Manchester City hasn't win a trophy in more than 30 years, but the Citizens could take a first step toward realizing the dreams of their rich owners with a win in Saturday's FA Cup Final at Wembley.
The FA Cup final is the marquee match this weekend in world soccer, but for American soccer fans you can do worse than the Seattle Sounders-Portland Timbers match. The arch-rivals have history dating back more than 30 years, but will debut the MLS version of the rivalry at Qwest Field.
With several leagues coming to a close in the coming weeks, these weekends in May are deciding championships as well as European places and relegation fates. You will see all of that on display this weekend. From Brazil's club championships featuring Santos, as well as West Ham's last gasp chance to avoid relegation.
Here's this weekend's soccer on TV along with SBI's Top 10 matches to watch:
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SBI'S TOP 10 MATCHES TO WATCH
1. Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers. The first MLS meeting between these hated rivals will be must-see TV for every American soccer fan.
2. Manchester City vs. Stoke City. Can City win its first trophy in more than 40 years, or will Stoke play the role of spoiler?
3. Paris St. Germain vs. Lille. Lille has its eye on the Ligue 1 title, but a tough trip to Paris is in the way.
4. Liverpool vs. Tottenham. King Kenny's Reds are on a roll, while Tottenham is crawling to the finish line. Even with that, there's too much talent in this one to miss it.
5. Santos vs. Corinthians. Can Neymar and Co. add another title to Santos' stacked trophy case?
6. Napoli vs. Inter Milan. The Scudetto has already been won by Milan, but Napoli and Inter still have European aspirations to battle for.
7. Villarreal vs. Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo is scoring goals at will, but Giuseppe Rossi should make the most of this big stage.
8. Wigan vs. West Ham. Relegation battles rarely get the attention they deserve, but the desperation in this tilt will make this one an intense battle.
9. Morelia vs. Cruz Azul. The Mexican playoff semifinals are always entertaining and these two teams won't be any different.
10. UNAM Pumas vs. Chivas Guadalajara. Perhaps not as much attacking firepower as Morelia-Cruz Azul, but there's some young talent you may want to keep an eye on come Gold Cup time.
THIS WEEKEND'S SOCCER ON TV
FRIDAY
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus - Reading vs. Cardiff City (Promotion playoff first leg)
SATURDAY
7:45 a.m. - ESPN2/ESPN3.com - Blackburn vs. Manchester United
7:45 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Blackpool vs. Bolton
7:45 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Sunderland vs. Wolverhampton
7:45 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - West Brom vs. Everton
9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com - SC Freiburg vs. Bayer Leverkusen
9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Bayern Munich vs. VfB Stuttgart
9:30 a.m. - GOLTV - Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes - Manchester City vs. Stoke City (FA Cup final)
12 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Lazio vs. Genoa
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes/ESPN3.com - AC Milan vs. Cagliari
2:45 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Paris-St. Germain vs. Lille
3:15 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Maritimo Funchal vs. Porto
4 p.m. - GOLTV - Deportivo Pereira vs. Nacional de Medellin
7 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/Matchday Live - Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/Matchday Live - New England Revolution vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/Matchday Live - D.C. United vs. Colorado Rapids
8 p.m. - Azteca America - Irapuato vs. Tijuana (Liga de Ascenso final)
8:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/Matchday Live - FC Dallas vs. Philadelphia Union
9 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Real Salt Lake vs. Houston Dynamo
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/Matchday Live - Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Sporting Kansas City
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/Matchday Live - San Jose Earthquakes vs. Columbus Crew
11 p.m. - ESPN2/ESPN Deportes - Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers
SUNDAY
6:30 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/ESPN3.com - Fiorentina vs. Genoa
8:30 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes - Chelsea vs. Newcastle
8:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Ajax vs. FC Twente
9 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Parma vs. Juventus
9 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/ESPN3.com - Catania vs. AS Roma
9 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus - Chievo Verona vs. Udinese
11 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus - Arsenal vs. Aston Villa
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Wigan Athletic vs. West Ham
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Birmingham City vs. Fulham
11 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/FoxSoccer.tv/Fox Deportes - Liverpool vs. Tottenham
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Arles vs. Toulouse
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Caen vs. Montpellier
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Monaco vs. Lens
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Nancy vs. Nice
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - St. Etienne vs. Stade Rennes
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Valenciennes vs. Auxerre
1 p.m. - Telemundo - Pumas UNAM vs. Chivas de Guadalajara (Mexican Liguilla semifinal first leg)
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes/ESPN3.com - Napoli vs. Inter Milan
3 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Lorient vs. Marseille
3 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Barcelona vs. Deportivo La Coruna
3 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Sevilla vs. Real Sociedad
3 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Sporting Gijon vs. Racing Santander
3 p.m. - DirecTV - Valencia vs. Levante
3 p.m. - DirecTV - Atletico Madrid vs. Hercules
3 p.m. - DirecTV - Athletic Bilbao vs. Malaga
3 p.m. - GOLTV - Santos vs. Corinthians (Campeonato Paulista final)
5 p.m. - GOLTV - Villarreal vs. Real Madrid (delayed)
6 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Atlanta Beat vs. Philadelphia Independence
7 p.m. - Galavision - New York Red Bulls vs. Chivas USA
7 p.m. - GOLTV - Real Zaragoza vs. Espanyol (delayed)
9 p.m. - Azteca America - Morelia vs. Cruz Azul (Mexican Liguilla semifinal first leg)
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TIMBERS GO DOWN HARD
Tim Howard had some kind of a knock, but is continuing. Was mysterious what the source of his distress was.
