WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Sofia Edition

Sorry for the little bit of a delay this week as I have no internet access at my hotel here in Sophia, so I’m using free wifi in the park near the stadium and in the railway station as opportunities allow. If you are familiar with last week’s rankings, however, you are pretty familiar with this week’s as well.

As we’ve discussed this week, there were a lot of big matches in the past week. Schalke 04 moved to the top of the German Bundesliga after beating Bayer Leverkusen. In Italy, Roma moved within a whisper of Inter Milan by defeating the black and blue giants from the north. Benfica followed its defeat of Porto with a defeat of Sporting Braga to take firm control of the Liga Sagres. Finally, Marseille defeated Bordeaux this weekend to take home the Coupe de la Ligue.

There’s more huge action coming up this week, as well. Of course, there’s the Champions League and Europa League matches, but I don’t need to tell you about those. Interestingly, however, the Manchester United – Bayern Munich match features clubs that also will be battling over the weekend in extremely important domestic matches. On Saturday, Manchester United will be hosting second-place Chelsea as the top two clubs in England face-off. In Germany, there will also be a battle between the top two clubs on Saturday when Schalke 04 hosts Bayern Munich.

Those are just the highlights. There’s lots of other stuff to discuss as well. Let’s get to it.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – March 29, 2010

1. Manchester United (Eng) (1) – The Red Devils maintained their spot atop the Premier League with a 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. Coming Up: At Allianz Arena, United will start its CL quarterfinal matchup with Bayern Munich on Tuesday. On Saturday, Manyoo will welcome (in a sense) Chelsea to Old Trafford in a match that may decide the Premiership.

2. Inter Milan (Ita) (2) – Internazionale won its first Serie A match of the week, defeating Livorno 3-0. It didn’t fare as well in its second, losing 1-2 to Roma, and having its lead in Serie A cut to a single point. Coming Up: Inter Milan will host CSKA Moscow at the San Siro in the first leg Champions League matchup between the two clubs. Domestically, Inter will host Bologna at the same stadium on Saturday.

3. Barcelona (Esp) (3) – Barça won two Primera Division matches this week, following up a 2-0 victory over Osasuna with a 1-0 defeat of Mallorca. Coming Up: Barcelona will head to Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal in the first leg of those clubs’ Champions League battle. On Sunday, Barcelona will take on Athletic Bilbao in league play.

4. Bordeaux (Fra) (5) – Bordeaux moves up a notch despite losing the Coupe de la Ligue title in a 1-3 loss to Marseille. Coming Up: On Tuesday, Bordeaux will head east to take on Lyon in a Champions League quarterfinal match. In Ligue Un action, Bordeaux will host Nancy Lorraine on Saturday.

5. Arsenal (Eng) (6) – The Gunners shot themselves in their collective foot this weekend by dropping two points in a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City. Coming Up: Arsenal will welcome (again, in a sense) Thierry Henry back to Emirates Stadium when Barcelona comes to visit for a Wednesday Champions League match. In the Premiership, Arsenal will host Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

6. Bayern Munich (Ger) (4) – It took extra time for Bayern Munich to defeat Schalke 04 1-0 in the DFB Pokal match between the two clubs. It only took ninety minutes for Bayern to fall 1-2 to Stuttgart and drop to second place in the German Bundesliga. Coming Up: This will be a huge week for the Bavarian club, who hosts the top club in the world, Manchester United, in a Tuesday Champions League match and then hits the road to take on Bundesliga leaders Schalke 04 on Saturday.

7. Real Madrid (Esp) (7) – Real Madrid maintained its spot atop the Spanish Primera Division with back-to-back victories this week, 4-2 over Getafe and 3-2 over inter-city rivals Atletico Madrid. Coming Up: There’s nothing going on for Real Madrid until Sunday when it will face Racing Santander in domestic play.

8. Chelsea (Eng) (8) – Chelsea went a long way in winning, if nothing else, the battle for goal differential in England by defeating Portsmouth 5-0 and thrashing Aston Villa 7-1 in two Premiership matches this week. Coming Up: Only one match for Chelsea this week, but oh what a match it is. On Saturday, Chelsea will be at Old Trafford to take on top-ranked Premeirship leaders Manchester United. (Anybody know a bar in Budapest where I can watch it?)

9. Benfica (Por) (9) – Benfica defeated second-place Sporting Braga 1-0 to gain complete control of the Liga Sagres race. Coming Up: In the marquee matchup of the Europa League quarterfinals, Benfica will host Liverpool in the first leg of the clubs’ matchup on Thursday. Domestically, Benfica will be off until next Monday when it takes on Nacional.

10. Schalke 04 (Ger) (14) – Schalke was eliminated from the DFB Pokal this week in a 0-1 extra time loss to Bayern Munich. It scored a little revenge, however, when it defeated Bayern Leverkusen 2-0 to pass Bayern into the top spot in the German Bundesliga. Coming Up: The work is not done for Schalke, however, as now it must at least draw at home against Bayern Munich on Saturday to maintain its Bundesliga lead.

11. Roma (Ita) (16) – Nice week for a hot Roma club, who defeated Bologna 2-0 and surprised Serie A leaders Inter Milan 2-1 to move into a close second place in the top Italian league. Coming Up: Roma will head to the east coast for a Saturday match against Bari.

12. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (11) – In its FA Cup quarterfinal replay, Tottenham defeated Fulham 3-1 to advance. In league play, the Spurs defeated Portsmouth 2-0 to maintain its hold on the final English Champions League spot. Coming Up: To keep up its hopes for that final spot, the Spurs will have to defeat Sunderland in an away match on Saturday.

13. Rubin Kazan (Rus) (12) – In a match I got to watch on Russian television in Sophia, Rubin Kazan drew 0-0 with Terek Grozny in a Russian Premier League match. Coming Up: On Sunday, Rubin Kazan has an away match against Saturn. I’m pretty sure that means they’re playing in Moscow, not on another planet.

14. Valencia (Esp) (13) – Far out of the battle for the Primera Division title, third-place Valencia defeated Malaga 1-0 at midweek, but was humiliated by Real Zaragoza this weekend in a 0-3 match. Coming Up: On Thursday, Valencia welcomes (I should stop using that word) Atletico Madrid to eastern Spain for the first leg of the clubs’ Europa League matchup. Domestically . . . well, I suppose the Europa League match is domestic, but you should know what I mean by now . . . Valencia will take on Osasuna on Sunday.

