THE SOCCER REPORT

MLS kicks off 24th season, Barcelona sweeps Real Madrid and other soccer results

MLS kicks off 24th season, Barcelona sweeps Real Madrid and other soccer results
Fans across the country were back in their home stadiums to support their MLS teams. Photo by Diego Dlouhy/SportsMap Houston.

There's plenty to talk about around the soccer world, starting with FC Barcelona's two wins over rivals Real Madrid in the same week. The coming week will be dominated by international club soccer with knockout matches in the UEFA and Concacaf Champions League plus the start of the group stage in the Copa Libertadores.

English Premier League

Every goal from Premier League Matchweek 29 | NBC Sportswww.youtube.com

Two matchdays this week have helped Manchester City stay atop the table by a point as Liverpool's nil-nil draw against rivals Everton may prove to be a pivotal match in the latter's title hopes. As far as the top six, there's still some shifting around though Manchester United has the slight lead for the fourth and final Champions League spot.

Top six: 1. Manchester City (71), 2. Liverpool (70), 3. Tottenham (61), 4. Manchester United (58), 5. Arsenal (57), 6. Chelsea (56)

Scoring leader: 18 - Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

Assists leader: 11 - Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC)

Spain's La Liga

Highlights Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona (0-1)www.youtube.com

Barcelona enjoyed two victories - in Madrid, no less - over rivals Real by knocking them out of the Copa del Rey with a 3-0 win and then following that up with a 1-0 win in league play. Real Madrid are only left in Champions League contention as far as any title hopes this season while Barcelona looks set for another La Liga title.

Top six: 1. FC Barcelona (60), 2. Atlético Madrid (53), 3. Real Madrid (48), 4. Getafe (42), 5. Alaves (40), 6. Sevilla (37)

Scoring leader: 25 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

Assists leader: 11 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

German Bundesliga

Dortmund's fall to Augsburg and Bayern's emphatic win over Monchengladbach have evened things up at the top of the Bundesliga table. Dortmund now has very little room for error if they still dream with winning the league while Bayern are back on track for a seventh consecutive title.

Top six: 1. Dortmund (54), 2. Bayern Munich (54), 3. RB Leipzig (45), 4. Monchengladbach (43), 5. Eintracht Frankfurt (40), 6. Bayer Leverkusen (39)

Scoring leader: 15 - Luka Jović (Eintracht Frankfurt) / Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Assists leader: 10 - Jadon Sancho (Dortumund) / Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)

Italian Serie A

Top six: 1. Juventus (72), 2. Napoli (56), 3. Milan (48), 4. Inter Milan (47), 5. Roma (44), 6. Lazio (41)

Scoring leader: 19 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) / Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria)

Assists leader: 8 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) / Suso (A.C. Milan)

French Ligue 1

Top six: 1. PSG (71), 2. Lille (54), 3. Lyon (49), 4. Marseille (44), 5. Saint-Étienne (43), 6. Stade Reims (42)

Scoring leader: 24 - Kylian Mbappé (PSG)

Assists leader: 8 - Nicolas Pepe (Lille) / Angel Di Maria (PSG) / Kenny Lala (Strasbourg)

Dutch Eredivisie

Top three: 1. PSV Eindhoven (61), 2. Ajax (56), 3. Feyenoord (46)

Belgian First Division A

Top three: 1. Genk (59), 2. Club Brugge (53), 3. Antwerp (49)

Portuguese Primeira Liga

Top three: 1. Benfica (59), 2. Porto (57), 3. Braga (52)

Scottish Premier League

Top three: 1. Celtic (66), 2. Rangers (58), 3. Aberdeen (50)

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Concacaf Champions League

The Round of 16 in the CCL saw a conclusion this week with the second leg matches deciding who advanced to the following round. MLS had its four U.S. representatives advance in Atlanta United, Houston Dynamo, New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City while Liga MX is represented by northern clubs Monterrey, Tigres UANL and Santos Laguna. Independiente of Panama is the other team that advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to their upset of Toronto FC.

