Sorry Soccer Fans – got bogged down at work – and forgot to grab stories till late last night while watching the Highlights show of Champions League late last night. First for those new to this Blog – this is Champions League – why do we care – because these are THE BEST TEAMS and PLAYERS IN THE WORLD. Champions League represents the best teams in the best leagues in Europe. We are currently at the Group Stages with 32 teams vying to win their group or finish 2nd and advance on to the knockout stage (Sweet 16). Each team will play home and away against the other 3 teams in their group with the top 2 teams in each group advancing.
The top teams in the World – Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Chelsea, Man United and City, Athletico are generally the teams that go thru – but the group stages can bring us some wonderful upsets especially at home – see PSV of the Dutch league beating Man U yesterday. Its usually high drama and fantastic crowds for these fixtures (games) and the sound of the Champions League anthem alone can get the hair on the back of most European soccer fans to stand on end. Now games are Tues/Wed every few weeks at 2:45 pm and sometimes Noon across a multitude of Fox Sports and ESPN 2 and 3 channels – Can you say Late Lunch? I can usually do a Wed late lunch for either the 1st half or 2nd half if interested in joining. Otherwise its sneak on the computers, cell phones or set those DVRs to record. Fox Soccer Channel – often does its version of NFL Red Zone – where it shows all the goals and bouncing around all the games to show the best action. The Champions League Highlight show 1 hour right now – usually comes on around 9 or 10 pm on Fox Soccer Channel or closer to midnight on Fox Sports 1 or 2 – check your listings. Also ESPN FC often does a nice 30 minute show after the games sometime – again check the listings. Champions League is the something to behold – start watching now and you’ll be hooked for the Knockout Stage.
I have also listed in the Games to Watch – the Europa League games – these are for the teams that got knocked out early of the Champions League competition or didn’t qualify. Still some great games amongst the 4th, 5th, 6th teams in their respective leagues. Also I have listed the US teams which play in Concacaff Champions League representing North and Central American teams.
Finally don’t forget the big IU vs Butler game tonite at the Butler Bowl – tickets are $10 at the door – come see if former Carmel High keeper Eric Dick and the Bulldogs can keep their streak of no losses alive vs #17 ranked Indiana University.
UEFA Champions League (Group stage Round 1 Match Day 2) GAMES TODAY
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1: AS Roma vs. Barcelona
2:30 p.m., ESPN2: Olympiakos vs. Bayern Munich
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net affiliates: Chelsea vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 2: Dinamo Zagreb vs. Arsenal
2:30 p.m., ESPN Deportes: Valencia vs. Zenit St. Petersburg
2:35 p.m., ESPN3: Bayer Leverkusen vs. BATE Borisov, Dynamo Kiev vs. Porto, Gent vs. Lyon
Champions League Match Results Group State Round 1 –Match Day 1
Group/Home/away
Round 1 Stories
Buffon leads Juve to first Champ League win in England vs City
Similar result for Man City vs Juve – ESPN FC – Brewin
City Fails to learn Champ League Lessons ESPN FC Simon
Renaldo’s Hat Trick dismisses Shakhtar Donetsk – ESPN FC
Man U loses as Luke Shaw lost for Season @ PSV Eindohoven
Di Maria Fantastic for PSG EPSN FC
Wolfsburg frustrated with lack of Fans for win vs CSKA Moscow
Sevillas Vitolo best actor in the World after 2 PKs says Borussia Monch coach after 3-0 loss
Group Tables and Standings after 1 game
GAMES THIS WEEK
Wednesday, September 16
UEFA Champions League (Group stage)
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1: AS Roma vs. Barcelona
2:30 p.m., ESPN2: Olympiakos vs. Bayern Munich
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net affiliates: Chelsea vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 2: Dinamo Zagreb vs. Arsenal
2:30 p.m., ESPN Deportes: Valencia vs. Zenit St. Petersburg
2:35 p.m., ESPN3: Bayer Leverkusen vs. BATE Borisov, Dynamo Kiev vs. Porto, Gent vs. Lyon
7 pm NYCFC vs Toronto FC ESPN 2
CONCACAF Champions League (Group stage)
8:00 p.m., Univision Deportes: W Connection vs. Saprissa
10:00 p.m., Univision Deportes: Walter Ferretti vs. Club América
10:00 p.m., Fox Soccer 2 Go: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Olimpia (tape-delayed on Univision Deportes at 12:30 a.m.)
