Top games to watch this week
Friday, April 8
Sevilla vs Granada (La Liga)
Stuttgart vs Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
Gil Vicente vs Moreirense (Primeira Liga)
Saturday, April 9
Germany vs Portugal (FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifier)
USWNT vs Uzbekistan (International Women Friendly)
Everton vs Man United (English Premier League)
Arsenal vs Brighton (English Premier League)
Southampton vs Chelsea (English Premier League)
Aston Villa vs Tottenham (English Premier League)
Real Madrid vs Getafe (La Liga)
Inter vs Hellas Verona (Serie A)
Cagliari vs Juventus (Serie A)
Bayern vs Augsburg (Bundesliga)
Benfica vs Belenenses (Primeira Liga)
Tondela vs Sporting CP (Primeira Liga)
Clermont vs PSG (Ligue 1)
LA Galaxy vs LAFC (MLS)
Sunday, April 10
Manchester City vs Liverpool (English Premier League)
Levante vs Barcelona (La Liga)
Napoli vs Fiorentina (Serie A)
Roma vs Salernitana (Serie A)
Torino vs Milan (Serie A)
Vitoria Guimaraes vs Porto (Primeira Liga)
Marseille vs Montpellier (Ligue 1)
Monday, April 11
Pachuca vs Tijuana (Liga MX)
Rayo Vallecano vs Valencia (La Liga)
Bologna vs Sampdoria (Serie A)
Huddersfield Town vs Luton Town
Tuesday, April 12
USWNT vs Uzbekistan (International Women Friendly)
Real Madrid vs Chelsea (UEFA Champions League)
Bayern vs Villarreal (UEFA Champions League)
Boca Juniors vs Always Ready (Copa Libertadores)
Cerro Porteño vs Colón (Copa Libertadores)
U. Católica vs Sporting Cristal (Copa Libertadores)
Palmeiras vs Independiente Petrolero (Copa Libertadores)
Peñarol vs Olimpia (Copa Libertadores)
Flamengo vs Talleres de Córdoba (Copa Libertadores)
Cruz Azul vs Pumas UNAM (CONCACAF Champions League)
Wednesday, April 13
Atlético Madrid vs Manchester City (UEFA Champions League)
Liverpool vs Benfica (UEFA Champions League)
Libertad vs Caracas (Copa Libertadores)
Colo Colo vs Alianza Lima (Copa Libertadores)
River Plate vs Fortaleza (Copa Libertadores)
Nacional vs Estudiantes (Copa Libertadores)
Atlético Mineiro vs América Mineiro (Copa Libertadores)
Corinthians vs Deportivo Cali (Copa Libertadores)
Independiente del Valle vs Deportes Tolima (Copa Libertadores)
New York City FC vs Seattle Sounders (CONCACAF Champions League)
Guadalajara vs Monterrey (Liga MX)
Thursday, April 14
Atalanta VS RB Leipzig (UEFA Europa League)
Barcelona vs Eintracht Frankfurt (UEFA Europa League)
Lyon vs West Ham (UEFA Europa League)
Rangers vs Sporting Braga (UEFA Europa League)
PSV vs Leicester (UEFA Europa Conference League)
Slavia Praha vs Feyenoord (UEFA Europa Conference League)
Roma vs Bodo/Glimt (UEFA Europa Conference League)
PAOK vs Marseille (UEFA Europa Conference League)
Athletico-PR vs The Strongest (Copa Libertadores)
Vélez Sarsfield vs RB Bragantino (Copa Libertadores)
Emelec vs Deportivo Táchira (Copa Libertadores)
Most-watched soccer games on U.S. TV: March 28-April 3, 2022
Mexico took down El Salvador 2-0 at Estadio Azteca to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in last week's most-watched match in the U.S. Spanish-language channel TUDN USA screened the game on Wednesday, March 30, and garnered 615,000 average viewers. Those watching the game on television in the USA got to see winger Uriel Antuna and striker Raul Jimenez score El Tri's two goals that earned them World Cup qualification.
A Premier League clash showed on USA Network between Leicester City and Manchester United was the second most-viewed game in the U.S. last week. An average of 608,000 people watched the one-all draw from their TVs on Saturday, April 2. Leicester's Kelechi Iheanacho and Man Utd's Fred scored the two goals.
USA Network scored high with another Premier League game broadcast. Tottenham defeated Newcastle 5-1 on Sunday, April 3, drawing the attention of 573,000 average viewers. Five players scored goals for the Spurs. Three of the scorers were full-backs Ben Davies, Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty. Davies played as the left center-back in Antonio Conte's back-three.
What are this week's must-watch games?
