THE SOCCER REPORT
Champions League returns with PSG, Spurs and Real Madrid wins
Feb 19, 2019, 6:16 am
THE SOCCER REPORT
The theme of this week's actions was international competition with the return of the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League and the third round of the Copa Libertadores of South America. Concacaf teams are about to join in on the action with the start of the 2019 Concacaf Champions League, in which the Houston Dynamo will play in Guatemala City on Tuesday night.
Round of 32 - first leg results:
Scoring leader: 17 - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) / Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Assists leader: 10 - Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC)
In Spain's top-flight, FC Barcelona continues to make room between themselves and the field in the title race. Leo Messi and co. collected three points while Real Madrid slipped 2-1 to Girona, allowing Atletico Madrid to jump back up to second with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano. The rest of the top six remained the same.
Top six: 1. FC Barcelona (54), 2. Atlético Madrid (47), 3. Real Madrid (45), 4. Sevilla (37), 5. Getafe (36), 6. Alaves (36)
Scoring leader: 22 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Assists leader: 10 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Scoring leader: 14 - Luka Jović (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Assists leader: 10 - Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Juventus 3-0 Frosinone | Ronaldo and Dybala Help Juventus Beat Frosinone | Serie Awww.youtube.com
Cristiano Ronaldo can't stop scoring, adding one more to his season tally in Juve's 3-0 win over Frosinone. Milan picked up a 3-1 win over Atalanta to solidify their place in the top four. Inter Milan and Roma also picked up three points this week.
Scoring leader: 19 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Assists leader: 8 - Suso (A.C. Milan)
Marseille made the biggest jump in the standings this week by swapping places with Montpellier and cracking the top four. As for the champs, PSG continues to roll behind the league's top scorer in Mbappé.
Top six: 1. PSG (62), 2. Lille (50), 3. Lyon (46), 4. Marseille (40), 5. Saint-Étienne (40), 6. Montpellier (38)
Scoring leader: 19 - Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
Assists leader: 8 - Nicolas Pepe (Lille) / Angel Di Maria (PSG) / Kenny Lala (Strasbourg)
Top three: 1. PSV Eindhoven (57), 2. Ajax (53), 3. Feyenoord (42)
Top three: 1. Genk (57), 2. Club Brugge (49), 3. Standard Liège (46)
Top three: 1. Porto (54), 2. Benfica (53), 3. Braga (49)
Top three: 1. Celtic (60), 2. Rangers (52), 3. Aberdeen (47)
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A welcome addition to tomorrow's shirts! 👀 #SCCL2019 #ForeverOrange https://t.co/1h8lCn4Xx0— Houston Dynamo (@Houston Dynamo) 1550534098.0
While five MLS teams take part in the Champions League, the rest continue their preparations ahead of the league's opening weekend in two weeks. FC Cincinatti will be the new expansion team that joins the league in 2019.
Top eight: 1. Monterrey (17), 2. Tigres UANL (16), 3. Leon (14), 4. Chivas Guadalajara (14), 5. Necaxa (11), 6. Santos (11), 7. Pachuca (11), 8. Club Tijuana (10)
Scoring leader: 7 - Rogelio Funes Mori (Monterrey)
Assists leader: 5 - Angel Mena (Cruz Azul)
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Third round - first leg matchups:
Top four: 1. Racing Club (45), 2. Defensa y Justicia (45), 3. Boca Juniors (35), 4. Atletico Tucuman (32)
Scoring leader: 15 - Lisandro Lopez (Racing)
Assists leader: 7 - Walter Montillo (Tigre)
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Tuesday, Feb. 19
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Liverpool vs. Bayern Munich (TNT/Galavision)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Lyon vs. Barcelona (Unimas/Univision Deportes)
9:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] CD Guastatoya vs. Houston Dynamo (Yahoo! Sports/Univision Deportes)
Wednesday, Feb. 20
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus (TNT/UniMas/Univision Deportes)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Schalke 04 vs. Man City (B/R Live/Galavision)
Thursday, Feb. 21
12:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Arsenal vs. BATE (B/R Live/Galavision)
12:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Valencia vs. Celtic (B/R Live/Univision Deportes)
12:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Villarreal vs. Sporting CP (B/R Live/UniMas)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Chelsea vs. Malmo (B/R Live/UniMas)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Inter Milan vs. Rapid Vienna (B/R Live/Galavision)
Friday, Feb. 22
1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Werder Bremen vs. VfB Stuttgart (FS2)
1:45 p.m. - [Premier League] West Ham vs. Fulham (NBC Sports)
Saturday, Feb. 23
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayern Munich vs. Hertha BSC Berlin (FS2)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Mönchengladbach vs. VfL Wolfsburg (Univision Deportes)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Burnley vs. Tottenham (NBC Sports)
9:15 a.m. - [La Liga] Sevilla vs. FC Barcelona (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Leicester vs. Crystal Palace (NBC)
Sunday, Feb. 24
8:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Manchester United vs. Liverpool (NBC Sports)
9:15 a.m. - [La Liga] Atletico Madrid vs. Villarreal (beIN Sports)
10:30 a.m. - [Carabao Cup FInal] Chelsea vs. Manchester City (ESPN+)
11:00 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen (FS2)
1:45 p.m. - [La Liga] Levante vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
The latest update from Astros GM Dana Brown on the club's flagship station did not ease anyone's concerns this week. Brown said he was optimistic that Kyle Tucker would be back before September. September?
Which made us wonder what type of injury Tucker is really dealing with? A bone bruise doesn't typically take this long to heal.
Be sure to watch the video above as ESPN Houston's Joel Blank and Barry Laminack share their thoughts on Tucker's health, the Astros' secrecy when it comes to injuries, and much more!