15. AC Milan (Ita) (10) – With multiple opportunities to take over the lead in Serie A, Milan failed time and again; first, losing 0-1 to Parma at midweek and then drawing 1-1 with lowly Lazio at the San Siro. Coming Up: Milan’s next opportunity to move up in Serie A, where it now has dropped to third place, will be Saturday in Cagliari.

16. Ajax (Ned) (17) – Traditional Dutch powerhouse Ajax moved into the finals of the KNVB Beker with a 6-0 thrashing of Go Ahead Eagles at midweek. In Eredivisie action, Ajax defeated Groningen 3-0. Coming Up: On Sunday, Ajax will visit the Hague to take on ADO.

17. Rangers (Sco) (18) – For what it’s worth, Rangers lost 0-1 to Dundee United in a midweek Scottish Cup match. In the SPL, Rangers bounced back to beat Heart of Midlothian 4-1. Coming Up: Since Scottish clubs don’t play in Europe this time of the year, the SPL can have two matchdays this week. Rangers will face St. Johnstone on Tuesday and Hamilton Academicals on Saturday.

18. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (18) – After not losing a single match for most of the season, Leverkusen is making a habit out of it, falling 0-2 to new Bundesliga leaders Schalke 04 this weekend. Coming Up: As it tries to salvage its season, Leverkusen will take on Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

19. Marseille (Fra) (BU) – Although the match had little to do with the rankings, Marseille shoots into the WCR Top 25 following a 3-1 victory over Bordeaux to win the Coupe de la Ligue. Coming Up: Marseille will return to Ligue Un action this weekend by hosting Lens on Sunday.

20. Porto (Por) (25) – Nice little jump up for Porto after a nice little week. At midweek, Porto defeated Rio Ave 3-1 in a Taça de Portugal match. In the Liga Sagres, Porto defeated Os Belenenses 3-0 this weekend. Coming Up: Porto is off until Saturday when it will host Maritimo in a Liga Sagres match.

21. Manchester City (Eng) (19) – City’s Champions League aspirations took a little hit this week. Despite winning 2-1 against Fulham earlier in the week, Manchester City’s steam declined when it lost at home to Everton by a 0-2 score. Coming Up: Still catching up in its Premier League matches, City will play twice this week, first at home against Wigan Athletic and this weekend against Burnley.

22. São Paulo (Bra) (22) – São Paulo played two Paulista League matches this week and lost them both. Fortunately for the club from the capital, Paulista League matches don’t factor into the rankings. For the sake of expanding your knowledge, however, I’ll tell you that it lost 0-1 to Bragatino and fell 3-4 to Corinthians. Coming Up: What does matter to the rankings is the Copa Libertadores. On Thursday, São Paulo will be in Mexico to take on a very good Monterrey club. Back in the Paulista League, São Paulo will host Botafogo on Sunday.

23. Lyon (Fra) (23) – Despite a 2-0 victory over Grenoble this weekend, Lyon still finds itself mired in sixth place in Ligue Un. Coming Up: On Tuesday, Lyon hosts fellow French club Bordeaux for a Champions League quarterfinal match. On Saturday, Lyon returns to league action against Stade Rennes.

24. Twente (Ned) (BU) – The Eredivisie League leaders return to the rankings despite being eliminated from the KNVB Beker in a 1-2 loss to Feyenoord. In league play, however, Twente fared better by defeating Sparta Rotterdam 3-0. Coming Up: Twente returns to play on Saturday against VVV Venlo. No, I wasn’t stuttering.

25. Mallorca (Esp) (24) – Despite bad results this week, Mallorca remains in fourth place in La Liga’s Primera Division and in our rankings. At midweek, Mallorca played Racing Santander to a scoreless draw. This weekend, Mallorca played admirably, but lost at home 0-1 to Barcelona. Coming Up: Mallorca’s next match will be Sunday against Almeria.

Bubbling Under: Internacional (Bra), Liverpool (Eng), Panathinaikos (Gre), Sporting Braga (Por), Velez Sarsfield (Arg).

Next Five: Auxerre (Fra), CSKA Moscow (Rus), Flamengo (Bra), Independiente (Arg), Peñarol (Uru).

Matches This Week Between WCR Top 25 Clubs:

30 March – (1) Manchester United at (6) Bayern Munich

30 March – (4) Bordeaux at (23) Lyon

31 March – (3) Barcelona at (5) Arsenal

3 April – (8) Chelsea at (1) Manchester United

3 April – (6) Bayern Munich at (10) Schalke 04

Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 27/28 March 2010

This weekend promises to be a great on for international club football. There are four matches involving clubs in the current WCR Top 25, from four different nations, and a fifth from a fifth nation involving Top 35 clubs.

And where can you watch those four matches involving ranked clubs. Well, in the United States, they’re all on, sort of. You may need a computer for a few on ESPN 360, or need to understand Spanish for those on ESPN Deportes, or pay $15/month for the biggest match of the weekend on Fox Soccer Plus. But they’re all out there, trust me.

The biggest match may be the battle between the top two clubs in the Liga Sagres, where Benfica hosts Sporting Braga. Also, it could be the match between the two clubs battling for second place in the German Bundesliga as Bayer Leverkusen hosts Schalke 04. For our money, though, we are heading to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where AS Roma hosts Serie A leaders Inter Milan.

If you can get any of the top matches, all on Saturday by the way, you should have a great weekend!!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. Inter Milan at Roma (Saturday, 1:00 pm (EDT), FSP)

2. Sporting Braga at Benfica (Saturday, 4:15 pm, ESPN 360)

3. Schalke 04 at Bayer Leverkusen (Saturday, 1:30 pm, ESPN 360)

4. Barcelona at Mallorca (Saturday, 3:00 pm, ESPND, ESPN 360)

5. Aston Villa at Chelsea (Saturday, 10:45 pm, ESPN Classic)

Friday, March 26, 2010

2:30 pm – Eintracht Frankfurt at VfL Bochum (GolTV)

10:00 pm – Cruz Azul at UAG Tecos (Galavision)

Saturday, March 27, 2010

10:30 am – VfB Stuttgart at (4) Bayern Munich (GolTV)

10:45 am – Aston Villa at (8) Chelsea (ESPNC)

11:00 am – Portsmouth at (11) Tottenham (FSC, FSE)

11:00 am – (6) Arsenal at Birmingham City (FSP)