La Galaxy vs LAFC live this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports, Fox Deportes, Sling TV, and fuboTV
El Trafico is here! Los Angeles' top two teams will lock horns this weekend at arguably the best time as LA Galaxy sit in third while LAFC currently top the Western Conference. Both sides have played five games each, with the visitors boasting a four-point lead over their bitter rivals. However, the Black and Gold are yet to win a visit to the Dignity Health Sports Park in six attempts. Additionally, this tie will see Chicharito and Carlo Vela, two of Mexico's most memorable players in recent years, go head-to-head. Who will come away from this derby with the bragging rights? Don't miss this clash.
Man City vs Liverpool live this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET on USA Network, Telemundo, fuboTV, and Sling TV
All eyes will be on this clash as Premier League leaders Man City prepare to host second-placed Liverpool in a showdown that is being touted as the title decider. The reasons are obvious: with only a single point separating these two clubs, the team that emerge triumphant in this Etihad Stadium clash will take one giant leap towards the English top-flight crown. Guardiola's men enter this tie on the back of their much-needed 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Klopp's men, on the other hand, overcame Benfica in their first leg tie, beating the Portuguese giants 3-1 to set up a juicy encounter with the Cityzens.
Real Madrid vs Chelsea headline top live European quarterfinal matches to watch this midweek
European football returns this midweek, with the quarterfinals of UEFA's three club competitions wrapping up this time around. All eyes will be on the Champions League showdown between Real Madrid and Chelsea, which will take place on Tuesday, as the defending champions look to pull off a comeback at Santiago Bernabeu after losing 3-1 at Stamford Bridge to Benzema and Co. However, that is not the only interesting tie as Man City will visit Atletico Madrid with a 1-0 lead in the second leg of their affair in what should be a feisty encounter.
Elsewhere, Liverpool, who are 3-1 up against Benfica, look to confirm their spot in the semifinals while Bayern Munich need to undo the 1-0 deficit against Villarreal. Elsewhere, the Europa League and Europa Conference League last eight will also wrap up, with Barcelona and West Ham facing Frankfurt and Lyon respectively in the earlier competition.
This week in women's football, watch FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers on Paramount+ and an international friendly double-header between the U.S. Women's National Team and Uzbekistan.
Watch 29 Women's World Cup Qualifying matches on Paramount+
Paramount+ will stream 29 Women's World Cup Qualifying fixtures from Friday, April 8, through Tuesday, April 12. The World Cup qualifiers include CONCACAF and UEFA matches. Headlining the World Cup Qualifying is a UEFA matchup between powerhouses Germany and Portugal.
Friday, April 8
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North Macedonia vs. England at 2 p.m. ET
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Cuba vs. Honduras at 3 p.m. ET
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Guatemala vs. St. Kitts and Nevis at 5 p.m. ET
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El Salvador vs. Barbados at 5:30 p.m. ET
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Dominican Republic vs. Bermuda at 7 p.m. ET
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Puerto Rico vs. Suriname at 7:30 p.m. ET
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Guyana vs. Nicaragua at 8 p.m. ET
Saturday, April 9
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Germany vs. Portugal at 10:10 a.m. ET
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Turks and Caicos vs. Trinidad and Tobago at 3:30 p.m. ET
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Haiti vs. British Virgin Island at 4 p.m. ET
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Aruba vs. Panama at 6 p.m. ET
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Anguilla vs. Mexico at 7 p.m. ET
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Curaçao vs. Costa Rica at 7 p.m. ET
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Cayman Island vs. Jamaica at 8 p.m. ET
Tuesday, April 12
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Denmark vs. Azerbaijan at 12 p.m. ET
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Norway vs. Poland at 1 p.m. ET
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Northern Ireland vs. England at 2:55 p.m. ET
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France vs. Slovenia at 3:10 p.m. ET
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Saint Kitts and Nevis vs. U.S. Virgin Islands at 4 p.m. ET
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Barbados vs. Belize at 4:30 p.m. ET
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Honduras vs. Saint Vincent and Grenadine at 4:30 p.m. ET
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Bermuda vs. Grenada at 6 p.m. ET
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Haiti vs. Cuba at 6 p.m. ET
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Suriname vs. Antigua and Barbuda at 6 p.m. ET
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Trinidad and Tobago vs. Guyana at 6 p.m. ET
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Jamaica vs. Dominican Republic at 7 p.m. ET
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Dominica vs. Nicaragua at 8 p.m. ET
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Costa Rica vs. Guatemala at 9 p.m. ET
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Mexico vs. Puerto Rico at 9 p.m. ET
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Panama vs. El Salvador at 9 p.m. ET
Watch a double-header between the USWNT and Uzbekistan on FOX Network and ESPN2
The U.S. Women's National Team will host Uzbekistan twice in the span of four days. First, the two nations will clash at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Oh., on Saturday, April 9, at 5:30 p.m. ET. And the second international friendly will take place at Subaru Park in Philadelphia, Penn., on Tuesday, April 12, at 7 p.m. ET.
