The Spanish First Division's first weekend becomes official today when Barcelona and Real Madrid take the field for their season openers.
The fierce battle for the La Liga title begins with Bercelona opening against Racing Santander and Real Madrid opening against Mallorca.
The English Premier League also has some good action on tap, with American goalkeepers Tim Howard and Brad Friedel squaring off in the Aston Villa-Everton tilt and big-spending Manchester City looking to build on its recent success by beating Sunderland.
Seria A also completes its opening weekend with some good action, including the FIorentina-Napoli tilt.
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):
TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV
9am- FSE- Udinese vs. Genoa
10am- FoxSoccer.com- Sunderland vs. Manchester City
11am- Fox Soccer Channel/FSE- Aston Villa vs. Everton
11am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN3.com- Deportivo La Coruna vs. Real Zaragoza
11am- DirecTV- Espanyol vs. Getafe
11am- DirecTV- Real Sociedad vs. Villarreal
11:30am- ESPN3.com- VfB Stuttgart vs. Borussia Dortmund
Noon- Fox Soccer Plus- AS Bari vs. Juventus
1pm- Telemundo- Toluca vs. Queretaro
1pm- GolTV- Racing Santander vs. Barcelona
2:45pm- Fox Soccer Channel- AC Milan vs. Lecce
2:45pm- ESPN3.com- Fiorentina vs. Napoli
3pm- FSE- AC Milan vs. Lecce (Delayed)
3pm- GolTV- Mallorca vs. Real Madrid
3pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Bordeaux vs. Marseille
3:15pm- ESPN3.com- Rio Ave vs. FC Porto
5pm- FSE- Liverpool vs. West Bromwich Albion (Delayed)
5pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Sunderland vs. Manchester City
5:30pm- Univision- Club America vs. Necaxa
6pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Philadelphia Independence vs. Boston Breakers
7pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Liverpool vs. West Bromwich Albion
10pm- ESPN2- Chivas USA vs. D.C. United
Bolton’s comeback from 2 down and a man down is rather impressive. Stuey subbed at 78′ minutes…anybody watch his performance? Any good?
He played great.
He was everywhere, all over the field, and really dangerous in the first half. But after playing almost the entire match down a man, he was gassed and you could see it.
thanks. Good to hear. MBradley doing well for M’Gladbach. They’re tearing up Leverkusen. Love to see him playing directly opposite Ballack.
I only watched the first half and wouldn’t say he was great. He had some good corners but Bolton really didn’t have much of the ball in the first half.
I have reading comprehension problems this morning. Must be the hangover.
It has to be frustrating if you’re Man City. Sunderland has parked the bus from the get go.
Jozy not on the bench.
Does ESPN2 still have rights to La Liga games this year? Or is it just ESPN3.com now.
Did you pay for the Fox Soccer TV? If so, how is it treating you?
Dude, what game were you watching? Holden had a very average game. Nowhere near as effective as Lee and Muamba.
I hope that comes as no surprise to anyone. He was given a chance to showcase himself, and it was against a very poor side.
He went ahead and sucked.
Atdhe.net
I have thought about paying for it, but I honestly don’t trust Fox Soccer.
not a surprise just a bummer. needs to get it done.
For those with DirecTV, were you able to catch the La Liga games last night? I tried to tune in but got a business channel, hope it works today.
All of Bolton had an average game, but he was certainly one of their best players.
Bradley’s Mönchengladbach putting a nice little pounding on Leverkusen 5-2 after 60 minutes.
Sunderland’s keeper just stood on his head to keep them in the game.
I’m shocked to see Tevez miss that open net. He is really going to be gunning for redemption.
wow, nobody wants to play any defense in that M’Gladbach game. nine goals and counting.
Jozy didn’t make the bench for Villareal
Ashley Young is such a good player. Good start for Villa
You know what? This is RIDICULOUS. This site continues to crash my browser — just as it’s been doing for many users here — and nothing has been fixed. We’ve mentioned it in the comments, Ives. Is anyone paying attention???
(SBI-Yes, I’ve inquired about it to my ad people, but haven’t gotten any clear answers unfortunately. I think it’s specific to certain ads that flow into our ad system. Hope to have an answer by Monday.)
Boo.
I don’t quite understand how Lichaj didn’t get the start. Villa’s defense has looked like Swiss cheese.
Eureka! I had been wondering… +1 Chris
I always have trouble with the ad that crawls across the page (invisible), and pops up in the center.
Jozy certainly has a tough task ahead, considering Nilmar cannot even start for Villarreal.
I am realizing that Altidore isn’t as good as he/we think(s) he is. He should have gone to Turkey this season. Going forward, if the chance avails itself he should reconsider Turkey, France or the Eredivisie. He simply is not good enough right now to get consistent minutes with a La Liga UCL competitive team. He isn’t going to get better watching from the bench. AFAIAC, it is better to PLAY in a lower league (EJ in Greece) than WATCH another season from the bench (EJ in Fulham).
Tim Howard save of the year! Holy beast.
OMG Friedel ridiculous save!
This is an epic goal keeping battle!
And Friedel answers right back! Unreal
I feel bad secretly hoping for a red on the Villa backline so Lichaj can get some pt next week
If Rossi is sold before the deadline (as several rumors seem to indicate) his chances of playing look a lot more promising…
Champions League is a bit generous, especially as they are playing in the Europa League this season. This isn’t the Villareal team from 2-3 years ago….
