WCR Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 23/24 May 2009

As we head to the end of the season in most of Europe and some of the Western Hemisphere, the weekend television schedule becomes a little off-kilter. A primary reason for this is that, to avoid “cheating” and to keep things “fair,” many leagues have all of their matches played at the exact same time during the final week or two of the season. As you can imagine, this is fun for those matches that are determinative of championships or relegation spots, but it does make a strange television schedule as most matches are shown on a delayed basis, often where you already are aware of the score because it had been broadcast in the match broadcast live. If you can get past that, however, there is a lot of football worth watching this weekend.

Saturday’s schedule will be very light, because Italy and England, which constitutes most of FSC’s schedule, both play on Sunday only this week. The most excitement, however, should be on Saturday morning, when GolTV will simulcast both the Wolfsburg/Werder Bremen match and the VfB Stuttgart/Bayern Munich match, which accounts for three of the WCR Top 25 Clubs between them. Since this is the final weekend of the Bundesliga season, it’s for all the marbles. Bayern could finish first, second, third or fourth (and miss the Champions League completely next season). If you watch no other football this weekend, this is what you should watch. If you have additional time, however, France and Spain also have their penultimate weekend matches on Saturday.

On Sunday, there will be lots of English and Italian action, including six Premiership matches (one live, five taped) on Setanta USA. Though there is much less excitement in these leagues at the top of the table, the big interest will be in seeing whether Newcastle United can stave off relegation with an unlikely victory at Aston Villa and a little bit of luck. Being a Magpie supporter, I’m cheating a little this week and putting that match in my list of Top 5 Matches of the weekend. The rest of the action is listed below. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend

1. VfB Stuttgart at Bayern Munich (Saturday, 11:30 am (EST) (Delayed), GolTV)
2. Sao Paolo at Palmeiras (Sunday, 3:00 pm, Not Televised)
3. Werder Bremen at Wolfsburg (Saturday, 11:30 am (Delayed), GolTV)
4. Roma at AC Milan (Sunday, 9:00 am, FSC)
5. Newcastle United at Aston Villa (Sunday, 11:00 am, Setanta USA)

Saturday, May 23, 2009

11:30 am – Werder Bremen at (8) Wolfsburg (Delayed) (GolTV)
11:30 am – (21) VfB Stuttgart at (14) Bayern Munich (Delayed) (GolTV)
3:00 pm – Osasuna at (2) Barcelona (GolTV)
3:00 pm – Monaco at (12) Bordeaux (Setanta USA)
5:00 pm – Valencia at Villarreal (Delayed) (GolTV)
5:00 pm – (17) Marseille at Nancy Lorraine (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
6:00 pm – Puebla at UNAM Pumas (Telemundo)
7:15 pm – Deportivo Cali at Junior Barranquilla (GolTV)
8:30 pm – Chivas USA at Kansas City Wizards (FSC)
9:10 pm – Envigado at Cucuta Deportivo (GolTV)

Sunday, May 24, 2009

4:15 am – Lokomotive Moscow at Rubin Kazan (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
6:00 am – Zenit St. Petersburg at Dinamo Moscow (Setanta USA)
9:00 am – Roma at (10) AC Milan (FSC)
9:00 am – (5) Inter Milan at Cagliari (ESPN 360)
9:00 am – (16) Juventus at Siena (ESPN 360)
11:00 am – Newcastle United at Aston Villa (Setanta USA0
11:00 am – (1) Manchester United at Hull City (FSC)
1:00 pm – (3) Chelsea at Sunderland (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
1:00 pm – Middlesbrough at West Ham United (Delayed) (FSC)
2:00 pm – Braga Sporting at (11) Porto (ESPN 360)
2:45 pm – Stoke City at (4) Arsenal (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
3:00 pm – Penarol at Nacional (GolTV)
3:00 pm – Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls (TeleFutura)
4:00 pm – (25) Fiorentina at Lecce (Delayed) (FSC)
4:00 pm – Boca Juniors at Velez Sarsfield (FSE)
4:30 pm – West Bromwich Albion at Blackburn Rovers (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
5:00 pm – Real Mallorca at (9) Real Madrid (Delayed) (GolTV)
6:15 pm – Bolton Wanderers at Manchester City (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
7:00 pm – Santos at Fluminense (Delayed) (GolTV)
7:00 pm – Indios at Pachuca (TeleFutura)
8:00 pm – (23) Everton at Fulham (Delayed) (Setanta USA)

Monday, May 25, 2009

5:00 am – Falkirk at Inverness (Delayed) (Setanta USA)
6:45 am – Hamilton at St. Mirren (Delayed) (Setanta USA)

Non-Televised Matches Involving WCR Top 25 Clubs

Sat., 3:00 pm – Deportivo La Coruna at (18) Sevilla
Sat., 3:00 pm – (22) Atletico de Madrid at Athletic Bilbao
Sat., 5:30 pm – EC Vitoria at (20) Cruzeiro
Sun., 8:00 am – (19) Rangers at Dundee United
Sun., 11:00 am – Tottenham Hotspur at (6) Liverpool
Sun., 11:00 am – Nacional at (24) Sporting CP
Sun., 3:00 pm – (7) Sao Paolo at Palmeiras
Sun., 3:00 pm – Botafogo at (13) Gremio