Round of 16 - second leg results:

  • Toronto FC 1-1 Independiente (1-5 agg.)
  • Tigres 5-1 Saprissa (5-2 agg.)
  • Houston Dynamo 2-1 Guastatoya (3-1agg.)
  • Santos Laguna 5-0 Marathon (11-2 agg.)
  • NY Red Bulls 3-0 Atletico Pantoja (5-0 agg.)
  • Monterrey 1-0 Alianza (1-0 agg.)
  • Atlanta United 4-0 Herediano (5-3 agg.)
  • Toluca 0-2 Sporting KC (0-5 agg.)

The quarter-finals begins on Tuesday.

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer's 24th season kicked off with plenty of draws to go around, five of them to be exact. The Dynamo were one of those teams with their season opener against Real Salt Lake ending in a 1-1 stalemate. Seattle Sounders gave new club Cincinnati a harsh welcome with a 4-1 result while Colorado and Portland played to a 3-3 draw in the snow.

Liga MX

Top eight: 1. Tigres UANL (22), 2. Monterrey (21), 3. Leon (20), 4. Club Tijuana (16), 5. Chivas Guadalajara (14), 6. Santos Laguaa (14), 7. Pachuca (14), 8. Club America (13)

Scoring leader: 9 - Angel Mena (Leon)

Assists leader: 6 - Angel Mena (Leon)

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Copa Libertadores

Third round - second leg results:

  • Caracas FC 2-1 Melgar (2-3 agg.)
  • Palestino 2-1 Talleres Cordoba (4-3 agg.)
  • Atletico Mineiro 0-0 Defensor Sporting (2-0 agg.)
  • Atletico Nacional 1-0 Libertad (1-1 agg., Libertad wins 5-4 on penalties)

The group stage begins on Tuesday.

Superliga Argentina

Top four: 1. Racing Club (51), 2. Defensa y Justicia (48), 3. Boca Juniors (41), 4. Atletico Tucuman (39)

Scoring leader: 16 - Lisandro Lopez (Racing)

Assists leader: 8 - Walter Montillo (Tigre)

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Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):

Tuesday, Mar. 5

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Borussia Dortmund vs. Tottenham (B/R Live, Galavision)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Real Madrid vs. Ajax (TNT, UniMas)

6:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Jorge Wilstermann vs. Boca Juniors (beIN SPORTS en Español)

7:00 p.m. - [SheBelieves Cup] U.S. Women's National Team vs. Brazil (FS1)

7:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] New York Red Bulls vs. Santos Laguna (YahooSports.com)

9:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Houston Dynamo vs. Tigres UANL (YahooSports.com)

Wednesday, Mar. 6

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Porto vs. Roma (B/R Live, Galavision)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] PSG vs. Manchester United (TNT, UniMas)

6:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Alianza Lima vs. River Plate (beIN SPORTS en Español)

7:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Independiente vs. Sporting KC (YahooSports.com)

9:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Monterrey vs. Atlanta United (YahooSports.com)

Thursday, Mar. 7

11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Inter (B/R Live, UniMas)

11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Rennes vs. Arsenal (B/R Live, Galavision)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Chelsea vs. Dynamo Kiev (B/R Live, UniMas)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Napoli vs. Red Bull Salzburg (B/R Live, Galavision)

6:00 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] LDU Quito vs. Peñarol (beIN SPORTS en Español)

8:00 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Deportivo Lara vs. Emelec (beIN SPORTS en Español)

Friday, Mar. 8

1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Werder Bremen vs. Schalke 04 (FS2)

1:30 p.m. - [Serie A] Juventus vs. Udinese (ESPN+)

Saturday, Mar. 9

6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Crystal Palace vs. Brighton (NBC Sports)

8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayern Munich vs. VfL Wolfsburg (FS1)

