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Soccer Sunday: Your Running Commentary

CityArsenal (Getty)

 

If the English Premier League title race is going to last much beyond this weekend, Manchester City is going to need to deliver a victory today against Arsenal in the top match of the weekend.

City is trailing Manchester United by five points, and anything but a victory today at the Emirates would all but eliminate the Citizens from the title race. United does have a match today against Queens Park Rangers at home, but barring a major upset, City could be as many as eight points behind when the Arsenal match kicks off.

Real Madrid has a three-point lead atop the La Liga standings heading into today's action, but can increase that lead back to six with a win against third-place Valencia. Jose Mourinho's side can't afford a loss, especially not with the Madrid derby up next on the schedule, and the vital Clasico showdown with Barcelona at the Camp Nou looming in two weeks. 

In France, Paris St. Germain is still struggling to hold off Montpellier for the top spot in Ligue 1, but a win against rival Marseille could help the big-spending Parisians take a step closer to a title.

If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today's TV Schedule is after the jump): 

TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV

6am- ESPN3– Levante vs. Atletico Madrid

7:30am- Fox Soccer Plus– Hibernian vs. Motherwell

8:30am- Fox Soccer Channel– Manchester United vs. Queens Park Rangers

9:30am- ESPN3– Schalke 04 vs. Hannover 96

10am- DirecTV– Mallorca vs. Granada

11am- Fox Soccer Channel– Arsenal vs. Manchester City

11am- Fox Soccer 2Go– Caen vs. Bordeaux

11am- Fox Soccer 2Go– Nice vs. Lorient

Noon- GolTV– Athletic Bilbao vs. Sevilla

1pm- Azteca America– Puebla vs. Toluca

3pm- Fox Soccer Channel– Paris St. Germain vs. Olympique Marseille

3pm- GolTV– Guarani vs. Palmeiras

3:30pm- ESPN2– Real Madrid vs. Valencia

7pm- Telemundo– Chivas Guadalajara vs. Club America

7pm- Azteca America– Cruz Azul vs. Queretaro

Comments

  1. I admit to being a Balotelli apologist. But I still don’t see what was vicious or horrific about it. It was a reckless and late challenge that may have been a red, but a yellow and a strong caution would have been defensible too. There wasn’t intent to injure or retaliatory aspect to it. There wasn’t a lot of force behind it. It was a late play for the ball. He caught him badly. He needs to be more careful with the high boots and the aggressive challenges – a lot more careful. And as I said, it may have been a red. But I have seen that same challenge literally dozens and dozens of times, either yellow or red carded, a few times, like today, missed completely. And Kocielny’s later in the game wasn’t far from it, just further down the shin. He’s not a monster. And the other challenges were even more typical. If anything, what is notable is that he doesn’t seem to take any more care when he’s on a yellow and/or lucky to have not seen a red.

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  2. Sir Alex played mind games with Mancini, got in his head and made him coach not to lose……
    Dont like ManU but gotta give them credit where credit is due.

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  3. Sorry Jeff, you are absolutely wrong about the balotelli tackle. it was vicious. i think the media blows the balotelli horn a little too hard at times, but come on…that one deserved red no matter what the name on the back of the shirt is. if you dont see that you are at odds against 99.9% of people who have seen it. congrats to united on #20, well deserved.

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  4. Agreed. I’m tired of United. Maybe I’m just still angry over the penalty denied to Fulham a few weeks ago.

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  5. It is just not that clear-cut. Over the game, I agree — a sending off. That foul was bad. It may have been a red. But it just wasnt a clear straight red. I think there is an argument there. If it had been given it wouldn’t have been a bad call. But it was absolutely not horrific. It was not beyond argument. I am sticking to that!

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  6. Anyone that can argue that Balotelli didn’t deserve a straight red early on is not worth listening to. Quite frankly he’s a mess and probably accumulated 4-5 yellows alone on the day.

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  7. Yeah, definitely weird. And Tevez on in the 83rd is what started the whole Munich debacle. Mancini was routinely running him out for 5-10 minutes when it was too late to make a difference. So it’s fitting that it ends that same way. (Not that it excuses Tevez’s behavior, but he should have seen it coming)

    To me, Mancini has absolutely got to go. Too defensive (with the best squad in England). Not so great with the players. Doesn’t have them motivated. Bizarre substitutions. He’s even started to throw up his hands and more or less blame the players. He isn’t what City needs to get it done.

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  8. Got him in the shin, not knee. And Kolcielny’s was lower, but much better. Neither was horrific. Neither was a clear-cut red. Both bad challenges. Both happen all the time. That’s all I’m saying. The language gets ratcheted up all around when it’s Balotelli.

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