The always highly anticipated matchup takes place today, as El Clasico will kick off this afternoon from Camp Nou. Real Madrid will look to make some ground on Barcelona, as the defending league champions are already eight points behind league-leading Barcelona. In 222 all-time meetings, Real Madrid holds 88 wins, while Barcelona holds 87.
Meanwhile, Clint Dempsey will look to follow up last week's performance for Tottenham, as the American scored his first goal with his new club. He will take on fellow Americans Brad Guzan and Eric Lichaj of Aston Villa, who are off to a slow start this season. Another pair of Americans, Geoff Cameron and Maurice Edu, will travel to Anfield with Stoke City as they take on Liverpool.
In Italy, another set of rivals will be matching up, as AC Milan will take on Inter Milan at San Siro in the Milan Derby. Inter Milan won both matchups during the regular season last year.
Stateside, the Cascadia Cup could be clinched by the end of the day, as the Portland Timbers travel to CenturyLink Field to take on the Seattle Sounders. Despite a troublesome 2012, Portland leads the Cascadia Cup standings with eight points with two Cup matches left.
If you will be watching any of 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):
6:30am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN3- Ajax vs. Utrecht
7:45am- Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go- Celtic vs. Hearth of Midlothian
8am- beINSport- Brest vs. Bordeaux
8:30am- Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes- Southampton vs. Fulham
8:30am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN3- PSV vs. NAC Breda
9am- beIN Sport, beIN Sport en Espanol- Siena va. Juventus
9:30am- GolTV- Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
10am- Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go- Liverpool vs. Stoke City
10am- FoxSoccer2Go- Tottenham vs. Aston Villa
10:30am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN3- Twente vs. AZ
11am- Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes- Newcastle United vs. Manchester United
11am- beIN Sport- Lorient vs. Olympique Lyon
11:30am- GolTV- Hannover 96 vs. Borussia Dortmund
1:50pm- beIN Sport en Espanol- Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
2:45pm- beIN Sport- AC Milan vs. Inter Milan
3pm- Univision Deportes- Olympique Marseille vs. PSG
3:45pm- ESPN3- Porto vs. Sporting CP
4pm- MLS Live/MLS Direct Kick-Columbus Crew vs. Sporting KC
5pm- beIN Sport- Olympique Marseille vs. Paris St. Germain (delay)
6:30pm- beIN Sport- Atletico Madrid vs. Malaga (delay)
7pm- Galavision/MLS Live- Chivas USA vs. FC Dallas
8:30pm- beIN Sport- Levante vs. Valencia
9pm- ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN3/MLS Live- Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers
MB with a goal for Roma!
I’m thinking that Stoke may be able to get a result against Liverpool. Another “warrior battle” for Geoff today I hope.
I didn’t see the goal in the second half, but saw the full first half and MB definitely looking fit enough for a call-up from Klinsmann. He looked a bit shaky in the first 20 minutes or so, a couple of cheap giveaways, but as the half progressed he appeared to gain more confidence and feeling more comfortable and was playing attack-oriented midfield.
For any of you USMNT fans still hoping to see Timothy “Benedict Arnold” Chandler in a US shirt please take note that Timmy in the past few weeks seems to be falling apart. Quite frankly, I would not trust his current defensive capabilities in the next two crucial World Cup qualifiers. Timmy has been giving up lots of goals recently. He was once again the flop of the match in Nurnberg’s 0-3 loss Saturday to Freiburg. Here are player ratings from the game using a rating system from 1-6, with 1 the best score and 6 the worst. Chandler got a 5.5 rating.
link to sportal.de
And this is one from his flop of the match performance two weeks ago against Frankfurt.
link to sportal.de
Bendict Arnold? Really? What are you running for office or something?
timothy who?
Actually, that is not a bad idea. Could I count on your vote?
With Fulham playing now and then Clint Dempsey later today, anyone wanting a good laugh should read the latest utterances from good ol’ Martin Jol (yes, he mentions Clint).
Martin Jol says Bobby Zamora comments are just ‘sour grapes’
link to standard.co.uk
Brad Friedel is not starting today, streak ends at 310 consecutive starts, pretty damn impressive
Friedel dropped for Spurs streak over at 310
I love that Spure with Dempsey are already starting to look dangerous together. I think they like each other, and they know how good they can be.
Awesome to think back after Fulham’s high scoring opening week win when everyone was like “Clint who?” I can answer them now- Clint DEMPSEY. The guy who will be playing Chamions League ball next year while Fulham is in the Championship.
Yeah, I guess Tottenham is trying to keep their keeper of the future happy. Brad has played very well this year, and all I can figure is that the press stories out the past two weeks about Lloris were strategically placed by his camp to express his displeasure at not playing.
I wish people would stop the Fulham bashing. Yes, there was a bit of a divorce with Clint and both sides could have handled it better, but the club has given opportunities to several US players over the years. It is weird to look at the team and think there isn’t an American on there.
