THE SOCCER REPORT

Dynamo tie LA Galaxy in sold out opener; Real Madrid take El Clasico and La Liga lead

Victor Araiza
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

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)

Assists leader: 5 - Pablo Barrera (Pumas)

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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Burning questions Houston Astros must answer as they approach home stretch

Do the Astros have a clear-cut ace? Composite Getty Image.

You’re Astros manager Dusty Baker. It’s the last day of the 2023 baseball season and the Astros and Rangers are tied with identical 94-68 records. It’s a must-win game with the American League West title and a coveted bye in the first round of the post-season possibly at stake.

You’ve played it smart down the stretch anticipating this. All of your starters are rested and ready to take the mound.

Who are you giving the ball to?

Justin Verlander? He’s the highest paid player in baseball history, a sure Hall of Famer, the defending American League Cy Young Award winner. But he hasn’t exactly dominated since returning to the Astros and he got rocked for nine hits, two walks and five runs (four earned) over five innings in his last start.

Framber Valdez? Take away his recent no-hitter, Valdez has not been a shutdown ace in months. Since late June, his average start has gone six innings, giving up seven hits and 4.5 runs.

Cristian Javier has made it to the sixth inning only once in his last nine starts. He began the season at 7-1. Two months and 11 starts (nine no-decisions) later, he’s at 8-2. There’s talk of him going to the bullpen for the post-season.

Hunter Brown has been up and down and Jose Urquidy is coming off injury. You want to go to war in a one-game shootout with either of them?

The true ace of the 2023 Astros is rookie J.P. France who has saved this season with a hard-nosed, reliable 9-3 mark and 2.74 earned run average. Be honest, had you even heard of Jonathan Patrick France before the season started? He didn’t make his MLB debut until May 6. He’s started 16 games, won nine of them. The Astros have won all eight of his most recent starts. Looks like Clark Kent, pitches like Superman.

J.P. France is a selfie of how the entire Astros season has unfolded - unlike anything fans have seen in recent years. Used to be, you’d turn on the Astros game in the third or fourth inning (we arrive late for TV, too) and the Astros would be up 3-1 with Verlander and Valdez dealing in dominant form. This year, the score could be Astros up, Astros down, and the team is scrapping to the end. No lead is safe, no deficit fatal.

It seemed all was smooth sailing in recent years past, with Baker making all the right moves and fans appreciating their crusty, lovable, toothpick-gnawing skipper. This year, fans are pulling out their hair.

Why is Martin Maldonado batting in the eighth inning with runners on base? How much more of Jose Abreu can we take at first base? Why is Grae Kessinger in the lineup? Why is Yordan Alvarez, one of baseball’s mightiest sluggers, batting fifth? When, if ever, is Michael Brantley coming back? Now pitching for the Houston Astros, Phil Maton, oh no!

The Astros seem to be on a frustrating treadmill, and like the real treadmill you use to hang clothes at home, they appear to be going nowhere. The Astros keep winning series but can’t gain ground on the division-leading Texas Rangers. Wile E. Coyote has more success catching the Roadrunner. It’s like that Rodney Dangerfield joke. As a teenager, he borrowed $500 from a lone shark, paid him $25 a week for 30 years and still owed him $1,000.

That’s the weirdest thing of all in 2023 - the Astros are looking up at the Rangers in the standings. That’s not supposed to happen.

Still … the Astros are 70-52, 18 games over .500, and winners of eight of their last 11 games. Unless the roof falls in, they’re all but guaranteed of making the post-season. For all of this summer of discontent, there are 30 teams in baseball and only five of them have a better won-loss record than the Astros. TV ratings are up on AT&T SportsNet. Minute Maid Park is packed, averaging nearly 38,000 fans each night. That’s more than 5,000 up per game from last year when, if memory serves, they won the whole shebang.

Huge hot-ticket series against the surging Seattle Mariners, always popular Boston Red Sox, those dreaded Yankees and surprising Orioles remain on the home schedule.

Oh, there’s a little three-game set against the Rangers coming up in Arlington in early September. Astros fans might want to start planning the roadie.

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