It may be just the first El Clásico of the season this weekend, but Barcelona is already facing a must-win situation against its hated rival come Saturday.
Currently trailing Real Madrid by six points in La Liga standings, the hosts for this weekend’s headlining fixture can ill-afford to watch that deficit increase. The good news for Barça going into the match at Camp Nou though, is that it will have the luxury of facing a Galácticos lineup without Gareth Bale, who is sidelined after undergoing ankle surgery earlier this week.
Not to be overshadowed by the two Spanish powerhouses, two top clubs in England will also do battle on Saturday as the Premier League-leading Chelsea will visit third-place Manchester City with only one point separating the two.
The Blues are coming off a 2-1 victory over Tottenham last weekend and looking to extend their league winning streak to eight matches, but a draw with City could see Liverpool leapfrogging both of them and take over the top spot with a win at Bournemouth.
Over in Italy, Juventus will look to bounce back from a surprising 3-1 loss to Genoa last weekend with a home result against Atalanta, while the German Bundesliga will see Bayern Munich taking on Mainz 05 with hopes of keeping up with first-place RB Leipzig, which will go up against Schalke 04.
Shifting the focus back to North America and the Mexican Liga MX playoffs will feature the two semifinals second-leg contests this weekend between Tigres UANL-Club León and Club América-Necaxa. Tigres already picked up a 1-0 win Wednesday night on the road Club América and Necaxa drew 1-1 in their first-leg game on Thursday night.
Here is a rundown of all the soccer action on TV this weekend:
FRIDAY
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
2:30 p.m. — Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer 2Go — Mainz 05 vs Bayern Munich
ITALIAN SERIE A
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Napoli vs. Inter Milan
ENGLISH LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Nottingham Forest vs. Newcastle United
ENGLISH FA CUP
2:55 p.m. — Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Soccer 2Go — Macclesfield Town vs. Oxford United
FRENCH LIGUE 1
2:45 pm. — beIN Sports Connect — Caen vs. Dijon
SCOTTISH LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
2:45 p.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Dundee United vs. Hibernian
PORTUGUESE PRIMEIRA LIGA
3:30 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Marítimo vs. Benfica
SATURDAY
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
7:30 a.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra — Manchester City vs. Chelsea
10 a.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra — Tottenham vs. Swansea City
10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Crystal Palace vs. Southampton
10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Stoke City vs. Burnley
10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Sunderland vs. Leicester City
10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — West Bromwich Albion vs. Watford
12:30 p.m. — NBC/NBC Sports Live Extra — West Ham United vs. Arsenal
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
9:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer 2Go — Borussia Dortmund vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
9:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 2/Fox Sports Go/Fox Deportes/Fox Soccer 2Go — Bayer Leverkusen vs. Freiburg
9:30 a.m. — Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Soccer 2Go — VfL Wolfsburg vs. Hertha Berlin
9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Werder Bremen vs. FC Ingolstadt
9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Hoffenheim vs. Cologne
12:30 p.m. — Fox Sports 2/Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer 2Go — RB Leipzig vs. Schalke 04
SPANISH LA LIGA
7 a.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Granada vs. Sevilla
10:15 a.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
12:30 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Leganés vs. Villarreal
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Atlético Madrid vs. Espanyol
ITALIAN SERIE A
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports Connect — Juventus vs. Atalanta
FRENCH LIGUE 1
11 a.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Montpellier vs. Paris Saint-Germain
2 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Bordeaux vs. Lille
2 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — AS Monaco vs. Bastia
2 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Metz vs. Lyon
MEXICAN LIGA MX
8 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Tigres UANL vs. Club León
ENGLISH LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
10 a.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Norwich City vs. Brentford
12:30 p.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports Connect — Leeds United vs. Aston Villa
ENGLISH FA CUP
10 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Charlton Athletic vs. MK Dons
10 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Sutton United vs. Cheltenham Town
PORTUGUESE PRIMEIRA LIGA
1:15 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Sporting CP vs. Vitória Setúbal
3:30 p.m. — Univision Deportes — FC Porto vs. Sporting Braga
AUSTRALIAN A-LEAGUE
3:50 a.m. — ESPN3/WatchESPN — Melbourne City vs. Brisbane Roar
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
7:15 a.m. — Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Soccer 2Go — Motherwell vs. Celtic
FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
1 a.m. — Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer 2Go/Telemundo Deportes en Vivo — United States vs. Japan (third-place match)
4:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer 2Go/Telemundo Deportes en Vivo — Korea DPR vs. France (final)
SUNDAY
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
8:30 a.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra — Bournemouth vs. Liverpool
11 a.m. — NBCSN/Telemundo/NBC Sports Live Extra — Everton vs. Manchester United
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
9:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports Go/Fox Deportes/Fox Soccer 2Go — Darmstadt 98 vs. Hamburg SV
11:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports Go/Fox Deportes/Fox Soccer 2Go — FC Augsburg vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
SPANISH LA LIGA
6 a.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Real Betis vs. Celta de Vigo
10:15 a.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Athletic Bilbao vs. Eibar
12:30 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Deportivo Alavés vs. Las Palmas
12:30 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Sporting Gijón vs. Osasuna
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Valencia vs. Málaga
ITALIAN SERIE A
6:30 a.m. — beIN Sports Connect — AC Milan vs. Crotone
9 a.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Lazio vs. AS Roma
9 a.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Sampdoria vs. Torino
9 a.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Sassuolo vs. Empoli
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports Connect — Fiorentina vs. Palermo
FRENCH LIGUE 1
9 a.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Stade Rennes vs. Saint-Étienne
11 a.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Marseille vs. Nancy
2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Nice vs. Toulouse
MEXICAN LIGA MX
9 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Club América vs. Necaxa
ENGLISH FA CUP
7 a.m. — Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Soccer 2Go — Curzon Ashton vs. AFC Wimbledon
9 a.m. — Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Soccer 2Go — Bolton Wanderers vs. Sheffield United
9 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Woking vs. Accrington Stanley