yes – obviously, this is a must-watch match. Don’t even have to be a dutch fan – this will decide Champion’s League or Europa League.
And, I’m 99% sure those mexican matches are 2nd leg. I either watched the 1st leg of Puma vs Chivas (talk about awful referring!) or I dreamt it (nightmare?).
This might be because Galavision is on the basic DirecTV package and ftura is not (although both come on the basic Dish package)
I hope with all this soccer on TV the author of this article can find time to learn to write. “Manchester City hasn’t win a trophy…”
This is, of course, only the 100th such error this week. My favorite is when they give us a fragment that makes no sense… “Concacaf’s Jack Warner.”
I just want him to end up with more than the little pea…
Come on DEUCE!!
Timbers playing better ball than SSFC…and Choke City…Please
I’m hoping the Xolos of Tijuana get promoted. and… Azul… Azul… Azul
But Onyewu plays for Twente, plenty of games on the top ten list have ZERO AMERICANS.
I think this should be #2 after Seattle-Portland.
Important to the Euro world, but this is the world of soccer with an AMERICAN voice.
FYI:
US WNT vs Japan – Saturday 6:30pm ET on FSC (@ Columbus Crew Stadium)
It’s their first warmup match before the World Cup. Japan is a very technical team; the last time the two countries met it was a close 2-1. Hopefully Pia will try some new lineups.
They play Japan again on Wednesday the 18th(ESPN2) and then Mexico on June 5th at Red Bull Arena.
the fact that Ajax-Twente will decide the Eredivisie is big enough as it is… but if PSV beat Groningen then the loser of Ajax-Twente won’t even make it into the champs league at all next season. easily the most important single game on the planet this weekend.
Most of them are on Galavision this season(like RB and Chivas on Sunday).
Cascadia rising . . .
+1
MLS on ESPN2 generally draws about 20% more viewers AFTER 11pm Eastern Time than at 8pm Eastern Time.
Why? There is virtually no competition from other live sports events after 11pm Eastern time.
That’s why ESPN2 wants MLS to air after 11pm Eastern Time, especially during the month of May, when ESPN2 can air college lacrosse, college baseball, and college softball during East Coast time time.
Yeah, okay buddy.
Dempsey with the hat-trick on Sunday
Being a PSG fan, the marquee match this weekend is the Coupe de France.
Ives forgot about:
Boca Juniors vs River Plate
Sunday at 2:55pm ET on TyC Sports USA
(Available via DIRECTV Channel 427 and Verizon FiOS)
Just noticed that Joe Hart looks like a poseable action figure in the picture above.
“The first MLS meeting between these hated rivals will be must-see TV for every American soccer fan.” but did it occur to the scheduling geniuses that 3/4 of the population will be ASLEEP!?!?!?!
The match atmosphere tomorrow in Seattle is going to be intense! I hope the play on the field is as good.
GO Sounders!!!!
Twente vrs Ajax is the biggest match in Europe and hence the world this weekend. It should be #1. This will decide the winner of the Eresdivie.
PSG v Lille is not even a ligue 1 game; it is the Coupe de France championship. Ives leaves for one day, and the site goes to hell
Unless you’re an United fan, this game is hardly a must watch. More like a sleep in, then check the web at some point during the day to confirm what we all already knew…United have won, again.
Meh…
Shouldn’t United v. Blackburn be at least top 3? If United grab a point they’ve gotten a record breaking 19 titles… Good test to see where Jones is finishing off the season against tough opponents.
That’s why Sunday is the day of rest.
According to the TV schedule on MLSS, there are only 7 Telefutura games this year. 3 of them have already happened and the next isn’t until Sept 10.
For those that can stay awake, 17 hours of soccer on Saturday.
What happened to the weekly MLS games on Telefutura? There used to be one every Sunday.