By ADAM TROXTELL
Much more is on the line than bragging rights when Borussia Dortmund plays rival Schalke in Bundesliga action.
Known as the Revierderby, a surging Dortmund hosts Schalke in the midst of pulling away from the relegation zone. Three straight wins have pulled the former German champions three points away from danger.
Schalke will also look to grab a valuable win while chasing down a UEFA Champions League Spot. Die Knappen sit two points behind Monchengladbach and the final qualification spot. They were victorious the last time these teams met back in September.
Also chasing Europe, Manchester United can jump into third place with a win against Sunderland. In their last five meetings, the Red Devils have beaten Sunderland just once and tied twice.
Granada hosts a Barcelona side trying to keep pressure on Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, and in France, league leaders Lyon can widen the gap between them and Paris Saint-Germain with a win against Lille.
If you will be watching today’s action, feel free to leave your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (today’s soccer on TV schedule after the jump):
7:45 a.m. — NBCSN — West Ham vs. Crystal Palace
9:30 a.m. — GolTV USA — Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke
10 a.m. — NBCSN — Manchester United vs. Sunderland
10 a.m. — Premier League Extra Time — Burnley vs. Swansea
10 a.m. — Premier League Extra Time — Newcastle vs. Aston Villa
10 a.m. — Premier League Extra Time — Stoke vs. Hull
10 a.m. — Premier League Extra Time — West Brom vs. Southampton
10 a.m. — beIN Sports USA — Granada vs. Barcelona
Noon — beIN Sports en Espanol — Rayo Vallecano vs. Levante
12:30 p.m. — GolTV USA — Frankfurt vs. Hamburg
2 p.m. — beIN Sports en Espanol — Almeria vs. Deportivo La Coruna
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports USA — Chievo vs. Milan
3:30 p.m. — Fox Soccer Plus — Panama U-17 vs. Mexico U-17
4 p.m. — beIN Sports en Espanol — Malaga vs. Getafe
4:30 p.m. — GolTV USA — Palmeiras vs. Capivariano
6 p.m. — Univision — Club America vs. Universidad Guadalajara
6 p.m. — ESPN Deportes — Puebla vs. Queretaro
8 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Tigres vs. Pumas
9 p.m. — GolTV USA — Deportivo Tepic vs. Atletico San Luis
9:06 p.m. — Telemundo — Leon vs. Santos Laguna
10 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Atlas vs. Veracruz
This time a legit penalty call for ManPoo, but why on earth is Wes Brown being sent off for O’Shea? Well… The feeling/hope I had Sunderland could score on the counter and take the points just vanished.
Typical Sunderland. The names change a bit but the core mentality stays the same.
Yeah – as a LFC fan, was hoping Sunderland would put up more of a fight to at least hold MUFC as 2 points separated the two squads (Devis v. Dragons) at the beginning of today’s slate. Oh well… still same olevel calamatous D combined with little attacking combinations.
Sunderland……. L……O……L…….
I thought now that Sunderland had a real striker, they would be scoring goals by the bunches.
Cue derision – now
Yawn.
Their fans are already proclaiming the swap “a success,” despite the fact that they’ve scored the 2nd fewest goals in BPL.
Silly. It will take at least to the end of this season if not next to evaluate.
DING DING DING, we have a winner!
lol lets conveniently ignore the large reason theyre at 2nd to worst while hypocritically using the term “already” to imply it hasnt been very long for their fans to conclude defoe is a success since he hasn’t been there long enough to warrant the praise.
defoe needed 3 league matches to eclipse altidores goal mark in his 52 league matches
Go back to sleep dude. If you think a guy who barely played is the reason Sunderland hasn’t and is still not scoring goals, you clearly have not been paying attention. Nighty night.
Oh thank goodness that Dortmund scored. It almost hurt how bad they were the first half of the season.
Great match by BVB. I’ve never seen a team blow so many chances in a big match. What a relief when they finally scored.
Aubatman & Reus-bin are certainly back in form. And that spells bad news for the rest of the Bundesliga.
Fortunate goal. Barca up 1-0.
Williams, Lichaj, Ream and Spector are all in the starting XI. Cameron starting on the bench.
On another note, Onyewu did not make the bench for Charlton Athletic. Is he even good enough to make an MLS roster at this point?
Good enough sure. Healthy enough…. probably not.
To expand on Increase0’s comment:
Good enough sure.
Healthy enoughWorth the wages he would seek…. probably notSince his injury, it would appear Gooch is more concerned with the right financial situation over the right fit. To clarify, he’s certainly entitled to that, and I don’t fault him for one second. However, since the injury he’s never looked the same and paying a high price for a defender is rarely worth it.
Especially in Onyewu’s case.
Mmmm, also true. He is older and does seem to be more worried about the fiscal aspect of his job.
And that is worthy of criticism because?
I didnt mean to come off like he shouldn’t. At his age he certainly should. Younger players would do well to pay attention to that sort of thing earlier as well.
Why is Cameron on the bench? Sparky benched the Deuce while he was at Fulham too, much to his detriment. What does he want fro Geoff?.
My guess is Geoff isn’t doing what Hughes wants.
Are you saying Hughes is anti American? How many other nationalities has he benched or even cut? He did not play Shea or Edu either; does that make him anti American? Remember that Pulis bought those guys not Hughes.
Whatever he wants from Geoff, it seems he isn’t getting it.