FOX Network will screen the first outing between the North American and Asian nations in the USA. Americans can stream the FOX Sports App, Foxsports.com and ViX. ViX will broadcast the international friendly in 18 countries, including Mexico.
The second game will broadcast live on ESPN2 and stream on ViX in the United States. People interested in watching the game in Mexico can tune into ESPN2 Mexico, Star+ or ViX to catch all the action. ViX will stream the game in 16 other countries.
Biggest stories of the week
Man City star set to sign "seven figure" deal with Italian fashion house
Back in the 1990's, it would have been virtually unheard of for luxury brands to even consider partnering with football. That's because the sport had acquired a rather undesirable reputation, partially due to the behaviors of some fans known as hooligans, and overall had a rather gritty image attached to the sport.
However, the rise of players like David Beckham soon changed that attitude, and now these days, it's not unheard of to see luxury companies now looking to link up with players and teams. Examples of this include Dior's recent partnership with PSG star Kylian Mbappe, or Armani working with Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as the same Armani being behind the designs for both Napoli's kits and suits for the Italian national team.
And now, it looks like Gucci has decided to join others in its genre by linking up with football. Recently, reports indicated that the Italian fashion house had signed a huge deal with Manchester City's Jack Grealish. Grealish, who began his professional career with Aston Villa, made history last year after City splashed about $131 million (approximately £100 million) to bring him to the Etihad, making him the most expensive English player in history.
Clearly this is something that Gucci had in mind when deciding to partner with the player, who also has brand ambassador deals with gaming giants Electronic Arts (EA) as well as Nike. It's an interesting move for Gucci, who, unlike some of their other counterparts such as Prada, Burberry, and the aforementioned duo of Dior and Armani, have historically steered clear of working with sports personalities, instead preferring to link up with actors and musicians.
Grealish is reportedly set to earn somewhere in the ballpark of "seven figures" for his deal with Gucci.
Real Madrid celebrate a handful of milestones with 3-1 win against Chelsea
The game between Chelsea and Real Madrid left quite a few talking points for fans to discuss, especially if those football fans happen to be Real Madrid supporters.
The Spanish giants walked away from England with a massive win under their belt, but the 3-1 end result means much more for the 13-time UEFA Champions League winners for a bunch of reasons, which we feel inclined to share with you.
First of all, Real Madrid are known as the most prolific team in this competition, beating almost every rival they have run into in this tournament. Well, that was not the case with Chelsea, who they have now managed to beat for the first time in UEFA Champions League history.
As for their coach, Thomas Tuchel, his unbeaten run against Los Blancos has also come to an end, as the German had not lost any of his previous six run-ins with the Spanish giants.
One of the key members for Real Madrid to accomplish this feat was David Alaba. The Austrian defender registered his 70th win in this competition in his 100th match, the most victories by any player in his first 100 UEFA Champions League appearances.
Last, but not least, we have to talk about Karim Benzema. The French player added one more milestone to his tally with his hat-trick, becoming only the second player after Cristiano Ronaldo to score hat-tricks in consecutive knockout stage matches.
Robertson gives brilliant response after Benfica fans throw missiles at Liverpool players in 3-1 UCL win
Tuesday saw the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals kick off, and while most were fixated on Manchester City's showdown with Atletico Madrid at the Etihad Stadium, Liverpool played out a thrilling first-leg encounter with Portuguese giants Benfica.
The Merseyside heavyweights made the trip to the Estádio da Luz, a ground with one of the most intense atmospheres in Europe, and it showed!
The visitors marched into a convincing lead early on, with Konate and Mane netting in the first half to all but win the game for Klopp's men. However, Darwin Nunez, who had been impressive all game, pulled one back for the hosts courtesy of a Konate error, thus handing the Eagles hope of a comeback.
However, Luis Diaz, a familiar foe from his time with bitter rivals Porto, killed off the match with only three minutes left in normal time, rounding the opposition keeper and slotting the ball into an empty net to secure a 3-1 victory. Given the Colombian's previous allegiance, the Benfica crowd were not happy to see him score, with one supporter going viral after throwing a stick at the Liverpool players as they celebrated.
However, the January signing wasn't the only Anfield man to get pelted by the Estádio da Luz crowd. Andy Robertson also saw objects hurled at his direction while taking a late corner kick, with the Scottish superstar later admitting that he was targeted with a lighter or two.
