For the first time in a long time, neither FC Barcelona or Real Madrid is in first or second place in the Spanish First Division, something both Barca and Madrid will try to change with wins today.
Barcelona is currently sitting in fourth place after four matches, and faces a stiff test against Atletico Madrid today, while Real Madrid tries to climb out of seventh place after some recent disappointing results.
In England, Arsenal will try to halt its own slow start against a tough Bolton side, while Chelsea faces Swansea in what might wind up being a tougher test than people expect.
Tonight's slate of MLS matches feature a plethora of playoff race-deciding tilts, including New York-Portland and D.C. United-Real Salt Lake.
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
7:45 a.m. - ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Manchester City vs. Everton
9:30 a.m. - GOLTV - Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Dortmund
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Arsenal vs. Bolton
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Chelsea vs. Swansea City
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv/Fox Deportes - Liverpool vs. Wolverhampton
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Newcastle vs. Blackburn
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - West Brom vs. Fulham
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Wigan Athletic vs. Tottenham
12 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv/ESPN3.com - Bologna vs. Inter Milan
12 p.m. - GOLTV - Sevilla vs. Valencia
12 p.m. - DirecTV - Athletic Bilbao vs. Villarreal
12:30 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Stoke City vs. Manchester United
12:30 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Evian Thonon Gaillard vs. Caen
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Lille vs. Lorient
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Lyon vs. Bordeaux
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Nice vs. Dijon
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Toulouse vs. Nancy
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Valenciennes vs. Marseille
2 p.m. - GOLTV - Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/ESPN3.com - AC Milan vs. Cesena
2:45 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Napoli vs. Fiorentina
2:45 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Ajax vs. FC Twente
3 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Montpellier vs. Paris-St. Germain
4 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid
4 p.m. - Telefutura - FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo
5 p.m. - GOLTV - Flamengo vs. America de Natal
6 p.m. - Telefutura - Queretaro vs. Monterrey
6 p.m. - Azteca America/ESPN Deportes – Cruz Azul vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
7 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Notre Dame vs. Louisville
7:20 p.m. - GOLTV - Real Cartagena vs. Millonarios Bogota
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Columbus Crew vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - New York Red Bulls vs. Portland Timbers
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - D.C. United vs. Real Salt Lake
8 p.m. - Telefutura - Pachuca vs. San Luis
8 p.m. - Telemundo - Tigres UANL vs. Jaguares
8 p.m. - Galavision - Estudiantes Tecos vs. Pumas UNAM
9 p.m. - GOLTV - Dorados vs. Veracruz
9 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Colorado Rapids vs. San Jose Earthquakes
9:45 p.m. - Telefutura - Atlas vs. Atlante
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Seattle Sounders
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Chivas USA vs. Toronto FC
For all those demanding DeRO get fined for his move near the end of the game on Wednesday night…was it really any worse that what De Gea just did for Man Utd? He was beaten by a good corner to the far post — he had a Stoke man blocking him from going straight out — not that it would have helped — so, he deliberately runs into the guy and then falls back down to the ground, “earning” the foul call and making sure that any Stoke goal would have been waved off.
Two seasons ago ESPN3 (360 at the time) showed every Saturday Barca, Real and Valencia game… that’s obviously changed
Almunia was actually good back then. In 2009 he cracked.
Fulham start slow every year. Same thing happened last year. If i remember correctly they started last season with the a ton of draws as well. They’ll be fine. They are just settling in with a new coach.
No Rooney for Man United.
90 mid week.
Are you kidding me? After last week’s horrifying miss right in front of the goal? Currently, he’s one of the biggest busts in the world for the money he is making. Scores a goal, misses a sitter. Scores a goal, gets dismissed. He’s on the other side of his career at this point.
Egypt didn’t qualify for the African Cup of Nations. That’s why the last coach was fired.
No Duff, Davies, Zamora, Johnson.
Sa, Ruiz, Kasami, Demebele all wasted chances and had trouble creating them. Kasami was marginally called offside on the rebound from Dempsey’s shot.
Still got a point away.
I would not be surprised to find Fulham fighting relegation near the end of the season.
thanks for that rundown biff!
That Fulham match looked appropriately like a battle of the bottom feeders.
Yeah 05-06 or was it 06-07 season. 1 of those.
I read he was making $40 K a month So just under half a million. Not bad but a lot less than he was payed for coaching the Nats. But he should go for it. The African Nations Cup is next year I believe or 2013, i can’t remember if they moved it. Either way he has a lot of opportunities to prove himself and this will look good for all parties, especially future US coaches abroad.
I too noticed that Dolo was on the bench again today after sitting out last week’s Hannover win against Dortmund, so I checked the German sports press for news articles. I am a big fan of Dolo and all he has done for the USMNT and what I found is worrisome. Just a brief rundown:
This article says that Dolo received a “bloody wound” in the head in a head-ball duel in the Sept. 10 game against Stuttgart, which was attended by Klinsmann and which Hannover lost 0:3. The story says he required stitches to close the wound and that on one of the goals Dolo did not look his best (er machte dabei keine gute Figur).
http://www.das-fanmagazin.de/hannover96/node/1306
The next story about the Stuttgart loss has the headline that “Hannover and Cherundolo fall in front of Klinsmann eyes” and in the story mentions Dolo’s positioning on one of the goals.
