By MICHAEL KLINE
Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid clash this weekend, in a rivalry match with second place in the Spanish Primera Division on the line.
Real Madrid will attempt to bounce back from a midweek thrashing from Borussia Dortmund in the semifinals of the Champions League, and a victory over crosstown rivals Atlético will boost morale around the club. Unfortunately, however, with the league out of sight and Champions League hopes seemingly dashed, Real have admittedly little left to play for, and a weak side may be fielded in order to rest key players for the uphill battle left with Borussia Dortmund next week.
Atlético Madrid, on the other hand, have enjoyed an extremely successful, which saw them sit in second place in La Liga for the majority of the season. Diego Simeone will fancy his squad’s chances, and will attempt to lead Los Colchoneros to their first victory over Real Madrid since 1999.
On Sunday, Arsenal will welcome Manchester United to the Emirates, in a fixture which will see Robin van Persie return to his old stomping grounds for the first time since his summer move to Manchester.
With Manchester United having clinched their 20th English title last weekend, Arsenal will perform the traditional guard of honor for the English champions.
The Gunners have won five of their last six matches in league-play, and will hope to topple Manchester United in an attempt to secure a 16th consecutive season of Champions League action. There surely is no better time to face Sir Alex Ferguson’s crew, with the possibility of a hangover following United’s recent title celebration.
Here is a rundown of This Weekend’s Soccer on TV:
THIS WEEKEND’S SOCCER ON TV
FRIDAY
8:30pm – ESPN Deportes – Morelia vs. Toluca
SATURDAY
7:45am – ESPN2 – Manchester City vs. West Ham United
9:30am – GolTV – Bayern Munich vs. Freiburg
10am – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go.com – Everton vs. Fulham
10am – FoxSoccer2Go.com – Southampton vs. West Bromwich Albion
10am – FoxSoccer2Go.com – Stoke City vs. Norwich City
10am – Fox Soccer Channel – Wigan Athletic vs. Tottenham Hotspur
10am – beIN Sport en Español – Levante vs. Celta de Vigo
12pm – beIN Sport – Athletic Club vs. Barcelona
12:30pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Newcastle United vs. Liverpool
12:30pm – GolTV – Fortuna Dusseldorf vs. Borussia Dortmund
2pm – MLS Direct Kick – Toronto vs. New York Red Bulls
2pm – Univision Deportes – Ajaccio vs. Montpellier
2pm – beIN Sport – Atlético Madrid vs. Real Madrid
4pm – NBC Sports Network – Montreal Impact vs. Chicago Fire
4pm – beIN Sport en Español – Real Zaragoza vs. Mallorca
6pm – MLS Direct Kick – Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Dallas FC
6pm – ESPN Deportes – Cruz Azul vs. Santos Laguna
7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – New England Revolution vs. Philadelphia Union
7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Columbus Crew vs. DC United
8pm – Univision Deportes – Pachuca vs. América
8pm – UniMás – Tigers UANL vs. Monterrey
8:30pm- MLS Direct Kick- Sporting Kansas City vs. Portland Timbers
9pm – MLS Direct Kick – Real Salt Lake vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
9:05pm – Telemundo – León vs. Atlante
10pm – Univision Deportes – San Luis vs. Tijuana
10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Chivas USA vs. San Jose Earthquakes
SUNDAY
8:30am – Fox Soccer Channel – Reading vs. Queens Park Rangers
9am – beIN Sport en Español – Torino vs. Juventus
10am – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go.com – Chelsea vs. Swansea City
11am – Fox Soccer Channel – Arsenal vs. Manchester United
11am – beIN Sport – Málaga vs. Getafe
11:30am – GolTV – Schalke 04 vs. Hamburger SV
1pm – beIN Sport en Español – Real Valladolid vs. Sevilla
1pm – Univision – Pumas UNAM vs. Jaguares
1pm – ESPN Deportes – Puebla vs. Atlas
3pm – beIN Sport – Evian TG vs. Paris Saint-Germain
3pm – beIN Sport en Español – Real Sociedad vs. Valencia
5pm – UniMàs – Houston Dynamo vs. Colorado Rapids
6pm – Telemundo – Guadalajara vs. Querétaro
Disappointing night for Lazy Altidore who only had two goals….
He got lucky and had a halfway decent assist, too.
Puebla reallllllly need to win if they want to stay in the first division.
So the Sporting KC/Portland game will not be on TV anywhere?
It’s on MLS Direct Kick, 8:30 pm eastern
And presumably it’s televised locally in the two markets