It's as if European soccer never left.
A full slate of games from overseas are on tap for this weekend as the Premier League joins the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 as major leagues to start the 2011-2012 campaign. Defending Premier League champion Manchester United opens up against West Brom on Sunday, but a game most Americans will want to keep an eye on is the Fulham-Aston Villa tilt on Saturday.
Although the start of the La Liga season is being delayed over a players' strike, that doesn't mean that one of the more high-profile games of the weekend won't take place as Barcelona and Real Madrid do battle in the SuperCopa.
As for MLS, the buzz around the Philadelphia Union keeps growing after the signing of Freddy Adu, and the club's match against FC Dallas could very well be the U.S. midfielder's debut with the club.
Here is this weekend's soccer on TV:
FRIDAY
8 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Charleston Battery vs. Charlotte Eagles
9:10 p.m. – Azteca America/Fox Deportes – Morelia vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
SATURDAY
9:30 a.m. – GOLTV – Wolfsburg vs. Bayern Munich
10 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel/FoxSoccer.tv – Liverpool vs. Sunderland
10 a.m. – ESPN2/ESPN3.com/FoxSoccer.tv – Fulham vs. Aston Villa
10 a.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Queens Park Rangers vs. Bolton
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Blackburn vs. Wolverhampton
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Wigan Athletic vs. Norwich City
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Birmingham City vs. Coventry City
12:30 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel/FoxSoccer.tv – Newcastle vs. Arsenal
12:30 p.m. – ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Stuttgart
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Toulouse vs. Dijon
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Lyon vs. Ajaccio
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Lorient vs. Bordeaux
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Stade Rennes vs. Paris-St. Germain
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – St. Etienne vs. Nancy
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Sochaux vs. Caen
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Valenciennes vs. Brest
4 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – Seattle Sounders vs. Chivas USA
5:30 p.m. – GOLTV – Sao Paulo vs. Atletico Paranaense
6 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN3.com/Galavision – Portugal vs. Argentina (U-20 World Cup)
6 p.m. – Telefutura – San Luis vs. Monterrey
7 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – Toronto FC vs. Real Salt Lake
7:30 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – New York Red Bulls vs. Chicago Fire
7:30 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – Philadelphia Union vs. FC Dallas
7:30 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – D.C. United vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
7:30 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution
8 p.m. – Azteca America/ESPN Deportes – Jaguares vs. Cruz Azul
8 p.m. – Telemundo – Tigres UANL vs. America
8 p.m. – Telefutura – Pachuca vs. Toluca
9 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN3.com – Mexico vs. Colombia (U-20 World Cup)
9:45 p.m. – Galavision – Atlas vs. Estudiantes Tecos
10 p.m. – Telefutura – Atlante vs. Queretaro
10:30 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – San Jose Earthquakes vs. Colorado Rapids
SUNDAY
8:30 a.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Stoke City vs. Chelsea
8:30 a.m. – ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Ajax vs. Heerenveen
9:30 a.m. – ESPN3.com – Kaiserslautern vs. Augsburg
11 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel/FoxSoccer.tv – West Brom vs. Manchester United
11 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Evian vs. Nice
11 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Auxerre vs. Marseille
11:30 a.m. – GOLTV – Bayer Leverkusen vs. Werder Bremen
1 p.m. – Telemundo – Pumas UNAM vs. Santos Laguna
2 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Vitoria Guimaraes vs. Porto
3 p.m. – Azteca America/Fox Deportes – Tijuana vs. Puebla
3 p.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Lille vs. Montpellier
4 p.m. – GOLTV/ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Barcelona vs. Real Madrid (SuperCopa)
4 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN3.com – France vs. Nigeria (U-20 World Cup)
6 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Western New York Flash vs. Atlanta Beat
7 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN3.com – Brazil vs. Spain (U-20 World Cup)
9 p.m. – Galavision – Houston Dynamo vs. Portland Timbers
The Red Bulls game was on MSG & MSGplus, u don’t mention that
Sad that there is not a single MLS on English speaking national TV this weekend but there is a WPS game. No wonder MLS is leaving FSC.
Hannover v Nurmberg – Cherundolo not starting, but Chandler is in.
Edu scores for Rangers on follow up to Jelavic’s penalty save. Then gets 2nd yellow and sent off!
COYW
it’s not even the finals yet…
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espn just made sure not to put any mls on just in case there was some more little league world series. the most important thing in the world you know.
Not really interested in the EPL, looking forward to the U20 matches and the Spanish SuperCup.
is it safe to assume these are eastern standard time? i’m new to the blog..
As excited as I am about the new Prem season starting, I’m sad that there are no MLS games on FSC or the ESPN family unless I’m overlooking something. I’m really getting into this season
Concur. I was just thinking that I have to drag the tv out of the bedroom in the morning!
Though difficult circumstances underlying the postponent of Everton v. Tottenham, jazzed to see Fulham v. Villa get the replacement gig on ESPN 2. Maybe the in-laws will let me watch both the Liverpool and Fulham matches at the same time. Sweet!