1:00 pm – (2) Inter Milan at (16) Roma (FSP)

1:30 pm – (1) Manchester United at Bolton Wanderers (FSC, FSE)

1:30 pm – (14) Schalke 04 at (15) Bayer Leverkusen (ESPN 360)

3:00 pm – Mirassol at Palmeiras (GolTV)

3:00 pm – (3) Barcelona at (24) Mallorca (ESPND, ESPN 360)

3:30 pm – Bologna at Palermo (FSC, ESPN 360)

4:00 pm – Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas (TeleFutura)

4:15 pm – (21) Sporting Braga at (9) Benfica (ESPN 360)

5:00 pm – Everton at Wolverhampton Wanderers (Delayed) (FSP)

5:00 pm – (13) Valencia at Real Zaragoza (ESPND, ESPN 360)

6:00 pm – Fulham at Hull City (Delayed) (FSC)

7:00 pm – Stoke City at West Ham United (Delayed) (FSP)

7:00 pm – Monterrey at Jaguares (FSE)

7:00 pm – Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls (ESPN, ESPND, ESPN 360)

7:00 pm – Atlas at Queretaro (Galavision)

7:15 pm – Real Cartagena at Pereira (GolTV)

9:00 pm – Real Salt Lake at San Jose Earthquakes (FSC, FSE)

9:00 pm – Morelia at Pachuca (TeleFutura)

9:00 pm – Santos Laguna at Chivas de Guadalajara (Telemundo)

9:30 pm – Chico at Deportivo Cali (GolTV)

11:00 pm – New England Revolution at Los Angeles Galaxy (FSC, FSE)

11:00 pm – Indios at Atlante (Delayed) (Telemundo)

Sunday, March 28, 2010

7:00 am – Blackburn Rovers at Burnley (FSP)

8:30 am – PSV Eindhoven at VVV Venlo (ESPND, ESPN 360)

9:00 am – Atalanta at Juventus (FSC, FSE, ESPN 360)

9:00 am – Catania at Napoli (ESPN 360)

9:00 am – Cagliari at Sampdoria (ESPN 360)

11:00 am – Getafe at Deportivo La Coruña (GolTV)

11:00 am – Sunderland at Liverpool (FSC, FSE)

11:00 am – Real Valladolid at Deportivo Xerez (ESPND, ESPN 360)

11:30 am – Hamburger SV at Borussia Monchengladbach (ESPN 360)

1:00 pm – Sevilla at Villarreal (GolTV)

2:00 pm – San Luis at UNAM Pumas (Telemundo)

2:30 pm – Lazio at (10) AC Milan (FSC, FSE)

3:00 pm – Atletico de Madrid at (7) Real Madrid (GolTV)

5:00 pm – (22) Sao Paolo at Corinthians (GolTV)

7:00 pm – Independiente at Colon (Delayed) (FSE)

7:00 pm – Club America at Puebla (ESPND, Azteca)

Monday, March 29, 2010

2:45 pm – Wigan Athletic at (19) Manchester City (ESPN2)

Non-Televised Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs:

Sat., 8:30 am – (18) Rangers at Hearts

Sat., 12 noon – Grenoble at (23) Lyon

Sat., 3:50 pm – (5) Bordeaux vs Marseille

Sun., 8:30 am – Terek Grozny at (12) Rubin Kazan

Sun., 8:30 am – Groningen at (17) Ajax

Sun., 3:00 pm – (20) Montpellier at Lille

Sun., 3:15 pm – (25) Porto at Os Belenenses

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Athens Edition

I’ve been waiting for this week in the rankings for months!!! This is when it gets exciting again. Why? As the season goes on and clubs move up and down the domestic tables with less frequency, the rankings tend to get stagnant and you see the same clubs in the same spots week-after-week. After the end of the first knockout stage of the Champions League, however, two things happen.

First, league ratings are adjusted to reflect the latest results. This year, this means that France and Germany switched places at 4^th and 5^th and Russia and Greece switched places at 9^th and 11^th. This is great news for French and Russian clubs in the rankings and, obviously, not so great for German and Greek clubs.

Second, this is the week we introduce the Moderate Bonus Points into the equations. We have been describing these for years, and a good description can be found here. Basically, though, the final eight clubs in the UEFA Champions League and CONCACAF Champions League, as well as the eight group leaders in the Copa Libertadores all start receiving bonus points at this point, which are reflected in the rankings.

The net sum is that we’re all shook up in the rankings and this is why I’ve been waiting for it with great anticipation. So, let’s see how the changes affected the rankings.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – March 22, 2010

1. Manchester United (Eng) (3) – The Red Devils returns to the top spot after a second significant week. Last week, Manchester United advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals and this week, with a 2-1 victory over archrival Liverpool and a little help, Manyoo returns to the top of the Premiership. Coming Up: It’ll be a light week this week for United, who will take on Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

2. Inter Milan (Ita) (4) – Jose Mourinho and the boys finished the job against Chelsea with a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals. Domestically, things were much more dicey as Inter managed only a 1-1 draw against Palermo in Sicily. Coming Up: There are two Serie A Matchdays this week. Inter will host Livorno on Wednesday to start off the week and then will take action in a huge match at Stadio Olimpico against Roma on Saturday.

3. Barcelona (Esp) (5) – Barça defeated VfB Stuttgart 4-0 in its Champions League match to avoid the same embarrassment experienced by Real Madrid and to advance. Domestically, second-place Barcelona kept pace with the leaders with a 4-2 victory over Real Zaragoza as Lionel Messi netted another hat trick Coming Up: As in Italy, there are two matchdays this week in Spain. Barcelona will host Osasuna on Wednesday before taking on fourth-place Mallorca in an away match on Sunday.

4. Bayern Munich (Ger) (6) – Bayern keeps trying to give away the top spot in the Bundesliga, losing 1-2 to Eintracht Frankfurt this weekend. Coming Up: In what should be a fun match, the top two clubs in the Bundesliga will take each other on when Bayern faces Schalke 04 in Wednesday’s DFB Pokal semifinal. In league action, Bayern will host VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

5. Bordeaux (Fra) (10) – Bordeaux defeated Olympiakos 2-1 this week to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Domestically, Bordeaux maintained its lead in Ligue Un with a 3-1 victory over Lille. Coming Up: This weekend, Bordeaux will take on Marseille in the final of the French League Cup.