Fortunately, none of the objects hurled at the Reds aces hit anyone, and while Robertson highlighted the dangers of fans launching missiles at players, the Liverpool left-back also highlighted the silver lining in yesterday's occurrence with a brilliant joke.
"They weren't best pleased, were they!" Andy told BT Sport after the game.
"Quite a few lighters thrown at me, maybe it will help them stop smoking – so we'll take the positives!"
Report: Manchester United close to finalizing the appointment of Erik ten Hag
Manchester United are set to finalize Erik ten Hag's appointment as the club's next manager, multiple reports from the UK have confirmed. The 52-year-old Ajax manager has emerged as the favored candidate to take over the reins at Old Trafford as the club looks to make a decision about their new coach in the coming weeks.
Ten Hag was interviewed by the Red Devils last month, having been shortlisted alongside Paris Saint-Germain's Mauricio Pochettino, Spain national team coach Luis Enrique and Sevilla's Julen Lopetegui as the ideal candidates for the role. The list was subsequently narrowed down to the Ajax manager and Pochettino when it became apparent that both Lopetegui and Enrique were committed to their respective sides and, as a result, were unavailable for the vacant post.
Rumors that emerged at the time stated that Ten Hag had won over the United authorities after impressing in his interview. On Wednesday, the BBC reported that the he had become the obvious choice for the 20-time league winners as they believe he will fit into their new structure where John Murtough serves as the football director, with Darren Fletcher being the technical director and Ralf Rangnick occupying an advisory role.
With Ajax currently fighting for the Dutch title with PSV Eindhoven, it is unlikely that an official announcement will be made soon. As a result, officials of United have issued a response to the speculation of Ten Hag's imminent arrival, citing that it will be premature to state that the search for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's replacement is over.
Ajax is said to be excepting of a formal offer from Man Utd to pay the $2.2M (£1.7M) compensation required to release Ten Hag from his contract. Should the appointment be made official, he will become the fifth manager of Manchester United since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.
Other key headlines from the world of football
Maradona's iconic shirt set to go up in multi-million dollar auction
Back in 1986, Argentina and England locked horns in the World Cup, with a spot in the semifinals at stake. Given that the two sides had been involved in the Falklands War only four years before, there were still some geo-political tensions simmering under the surface by the two sides took to the pitch, with La Albiceleste going on to win 2-1 in controversial manner.
The first was a goal that has now been described as "the hand of God" thanks to a quip made by Maradona after the match, where he noted that it'd been scored by "a little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God". Of course, it was a handball, but was allowed to stand despite the English players' protests as the ref couldn't see it - and VAR was decades away from becoming a reality.
And now, nearly 36 years after that iconic match, his kit will be going on sale. London-based auction house Sotheby's is set to display it from April 20th to May 4th after getting it from the National Football Museum in Manchester, where it's been on loan for the past 20 years. Maradona had given it to midfielder Steve Hodge before it ended up at the museum. The kit is expected to fetch millions, with some putting an estimated price as $5.25 million (£4 million).
LEAKED: Barcelona's offer to sign Robert Lewandowski revealed
According to a report by Spanish television show El Chiringuito, Los Culés are ready to offer Robert Lewandowski the kind of contract Bayern München have not been able to hand him. Nevertheless, the alleged wage set to be offered by Los Blaugranas raises a few doubts about the team's chances of signing the Polish striker.
The television show stated that Los Culés' offer to sign Lewandowski is a three-year deal, far longer than the one-year deal offered to the striker by Bayern. Nevertheless, the wages Barcelona are ready to pay Lewandowski add up to eight million euros (around $8.6M), which represents only half of his current paycheck with the Bavarian side.
Huge blow: Arsenal star ruled out for the rest of the season after embarrassing Palace defeat
Things have gone from bad to worse for Arsenal. Not too long after losing 3-0 away to Crystal Palace in the Premier League, the Gunners have confirmed a serious injury to one key player that could keep him out for the rest of the season.
That man is none other than Kieran Tierney, the Scottish star who has established himself as one of the key members of Arteta's improving defense. The left-back, who had joined up with his national team during the recent international break, was absent from Monday's trip to Selhurst Park, with the manager revealing that this was due to a worrisome knee concern.
Unfortunately, Arsenal confirmed that his season is likely over. The north London giants announced in an official statement that the former Celtic ace will undergo surgery after seeing a specialist after damaging his left knee. According to Charles Watts of Goal, the club are hopeful their left-back will recover in time for the upcoming pre-season in July, meaning the odds of him playing again this term are close to zero.