THE SOCCER REPORT
Soccer Recap: Champions League draw reveals Round of 16; MLS adds 30th team
Dec 17, 2019, 11:06 pm
Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus got a favorable encounter in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Photo: adidas
The week in soccer has left plenty to talk about in domestic and international news. Wednesday will feature some important matches as Mexico's Monterrey faces England's Liverpool in the FIFA Club World Cup and FC Barcelona host Real Madrid in the most notorious rivalry in the sport, "El Clasico."
Major League Soccer announces Charlotte as 30th franchise
14 months. Get ready Charlotte. #CharlotteMLS2021 https://t.co/OpmmfH4rZZ— Bank of America Stadium (@Bank of America Stadium) 1576597264.0
Expansion is a recurring topic these days in MLS as more and more teams sign up to join the league. This time it's Dave Tepper, owner of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, who has ponied up a record $325 million expansion fee to join the largest first division league in the world (in terms of teams).
For the upcoming 2020 year, 26 teams will play in MLS - the league's 25th season. The league only had 12 teams total in 2006 when the Houston Dynamo debuted as the latest "expansion" side after relocating from San Jose. Twenty teams have joined the league since 2005.
UEFA Champions League Round of 16 pits Real Madrid vs. Man City
Round of 16 draw 🔥 Sum up your reaction with a GIF 📱 #UCLdraw https://t.co/fkdBCoX7v6— UEFA Champions League (@UEFA Champions League) 1576495463.0
The Round of 16 matchups for the UEFA Champions League knockout stage are set. The glaring series is between Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. Both sides are contenders every year because of the unlimited cash behind their squads but the storyline is the bout between Madrid and the former Barcelona manager. It will also be the first time Zidane and Guardiola meet as managers, both icons of their respective Spanish clubs.
Atletico Madrid versus defending champions Liverpool and Chelsea versus Bayern are also enticing matchups. Defensive Atleti will have a tall task against the heavy metal offense of Liverpool, who will return to Atleti's Wanda Metropolitano stadium - the site of the 2019 UCL final where Liverpool lifted their 6th title. Chelsea and Bayern will have a similar feel as Frank Lampard returns to the site of Chelsea's 2012 Champions League triumph.
Juventus, Tottenham and Barcelona look to be winners of the draw with favorable matchups in the Round of 16. The knockout stage begins in February.
UEFA Europa League Round of 32 announced
🔥 Round of 32 draw 🔥 Sum up your reaction with a GIF 📱 #UELdraw https://t.co/n9CYJkCFUz— UEFA Europa League (@UEFA Europa League) 1576499762.0
The draw for the Europa League was also held on Monday in Switzerland. England's Manchester United and Arsenal plus Italy's Inter Milan are among the favorites to win it all and grab the coveted Champions League entry for the 2020-21 edition.
U.S. Soccer Players of the Year named
NEWS: For the second time, Christian Pulisic has been voted as your @ussoccer Male Player of the Year. 👏👏 Congrats, @cpulisic_10! 🏆🏆— U.S. Soccer MNT (@U.S. Soccer MNT) 1576162771.0
No surprise, Pulisic was named the best male player for U.S. Soccer.
Julie Ertz was named U.S. Soccer Women's Player of the Year given after her performance in last summer's FIFA Women's World Cup. Megan Rapinoe was named Sports Illustrated's 2019 Sportsperson of the Year. The entire U.S. Women's National Team was named TIME Magazine's Athlete of the Year.
FIFA Club World Cup
The end of the year tournament to determine the Club World Champion is underway in Qatar. Flamengo defeated Al-Hilal on Tuesday in the semifinals. The Copa Libertadores champions now await the winner of Wednesday's bout between European Champions Liverpool and Concacaf Champions Monterrey.