Sometimes the highlight videos you post make my computer crash. The ones that seem to start automatically and all I can hear is sound. I think they are from the MLS website
(SBI-The videos that might do that are always posted on the jumps of stories, and are videos that should work with newer computers. I don’t think that’s the issue people are having the most, it’s a problem with tracking software in the ads, at least we think so.)
I just read on the Kansas City article that Beasley wrote on this twitter account that he’s headed to German Side Hannover 96?
But what about Jay DeMeritt and Benny Feilhaber?
I think Jay should come to MLS if he can’t find anything good, there’s a few teams like Philly and New England that could use the hard nose D!
Plus the transfer window closes tuesday right? So where is Benny Feilhaber going to end up?
Ives, any input into any of these Americans Abroad? What about the never ending story of Freddy Adu? is he with Benfica & they don’t want him or is he with Aris and THEY don’t want him? I heard they picked up Carlos Ruiz
Someone remind me again why Lichaj doesn’t get playing town?
Villa/Everton is the best game of the weekend. The toffes deserve a point from this. Really fun to watch.
And they got into Europa League thanks to the Mallorca suspension.
Friedel and Howard are unreal!
Anyone looking to learn how to be an amazing goalkeeper just needs to watch this game.
Thank you for the reply, Ives. Sorry for the brusque tone — take it as a positive expression of my desire to visit your site!
Probably because he is a right back, and villa have a decidedly better right back in Luke Young
I used the term UCL competitive because in La Liga two teams compete for the title and another six: Villarreal, Athletico, Sevilla, Espanyol among others shoot for top four and the other two UCL spots. And even all that is besides the point that no matter how much we love him, Altidore is not going to see the field much this season with Villarreal. He needs to go somewhere else and actually play.
I haven’t heard much about Rossi, lately. Nilmar had a chance to tie it at 87 but missed today. 1-0 loss.
+1
Lee and Muamba were good but give Stewie some credit. His corners and free kicks were all very dangerous. He just needed decent finishing from his teammates.
Nick Webster keeps calling Ronaldinho “Rolandinho”
Who is the color commentator of Milan’s game? He sounds like an Italian guy who is trying hard to find the right English words.
Agreed. Albeit, I only watched the first half, but he is flat out quality on a deadball. Multiple times they would have scored if someone put there head on it.
45 minutes into their first game, Real Madrid is probably looking for a new manager. Total slop. Anyone who thinks Spanish teams refuse to foul should watch Mallorca.
Would like to see Ozil. Di Maria has done absolutely nothing.
(SBI-Listen buddy, you might want to think about what you post here if you want to continue having the privilege of posting.)
That guy is hilarious. I don’t mind it because Milan is absolutely blowing his mind by looking good against a Serie B team and he is upping the entertainment value of a one-side game.
Yeah!
Watching this game made me wonder what Brazil could have done in the world cup if both Ronaldinho and Pato were there.
Ozil hasn’t looked any better.
I disagree. He created some nice chances, looked like he was a part of the game.
Overall, RM looked pretty dreadful. Benzema needs to be sold or loaned out yesterday.
What are the odds that Onyewu gets playing time at Milan this year? Given that he’s healthy, of course. With eleven defenders on a team of 28, I think it’s minimal at best.
He needs a loan move at the very least. If he is not making it into the side yet it probably is not going to happen.
(_____) Seriously?
I honestly appreciate your eagerness to help, but you should take a moment to think through what you’re suggesting here. You’re sitting on this site, using its bandwidth, and proposing something that ultimately threatens its existence.
I know everything on the Internet feels “free,” but it’s not. Content producers such as Ives make a living by displaying ads. He is offering you a deal in good faith: “I will give you content; you let ads be displayed.” If you don’t like that deal, then you shouldn’t patronize his business.
At the very least, you shouldn’t be taking advantage of his open door by walking in and telling other customers how they can swipe stuff for free.
I’m not trying to be rude. I know you meant no ill will. I just think a lot of people don’t really think this stuff through, and that’s a real threat to the future of professionally produced content.
Certainly needs to move on loan. He needs a confidence boost by playing day in and out. He clearly isn’t in there plans, and may never have been.
yeah, that Mourinho character is a real slouch.
Road draw vs. a team that qualified for European competition in the second toughest league in the world? Not so bad, I’d say.
Mallorca….bankruptcy be damned! Nice job.
I was commenting more on Real Madrid’s impatience with coaches and less on Mourinho.
I have yet to be impressed with Di Maria. Didn’t think much of his World Cup and don’t know why he would start ahead of Ozil (unless Ozil insists on playing in the middle, which probably isn’t going to happen unless Canales’s form drops off).
This game was Benzema’s last for Real Madrid, I’m sure.
Interesting take. While the modern game has no patience for managers who are not producing, I think Jose is safe for a while.
I agree with you on Di Maria. Not so much on Benzema but I didn’t see the game so I won’t dismiss what you’re saying. I think Benzema needs a system tailored to him and that clearly ain’t happening at Madrid. So you may be right about his tenure there.
Cheers!
The commentators were relating how Mourinho dressed down Benzema in front of the team during training, insulting him for being out-of-shape and listless. After everything that has gone on with him over the last couple years, my guess is that his confidence is shot to pieces. RM is not the place to regain it given the amount of pressure the club exhibits.
Goalless draws against Mallorca are enough to irritate Madridistas, me included, especially on a day that sees Barca hit for three.