8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Borussia Dortmund vs. VfB Stuttgart (FS2)

9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Southampton vs. Tottenham (NBC Sports)

9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Newcastle vs. Everton (CNBC)

11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Manchester City vs. Watford (NBC)

11:30 a.m. - [La Liga] Barcelona vs. Rayo Vallecano (beIN Sports)

2:30 p.m. - [MLS] FC Dallas vs. LA Galaxy (Univision)

4:00 p.m. - [MLS] Houston Dynamo vs. Montreal Impact (KUBE57)

Sunday, Mar. 10

7:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Liverpool vs. Burnley (NBC Sports)

9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Chelsea vs. Wolves (NBC Sports)

11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Arsenal vs. Manchester United (NBC)

2:45 p.m. - [La Liga] Valladolid vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)

4:00 p.m. - [MLS] Atlanta United vs. Cincinnati (ESPN)

6:30 p.m. - [MLS] LAFC vs. Portland Timbers (FS1)

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Astros defeat Yankees, 4-3. Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images.

Yordan Alvarez and Jon Singleton each hit long homers in the first inning for the Houston Astros, who beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Thursday night to avoid being swept in the season series.

Alvarez hit a two-out solo shot off Marcus Stroman (2-2) into the second deck in right field measured at 116.8 mph. Two batters later, Singleton hit a two-run homer off the facade along the third deck clocked at 115.4 mph.

The Astros are the first team in the Statcast era (2015-present) to hit two homers measured at 115 mph off the bat in the same inning. The homers were the hardest-hit balls against the Yankees this season.

Jeremy Peña had two hits, including a fifth-inning RBI single, for the Astros, who were outscored 40-18 in the first six games this season — all losses — against the Yankees, whom they beat in the AL Championship Series in 2017, 2019 and 2022.

Houston has never gone winless against an opponent in a season series lasting longer than six games.

Anthony Volpe hit a two-run homer off Ronel Blanco (4-0) in the third, while Aaron Judge went deep off Ryan Pressly in the eighth for the Yankees before Josh Hader got the final four outs for his fourth save. It was the first time Hader recorded more than three outs in a save since Aug. 14, 2020.

Blanco allowed four hits and walked four with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. He threw a career-high 107 pitches — including 14 against Anthony Rizzo during a fourth-inning at-bat during which the Yankees first baseman fouled off 10 straight pitches before whiffing on an 86 mph changeup.

Stroman gave up four runs and a season-high nine hits over 5 1/3 innings.

MINOR MOVE

The Yankees claimed RHP Colby White off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays and assigned him to Double-A Somerset. White, 25, has a 2.83 ERA in four minor league seasons, but was 0-2 with a 17.61 ERA in nine games at Triple-A Durham before being designated for assignment last Friday. He was selected by the Rays in the sixth round of the 2019 draft.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: RHP Jose Urquidy (right forearm) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A Sugar Lake. Manager Joe Espada said Urquidy will throw 60-65 pitches. … RHP Cristian Javier (neck) will come off the injured list to start against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Yankees: IF DJ LeMahieu (right foot) will continue ramping up this weekend, when he accompanies the team to Tampa Bay for a three-game series against the Rays. … OF Jasson Dominguez (Tommy John surgery) is expected to begin a rehab assignment within the next two weeks.

UP NEXT

Astros: Continue a six-game road trip Friday night, when LHP Framber Valdez (1-1, 3.97 ERA) starts against the Tigers and RHP Casey Mize (1-1, 3.98 ERA). Valdez has given up seven runs in 10 1/3 innings in his first two starts since missing three-plus weeks due to a sore left elbow.

Yankees: Begin a six-game road trip Friday night, when RHP Clarke Schmidt (3-1, 3.50 ERA) takes the mound against Rays RHP Taj Bradley, who's making his season debut. Schmidt has allowed three runs or fewer in 32 starts dating the beginning of 2023, the second most in the majors behind Sonny Gray (33).

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