By AARON CRANFORD
The European offeseason is winding down to a close, with domestic competition between the strongest clubs starting today.
Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich will face Wolfsburg in the DFL-Supercup (2:30 p.m., FOX Sports 2 Go), which is a match that pits the league winner and the DFB-Pokal winner. Wolfsburg never met its foe en route to winning the 2014-15 domestic cup, but each side did win one of the two meetings between them during the regular season, setting up an intriguing competition Saturday to kickstart the 2015-16 Bundesliga season.
In MLS, the coveted Cascadia Cup can be clinched Saturday when the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps meet up for their second meeting of 2015. The Sounders won the first meeting, 2-0, and with a win tonight (10 p.m., MLS Live), the Seattle faithful can celebrate because they’ll be four points above both the Portland Timbers and the Whitecaps, and both rivals will only have one Cascadia match left.
Meanwhile, after a strong second-place finish in the NASL Spring Season table, the Tampa Bay Rowdies have struggled as of late, losing their last three matches.
Rowdies head coach Thomas Rongen needs a spark and could look to insert U.S. international Freddy Adu into the starting lineup vs. the Carolina RailHawks (7:30 p.m., ESPN3), after he made his 15-minute debut and assisted the team’s lone goal on Aug. 25.
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. – Fox Soccer 2 Go – Celtic vs. Inverness
8:30 a.m. – ESPN 3 – Newcastle United vs. Borussia Monchengladbach
9 a.m. – beIN Sports USA – Basel vs. Sion
11 a.m. – ESPN 3 – Hannover vs. Sunderland
11 a.m. – beIN Sports USA – Stuttgart vs. Manchester City
12:30 p.m. – beIN Sports en Espanol – HJK Helsinki vs. Liverpool
2 p.m. – MLS Live- New York City FC vs. Montreal Impact
2:30 p.m. – Fox Soccer 2 Go – Wolfsburg vs. Bayern Munich
3 p.m. – beIN Sports USA – Paris Saint-Germain vs. Lyon
5:30 p.m. – ESPN 3 – Fluminese vs. Gremio
6 p.m. – Univision – Club America vs. Atlas
7 p.m. – MLS Live – Philadelphia Union vs. New York Red Bulls
7 p.m. – MLS Live – D.C. United vs. Real Salt Lake
7:30 p.m. – MLS Live – New England Revolution vs. Toronto FC
7:30 p.m. – MLS Live- Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew
7:30 p.m. – ESPN 3 – Carolina RailHawks vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies
7:30 p.m. – ESPN 3 – Indy Eleven vs. Atlanta Silverbacks
8:30 p.m. – MLS Live – Sporting KC vs. Houston Dynamo
9 p.m. – MLS Live – Colorado Rapids vs. LA Galaxy
10 p.m. – MLS Live – Seattle Sounders vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
10 p.m. – Univision Deportes – Chiapas vs. Santos Laguna
Rough game for venturalvarado..
Yeah, just saw that, 2 absolute shockers in one match
Bayern lose to Nicholas Bendtner.
Rumor is Shane ONeill is headed to Belgium. Maybe that explains why Mastroeni hasn’t been even putting him on the game day roster
Well Colorado’s defense has actually been pretty good. I believe the 2nd fewest goals allowed.
Watching Wolfsburg-Bayern on Eurosport2 (don’t ask)…Bayern are just too good again for everyone else in the league.
No offense to Wolfsburg who have had their chances. It’s a decent game, Bayern are up 1:0 with 29 minutes left.
I caught some of Basel-Sion on Bein this morning. Very nice of them that they are showing games from a league that is not one of the Big 5 leagues in Europe, but it’s competitive nonetheless. I think Basel got the help from referee today, but they were the better side on the day. They are regulars in the CL these days.
Kreis is nuts, you see the line-up he has and what he leaves on the bench. No wonder he’s down 2-0. Hopefully his players yelled at him at halftime.
Nyfc look god awful
The Galaxy have a lot of awesome fixtures this month. I don’t care too much for Colorado, but after this they face Seattle, Dallas, NYCFC & San Jose.
Toronto FC picked up Josh Williams. If he can stay healthy that should help their defense
they also picked up a foreign defender (Kantari i believe?). give TFC credit for (potentially) addressing their biggest need.
honestly what is up with all these damn summer friendlies?
if big EURO clubs wanna make so much money off of US, why not have US players on their clubs
You have to remember that the MLS teams are banking with stadium revenue I’m sure.
Also, more solid performances and exposure to European teams can only attract higher levels of talent
steve cherundolo in the bundesliga?
he played in it for a decade for the same team right. but was Hannover a mid table club or did it face relegation every season?
Try Wikipedia for answers to questions like that. Thanks.
As far as American’s go, Cherundolo has had one of the most successful careers in Europe, if not the most successful, certainly of his generation. More along with the likes of Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride, Demarcus Beasley & Earnie Stewart didn’t play at as high a level for as long a period of time as him. John O’Brien could of made a case if he didn’t have injury problems I think.
Stevie was with Hannover at every stage of their success; From their ascension to the Bundesliga, stability as a mid-table team, all the way to their Europa League qualifications.
A little interesting Jones isn’t in the list, who played Champions league, was in the Bundesliga for years, a spell in the Premier league. Had a good World Cup for the US, with an amazing goal. The list just says “the greatest players to have represented the USA men’s team” I’d think he’d be included.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2015/jul/24/top-us-soccer-players-usmnt
Interesting. shall we discuss?
That is interesting. I’d say it’s about right. Cherundolo and Pope are too low, Wynalda is too high and Bradley will be higher by the time his career is over.
no Jozy doe? lol…
Are they showing a preference guys who played in the premier league?
I’m not sure I’d rate Boca higher than Dolo and Beasley at #18 doesn’t seem right
Boca is not better then either, especially not Dolo!
They have a glaring omission with exclusion of Hugo Perez. Absolute snub.
One of the most talented US soccer players we’ve ever had.
Dempsey too high. Not above McBride, Friedel, Howard, Dolo, Harkes, and Dooley among others. Meola shouldn’t be on the list. Love that McBride pic. Where’s Perez. Sanneh was crucial to the 2002 quarterfinal finish.
I miss Clint Dempsey playing for Fulham and Spurs and Michael Bradley in Serie A.
those were exciting times to wake up and watch those games
Except now I can go to my local MLS stadium and see them live.
Go Galaxy!