By ADAM TROXTELL
With Barcelona back within reach of first place, league leaders Real Madrid face even more pressure on the road against Athletic Bilbao.
A draw against Villarreal last Sunday leaves Real Madrid two points ahead of its El Clasico rival in the Spanish Primera Division. Los Blancos were held to a draw the last time they visited San Mames Barria, but they have won eight of the last nine encounters against Bilbao stretching back to 2010.
Barcelona plays Rayo Vallecano the following day, having beaten the Madrid-based side each of the last seven times the teams have met. Elsewhere in Spain, third place Atletico Madrid plays fourth-place Valencia.
The English FA Cup quarterfinal round pits Aston Villa against rivals West Brom on Saturday. Liverpool faces Blackburn on Sunday in the first meeting between the teams since 2012.
In Italy, Napoli will try to solidify its position in third place when Inter Milan pays a visit on Sunday. The Naples side edged Inter 1-0 in Coppa Italia play last month, but the teams played out an exciting 2-2 draw when they last met in Serie A.
Cruz Azul will try to halt a two-game skid against Atlas in a match between the sixth and seventh placed teams in Liga MX. Elsewhere, Pachuca will try to bounce back from CONCACAF Champions League elimination with a game against the only Mexican team remaining in that competition, Club America.
The weekend ends with a trio of MLS games in the league’s opening weekend. Expansion teams Orlando City and New York City FC start things off on Sunday, followed by Sporting Kansas City and New York Red Bulls. Seattle Sounders and MLS Cup finalists New England Revolution wrap up the weekend in the late kickoff.
Here is this weekend’s soccer on TV (schedule after the jump):
FRIDAY
2:30 p.m. — beIN Sports USA — Toulouse vs. Marseille
2:30 p.m. — GolTV USA — Stuttgart vs. Hertha Berlin
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports USA — Levante vs. Eibar
8 p.m. — UniMas — Veracruz vs. Leon
8:30 p.m. — ESPN Deportes — Queretaro vs. Guadalajara
10 p.m. — UniMas — LA Galaxy vs. Chicago Fire
SATURDAY
7:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 1 — Bradford City vs. Reading
9:30 a.m. — GolTV USA — Hannover vs. Bayern Munich
10 a.m. — NBCSN — QPR vs. Tottenham
10 a.m. — beIN Sports en Espanol — Deportivo La Coruna vs. Sevilla
Noon — beIN Sports USA — Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Madrid
12:30 p.m. — Fox Soccer Plus — Aston Villa vs. West Brom
12:30 p.m. — GolTV USA — Mainz vs. Borussia M’gladbach
2 p.m. — beIN Sports en Espanol — Elche vs. Almeria
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports USA — Milan vs. Hellas Verona
3 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — D.C. United vs. Montreal Impact
4 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Philadelphia Union vs. Colorado Rapids
4 p.m. — beIN Sports en Espanol — Granada vs. Malaga
6 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Toronto FC
6 p.m. — Univision — Cruz Azul vs. Atlas
8 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Monterrey vs. Toluca
8:30 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — FC Dallas vs. San Jose Earthquakes
8:30 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Houston Dynamo vs. Columbus Crew SC
9:06 p.m. — Telemundo — Pachuca vs. Club America
10 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Chiapas vs. Puebla
10:30 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake
SUNDAY
7 a.m. — beIN Sports USA — Barcelona vs. Rayo Vallecano
10 a.m. — beIN Sports en Espanol — Empoli vs. Genoa
10 a.m. — beIN Sports USA — Chievo vs. Roma
Noon — Fox Sports 1 — Liverpool vs. Blackburn
Noon — beIN Sports USA — Real Sociedad vs. Espanyol
2 p.m. — beIN Sports en Espanol — Villarreal vs. Celta de Vigo
2 p.m. — Univision — Pumas vs. Morelia
3:45 p.m. — beIN Sports USA — Napoli vs. Inter Milan
4 p.m. — beIN Sports en Espanol — Atletico Madrid vs. Valencia
5 p.m. — ESPN2 — Orlando City vs. New York City FC
7 p.m. — Fox Sports 1 — Sporting Kansas City vs. New York Red Bulls
7 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Universidad Guadalajara vs. Tigres
9:30 p.m. — Fox Sports 1 — Seattle Sounders vs. New England Revolution
They are.
They weren’t when the list was first posted. They are now and thank you SBI for the new version.
I liked this better when all MLS games were listed here as in past years.
USWNT plays in Algarve Cup vs Switzerland at noon ET on Fox Sports 1.
Noon today that is, Friday.
OK … Ladirectaroja is a good site to stream matches . So is firstrowsports vipbox and time4tv … Just scroll through the links and look or listen for English … Ummmm oh since you’re a Labrador … Type the words in Google and it’ll show up . click on the site then set your local time to see live matches … It’ll help to set it to football or soccer. Then scroll and find the match you want. Listen for English and check for quality … Now watch if its sufficient soccer viewing quality
Allright soccer peeps, help me out here. If I don’t have UniMas, where can I watch the season opener? Talk to me like I’m a child, or a Labrador. Discuss.
One good thing to come out of ESPN/Fox televising on Fri/Sun is there won’t be any blackouts on Saturdays on MLSLive!!
What about the MLS games on Direct Kick/MLS Live?
Good luck
This site has gone to caring more about last time Napoli played Inter.
Anyone know where I can find last nights CCL result, I was forced off m.
y TV before the end…not here.
Do you seriously whine about every little thing?
Isn’t he so annoying….
I have always found his name so ironic given his behavior on this site.
Thank you for revising the article to include the MLS Live games. I can’t wait to watch them.