Here’s a link to Bradley’s goal along with some of the greatest music ever. link to soccer-blogger.com
Wondo is going to Europe. I can just feel it
Barcelona wins today 3-2.
Mark it
Bradley scored for AS Roma in a 2-0 win.
Jozy having a rough game. His touches have let him and his team more often than not today. Almost half time and not one chance to show for it, not even half-chances. AZ as a team playing OK but jozy’s touch has killed most their attacks. Sorry to say it. He was lookin awesome recently, much improved to this performance.
Maybe…but if you think about it, what is a realistic landing spot for him…Danish League? Promotion bound Championship-side? Bundesliga 2? Not very sexy, but maybe more money.
Looks to me like AZs midfield is getting dominated. They can’t distribute at all to Jozy in the center, or the guys on the wings.
I’m not sure exactly what awful thing he said there. In that quote he said he didn’t have a good relationship with Clint over the summer. Was there any doubt about that?
I wish the whole Clint Dempsey situation had ended with less bad blood. But Jol has done well for Fulham and he’s brought in some good talent. He is in position to take advantage of the club finally focusing on the academy in the last few years. We aren’t going to finish ahead of Spurs this year; but I really don’t see us in a relegation struggle.
Clearly an objective analysis.
Wondo has 25 goals in 30 matches. 2 more matches to go. If he can score 3 goals he has the record. Must be several Scandinavian teams that’s chasing him.
It seems that AZ becomes more of a defensive-minded team when the play away from home.
Jozy is really giving a performance that just screams “please don’t call me up, I’m not reliable.”
demps assist on the 2nd goal… misses an open diving header.
What an absurd comment. Grow up.
Does Jozy not want a call up?
Going to nickname him the black hole of Alkmaar–where attacks go to die. Dude pay attention and get your head in the game.
Man, Ade’s passing is OFF. He’s rusty. Come on Spurs!
Dempsey off to applause.
To paraphrase Sir Nigel Powers:
There are only two things I cant stand in this world: people who are intolerant of other people’s cultures, and the portugese.
Let Friedel play in the EPL and let Loris playEuro league.
where were you when Friedel’s record was stopped?
Jozy sent off.
Dare I mention that Lichaj hasn’t worked his way off of the Villan bench? Those of you clamoring to call him up need to relax a bit. Let’s hope he can get off of the bench soon.
AZ just had two sent off, including Jozy. Rather ridiculous by the ref, IMO.
for what?
Wow! Both red cards were way too quick. The first one was a joke!
The manner he was sent off won’t sit well with club or country
Replace “AZ” with “pretty much every soccer team ever”… Expert analysis there chap.
Also Ives it’s Hearts of Midlithian not Hearth.
Crying in my coffee. I don’t see him sitting on the bench for long. Either they rotate, or he retires. Friedel won’t sit.
For clapping at the ref’s stupid decision to give a red to his teammate who definitely did not derserve one.
Did he headbutt someone else?
Probably one of the weirder red cards I’ve ever seen given to Maher. As he was on the ground in the box a twente player ran past him and they touched. Twente player went down in a heap (this is all about 40 yards from play) and the ref I suppose “spotted” and promptly sent Maher off. And when I say touched I mean Maher’s arm was briefly outstretched as the twente player ran by him and fell over like He’d been rugby tackled lol.
Of course Jozy lost his cool and sent off for TWO dissent yellows. Awesome.
Either a Scandinavian club. I’m sure he could make 400-500 K over there. Goodson makes half a million at Brondby (biggest club in Denmark)
Maybe a mid sized club in Holland, Turkey or Belgium.
But for sure he can make it on to a small club in either of the top 5 clubs
well he was starting pretty much all of September. It was only after the Carling Cup match that he lost the spot. But he’s in contention to compete for it again. He’ll get his chances with injuries sooner or later.
Also b it’s Midlothian not Midlithian smarta$$!
Edu and Cameron are closing out the game at Liverpool. Anyone watching?
I can see some rotation for a few games. But perhaps Friedel can leave for a promoted club next season but he’s kinda old
Some people have a shorter memory span than a golden retriever.
Which one, Stypulkowski?
Great defensive effort by The Potters. They take a road point. 0-0 final
I’m wondering if the same idiots who hate unreasonably on Jozy are the same idiots that used to hate unreasonably on MB, and on Deuce before that, on Gooch, before that, on Landon before that, etc.? What’s the dynamic here? Is it the same few morons over and over?
Wow, if I’m Klinsmann I am writing Jozy off until the next call up cycle. Horrific game and display of maturity.
Grow the hell up Jozy, you have such potential.
I hope so. It doesn’t matter where he goes, he’s likely to remain on the bubble for the USMNT.
He deserves to get paid. As a late bloomer in MLS, he was paycheck by paycheck making $40k for several years. Only in the last couple seasons has his salary increased to $300k. Now he can go to Europe and make up for lost years.
It seems like his wife is quite the shopper too.