6. Arsenal (Eng) (8) – Arsenal kept pace with new leaders Manchester United and in the hunt for the Premiership title with a 2-0 win over West Ham United. Coming Up: On Saturday, Arsenal will take on Birmingham City.

7. Real Madrid (Esp) (2) – Despite its Champions League failures, Real Madrid remains in first place in the Primera Division following a 3-1 defeat of Sporting Gijon. On Thursday, Real Madrid will take on Getafe. Even bigger, the Madrid Derby takes place on Sunday when Real hosts Atletico.

8. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – Wow, did this week suck for the Blues. It started with a home loss to Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan, 0-1, to be eliminated from the Champions League. Chelsea followed that up with a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers to be removed from the top spot in the Premier League. All that culminates in a massive tumble down the WCR charts. Coming Up: Chelsea will start this week with a Premier League match against Portsmouth on Wednesday and finish it with another one on Saturday against Aston Villa.

9. Benfica (Por) (7) – In a magnificent match, Benfica scored a 2-1 victory in Marseille to move into the Europa League quarterfinals. In Portugal, Benfica played even better to defeat Porto 3-0 for the League Cup title. Coming Up: On Saturday, the top two clubs in the Liga Sagres will face off when Benfica hosts Sporting Braga.

10. AC Milan (Ita) (9) – Milan blew an enormous opportunity to move atop the Serie A table by drawing 1-1 with Napoli on Sunday. Coming Up: On Wednesday, Milan will play a Serie A match in Parma. This weekend, while one Milanese club will be playing in Rome, the other Milanese club, AC Milan, will be hosting a Roman club, Lazio at the San Siro.

11. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (13) – The Spurs are looking more like a Champions League spot contender after a 2-1 away victory against Stoke City. Coming Up: On Wednesday, Tottenham welcomes Fulham to White Hart Lane in an FA Cup replay. Saturday, the Spurs will host Portsmouth in a Premier League match.

12. Rubin Kazan (Rus) (19) – Rubin jumps up the rankings due to the improved coefficient of the Russian Premier League and not by virtue of its 1-2 extra time loss to Wolfsburg that eliminated the Russian club from the Europa League. Coming Up: Later today, Rubin Kazan will play Tom Tomsk in a Russian league match. Another league match is on the schedule against Terek Grozny on Sunday.

13. Valencia (Esp) (14) – A 4-4 draw against Werder Bremen was enough to push Valencia through to the Europa League quarterfinals. Domestically, Valencia strengthened its position as third-best club in Spain with a 2-0 victory over Almeria. Coming Up: On Wednesday, Valencia will host Malaga in a Primera Division match. Another division match for Valencia takes place on Sunday against Real Zaragoza.

14. Schalke 04 (Ger) (11) – Like all other top German clubs this weekend, Schalke stumbled with a 2-2 draw against Hamburger SV. Coming Up: This will be a big week for Schalke, who takes on Bayern Munich on Wednesday in a DFB Pokal semifinal and then will take on Bayer Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match on Saturday.

15. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (12) – After going so long without losing, Leverkusen did it again, falling 0-3 to Borussia Dortmund. Coming Up: Like I just said above, Leverkusen will be hosting Schalke on Saturday. Why don’t you ever listen to me?

16. Roma (Ita) (16) – Doing what the clubs from Milan couldn’t do this weekend, Roma actually won a match, defeating Udinense 4-2. Coming Up: Roma’s two Serie A matches this week will be against Bologna on Wednesday and a home match against Inter Milan on Saturday.

17. Ajax (Ned) (25) – With a 5-1 butt-whooping of RKC Waalwijk and a little help, Ajax moved into second place in the Eredivisie this weekend. Coming Up: In a KNVB Beker match on Thursday, Ajax will take on Go Ahead Eagles. In the Eredivisie, Ajax will host FC Groningen on Sunday.

18. Rangers (Sco) (17) – Winning its first piece of silverware this weekend, Rangers defeated St. Mirren 1-0 for the League Cup. Coming Up: Another cup match, the Scottish Cup, is on the agenda for Rangers on Wednesday against Dundee United. In a return to SPL action, Rangers takes on Heart of Midlothian on Saturday.

19. Manchester City (Eng) (18) – Manchester City defeated Fulham 2-1 on Sunday to stay close to Tottenham for the final English Champions League spot. Coming Up: Man City will host up-and-coming Everton on Wednesday in a Premier League match. Its next match will be next Monday against Wigan Athletic.

20. Montpellier (Fra) (NF) – Montpellier remains second in Ligue Un following a 2-1 victory over Valenciennes. Coming Up: Next Sunday will be a tougher matchup for Montpellier who must go to Lille for its next Ligue Un match.

21. Sporting Braga (Por) (20) – No recent matches. Coming Up: Braga will return to action on Saturday in one of its biggest matches of the season as it heads to Lisbon to take on Benfica.

22. São Paolo (Bra) (NR) – The one South American club that enters the rankings by virtue of bonus points is São Paolo, who defeated Paraguay’s Nacional 3-0 to stay on top of its Copa Libertadores group. This weekend, it defeated Mogi Mirim 3-1 in its Paulista League match. Coming Up: São Paolo plays in two Paulista League matches this week, against Bragantino on Thursday and Corinthians on Sunday.

23. Lyon (Fra) (NR) – A 1-1 draw with Real Madrid was enough to move Lyon into the quarterfinals of the Champions League and the bonus points were enough to move the sixth-place club in Ligue Un into the rankings. What didn’t help was losing 1-2 to Marseille this weekend. Coming Up: Lyon returns to action on Friday against Grenoble.

24. Mallorca (Esp) (NF) – It’s Mallorca’s turn to move back into fourth place in the Primera Division with a 4-1 defeat of Atletico Madrid. Coming Up: Mallorca has high hopes against Racing Santander on Wednesday. It may have nothing but hopes when it hosts Barcelona on Sunday.

25. Porto (Por) (21) – Porto squeaks into the rankings following a 0-3 loss to Benfica in the Portuguese League Cup final. Coming Up: Porto returns to action in Taça de Portugal match on Wednesday. In Liga Sagres play, Porto takes on Os Belenenses on Sunday.

Bubbling Under: Independiente (Arg), Internacional (Bra), Marseille (Fra), Twente (Ned), Velez Sarsfield (Arg).

