The Europa League's Round of 32 is set to begin on Thursday afternoon, and there are several appetizing match-ups on tap for soccer fans everywhere.
From Ajax-Manchester United to FC Porto-Manchester City to Lazio-Atletico Madrid, Thursday's list of games should have plenty of quality on display as teams look to jump ahead on aggregate in the first legs of these home-and-home series.
Hoping to catch some Americans in action? Look no further than the AZ Alkmaar-RSC Anderlecht game, where Jozy Altidore and Sacha Kljestan could square off.
If you plan on watching today's action, please feel free to use the comments section below to share your thoughts, opinions and play-by-play. TV schedule is after the jump.
THURSDAY'S EUROPA LEAGUE ON TV
12 p.m. - DirecTV - Lokomotiv Moscow vs. Athletic Bilbao
1 p.m. - DirecTV – Ajax vs. Manchester United
1 p.m. - DirecTV – Legia Warsaw vs. Sporting CP
1 p.m. - GolTV/DirecTV – Lazio vs. Atletico Madrid
1 p.m. - DirecTV - AZ Alkmaar vs. RSC Anderlecht
1 p.m. - DirecTV – Viktoria Pizen vs. Schalke 04
1 p.m. - DirecTV – SV Salzburg vs. FC Metalist Kharkiv
3:05 p.m. - GolTV/DirecTV - Stoke City vs. Valencia
3:05 p.m. - DirecTV – Hannover 96 vs. Club Brugge
3:05 p.m. - DirecTV - FC Porto vs. Manchester City
3:05 p.m. - DirecTV - Steaua Bucuresti vs. FC Twente
3:05 p.m. – DirecTV – Wisla Krakow vs. Standard Liege
3:05 p.m. – DirecTV – Udinese vs. PAOK Salonika
3:05 p.m. – DirecTV – Trabzonspor vs. PSV Eindhoven
I liked what I saw from Jozy. He was active and played a few good balls and had a good long strike.
Sascha looked ok. I swear he looked better after Jozy came in.
depressing but not surprising…hes just not that good
Captain Jones didn’t get a card!
A Winkel is a shop (in Dutch and Deutsch)
Well, I agree with you that the situation may be what he needs, you make a good point.
My original point was really just a lament, as in: I can’t believe that in a country of 300+ million people, that the best striker we have plays as a backup in 2nd tier league.
Cheers
Mmm memories. I was living near downtown Madrid when Spain won Euro ’08 and I didn’t get a wink of sleep for like 3 days. They party hard.
In a way I think it’s EXACTLY what Jozy needs: both ego- and skills- wise. He’s surrounded by people that will make him work harder, and coming off the bench forces him to make the most out of every minute. I’m not giving the guy a pass, but I think it’s a good situation for a 22-year old striker to be in: hungry and in a position where he is expected to make the most of limited chances.
Since he was receiving no love I am just going to say Steve Cherundelo
Jozy just needs to just step up and play better.
Jonathan poked fun at you because his mommy told him he wouldn’t get any sugar if he didn’t show the internet what a big man he is…
Hey man, reminisce away. Johnathan is probably a high school malcontent. That’s a legit reason to support a team. We all have our reasons for supporting far off clubs. Drinking with foreigners while watching soccer is one of the finer experiences I’ve had as well. Cheers.
Eh, I thought he looked pretty good. AZ wasn’t exactly streaming forward. Had some nice moments and that one was very nearly a beautiful goal.
To be honest, between the fuzzy pixels moving, the stream going down every 10 minutes, and the shouting Dutch commentator, I couldn’t tell which one was Sacha.
saw the last ~25 minutes of AZ vs Anderlecht. Jozy looked a little off tonight on his runs. His one clear chance from about 20 yards out he missed by inches. AZ coach looked pretty pissed at him. as for sacha AZ dominated possesion so he didn’t see the ball much but when he did he tended to make short, accurate passes, unlike his teammates who were frequently giving the ball away.
Let’s hope I live to see it. I’m 47. 🙂
american coaching from the bottom to the top is so bad you have to be involved with it to believe it, it will change and has already started to, but the change will lag behind the 90s, 00s boom in talented players
-paul scholes 2012 is a revolution
how has Sasha looked? Jones?
Would anyone who watched give a short analysis analysis on JJ, Jozy, and Sacha, and Gooch…..
Ahh come on. stupid foul by Gunndersson. Diving header man! Diving header!
Gotta go full dolphin on that ball
Ahh so close, thought he’d put it in the corner.
Jozy looking good.
nearly gets a goal, inches away
yeah, granted it is on one of the best teams in the league.
yea, on the best team in the Dutch league, keep that in mind. don’t sit here and act like its a Greek team, AZ has some quality players
Don’t worry, I can appreciate the snide comments. I’m just reminiscing to strangers with the knowledge that nobody gives a d@mn…still fun to reminisce, however.
Makes you wonder, huh.
Here comes Jozy.
Why you gotta be a jerk? Let him tell his story.
I thought it was a cool story.
It is really, really depressing that the best pure striker (by some measures) in the USMNT pool is now a bench player in the Dutch league. Wow.
Wow dude, so were you like hoping that someone replied to your comment and said cool true story???
That’s hilarious! A winkel just sounds like it could mean so many things.
Does anyone else kinda chuckle at one of Gooch’s teammates names: Ricky van Wolfswinkel?
Legia up 1-0. I’m pretty torn in this one as Warsaw is my fiancee’s hometown and we were there with her relatives during the group stages. After drunkenly singing “legia” over and over again in the streets of warsaw at 2 am, I was rewarded by my hosts with the gift a legia scarf.
True story. 🙂
Damn, I lost that round of “which half will Jones get carded in.”
Not sure his name but the young black AZ striker is class. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him linked to bigger clubs real soon.
With every goal scored Jozy loses playing time.
Goal AZ. Wow, is it just me or does it seem like the guys ahead of Jozy up top on AZ are really talented and he’s gonna be coming off the bench for a while?
Now that there down a goal. I have a feeling it’s imminent. So 1st half.
Gooch also in the starting 11 for Sporting.
So, what do we think? Yellow card first half, or second?
Jones gets the start for Shalke
Bummer, Jozy is not starting. Not suprising, but would have been cool to see two Americans square off in Europa.
United is fielding a very strong team!! So happy that Cleverly is back. He will provide a lot of help, IMO.