts below.
All the games of the USMNMT sub-20 are live on xbox 360! Also a few EPL,la liga, serie a, and the match between Twente vs PSV all on the 360 live.
I respect your opinion, but some of us are HARD core USMNT fans so therefor consider this to be extremely important. I personally love to watch the sub-15,17,20 USMNT young guns.. I think the more exposure futbol gets in this nation, the more importance they will find the Sub-15 etc.. games. Garza & Gyun are just nasty on the field! You are missing and going to be missing some beautiful futbol being played by the sub-20 USMNT! 😉 … probably the most talented group I have ever seen in the U.S sub-20 history.
Daylight Savings Time, sorry.
Man city v Sunderland will be cracking. It’s basically a rematch of the Ghana v England game from last Tuesday. And also 5th place vs 7th place on the table. Very good competition.
Time certainly does change things. That team looked great, and only a few of the cogs (Altidore and Bradley) have had success at the National level. While others (zizzo, szetela) have not.
That tournament (outplaying Pato) will probably go down as the highlight of Adu’s international career.
I feel like there are too many teams below Fulham for them to really be worried. However they should get 3 points from this one and it would definitely put Fulham minds at ease
Agreed they are playing well and its an interesting match up.
oh nice!
If you want to see some possession soccer from guys in a US shirt…watch this team. Most are quite polished.
Telemundo has Tigres-Atlante 9pm EST Saturday and Toluca-Monterrey 1pm EST Sunday.
Feel free to delete this post when corrections are made.
(Hard to keep up with all of them).
The world quietly notches a brow as Wrik with K declares all EPL games to be without any worth.
Porto wins the league if they win at Benfica. Fulham v. Blackpool is a big one for Fulham if they are to stay away from the relegation scrap. Less than three points, and Fulham fans would have grounds to worry.
The CONCACAF U-20 games are also all on ESPN Deportes.
No worries Tim,
Always willing to have a nice debate. : ) The last under 20 game I watched was USA – Brazil when Adu was bossing the show. It’s amazing how much time changes things.
That’s cool Erik.
It was unclear whether your comment was someone looking for a response (a troll in the parlance of our times), or if you were serious. The former would not deserve a response. The latter is your opinion which I respectfully disagree with, but will respond to.
I remember the days of logging in to soccertv.com to see the full slate!
To be honest, I miss those days as there is so much now it’s hard to follow it all.
Tim,
Why not deserve a response? I have a long time vested interest in the USMT but watching kids play doesn’t necessarily translate to the full USMT. I think the US is finally starting to grow some good young talent but I don’t need to follow their every step to be a fan.
Jay,
I’m an idiot because I don’t want to watch under 20’s play? I also don’t watch college sports as they are meaningless in my eyes. How does that make me an “idiot”? It’s a preference in how I spend what few hours I have each week while in front of the TV.
they start April 14 w/ Portland vs Chicago
It’s fun to look at lists like this one — I remember days when you had to work to see soccer, and now it’s like a smorgasbord. (I know, “get off my lawn”, blah blah blah)
I wish so many weren’t on ESPN3, however; there are too many ISPs they won’t stream to.
I’m looking forward to West Ham and Man U. I like how the Hammers have been playing since January with the new players and hope they stay up. I think it is possible for them to get a point here.
You are an idiot, that’s like saying college basketball/football is meaningless. People watch these games to see future pros/stars.
My response was obviously to lazy_sunbather.
Erik – you may not deserve a response, but whatever. If you have any interest in the USMNT, I’d suggest watching these games. 10/11 starters for the US against Suriname play professionally, and a few of these guys have a shot at playing in the next world cup.
That list makes my head hurt. Kid in a candy store. Can’t decide.
Erik- because Panama beat Suriname, the US can finish no worse than 2nd in that group and automatically advances.
This weekend is stacked…outside of the EPL.
why would it be? The better question is what happened to ESPN2 games on thursday night?
Because it’s the Under 20’s… if I want to watch kids play I can go to my son’s games.
Why is USAxPAN U-20’s meaningless? Have we already qualified to the knockouts?
(SBI-Yes)
Good group of Italian games, but the league is just so boring. EPL games are all worthless but from a yank perspective may catch the Everton game on delay although MB will probably not even dress.
Will be watching Hanover – Dortmund and maybe Getafe – Valencia.
why isn’t the LA game on ESPN?