Next Five: Aston Villa (Eng), Flamengo (Bra), Nacional (Uru), Panathinaikos (Gre), Peñarol (Uru).

Matches This Week Between WCR Top 25 Clubs:

24 March – (4) Bayern Munich at (14) Schalke 04

27 March – (2) Inter Milan at (16) Roma

27 March – (21) Sporting Braga at (9) Benfica

27 March – (14) Schalke 04 at (15) Bayern Leverkusen

28 March – (3) Barcelona at (24) Mallorca

Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 20/21 March 2010

This weekend, I’m still in Europe, Athens to be exact, and I am very, very glad. Why am I so glad? Because I like football and we can watch it here. This is one of the suckiest weekends of world football on American television, but it’s not because there are great matches being played this weekend. Let’s look at the big matchups.

There are two matches this weekend between WCR Top 25 Clubs. In the Eredivisie, PSV Eindhoven will be hosting FC Twente in a battle of the top two Dutch clubs. Will you be watching it? Si tú hablas castellano. It’ll be broadcast, delayed of course, on ESPN Deportes this weekend. It’ll be live on ESPN 360, but it’ll be just as Spanish. Be glad, however. The other match between ranked opponents is between Benfica and Porto in the Portuguese League Cup final and you won’t be able to watch that on television no matter what language you speak.

There are other good matches this weekend, though. Is that what you’re saying? It’s true that the superclasico is this weekend between River Plate and Boca Juniors. With television rights and two English-language networks, Fox can’t work it into the live schedule. It will be live on FSE. ¡Disfruta! How about Bordeaux and Lille? French football on American television after the demise of Setanta USA? Don’t be foolish. While we’re on the subject, you can forget Panathinaikos-Olympiakos too, because there is no Greek football on American television under any circumstances or on any network.

Bollocks, you say? (You know you did, I heard you.) You just care about Manchester United and Liverpool anyway. You can watch that, right? Sure. That’ll be $15 please, because it’ll be on Fox’s pay-network, FSP.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how to access live feeds on your computer for matches you can’t watch on television. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. Benfica vs. Porto (Sunday, 3:15 pm (EDT), Not Televised)

2. Twente at PSV Eindhoven (Saturday, 2:45 pm, ESPN 360)

3. Liverpool at Manchester United (Sunday, 9:30 am, FSP)

4. River Plate at Boca Juniors (Sunday, 2:00 pm, FSE)

5. Manchester City at Fulham (Sunday, 11:30 am (delayed), FSP)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

3:00 am – Melbourne Victory vs. Sydney FC (FSC)

8:30 am – Wolverhampton Wanderers at Aston Villa (ESPN2)

10:30 am – (6) Bayern Munich at Eintracht Frankfurt (ESPND, ESPN 360)

11:00 am – Bolton Wanderers at Everton (FSC, FSE)

11:00 am – (13) Tottenham Hotspur at Stoke City (FSP)

1:00 pm – Genoa at Fiorentina (FSP, ESPN 360)

1:00 pm – Real Valladolid at Deportivo La Coruña (ESPND, ESPN 360)

1:30 pm – (12) Bayer Leverkusen at Borussia Dortmund (GolTV)

1:30 pm – West Ham United at (8) Arsenal (FSC, FSE)

2:45 pm – (22) Twente at (23) PSV Eindhoven (ESPN 360)

3:00 pm – Sporting Gijon at (2) Real Madrid (ESPND, ESPN 360)

3:45 pm – (4) Inter Milan at Palermo (FSC, FSE)

3:45 pm – Udinense at (16) Roma (ESPN 360)

4:00 pm – Ponte Preta at Palmeiras (GolTV)

5:00 pm – Birmingham City at Sunderland (Delayed) (FSP)

5:00 pm – (24) Sevilla at Espanyol (ESPND, ESPN 360)

6:30 pm – Santos at new York Red Bulls (FSC)

7:00 pm – Burnley at Wigan Athletic (Delayed) (FSP)

7:00 pm – Tigres at Cruz Azul (Azteca)

7:00 pm – Chivas de Guadalajara at Monterrey (Telemundo)

7:15 pm – Millonarios at Santa Fe (GolTV)

8:30 pm – Hull City at Portsmouth (Delayed) (FSC)

9:00 pm – Atlante at Morelia (ESPND, Azteca)

9:00 pm – Toluca at San Luis (TeleFutura)

9:30 pm – Real Cartagena at Junior Barranquilla (GolTV)

10:45 pm – Tecos UAG at Atlas (Telemundo, TeleFutura)

Sunday, March 21, 2010

9:30 am – Liverpool at (3) Manchester United (FSP)

10:00 am – Napoli at (9) AC Milan (FSC, FSE)

10:30 am – (11) Schalke 04 at Hamburger SV (GolTV)

11:30 am – (18) Manchester City at Fulham (Delayed) (FSP)

12 noon – (1) Chelsea at Blackburn Rovers (FSC, FSE)

12:15 pm – Atletico Madrid at Mallorca (GolTV)

12:30 pm – Hertha Berlin at Wolfsburg (ESPND, ESPN 360)

2:00 pm – Almeria at (14) Valencia (GolTV)

2:00 pm – River Plate at Boca Juniors (FSE)

3:00 pm – Jaguares at Pumas UNAM (Telemundo)

3:45 pm – Juventus at Sampdoria (FSC, ESPN 360)

4:00 pm – (5) Barcelona at Real Zaragoza (GolTV)

4:00 pm – Queretaro at Indios (FSE)

7:00 pm – Puebla at Santos Laguna (TeleFutura)

7:30 pm – Pachuca at Club America (Univision)

Non-Televised Matches Between WCR Top 25 Clubs:

Sun., 7:30 am – (25) Ajax at RKC Waalwijk

Sun., 11:00 am – St. Mirren vs. (17) Rangers

Sun., 12 noon – Lille at (10) Bordeaux

Sun., 1:00 pm – Olympiakos at (15) Panathinaikos

Sun., 3:15 pm – (7) Benfica vs. (21) Porto

European Stadium Tour: San Siro

Okay sports fans, it’s time to reintroduce the European Stadium Tour feature to the website now that I have another review to contribute. I still owe you one from the South American Stadium Tour feature for Monumental in Buenos Aires, but that’ll come in a bit. For now, all eyes are on Milan and the San Siro.

