THE SOCCER REPORT
Dynamo tie LA Galaxy in sold out opener; Real Madrid take El Clasico and La Liga lead
Mar 3, 2020, 6:33 am
Mauro Manotas' goal earned the Dynamo their first point of the season. Photo: Manuel Gonzalez / Deporte Total USA
MLS is back with its 25th season and the opening weekend had plenty of big goals and special moments. Over in Europe, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona met in the sport's most talked about rivalry worldwide.
Here is a recap of last week's top action:
International Club competitions
UEFA Champions League
Round of 16 - First Leg
- Chelsea 0-3 Bayern Munich
- Napoli 1-1 FC Barcelona
- Lyon 1-0 Juventus
- Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City
Concacaf Champions League
Round of 16 - Second Leg
- Atlanta United 3-0 Motagua (ATL advances 4-1)
- Cruz Azul 4-0 Portmore United (CAZ advances 6-1)
- New York City FC 1-0 AD San Carlos (NYC advances 6-3)
- Montreal Impact 0-0 Saprissa (MTL advances, 2-2 agg, on away goals)
- Tigres UANL 4-2 Alianza FC (TIG advances 5-4)
- Club America 1-1 Comunicaciones (2-2 agg., AME advances 5-3 on pens.)
- Seattle Sounders FC 2-2 Olimpia (4-4 agg., OLI advances 4-2 on pens.)
- LAFC 3-0 Club Leon (LAFC advances 3-2)
Quarterfinals take place March 10-18
English Premier League
Liverpool FC's bid for an undefeated season ended at the hands of Watford, who jump out of the relegation zone with a 3-0 victory.
Top six: 1. Liverpool (79), 2. Man City (57), 3. Leicester City (50), 4. Chelsea (45), 5. Manchester United (42), 6. Wolves (42)
Bottom three (relegation): 18. Bournemouth (27), 19. Aston Villa (25), 20. Norwich City (21)
Scoring leader: 17 - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) / Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Assists leader: 16 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Spanish La Liga
With goals from Vinicius and Mariano, Real Madrid took a 2-0 win in El Clasico and the lead at the top of the table in La Liga.
Top six: 1. Real Madrid (56), 2. FC Barcelona (55), 3. Sevilla (46), 4. Getafe (45), 5. Atletico Madrid (44), 6. Real Sociedad (43)
Bottom three: 18. Mallorca (22), 19. Leganes (20), 20. Espanyol (20)
Scoring leader: 18 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Assists leader: 12 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
German Bundesliga
Top six: 1. Bayern Munich (52), 2. RB Leipzig (49), 3. Dortmund (48), 4. Monchengladbach (46), 5. Bayer Leverkusen (44), 6. Schalke 04 (36)
Bottom three: 16. Fortuna (21), 17. Werder Bremen (17), 18. Paderborn (16)
Scoring leader: 25 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Assists leader: 16 - Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
Italian Serie A
Top six: 1. Lazio (62), 2. Juventus (60), 3. Inter Milan (54), 4. Atalanta (48), 5. Roma (45), 6. Napoli (39)
Bottom three: 18. Genoa (22), 19. Brescia (16), 20. SPAL (15)
Scoring leader: 27 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Assists leader: 12 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)
French Ligue 1
Top four: 1. PSG (68), 2. Marseille (55), 3. Rennes (47), 4. Lille (46)
Bottom three: 18. Nimes (27), 19. Amiens (22), 20. Toulouse (13)
Scoring leader: 18 - Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Assists leader: 14 - Angel Di Maria (PSG)
Major League Soccer
The 25th season of MLS got underway with a soccer game with American football lines... just like the good old days (thanks to XFL at D.C. United's Audi Field).
The Houston Dynamo hosted LA Galaxy and the signing of the offseason in Mexican superstar Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward stole the spotlight but it would be the South American goalscorers who would get on the scoresheet. Cristian Pavon opened the scoring for LA while Mauro Manotas earned the point for the Dynamo - match ended in a 1-1 tie. Alberth Elis and offseason signing Darwin Quintero were among the players who missed the sold out home opener due to injury.
Over 59,000 packed Nissan Stadium in Nashville for the expansion side's opening match against Atlanta United, with the visitors taking a 2-1 victory. David Beckham's Inter Miami, the other expansion team this year, lost 1-0 at LAFC on Sunday.
Liga MX
¡PERO QUÉ 🐕 GOLAZO DE GIGNAC! La chilena que nos acaba de regalar el francés es de otro planeta. SIN PALABRAS 🤩 🐯… https://t.co/NAgUPke49d— TUDN USA (@TUDN USA) 1583036937.0
Clausura 2020
Top eight: 1. Cruz Azul (16), 2. Club America (16), 3. Leon (15), 4. Juarez (14), 5. Pumas UNAM (14), 6. Santos Laguna (14), 7. Queretaro (13), 8. CD Guadalajara (12)
Scoring leader: 7 - Jonathan Rodriguez (Cruz Azul) / Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres UANL)
TV listings (All Times CT):
For full info on soccer TV listings and streaming services in the United States, visit worldsoccertalk.com
Tuesday, March 3
1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Chelsea vs. Liverpool (ESPN+)
1:45 p.m. - [German Cup] Schalke 04 vs. Bayern Munich (ESPNU, ESPN Deportes)
4:15 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Defensa y Justicia vs. Santos (beIN Sports)
6:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] America de Cali vs. Gremio (beIN Sports Connect)
Wednesday, March 4
1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Sheffield Wednesday vs. Man City (ESPN+)
1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Spurs vs. Norwich (ESPN+)
Thursday, March 5
1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Derby vs. Man United (ESPN+)
6:00 p.m. - [SheBelieves Cup] USWNT vs. England (ESPN2, TUDN)
Friday, March 6
8:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Pumas UNAM vs. Club América (TUDN)
Saturday, March 7
6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Liverpool vs. Bournemouth (NBC Sports)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Wolfsburg vs. RB Leipzig (FS1, FOX Deportes)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Arsenal vs. West Ham (NBC Sports)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Wolves vs. Brighton (CNBC)
9:00 a.m. - [La Liga] Atletico Madrid vs. Sevilla (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Burnley vs. Spurs (NBC Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [La Liga] FC Barcelona vs. Real Sociedad (beIN Sports)
7:30 p.m. - [MLS] Houston Dynamo at Sporting KC (KUBE57)
9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Atlas vs. Chivas (Univision)
Sunday, March 8
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Chelsea vs. Everton(NBC Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Man United vs. Man City (NBC)
3:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Real Betis vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
Monday, March 9
3:00 p.m. - [Premier League] Leicester City vs. Aston Villa (NBC Sports)
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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans reveals what he values most at scouting combine
Feb 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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