The championships in all of the major European leagues are already spoken for, but there's still plenty on the line in this weekend's soccer around the world.
The five-team relegation battle in England's Premier League is one thing to keep an eye on, as is the race for spots in next year's European competitions.
There are also plenty of enticing matches on the MLS schedule, including the Superclasico between Los Angeles and Chivas USA, a Western Conference 2010 playoff rematch between FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake and an Eastern Conference tilt between New York and Houston.
South of the border in Mexico, two key bouts are on the docket — the final legs of the Liga de Ascenso promotion final and Clausura championship.
Here is this weekend's soccer on TV:
THIS WEEKEND'S SOCCER ON TV
SATURDAY
12 p.m. – GOLTV/ESPN3.com – Malaga vs. Barcelona
2 p.m. – ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Real Madrid vs. Almeria
2 p.m. – DirecTV – Hercules vs. Sporting Gijon
2:30 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Schalke vs. MSV Duisburg (DFB Pokal final)
3 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Lille vs. Paris-St. Germain
3 p.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Lyon vs. Caen
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Auxerre vs. Brest
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Lens vs. Arles
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Marseille vs. Valenciennes
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Montpellier vs. Monaco
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Nice vs. Lorient
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Stade Rennes vs. Nancy
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Sochaux vs. St. Etienne
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Toulouse vs. Bordeaux
4 p.m. – DirecTV – Espanyol vs. Sevilla
4 p.m. – DirecTV – Osasuna vs. Villarreal
4 p.m. – Azteca America – Tijuana vs. Irapuato (Liga de Ascenso promotion final second leg)
4 p.m. – GOLTV – Real Sociedad vs. Getafe
4 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Valencia vs. Deportivo La Coruna
4 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Mallorca vs. Atletico Madrid
6 p.m. – GOLTV – America de Cali vs. Deportes Tolima (delayed)
8 p.m. – Galavision – Philadelphia Union vs. Chicago Fire
8 p.m. – GOLTV – Levante vs Real Zaragoza (delayed)
8:30 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – Houston Dynamo vs. New York Red Bulls
10 p.m. – ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Chivas USA
10 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – Seattle Sounders vs. Sporting Kansas City
10:30 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – San Jose Earthquakes vs. New England Revolution
11 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – Portland Timbers vs. Columbus Crew
SUNDAY
11 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Tottenham vs. Birmingham City
11 a.m. – Fox Soccer Plus – Wolverhampton vs. Blackburn
11 a.m. – Fox Deportes – Fulham vs. Arsenal
11 a.m. – ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Manchester United vs. Blackpool
12 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Inter Milan vs. Catania
1 p.m. – Telemundo – Pumas UNAM vs. Morelia (Mexican Clausura final second leg)
2:45 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes/ESPN3.com – Udinese vs. AC Milan
2:45 p.m. – ESPN3.com – AS Roma vs. Sampdoria
2:45 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Lecce vs. Lazio
2:45 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Juventus vs. Napoli
5 p.m. – GOLTV – Defensor Sporting vs. Penarol (delayed)
7 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – FC Dallas vs. Real Salt Lake
7 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live – Colorado Rapids vs. Toronto FC
7 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Western New York Flash vs. MagicJack
if youre going to copy and paste Olivert, at least give credit to the site that you plagiarized. SoccerAmerica.com
americandouchy
Are you saying ESPN makes money off of poker?
Difference in TV rights fee between Mexican 1st division and Liga de Ascenso: USD$8 million
Difference in TV rights fee between English Premier League and English Football League championship: USD$130 million
Schalke up 2-0 inside 25 minutes.
Yeldell didn’t have a chance on either goal. He made a very nice save early, but his defense is very much that of a Second Division side.
go PUMAS
Azteca America’s national feed is on Channel 441 on DIRECTV. Subscription to the “En Espanol” package is required.
DISH Network also carries Azteca America’s national feed.
Azteca America is also available free-to-air in many cities, see this link for affiliate list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Azteca_Am%C3%A9rica_affiliates
Check your local cable lineup for exact channel number in your area.
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If you can’t get Azteca America, the Xolos vs Irapuato match will be streamed worldwide by TVC Deportes of Mexico via USTREAM:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tvc-deportes1
I’m going to try and catch the German Cup final, with an eye on the goalies. Neuer’s last match with Schalke, and Yelldell’s biggest test. I bet Bob Bradley will be watching.
MLS does NOT sell during East Coast prime time on the ESPN Networks.
MLS games airing during West Coast Prime Time draw 20% more TV viewers compared to MLS games during East Coast Prime Time.
You should have noticed that all 3 MLS games on ESPN2 during the month of May are during West Coast Prime Time to maximize TV viewers.
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One other thing you should have noticed: Manchester United will appear on ESPN2 more times during 2011 than any MLS club.
ESPN Inc. is in the business of exploiting soccer for profit. ESPN Inc. is NOT in the business of building MLS. That’s the job of MLS.
Eurodouchey
What channel is Azteca America. I want to see the team that beat the Galaxy in the pre-season.
Time to call comcast and discontinue service. Turn it back on at the end of august.
Go Dynamo!
Go Dynamo!
Avi left off the start of the Brasileirao:
Sunday 3pm ET – Grêmio vs Corinthians – GOLTV
GOLTV chose not to take Flamengo vs Avai on Saturday due to time conflict with La Liga and the Colombian League.
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Schalke vs Duisburg will kick off at 2pm ET (not 2:30pm ET.)
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There are too many garbage matches from Europe this weekend. Examples: Malaga vs Barcelona and Hercules vs Sporting Gijon. I don’t understand why DIRECTV chose Hercules vs Sporting instead of Racing Santander vs Athletic Bilbao. Bilbao has to win in order to avoid 2 extra UEFA Europa League qualifying matches (for the 7th place team in La Liga.)
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The “money” match on Saturday is Xolos de Tijuana vs Irapuato, live from the sold-out “La Perrada” (The Dog Pound) 3 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border.
Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS).
magicJACK (formerly Washington Freedom) is perhaps the worst-run pro sports franchise on the planet.
The league has already docked magicJACK a point for not complying with league rules regarding sign boards and pooling of match video footage.
magicJACK currently has no coach. The inmates (7 players from the US Women’s National Team) are running that asylum.
WPS
Cross your fingers for Dempsey to score a hat-trick 2moro
What on earth is the last game listed on Sunday?
there are 4other games being shown on ESPN3 Sunday at 11am, including the Liverpool Villa tilt.
Terrible MLS is not shown on prime time television or at least more games on ESPN. There should be easy access to an American sport.
Where’s your Top Ten list?
Bravo Avi.
The Mexican Liga de Ascenco Final gets its props
i wonder who gets third– Man City or Gunners??
Slow Saturday morning. I going to go into EPL withdraw soon.