As you probably can tell from the title and the pictures, last night I went to the San Siro to see a match between Inter Milan and Genoa. Before I get to the stadium highlights, I want to give a shout out to Soccer Tickets Online. I got my tickets from that site, for a reasonable price, and I told the operator that if all went well, I would add a link to his web page on my site. Obviously, everything went well.

The day before the match, I walked to the San Siro to check it out in the daylight. As far as I can tell, it is about a thirty-minute walk to the nearest metro stop, though there is a tram stop close to the stadium. I have to say that from the outside of the stadium, it was not that impressive except for the massive size of the structure. It definitely isn’t the most attractive stadium from the outside. It’s just a large steel structure with very little surrounding it in the immediate neighborhood. Nevertheless, I have seen a hundred matches from the stadium on television, so I knew that the experience from the inside would be much better.

The experience from the inside was much better. (I told you it would be.) I walked to the stadium again, this time at night because the match had an 8:45 pm start time. As you can imagine, the entire area is inundated with football fans, and I felt safe in the neighborhood both heading there and heading back. Entering the stadium through security and finding the seats was quick and painless, especially considering I don’t speak the language.

I didn’t get anything to eat at the match, though the offerings seemed like pretty routine ballpark fare. I had a coke, but a coke is a coke is a coke. One thing I found interesting is that like some other stadiums I’ve been to in Europe, you couldn’t get beer inside the stadium, though it was abundant outside. You could, however, get liquor. They were selling two items that I could tell to accompany your coke, if you’d like them. One was Borghetti, in little airplane bottles, a coffee liquor that I haven’t tried but looks similar to Kahlua. The other was a clear liquid in an airplane liquor bottle. It looked like vodka, but I didn’t see any beverage other than coke being sold and coke and vodka is pretty damn nasty. (Unfortunately, I speak from experience.) Maybe it was rum? I hope it was clear rum. Anyway, there were some alcohol options.

The crowd was loud and very into the match, especially, of course, the supporters section at the far end. It was a very energetic crowd, as you tend to see in European stadiums, and appeared to be a very knowledgeable crowd. One thing I noticed in the section that I was in was that many of the fans, rather than just shouting occasional expletives at the referee, would go into three- or four-minute diatribes about the referee and his educational background, his mother, his children, his pets and his choice of toothpaste. Or so I imagined; again, I don’t speak the language.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the size of the crowd. It was a Sunday night match, which I would imagine would get a bigger than normal crowd, though I have not looked into whether or not that is actually the case. Inter was taking on Genoa. Though it obviously wouldn’t be as full as an Inter/Juventus match, Genoa isn’t exactly Bari (no offense, Bari). With a quality opponent, I expected the stadium to be more than about 75% full, which is what it appeared to be. Maybe seeing the Wednesday afternoon crow at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires set my sights too high.

The match itself was dramatic, or at least as dramatic as a 0-0 draw can be. Inter Milan clearly was the better club and created several chances that they were unable to take advantage of. Still, they also made a handful of horrible mistakes and gave Genoa too many chances to score. The match could have gone either way and I suppose when either team could have won by a 3-0 score line, a point to each club is the fair result.

That is it for the San Siro. I had a great time and think that every football fan should make a trek to Milan for a match at the stadium. I suppose that as far as football experiences go, I’d rank it behind La Bombonera and Parc des Princes and as far as football cathedrals go, I’d rank it below Allianz Arena, but it definitely scores high marks in both categories and is a five-star experience.

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Rome Edition

Sorry folks, but I’ve fallen victim to the sporadic internet access that has been plaguing me in Italy. A day or so late, but here we go . . .

Well, folks, I’m sure you’re aware of the big news of the week. Real Madrid, in what has become familiar form, has been knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Lyon in the Round of Sixteen. And I’m sure some of you have come here to see how far Real Madrid has dropped in the rankings. And, lo and behold, they’ve stayed put. ¿Que pasa?

As I’ve pointed out several times recently, I don’t factor in the results of two-leg rounds until the round is over. Although it is certainly over for Real Madrid, due to the different scheduling of UEFA this season, we still have another week to go in the round. Real’s failure to advance will definitely be noticeable in next week’s rankings – I promise. This week, however, we are still waiting for the round to end.

Since we are in this mild holding pattern, the rankings – at least at the top – have become fairly stagnant. This week’s top ten is last week’s top ten, though in a slightly different order. In addition to how Real’s loss will affect next week’s rankings, we are all anxious to see how the Chelsea-Inter Milan match plays out and see how that fixture will affect the rankings, as well. One more week of drama before the rankings get all shook up next week.

And why do the rankings get all shook up next week? It’s because of my beloved Bonus Points – or as they are known at this point in the season – Moderate Bonus Points. Those are awarded to the top eight survivors in the UEFA Champions League, Copa Libertadores and CONCACAF Champions League. (Other confederations as well, but they don’t matter at this point because they are on a completely different schedule.) I’ve been writing about these for literally years, and you can read about them and how they are applied in older posts if you click here.

For this final week before the Moderate Bonus Points are awarded, here are the rankings:

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – March 15, 2010

1. Chelsea (Eng) (1) – Chelsea maintains its spot atop the World Club Rankings following a 4-1 thrashing of West Ham United. Coming Up: The Blues have been up here for a while. Whether it stays up here another week depends on large part on the outcome between it and Inter Milan on Tuesday night. Domestically, Chelsea will return to action on Sunday against Blackburn Rovers.

2. Real Madrid (Esp) (2) – Yes, following a 1-1 draw with Olympique Lyon at midweek, Real Madrid has been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League. After this week’s finales, we’ll see how far that causes it to drop. Real did balance that, however, with a 4-1 victory over Real Valladolid to stay atop La Liga’s Primera Division. Coming Up: On Saturday, Real Madrid will host Sporting Gijon.

3. Manchester United (Eng) (4) – With authority, Manchester United eliminated AC Milan from the UEFA Champions League with a 4-0 butt-whoopin’. In Premiership action, Manyoo almost equaled that feat with a 3-0 victory over Fulham. Coming Up: In a big match for both clubs, Manchester United will welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford on Sunday.

4. Inter Milan (Ita) (3) – Inter Milan was upset 1-3 by Catania on Friday to let everybody in Italy just a little closer to the Serie A leaders. Coming Up: All eyes will be on Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to see which one of these monoliths will fall. Domestically, Internazionale is heading to the islands to take on Palermo on Saturday.