European Roundup
English Premier League
Top six: 1. Liverpool (49), 2. Leicester City (39), 3. Man City (35), 4. Chelsea (29), 5. Tottenham (26), 6. Man Utd (25)
Bottom three (relegation): 18. Southampton (15), 19. Norwich City (12), 20. Watford (9)
Scoring leader: 16 - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Assists leader: 9 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Spanish La Liga
Top six: 1. FC Barcelona (35), 2. Real Madrid (35), 3. Sevilla (31), 4. Getafe (30), 5. Atletico Madrid (29), 6. Real Sociedad (28)
Bottom three: 18. Celta Vigo (14), 19. Leganes (10), 20. Espanyol (10)
Scoring leader: 12 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) / Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Assists leader: 6 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) / Rodrigo (Valencia)
German Bundesliga
Updated after Tuesday, Dec. 17 results
Top six: 1. RB Leipzig (34), 2. Monchengladbach (31), 3. Dortmund (30), 4. Schalke 04 (28), 5. Bayern Munich (27), 6. Freiburg (25)
Bottom three: 16. Fortuna (12), 17. Cologne (11), 18. Paderborn (9)
Scoring leader: 18 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) / Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Assists leader: 10 - Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
Italian Serie A
Updated after Tuesday, Dec. 17 results
Top six: 1. Inter Milan (39), 2. Juventus (39), 3. Lazio (36), 4. Roma (32), 5. Cagliari (29), 6. Atalanta (28)
Bottom three: 18. Brescia (13), 19. Genoa (11), 20. SPAL (7)
Scoring leader: 17 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Assists leader: 11 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)French Ligue 1
Top four: 1. PSG (42), 2. Marseille (35), 3. Lille (31), 4. Rennes (30)
Bottom three: 18. Metz (16), 19. Nimes (12), 20. Toulouse (12)
Scoring leader: 11 - Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco)
Assists leader: 7 - Islam Slimani (Monaco) / Yoann Court (Brest)
TV listings (All Times CT):
Wednesday, December 18
11:30 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup] Liverpool FC vs. CF Monterrey (FS2, FOX Deportes)
11:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hertha Berlin (FOX Soccer Plus, TUDN)
11:30 a.m. - [Dutch Cup] Telstar vs. Ajax (GolTV)
11:55 a.m. - [Serie A] Sampdoria vs. Juventus (ESPN+)
1:00 p.m. - [La Liga] FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
1:45 p.m. - [English League Cup] Everton vs. Leicester City (ESPN+)
1:45 p.m. - [English League Cup] Oxford vs. Manchester City (ESPN+)
2:00 p.m. - [English League Cup] Manchester United vs. Colchester (ESPN+)
Friday, December 20
1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Hoffenheim vs. Borussia Dortmund (FS2, TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Eibar vs. Granada (beIN SPORTS en Español)
Saturday, December 21
6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Everton vs. Arsenal (NBC Sports)
8:30 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup Third Place] Liverpool/Monterrey vs. Al Hilal (FS2, FOX Deportes)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayern Munich vs. VfL Wolfsburg (FS1)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] RB Leipzig vs. Augsburg (TUDN)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Norwich vs. Wolves (NBC Sports)
9:00 a.m. - [La Liga] Barcelona vs. Alaves (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Manchester City vs. Leicester City (NBC)
1:30 p.m. - [La Liga] Atletico Madrid vs. Osasuna (beIN SPORTS)
Sunday, December 22
6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Watford vs. Manchester United (NBC Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Tottenham vs. Chelsea (NBC Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup Final] Liverpool/Monterrey winner vs. Flamengo (FS2, FOX Deportes)
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Through 20 games, the Houston Astros have managed just six wins and are in last place in the AL West.
Their pitching staff trails only Colorado with a 5.24 ERA and big-money new closer Josh Hader has given up the same number of earned runs in 10 games as he did in 61 last year.
Despite this, these veteran Astros, who have reached the AL Championship Series seven consecutive times, have no doubt they’ll turn things around.
“If there’s a team that can do it, it’s this team,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
First-year manager Joe Espada, who was hired in January to replace the retired Dusty Baker, discussed his team’s early struggles.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It’s not what we expected, to come out of the shoot playing this type of baseball. But you know what, this is where we’re at and we’ve got to pick it up and play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Many of Houston’s problems have stemmed from a poor performance by a rotation that has been decimated by injuries. Ace Justin Verlander and fellow starter José Urquidy haven’t pitched this season because of injuries and lefty Framber Valdez made just two starts before landing on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut April 1, has pitched well and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. Cristian Javier is also off to a good start, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts, but the team has won just two games not started by those two pitchers.
However, Espada wouldn’t blame the rotation for Houston’s current position.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster how we've played overall,” he said. “One day we get good starting pitching, some days we don’t. The middle relief has been better and sometimes it hasn’t been. So, we’ve just got to put it all together and then play more as a team. And once we start doing that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The good news for the Astros is that Verlander will make his season debut Friday night when they open a series at Washington and Valdez should return soon after him.
“Framber and Justin have been a great part of our success in the last few years,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “So, it’s always good to have those two guys back helping the team. We trust them and I think it’s going to be good.”
Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract this offseason to give the Astros a shutdown 7-8-9 combination at the back end of their bullpen with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. But the five-time All-Star is off to a bumpy start.
He allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Braves on Monday night and has yielded eight earned runs this season after giving up the same number in 56 1/3 innings for San Diego last year.
He was much better Wednesday when he struck out the side in the ninth before the Astros fell to Atlanta in 10 innings for their third straight loss.
Houston’s offense, led by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, ranks third in the majors with a .268 batting average and is tied for third with 24 homers this season. But the Astros have struggled with runners in scoring position and often failed to get a big hit in close games.
While many of Houston’s hitters have thrived this season, one notable exception is first baseman José Abreu. The 37-year-old, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting 0.78 with just one extra-base hit in 16 games, raising questions about why he remains in the lineup every day.
To make matters worse, his error on a routine ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday helped the Braves tie the game before they won in extra innings.
Espada brushed off criticism of Abreu and said he knows the 2020 AL MVP can break out of his early slump.
“Because (of) history,” Espada said. “The back of his baseball card. He can do it.”
Though things haven’t gone well for the Astros so far, everyone insists there’s no panic in this team which won its second World Series in 2022.
Altuve added that he doesn’t have to say anything to his teammates during this tough time.
“I think they’ve played enough baseball to know how to control themselves and how to come back to the plan we have, which is winning games,” he said.
The clubhouse was quiet and somber Wednesday after the Astros suffered their third series sweep of the season and second at home. While not panicking about the slow start, this team, which has won at least 90 games in each of the last three seasons, is certainly not happy with its record.
“We need to do everything better,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of games, but we just haven’t found a way to win them. And good teams find a way to win games. So we need to find a way to win games.”