THE SOCCER REPORT
Soccer Recap: Suarez back-heel goal steals the show; Arsenal win first under Ljungberg
Dec 10, 2019, 4:10 am
Arsenal are back in good spirits after first win in 10 matches. Credit: Adidas
Action rolls in Europe after a weekend that featured the Manchester Derby, only to be followed by the end of the UEFA Champions League group stage and a pre-El Clasico La Liga weekend. This week also features the start of the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup.
Off the field, the draw to determine the quarterfinal matchups of the 2020 Concacaf Champions League took place in Mexico CIty on Monday night. The tournament will kick off in February and crown a new champion in May to determine the region's representative in the 2020 Club World Cup.
Where Champions Are Crowned 🏆 #SCCL2020 https://t.co/kJN4F4Q7r4— Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (@Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League) 1575947474.0
Major League Soccer clubs in the CCL will begin their preseason on January 11, one week before the rest of the league.
English Premier League
Top six: 1. Liverpool (46), 2. Leicester City (38), 3. Man City (32), 4. Chelsea (29), 5. Man Utd (24), 6. Wolves (24)
Bottom three (relegation): 18. Southampton (15), 19. Norwich City (11), 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 (34), 2. Real Madrid (34), 3. Sevilla (31), 4. Real Sociedad (27), 5. Getafe (27), 6. Athletic Bilbao (26)
Bottom three: 18. Celta Vigo (13), 19. Leganes (9), 20. Espanyol (9)
Scoring leader: 12 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Assists leader: 6 - Rodrigo (Valencia)
German Bundesliga
Top six: 1. Monchengladbach (31), 2. RB Leipzig (30), 3. Dortmund (26), 4. Schalke 04 (25), 5. Freiburg (25), 6. Bayer Leverkusen (25)
Bottom three: 16. Fortuna (12), 17. Paderborn (8), 18. Cologne (8)
Scoring leader: 16 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Assists leader: 9 - Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)Italian Serie A
Top six: 1. Inter Milan (38), 2. Juventus (36), 3. Lazio (33), 4. Cagliari (29), 5. Roma (29), 6. Atalanta (28)
Bottom three: 18. Genoa (10), 19. SPAL (9), 20. Brescia (7)
Scoring leader: 17 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Assists leader: 11 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)French Ligue 1
Top four: 1. PSG (39), 2. Marseille (34), 3. Lille (28), 4. Rennes (27)
Bottom three: 18. Metz (15), 19. Tolouse (12), 20. Nimes (12)
Scoring leader: 11 - Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco)
Liga MX Playoffs
Monterrey and Club America each punched their ticket to the Liga MX Apertura 2019 final over the weekend. The two will have to wait until Monterrey are done with the FIFA Club World Cup participation to resume the playoffs on Dec. 26.
Quarterfinal results:
- Club Leon 4-5 agg. Monarcas Morelia
- Queretaro 2-6 agg. Necaxa
- Santos Laguna 3-6 agg. Monterrey
- Club America 2-4 agg. Tigres UANL
Semifinal results:
- Necaxa 1-3 agg. Monterrey
- Club America 2-2 agg. Monarcas Morelia, America advance on higher seed tiebreaker
Final schedule:
- First leg: Dec. 26 at Estadio BBVA, Monterrey
- Second leg: Dec. 29 at Estadio Azteca, Mexico
Liga MX Femenil Final
Monterrey's female team, "Rayadas," lifted their first Liga MX Femenil title after a 1-0 win over rivals Tigres UANL in the second leg of the final, 2-1 on aggregate. The series drew an attendance of 41,615 in the first leg on Nov. 29 and 38,251 in Sunday's second leg.
TV listings (All Times CT):
Tuesday, December 10
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] RB Salzburg vs. Liverpool (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Napoli vs. Genk (Galavision)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Inter Milan vs. FC Barcelona (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Ajax vs. Valencia (Galavision)
Wednesday, December 11
11:30 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup / Playoff] Al Sadd vs. Hienghène (FS2, FOX Deportes)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Dinamo Zagreb vs. Man City (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Atalanta (Galavision)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Brugge vs. Real Madrid (UniMas, TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Bayer Leverkusen vs. Juventus (TNT, Galavision)
Thursday, December 12
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Standard Liege vs. Arsenal (UniMas)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Europa League] APOEL vs. Sevilla (TUDN)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Europa League] LASK vs. Sporting CP (Galavision)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Manchester United vs. AZ Alkmaar (UniMas)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Wolves vs. Besiktas (TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Porto vs. Feyenoord (Galavision)
Friday, December 13
1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Hoffenheim vs. FC Augsburg (FS2, TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Alaves vs. Leganes (beIN SPORTS en Español)
Saturday, December 14
6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Liverpool vs. Watford (NBC Sports)
8:00 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup / Quarterfinal] Al-Hilal vs. ES Tunis (FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayern Munich vs. SV Werder Bremen (FS1)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Dortmund (FS2, TUDN)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Chelsea vs. Bournemouth (NBC Sports)
9:00 a.m. - [La Liga] Real Sociedad vs. FC Barcelona (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup / Quarterfinal] Monterrey vs. Al Sadd or Hienghène (FS2)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Southampton vs. West Ham (NBC)
1:30 p.m. - [La Liga] Atletico Madrid vs. Osasuna (beIN SPORTS)
Sunday, December 15
8:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Wolves vs. Spurs (NBC Sports)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Wolfsburg vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach (FS1)
10:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Arsenal vs. Manchester City (NBC Sports)
11:00 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Schalke 04 vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (FS1)
2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Valencia vs. Real Madrid (beIN SPORTS)
Monday, December 16
6:00 a.m. - Draw for UEFA Champions League and Europa League knockout stage (UEFA.com, B/R Live)
2:00 p.m. - [Premier League] Crystal Palace vs. Brighton (NBC Sports)
Cal Raleigh hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off the right field foul pole and the Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros 5-3 on Friday night.
Raleigh's 17th homer followed Julio RodrĂguez's tying RBI double in the seventh inning. Leody Taveras homered among his three hits, and Miles Mastrobuoni also hit a solo home run.
Emerson Hancock (2-2) gave up three runs and nine hits in six innings, striking out three and walking none. Hancock won for the first time in six starts, and Andrés Muñoz got the last three outs for 17th save while maintaining his 0.00 ERA.
Isaac Paredes hit his 11th homer of the season and seventh in the past 10 games for Houston.
Jose Altuve had three hits after hitting two homers Thursday. The former second-baseman easily threw out Raleigh when the Mariners' catcher tried to score from second on Taveras' line-drive single to left in the sixth.
Cam Smith also had three hits for the Astros.
Altuve played his 1,870th career game, tying Jośe Cruz for third-most in Astros history behind Craig Biggio (2,850) and Jeff Bagwell (2,150).
Bryan Abreau (1-2) allowed two runs and three hits in 1 1/3 innings, giving up runs for just the second time in 21 appearances. He surrendered three to the Mariners on April 9 for his other loss.
Key moment
RodrĂguez, back in the lineup after missing Thursday's game with back tightness, hit Abreu's first pitch for a down the right-field line to score Crawford from first. On the next pitch, Raleigh hit his homer to right.
Key stat
Mastrobuoni’s homer was his first with Seattle, and first in his four-year major league career since 2023 with the Chicago Cubs.
Up next
Seattle's Bryan Woo (5-1, 2.65) pitches against Houston's Framber Valdez (3-4, 3.57) on Saturday.