5. Barcelona (Esp) (5) – Barça took care of business in a serious fashion as Lionel Messi outscored Valencia 3-0 to keep pace with Real Madrid in La Liga. Coming Up: Barcelona still has a lot of work to do in the Champions League as VfB Stuttgart comes to town with the clubs knotted at one after the first leg. Domestically, Barcelona will take on Real Zaragoza on Sunday.

6. Bayern Munich (Ger) (6) – Bayern may have fell 2-3 at Fiorentina at midweek, but that still was enough to allow Bayern Munich to advance to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. In league play, Bayern defeated Freiburg 2-1 to maintain its narrow lead in the German Bundesliga. Coming Up: Bayern is off until Saturday when it will take on Eintracht Frankfurt.

7. Benfica (Por) (7) – In its Europa League match, Benfica could manage only a 1-1 draw at home against Marseille, which is not a very good result. Domestically, Benfica fared better with a 1-0 victory over Nacional. Coming Up: The rematch with Marseille will take place in southeast France on Thursday. In another big match, Benfica will face Porto on Sunday in the Portuguese League Cup final.

8. Arsenal (Eng) (8) – In almost embarrassing form, Arsenal dispatched Porto from the UEFA Champions League in 5-0 fashion at midweek. In England, Arsenal defeated Hull City 2-1 to keep pace with the leaders. Coming Up: Arsenal is off until Saturday when it welcomes (in a way) West Ham United to Emirates Stadium.

9. AC Milan (Ita) (10) – Not a good week for the red and black. After being humiliated at the hands of Manchester United in a 0-4 match to be eliminated from the Champions League, Milan defeated Chievo 1-0 in Serie A action, but lost David Beckham for some time in the process. Nevertheless, the club is now a single point from Internazionale for the top spot in Serie A. Coming Up: On Sunday, Milan will host Napoli in its next Serie A match.

10. Bordeaux (Fra) (9) – As it prepares to face off with Olympiakos with Champions League advancement at stake, Bordeaux’s French fortunes are turning, as it only picked up one point in two Ligue Un matches this week, losing 1-2 to Auxerre and drawing with Monaco 0-0. Coming Up: Bordeaux has the lead and home-pitch advantage in its rematch with Olympiakos on Wednesday. (I’ll be on a ferry to Greece while it’s being played. Reckon they’ll have a way to show it?) Another big match for Bordeaux will be Sunday’s against Lille.

11. Schalke 04 (Ger) (11) – With a 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart, Schalke 04 kept pace with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. Coming Up: Schalke is off until Sunday when it faces off with Hamburger SV.

12. Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) (13) – Speaking of Hamburger SV, Leverkusen defeated the Europa League contenders 4-2 on Sunday to keep up with Bayern and Schalke. Coming Up: Leverkusen hits the road to take on Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

13. Tottenham Hotspur (Eng) (17) – The Spurs continue to look like a threat for a Champions League spot following a 3-1 defeat of Blackburn Rovers. Coming Up: A good test for Tottenham will be on Saturday when it takes on Stoke City in an away matchup that it should win if it has hopes for next season’s Champions League.

14. Valencia (Esp) (12) - Ugh. First a home draw against Werder Bremen, 1-1, had to make Valencia feel bad. Watch Lionel Messi put in three goals in a 0-3 defeat to Barcelona had to leave it feeling even worse. Coming Up: The rematch with Werder Bremen takes place in Germany on Thursday. Sunday, Valencia will host Almeria in a Primera Division match.

15. Panathinaikos (Gre) (15) – After putting in a stunning effort against Roma in the first knockout round, Panathinaikos completely fell apart in a 1-3 home loss to Standard Liege in the Europa League. Domestically, however, Panathinaikos was same old-same old with a 1-0 victory over Asteras Tripolis. Coming Up: Panathinaikos has to go to Belgium for the rematch with Standard Liege on Thursday. In a match that I will be at if I can find a ticket, Panathinaikos will host Olympiakos in Athens on Sunday.

16. Roma (Ita) (16) – Roma moved one point closer to Inter, but two further away from Milan, with a 3-3 draw against Livorno this weekend. Coming Up: On Saturday, Roma will host Udinense in its next Serie A match.

17. Rangers (Sco) (19) – Rangers defeated Kilmarnock 2-0 to further sew up its next SPL championship. In the Scottish Cup, Rangers drew 3-3 with Dundee United this weekend, meaning . . . something. It’s the Scottish Cup. I really don’t care. Coming Up: In the Scottish League Cup, which I care even less about, Rangers will take on St. Mirren on Sunday. At least that’s the final, though.

18. Manchester City (Eng) (14) – Man City’s dream of next season’s Champions League will not come to fruition with 1-1 draws against Sunderland. Coming Up: We’ll see how the boys in light blue do against Fulham on Sunday.

19. Rubin Kazan (Rus) (23) – Rubin probably hoped that it would have done better than a 1-1 home draw against Wolfsburg in the first leg of the Europa League meeting between the two. In its 2010 Russian Premier League debut, Rubin Kazan defeated Lokomotiv Moskva 2-0. Coming Up: Rubin Kazan heads to Germany to take on the defending Bundesliga champions in the second leg of their Europa League match. Domestically, Rubin Kazan will take on Tom Tomsk on Sunday.

20. Sporting Braga (Por) (22) – Braga kept pace with Benfica in the Liga Sagres with a 1-0 victory over Rio Ave this weekend. Coming Up: No Upcoming Matches.

21. Porto (Por) (BU) – Porto returns to the rankings despite its humiliating 0-5 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in Porto’s Champions League swan song. Domestically, Porto fared better with a 2-1 victory over Academica. Coming Up: In one of the biggest matches of the weekend, Porto will take on Benfica in Portugal’s League Cup final.

22. Twente (Ned) (BU) – The Eredivisie leaders return to the rankings after defeating ADO Den Haag 3-1 this past weekend. Coming Up: In another of the big matches of the weekend, Twente will head to Eindhoven to take on second-place PSV on Saturday.

23. PSV Eindhoven (Ned) (20) – PSV drops a few notches after getting thoroughly destroyed by Ajax by a 1-4 score. (It’s one of the few matches that I actually got to see this weekend and it wasn’t even as close as the score.) Coming Up: PSV’s season may hinge on the outcome of its match with Twente at home on Saturday.

