Messi and Ronaldo. Guardiola and Mourinho. Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Anyway you slice it, El Clasico is the marquee match of the weekend and will command the eyes of soccer fans around the world. Real Madrid is currently in the driver's seat in La Liga, leading Barcelona by three points, placing added significance on a match that doesn't need any extra luster.
That is hardly the only match of great importance this weekend, though. The College Cup semifinals and final take place in Hoover, Ala., with North Carolina, UCLA, Creighton and Charlotte vying for the NCAA championship.
The final leg of the Mexican Apertura championship between Santos Laguna and Tigres UANL and the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup also take place on Sunday to cap off a wild weekend across the globe. CONCACAF representative Monterrey kicks off its quest for the world's club title against host Kashiwa Reysol.
Here is this weekend's soccer on TV:
THIS WEEKEND'S SOCCER ON TV
FRIDAY
6 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN3.com – Creighton vs. Charlotte
8 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN3.com – UNC vs. UCLA
SATURDAY
7:45 a.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Southampton vs. Blackpool
9:30 a.m. – GOLTV – Werder Bremen vs. Wolfsburg
10 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Arsenal vs. Everton
10 a.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Liverpool vs. Queens Park Rangers
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Bolton vs. Aston Villa
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – West Brom vs. Wigan Athletic
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Swansea City vs. Fulham
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Norwich City vs. Newcastle
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Reading vs. West Ham
10 a.m. – ESPN2/ESPN3.com – Manchester United vs. Wolverhampton
12 p.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv/ESPN3.com – Lecce vs. Lazio
12 p.m. – GOLTV – Levante vs. Sevilla
12:20 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Barnsley vs. Ipswich Town
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Nancy vs. Ajaccio
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Stade Rennes vs. Brest
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – St. Etienne vs. Caen
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Sochaux vs. Paris-St. Germain
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Toulouse vs. Evian Thonon Gaillard
1 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Valenciennes vs. Montpellier
1:30 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Beira-Mar vs. Porto
2 p.m. – DirecTV – Real Betis vs. Valencia
2:45 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Inter Milan vs. Fiorentina
2:45 p.m. – ESPN3.com – PSV Eindhoven vs. NAC Breda
3 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Marseille vs. Bordeaux
4 p.m. – GOLTV/ESPN3.com – Real Madrid vs. Barcelona
SUNDAY
2 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – ES Tunis vs. Al-Sadd (Club World Cup)
5:30 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Kashiwa Reysol vs. Monterrey (Club World Cup)
8:30 a.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Sunderland vs. Blackburn
9 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Bologna vs. AC Milan
9 a.m. – ESPN3.com – Udinese vs. Chievo
9:30 a.m. – ESPN3.com – Borussia Dortmund vs. Kaiserslautern
10 a.m. – ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Villarreal vs. Real Sociedad
11 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Stoke City vs. Tottenham
11 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv – Lille vs. Dijon
11:30 a.m. – GOLTV – VfB Stuttgart vs. Bayern Munich
12 p.m. – DirecTV – Real Zaragoza vs. Mallorca
12 p.m. – DirecTV – Malaga vs. Osasuna
1:45 p.m. – GOLTV – Athletic Bilbao vs. Racing Santander
2:45 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Novara vs. Napoli
3 p.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Lorient vs. Lyon
4 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN3.com – UNC vs. Charlotte (College Cup Final)
3:30 p.m. – ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Espanyol vs. Atletico Madrid
5:10 p.m. – GOLTV – Boca Juniors vs. All Boys
6:30 p.m. – Telemundo – Tigres UANL vs. Santos Laguna
7:15 p.m. – GOLTV – River Plate vs. Patronato
plus alonso is in the background saying “oh crap…” in spanish.
Madrid!
That means three defenders are within a few steps of him. And all five defenders are looking at him, meaning that they are not actively marking other Barca players. You know, if you want to get technical and all.
Didn’t catch that,the mini-super clasico
excellent idea.
I agree. On Gol TV there used to be a show called American Soccer, but they took it off the air.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the EPL, but Fox Soccer seems to be trying to to be wannabe English people. It’s like anyone with an accent is cool.
whatevs.
Espanyol-Atletico Madrid on Sun. Someone has a sense of humor @ LFP.
Jones was lucky today, had a pretty clear handball in the box while making a diving clearance in the first half. A few minutes later a questionable offside went against Schalke, so things probably balanced out there.
I rarely have any trouble with ESPN3. I’d say the quality is great 95% of the time.
Actually, due to optical foreshortening that may be what it looks like, in reality, only one player is within 3 feet of Messi. Two more are probably within 6 feet of him. The other two, the one in front and the one in back, are likely more than 15 feet away.
Real- Barcelona ESPN Deportes ?????
Does anyone else have a problem watching games on ESPN3 because the video quality is usally spotty at best? I don’t seem to have trouble with other types of online video, e.g., YouTube, Netflix, iTunes.
I want an all north Carolina final
yah – jones looked again like the enforcer
Schalke 04 on the verge of another win. It wouldn’t be a Schalke match without Jermaine Jones getting a yellow (he got one in the 58th minute today)
he has half the field players on real on his jock. amazing.
Those that get NESN (northeast) and don’t pay for FoxSoccerPlus, they will be replaying Liverpool v QPR on Sunday night at 8:00pm
I’ve used http://www.bookmaker.eu/
I never gamble, but was sure that the USA was going to down Mexico at the Azteca. I signed up, watch Charlie Davies make me rich only to lose it with Mexico’s long range strike.
This site didn’t give me any trouble when I canceled my account.
what a fantastic photo… kinda sums Messi up, no?
anyone know of any good football betting sites? I wanna earn a little extra cash for Christmas and I just know Barca won’t let me down
they honestly need to have a show called Yanks Abroad where for half an hr they travel to the club of an American and interview/discuss how he is doing at the club, how long he has been there, what kinda ambition does he have, how does he feel living abroad, etc?
um why is Fox Soccer playing a Championship match?