The Soccer Report

Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid Houston clash part of weekend summer friendlies

Victor Araiza
Jul 16, 2019, 10:14 pm
Tickets still remain for FC Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid. Credit: ICC2019

The Africa Cup of Nations remains as the only major international championship left to decide this summer as the focus turns to preseason in European soccer. This week's schedule has plenty of friendlies with one of those taking place in Houston.

AFC Africa Cup of Nations

The Africa Cup of Nations is down to the final two teams. Manchester CIty's Riyad Mahrez and Algeria will vie for the trophy against Senegal and Liverpool's Sadio Mane. The final will take place on Friday while Tunisia and NIgeria fight for third place on Wednesday.

International Champions Cup

European clubs are advancing their preseason preparations all over the world and some of them are coming to the states to do so. The slate of U.S. Tour games has kicked off with Premier League club Arsenal defeating sister club Colorado Rapids (MLS) 3-0 on Monday night.

Two of the bigger clubs in Europe face off when 28-time Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich take on 33-time Spanish Champions Real Madrid on Saturday night at NRG Stadium. The two have faced off on several occasions in the UEFA Champions League, a rivalry that is considered a European Classic.

Major League Soccer

East top seven: 1. Philadelphia (36), 2. D.C. United (32), 3. NY Red Bulls (31), 4. Atlanta (30), 5. Montreal (30), 6.NYCFC (29), 7. Toronto (26)

West top seven: 1. LAFC (46), 2. Seattle (35), 3. LA Galaxy (34), 4. Minnesota (33), 5. San Jose (31), 6. Real Salt Lake (29), 7. Dallas (29)

Scoring leader: 19 - Carlos Vela (LAFC)

Assists leader: 12 - Carlos Vela (LAFC) / Maxi Moralez (NYCFC)

National Women's Soccer League

Standings: 1. North Carolina Courage (22), 2. Portland Thorns (22), 3. Reign FC (20), 4. Washington Spirit (18), 5. Utah Royals (17), 6. Chicago Red Stars (17), 7. Houston Dash (13), 8. Orlando Pride (8), 9. Sky Blue FC (8)

Scoring leader: 9 - Sam Kerr (Chicago)

Assists leader: 4 - 5 players tied

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Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):

Tuesday, July 16

1:30 p.m. - [Friendly] Dynamo Dresden vs. PSG (beIN SPORTS)

8:00 p.m. - [International Champions Cup] Fiorentina vs. Chivas (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)

Wednesday, July 17

12:00 p.m. - [Friendly] PSV vs. Wolfsburg (ESPN3)

2:00 p.m. - [Africa Cup of Nations 3rd place] Tunisia vs. Nigeria (beIN SPORTS)

6:00 p.m. - [MLS] Atlanta United vs. Houston Dynamo (KUBE57/Telexitos 47.2)

8:00 p.m. - [International Champions Cup] Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)

Thursday, July 18

11:00 a.m. - [Friendly] - Ajax vs. Watford (ESPN3)

7:00 p.m. - [MLS] Cincinnati vs. DC United (ESPN)

9:00 p.m. - [MLS] Portland vs. Orlando (ESPN)

Friday, July 19

11:00 a.m. - [Friendly] - Everton vs. Monaco (ESPN3)

2:00 p.m. - [Africa Cup of Nations Final] Algeria vs. Senegal (beIN SPORTS)

7:00 p.m. - [Friendly] Liverpool vs. Borussia Dortmund (TNT)

7:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Puebla vs. Tijuana (Univision Deportes)

9:00 p.m. - [MLS] LA Galaxy vs. LAFC (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

Saturday, July 20

1:30 a.m. - [Friendly] Vissel Kobe vs. Barcelona (ESPN2)

6:30 p.m. - [MLS] Toronto FC vs. Houston Dynamo (KUBE57/Telexitos 47.2)

7:00 p.m. - [International Champions Cup] Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)

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A WEEKLY REVIEW OF O'BRIEN'S COACHING

Not my job: Texans outmatched when it counts against Steelers

Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

Another game, another loss for the Texans. This time it was only a seven point loss to the Steelers as they fell 28-21 in Pittsburgh. This time around, Bill O'Brien looked to be on his game as far as decision-making was concerned. However, there is still room for improvement.

One thing that I did appreciate that O'Brien did was have trust in the offensive line. The Steelers pass rush could be problematic, but their defense overall is very stout. That's how they were able to nearly make the playoffs last year with a Duck at quarterback. While the Texans did give up five sacks, they weren't all due to poor offensive line play. The Texans lost 33 yards on those five sacks. Tytus Howard and Zach Fulton handled themselves fairly well after looking like turnstiles the first two games. O'Brien called longer developing pass plays and play action in spite of this and it paid off with Deshaun Watson and his receivers putting up 264 yards in the air.

There also wasn't an instance of Bumbling Bill this game. At the end of the first half, there was a minute and fourteen seconds left. The Texans were down 17-14 and had all three timeouts with the ball on their 25-yard line. Classic Bumbling Bill situation right? Wrong! Not only was the play-calling on point, but the players executed and the timeout situation was handled perfectly. First timeout was used after getting to midfield with 47 seconds left. Timeout number two was used after a 20 yard gain after the previous play. A 15 yard gain later to the Steeler 14-yard line and timeout number three was used with 28 seconds left. This set up perfectly for them to call a multitude of plays. They only needed one as Watson found Will Fuller in the end zone on a jump ball in which Fuller rose up and was physical enough to grab the ball over the defender. They went up 21-17 at the half.

Bill O'Brien's teams were 37-3 when leading at halftime. I say "were" because they lost this one after not scoring a single point in the second half. This was more on the defense not being able to fight its way out of a wet paper bag, and a lack of execution by the offense. Specifically, the run defense has been atrocious and Watson either needs quicker reads or to stop holding onto the ball so long by making quicker decisions. That's on coaching to put players in positions to succeed, but also the players to execute.

Ultimately, this was on O'Brien the general manager more than O'Brien the coach. This roster is woefully outmatched. The only time an outmatched roster can compete consistently is in college football with a wacky offense. It just doesn't happen in the NFL. Hey, at least Bumbling Bill didn't rear his butt chin today. Today's Culture Map play call menu was brought to you by Pour Behavior. I suggest getting over there and checking out their daily specials.

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