Rafa Benitez is back on the sidelines, and what better way to make his return than to welcome defending Premier League champion Manchester City to Stamford Bridge. Benitez returns to England after two years away, as he takes over for Chelsea after the Blues let Roberto di Matteo go.
After a strong start to the season, Chelsea has taken a step back, having won just one match in their last seven across all competitions. Meanwhile, Manchester City will look to take over the top of the league standings, after Manchester United moved ahead on Saturday with a win over Queens Park Rangers.
In Italy, another club that has had a recent resurgence after a slow start is AC Milan. They host first-place Juventus, which is coming off a 3-0 win over Chelsea in Champions League action on Wednesday. After losing their first two league matches at San Siro, AC Milan has won three of their last five matches at home. Despite that, AC Milan still sits 17 points behind Juventus, which has dropped just five points all season.
With Real Madrid losing on Saturday, La Liga rival Barcelona can move 11 points ahead of the defending champions, as they play at Levante on Sunday afternoon. While Real Madrid’s struggles have not been needed, Barcelona continues to surge through league play as they are off to the best start in franchise history.
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):
6:30am- ESPN Deportes- Roda vs. Ajax
8am- Univision Deportes- Montpellier vs. Bordeaux
8:30am- ESPN2/ESPN3.com- Swansea vs. Liverpool
8:30am- No TV- AZ Alkmaar vs. Feyenoord
9am- beIN Sport- Pescara vs. Roma
9am- beIN Sport Espanol- Torino vs. Fiorentina
9:30am- GolTV- Freiburg vs. Stuttgart
10am- FoxSoccer2Go.com- Southampton vs. Newcastle
11am- Fox Soccer Channel- Chelsea vs. Manchester City
11am- Fox Soccer Plus- Tottenham vs. West Ham United
11am- beIN Sport- Toulouse vs. Lyon
11am- beIN Sport Espanol- Athletic Bilbao vs. Deportivo La Coruna
11am- ESPN Deportes- PSV Eindhoven vs. Vitesse Arnhem (Tape Delay)
11:30am- GolTV- Hoffenheim vs. Bayer Leverkusen
1pm- Univision- Toluca vs. Club America (Mexican League playoff semifinals)
1pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Southampton vs. Newcastle (Tape Delay)
1pm- beIN Sport- Torino vs. Fiorentina
1pm- beIN Sport Espanol- Atletico Madrid vs. Sevilla
2pm- ESPN Deportes- FC Twente vs. Zwolle
2pm- GolTV- Ponte Preta vs. Sao Paulo
2:40pm- beIN Sport- AC Milan vs. Juventus
3pm- beIN Sport Espanol- Levante vs. Barcelona
5pm- beIN Sport- Levante vs. Barcelona (Tape Delay)
7pm- Univision Deportes- Club Tijuana vs. Leon (Mexican League Playoff semifinals)
8:30pm- beIN Sport- Marseille vs. Lille (Tape Delay)