Thursday, September 17
UEFA Europa League (Group stage)
12:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 and ESPN3: Bordeaux vs. Liverpool
12:30 p.m., Fox Sports 2 and ESPN3: Borussia Dortmund vs. Krasnodar
12:30 p.m., Fox Soccer Plus and ESPN3: Ajax vs. Celtic
12:50 p.m., Fox Soccer 2 Go: Fenerbahçe vs. Molde FK, Groningen vs. Olympique Marseille, Midtjylland vs. Legia Warsaw, Napoli vs. Club Brugge, Qabala vs. PAOK, Sion vs. Rubin Kazan, Slovan Liberec vs. S.C. Braga, Viktoria Plzeň vs Dinamo Minsk
3:00 p.m., Fox Sports 1: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Qarabağ
3:00 p.m., Fox Sports 2: APOEL vs. Schalke 04
3:00 p.m., Fox Soccer Plus and ESPN Deportes: Athletic Bilbao va. Augsburg
3:00 p.m., ESPN3: Anderlecht vs. AS Monaco, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk vs. Lazio, Fiorentina vs. Basel
3:00 p.m., Fox Soccer 2 Go: , Asteras Tripolis vs. Sparta Prague, Lech Poznań vs. Belelenses, Partizan Belgrade vs. AZ Alkmaar, Saint-Étienne vs. Rosenborg, Skënderbeu Korçë vs. Beşiktaş, Sporting Clube de Portugal vs. Lokomotiv Moscow
International friendly
7:00 p.m., Fox Sports 1: United States women vs. Haiti (at Ford Field, Detroit, Mich.)
CONCACAF Champions League (Group stage)
8:00 p.m., Univision Deportes: Central FC vs. Communicaciones
10:00 p.m., Univision Deportes: Querétaro vs. Verdes FC
10:00 p.m., Fox Soccer 2 Go: Isidro Metapán vs. Herediano (tape-delayed on Univision Deportes at 12:30 a.m.)
Sat, Sept 19
7:45 am Chelsea vs Arsenal NBC Sports Network
10 am Swansea vs Everton NBC Sports Network
10 am Stoke City vs Leicester City NBC Sports Extra
12:30 pm Man City vs Westham NBC Sports Network
7:30 pm Indy 11 vs FC Edmonton CH 8, ESPN 3
Sun, Sept 20
8:30 am Sunderland vs Tottenham NBCSN
11 am Southampton vs Man U NBCSN
11 am Liverpool vs Norwich City USA Network
2:30 pm US Ladies vs Haiti ESPN 2
5 pm Portland vs NY Red Bulls ESPN
7 pm Philly vs Houston Fox Sports 1
Sun, Sept 27
5 pm Sporting KC @ Seattle ESPN
7 pm San Jose vs Real Salt Lake Fox Sports 1
9:30 pm LA Galaxy vs FC Dallas Fox Sports 1
Tuesday, September 29
UEFA Champions League (Group stage)
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1: Barcelona vs. Bayer Leverkusen
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 2: Arsenal vs. Olympiakos
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net affiliates: Porto vs. Chelsea
2:35 p.m., Fox Soccer 2 Go: BATE Borisov vs. Roma, Bayern Munich vs. Dinamo Zagreb, Lyon vs. Valencia, Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Dynamo Kiev, Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Gent
Wednesday, September 30
UEFA Champions League (Group stage)
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1: Manchester United vs. VfL Wolfsburg
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 2: Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Manchester City
2:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net affiliates: Malmö FF vs. Real Madrid
2:35 p.m., Fox Soccer 2 Go: Atlético Madrid vs. Benfica, CSKA Moscow vs. PSV Eindhoven, Juventus vs. Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Thur, Oct 1
9:30 pm Seattle Reign vs FC KC NWSL Womens Champ Fox Sports 1
USA GAMES
Thur, Sept 17 USWNT vs Haiti Fox Sports 1 (Detroit)
Sun, Sept 20 USWNT vs Haiti ESPN 2 (Birmingham)
Sat, Oct 10 USMNT vs Mexico – Fox Sports 1 – Confed Cup Playoff
Full EPL Schedule on NBC along with Capital One Cup + FA Cup
The Ole BallCoach 