24. Sevilla (Esp) (NR) – Despite managing no more than a 1-1 draw with Deportivo La Coruña this weekend, Sevilla moves back into fourth place in the Primera Division and back into the rankings. Coming Up: Sevilla will host CSKA Moscow tomorrow night in the second leg of the Champions League matchup between the two clubs. Domestically, Sevilla will take on Espanyol in Barcelona on Saturday.

25. Ajax (Ned) (25) – Despite pulling PSV down, Ajax doesn’t move up despite its 4-1 buttkicking of PSV this weekend. Coming Up: Ajax returns to action on Sunday in the Eredivisie against RKC Waalwijk.

Bubbling Under: Aston Villa (Eng), Flamengo (Bra), Internacional (Bra), LDU Quito (Ecu), Peñarol (Uru).

Next Five: Mallorca (Esp), Marseille (Fra), Montpellier (Fra), PAOK (Gre), Palermo (Ita).

Matches This Week Between Top 25 Clubs:

16 March – (4) Inter Milan at (1) Chelsea

20 March – (22) Twente at (23) PSV Eindhoven

21 March – (7) Benfica vs. (21) Porto

Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 13/14 March 2010

Sorry for the delay in getting this out. I don’t have any excuse except that I’ve been having a good time in Rome and I haven’t had time since the belated ESPN Deportes schedule was released to put this together. I have the time now and I’m putting it together.

It’s okay, though, because the biggest matches are all on Sunday. In fact, there really are only four big matches this week, including two matchups involving WCR Top 25 Clubs. The biggest is Lazio-Bari, because that’s the match I’ll be at. Since it’s not televised though, I won’t talk about it any more. The other big matches also take place on Sunday in Spain (Barcelona-Valencia), the Netherlands (Ajax-PSV Eindhoven) and Germany (Bayer Leverkusen-Hamburger SV).

I’d also like to note that I don’t like this Fox Sports Plus taking Setanta’s place crap and I don’t think I’ll be subscribing. One of the main reasons that I subscribed to Setanta wasn’t so I’d get that extra Manchester United match a month; it was because I could get Ligue Un and SPL and Russian Premier League matches as well. None of those appear to be on the Fox Sports Plus schedule. I’m not subscribing to yet another station for just another three or four Premier League matches a weekend when they are so easily accessible over the internet. In the words of the great Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.

Now, on to the schedules. Have a great weekend!!!

Top Five Matches of the Weekend:

1. Valencia at Barcelona (Sunday, 2:00 (EDT), ESPND, ESPN 360)

2. PSV Eindhoven at Ajax (Sunday, 11:30 am, ESPND, ESPN 360)

3. Hamburger SV at Bayer Leverkusen (Sunday, 12:30 pm, ESPN 360)

4. VfB Stuttgart at Schalke 04 (Saturday, 4:00 pm (EST), (delayed) ESPND)

5. Fulham at Manchester United (Sunday, 9:30 am, FSP)

Friday, March 12, 2010

2:30 pm – (3) Inter Milan at Catania (FSC, FSE)

9:00 pm – Indios at Tecos UAG (Galavision)

Saturday, March 13, 2010

4:00 am – Wellington Phoenix at Sydney FC (FSC)

7:30 am – Blackburn at (17) Tottenham Hotspur (ESPN2)

9:30 am – VfL Wolfsburg at Borussia Monchengladbach (GolTV)

10:00 am – Everton at Birmingham City (FSC, FSE)

10:00 am – West Ham United at (1) Chelsea (FSP)

12:30 pm – Freiburg at (6) Bayern Munich (GolTV)

12:30 pm – (8) Arsenal at Hull City (FSC, FSE)

2:00 pm – Aston Vlla at Stoke City (Delayed) (FSP)

2:00 pm – Athletic Bilbao at Sporting Gijon (ESPND, ESPN 360)

2:45 pm – Fiorentina at Napoli (FSC, FSE, ESPN 360)

4:00 pm – Deportivo La Coruña at Sevilla (GolTV)

4:00 pm – Wolverhampton Wanderers at Burley (Delayed) (FSP)

4:00 pm – VfB Stuttgart at (11) Schalke 04 (Delayed) (ESPND)

5:00 pm – Wigan Athletic at Bolton Wanderers (Delayed) (FSC)

6:00 pm – Monarcas at Queretaro (TeleFutura)

6:00 pm – San Luis at Jaguares (ESPND, Azteca)

8:00 pm – Santos Laguna at Pachuca (TeleFutura)

8:00 pm – Pumas UNAM at Chivas de Guadalajara (Telemundo)

10:00 pm – Club America at Atlante (Delayed) (Telemundo)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

9:30 am – Fulham at (4) Manchester United (FSP)

10:00 am – (16) Roma at Livorno (FSC, FSE, ESPN 360)

10:00 am – Siena at Juventus (ESPN 360)

11:30 am – (20) PSV Eindhoven at (25) Ajax (ESPND, ESPN 360)

12 noon – Deportivo Xerez at Villarreal (GolTV)

12 noon – (14) Manchester City at Livorno (FSC, FSE, ESPN 360)

12:30 pm – Hamburger SV at (13) Bayer Leverkusen (ESPN 360)

2:00 pm – Cruz Azul at Toluca (Telemundo)

2:00 pm – (12) Valencia at (5) Barcelona (ESPND, ESPN 360)

2:00 pm – (7) Benfica at Nacional (ESPN 360)

3:45 pm – Chievo at (10) AC Milan (FSC, FSE)

4:00 pm – (2) Real Madrid at Real Valladolid (GolTV)

6:00 pm – Huracan at River Plate (Delayed) (FSC)

6:00 pm – Monterrey at Puebla (FSE)

6:30 pm – Santo Andre at Corinthians (GolTV)

Monday, March 15, 2010

4:00 pm – Portsmouth at Liverpool (ESPN2)

Non-Televised Matches Involving WCR Top 25 Clubs

Sat., 12 noon – (21) Mallorca at Getafe

Sat., 1:00 pm – Auxerre at (9) Bordeaux

Sat., 2:15 pm – Rio Ave at (22) Sporting Braga

Sun., 7:00 am – Lokomotiv Moskva at (23) Rubin Kazan

Sun., 8:45 am – Dundee United at (19) Rangers

Sun., 10:45 am – (15) Panathinaikos at Asteras Tripolis

Sun., 12:30 pm – ESPOLI at (18) LDU Quito

Sun., 4:00 pm – (24) Marseille at Toulouse