Edu looked fine after coming in for Charlie Adam in the 80th minute. Good defending and generally decent passing, although one attempt at a one touch pass did not hit the intended target, but a Liverpool player. Great to see him get his first first PL appearance on the hallowed field of Liverpool. I guess, though, that his haters who have been posting here the past few weeks saying he wouldn’t even make the Stoke bench this season aren’t too happy.
I will say Stoke plays a thuggish style of soccer, but the USMNT probably will benefit from nastier versions of Geoff Cameron and Maurice Edu with the tricks they will be learning at Stoke.
Wow. Settle down there tiger. Talk to an England fan. Or a Germany fan. Or an Italy fan. Or a Dutch fan.
Heck, welcome to world football.
Agreed.
Mike he’s their top scorer. 8 goals in 8 matches. He also has 2 assists. At this rate he’s going to be their Player of the Year. The club clearly needs better defense.
Be cool. He reacted to the idiotic decision by a ref over a teammate. It’s not as if he hacked off an opposing player’s leg or punched someone.
Besides JOzy is top-scorer. He’d get a call up no matter what.
link to bigsoccer.com
Bradley’s goal.
1 goal, 1 assist in 2 matches for the guy
I watched AZ and Jozy for the first half until I had to leave. Looks like I missed the action….
The thing I noticed was even if Jozy looked like he wasn’t running, he kept showing up in a different place. Center, right, left, back to center, up a little, back a little, and it usually seemed like great position to receive a pass. He was moving plenty and looked dangerous.
oye. c’mon jozy.
Ill bet you Spurs wont be in the Champions League next year either
+1
hahaha!!!! funny
+1
Alright, Id, I’ll take that “bet.”
Anyways, who do you foresee sneaking ahead of them for the the no. 4 spot?
Biff, I love your bundesliga analysis. By far one of the most informed people about that league on this site.
That said, while I don’t like chandler essentially turning us down and as you correctly site his form is also down, I would not go so far as to call him Benedict Arnold.
I knew that, either my fingers are too fat for my phone or autocorrect f’ed me.
Hell of a run. Proud to be an American because that hardworking man. Fake accent (or maybe legitametly pick up over time) to hell, he’s American soccer’s version of the Iron Man (As an O’s fan growing up, this is high praise).
Was the ref Mexican?
Glad to hear that. I’ve been critical of him before, but FEAR THE TURTLE!
Any word on how serious Donovan’s knee injury is?
You may want to change the nomenclature for the ESPN online games now. ESPN3 and WatchESPN aren’t the same thing. The Sounders game is available on WatchESPN (tied to cable vendors), but not ESPN3 (tied mostly to ISPs).
It will probably be available for replay on ESPN3 shortly after it airs.
Jozy’s red.
link to youtube.com
It’s the Dutch, not the Portuguese.
Jozy should have walked away faster (and/or a teammate should have moved in too), but in his defense that was an absolutely terrible first red card and even worse double-yellowing for dissent.
I can respect your point of view. No problem with that. But I really don’t think calling Timothy Chandler a Benedict Arnold is so bad. He deserves to be called worse things for betraying the trust he asked last year from his coach, his USMNT teammates, and his fans when he promised us all that he was 100% committed to wearing the US shirt and had no desire to play for Germany. He broke that promise and Benedict Arnold is a commonly used expression in the English language to describe someone who does those things.
Chandler is no angel. In August and first two weeks of September he was regularly talking to German newspapers about his snubs of Klinsmann almost joking about it and making Klinsmann and the USMNT look like clowns while at the same time playing coy about his desire for a phone call from Jogi Low. I would not be surprised if it finally hit a raw nerve on Klinsmann and Klinsmann got peeved and pulled the plug on Chandler. I hope so. I don’t care how good Chandler (used) to be. We do not need like him on the team.
what a horrible call by the ref, i don’t know where jozy’s teammates were to get him outta there, but as a ref you can’t let your ego get in the way and give another yellow card (the first one was deserve). unbelievable
ESPN talking heads agree about Stoke’s style of play.
link to espnfc.com
He still has no soccer IQ. Don’t worry…he will get exposed soon enough
That is quite the accusation that you are making. Do you have cites to said newspaper articles?
He and the league already turned down at least one offer last year. I don’t think he’s going anywhere, since SJ are likely gonna double his salary again, and make him a DP.
Is anyone streaming the Crew v SKC game? Can’t find it. arrrggg.
You might’ve missed it, but around the time of the transfer, there were quite a few Fulham-til-I-diehards on here mouthing off about how they’d be better off without Clint and what a chump he was.
Personally, I’m over it. Clint is doing okay in his new jersey and I hope he continues to improve. I don’t have anything against Fulham or their supporters.
Ah Nick my friend. When you paraphrase something, that means you change it slightly to use it for your own purposes.
As Friedel’s coach is Portugese, I paraphrased, and changed it to Portugese, instead of dutch.