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/hannover-und-cherundolo-patzen-vor-klinsmanns-augen-beim-0-3-instuttgart/4597376.html
The next story says that because of injuries Hannover coach Slomka was going to play Dolo at left back for the September 15 Europa League home game against Standard Liège, which ended in a 0-0 draw. I do not know whether Dolo ended up playing left back that game or not.
http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/hannover-96/abwehr-not-19937326.bild.html
The last story is a detailed piece saying that after the Stuttgart loss and the Europa League draw at home Slomka was going to try out some new players on the back line against Dortmund.
http://www.sn-online.de/Nachrichten/Sport/Hannover-96/Umstellungen-im-96-Team-funktionieren-nur-bedingt
I just checked, and in the 82nd minute against Augsburg, dolo is still on the bench.
Which team could Dempsey go to? He would be 29, but then again i’m sure some team would want him. He would sell shirts for sure.
I’m a Red myself but I am glad to see Torres regaining some form. I know for sure I’d love to see him as a Red again, though I know that would never happen.
It’s amazing at how Bolton kinda suck this year. A year ago they were playing fantastic football with a relatively thin squad. They should have bought Sturridge from Chelsea, no matter the price.
Holden is the Key
Torres looks to be finding his stride again. He looks every bit the money paid for in these past few games.
Why no Stuart Holden yet? They could use him.
Are you trolling? The guy has played well and has scored and set up players. He got a red card but I am sure the fans are happy because he started to score goals.
Scored a nice goal, though his defensive work could use a little polishing! Reminds me of special1 tv…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO7vg-JFa3c#t=2m43s
It’s a shame Friedel never played for a CL team. Sure he was at Liverpool but couldn’t fight for a spot as the no 1. Why didn’t Arsenal pursue him around 07 when Lehmann was clearly cracking and Almunia was barely a suitable replacement?
Poor Torres. 3 years ago he was one of the best strikers on the planet. 9years ago he started his career in La Liga and was hailed as the future of Spanish football. A year ago it all went bad for him, well a year and a half ago. That injury in the EL in April 2010 gave him a horrible WC that he never recovered from. Oh why did you go to Chelsea
Dembele….yawn. Dude might become a star with Fulham someday but it might be years from now. If Fulham weren’t in the Europa League, I feel Dempsey would have left in August for one of those teams actively after him. Fulham has a nice squad, but their offense sucks. Dempsey should leave next summer for France or Italy. I’m sure one of the CL teams would pick him up as depth
Boca is a LEGEND. Surely our best defender to play overseas. Okay maybe he has competition from Cherundolo but Boca has been a starter in 2 of the biggest leagues in the world and he scores quite a lot. 12 goals in 95 NT matches right? Better than some of our strikers.
The “chorus against him” is hardly mindless. Has he not done many, MANY ridiculous things?
Torres scores early. And then to avoid a repeat off last week, gets himself sent off. Well played.
for all your law-breaking sketchy stream needs (without the spaces): first row sports . tv
So it seems. Was looking forward to seeing him for the first time in a while, especially against Arsenal, but will have to wait longer!
oh my bad. I’m trying to use the match follower on the premier league’s website, but isn’t to clear,
It wasn’t Dempsey it was Kasami
can someone give me a link for the tottenham match please??????
Mindless chorus against him? The guy may be a star sure, but he has a HUGE attitude problem. You seem to be one of his very few fans.
dempsey already had a goal disallowed.
anyone have a link for the arsenal game?
Pointless and stupid comment. Balotelli will be a star. Takes zero courage to join the mindless chorus against him.
Cherundolo on the bench again for Hannover. Don’t know why.
Holden resting today?
it all comes down to contracts. i believe FSC owns the rights to EPL and Serie A while GolTV has the rights to La Liga and Bundesliga. ESPN will just have to negotiate better if they want more games. that’s my guess.
how could someone like balotelli come across any stupider than he already does? get a ridiculously dumb hair cut, wtf is that
man i love espn3, does anyone know if there are any plans of expanding coverage? MOre epl & la liga? Is there a reason they never have the best games?
his agent is tweeting that the deal is done.
Off the top of my head I think Boca did the same with FFC …McBride??
First time two Yanks have scored for same Euro team same game?
What about Bolton’s squad this year has said “tough” to you?
Hopefully Stu can help change that, without getting himself shattered in the process.
Everton parking the bus. Timmy hasn’t had to make many saves yet though. City continuously probing, without striking.
New story out of Egypt giving an explanation of why BB’s hiring is not yet a done deal. The story is claiming that one of BB’s potentian assistants is ”exaggerating his financial demands.” Here is the link:
Bradley signed Egypt job papers, says EFA spokesman
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/6/52/22133/Sports/National-Teams/Bradley-signed-Egypt-job-papers,-says-EFA-spokesma.aspx
Awesome. Yanks on Fire 😀 Boca has settled in well at Rangers. Edu is a solid performer but he gets a lot of unwarranted stick from the supporters. Hope Bedoya can settle in and make the starting XI by season’s end
Yes!
Boca and Mo scored for rangers already