THE SOCCER REPORT

Chelsea-Bayern, Napoli-Barcelona, Lyon-Juve, Real Madrid-Man City on UCL menu, El Clasico on Sunday

Chelsea-Bayern, Napoli-Barcelona, Lyon-Juve, Real Madrid-Man City on UCL menu, El Clasico on Sunday
Finale Istanbul is the Official Match Ball for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League knockout stages. Photo: adidas

Plenty of big name clubs will highlight this week's action in the UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona face off in the sport's premier rivalry and the 25th season of Major League Soccer gets underway. In the Serie A, matches were postponed over the weekend due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy.

Here is the week in soccer:

International Club competitions

UEFA Champions League

Round of 16 - First Leg

  • Atletico Madrid 1-0 Liverpool
  • Dortmund 2-1 PSG
  • Atalanta 4-1 Valencia
  • Tottenham 0-1 RB Leipzig

Concacaf Champions League

Round of 16 - First Leg

  • Portmore United 1-2 Cruz Azul
  • Motagua 1-1 Atlanta United
  • Leon 2-0 LAFC
  • Deportivo Saprissa 2-2 Montreal Impact
  • Alianza 2-1 Tigres UANL
  • Communicaciones 1-1 Club America
  • AD San Carlos 3-5 NYCFC
  • Olimpia 2-2 Seattle Sounders FC

English Premier League

Top six: 1. Liverpool (79), 2. Man City (57), 3. Leicester City (50), 4. Chelsea (44), 5. Manchester United (41), 6. Tottenham (40)

Bottom three (relegation): 18. West Ham (24), 19. Watford (24), 20. Norwich City (18)

Scoring leader: 17 - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) / Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)

Assists leader: 16 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

Spanish La Liga

Top six: 1. FC Barcelona (55), 2. Real Madrid (53), 3. Atletico Madrid (43), 4. Sevilla (43), 5. Getafe (42), 6. Real Sociedad (40)

Bottom three: 18. Mallorca (22), 19. Leganes (19), 20. Espanyol (19)

Scoring leader: 18 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

Assists leader: 12 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

German Bundesliga

Top six: 1. Bayern Munich (49), 2. RB Leipzig (48), 3. Dortmund (45), 4. Monchengladbach (43), 5. Bayer Leverkusen (43), 6. Schalke 04 (36)

Bottom three: 16. Fortuna (20), 17. Werder Bremen (17), 18. Paderborn (16)

Scoring leader: 25 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Assists leader: 14 - Jadon Sancho (Dortmund) / Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

Italian Serie A

Top six: 1. Juventus (60), 2. Lazio (59), 3. Inter Milan (54), 4. Atalanta (45), 5. Roma (42), 6. Napoli (36)

Bottom three: 18. Genoa (22), 19. Brescia (16), 20. SPAL (15)

Scoring leader: 27 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)

Assists leader: 11 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)

French Ligue 1

Top four: 1. PSG (65), 2. Marseille (52), 3. Rennes (44), 4. Lille (43)

Bottom three: 18. Nimes (27), 19. Amiens (22), 20. Toulouse (13)

Scoring leader: 16 - Kylian Mbappe (PSG) / Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco)

Assists leader: 14 - Angel Di Maria (PSG)

Liga MX

Clausura 2020

Top eight: 1. Club America (16), 2. Leon (15), 3. Pumas UNAM (14), 4. Cruz Azul (13), 5. Queretaro (12), 6. Atletico San Luis (12), 7. Juarez (11), 8. Santos Laguna (11)

Scoring leader: 5 - Angel Mena (Leon) / Ariel Nahuelpan (Queretaro) / Jonathan Rodriguez (Cruz Azul)

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, February 25

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich (TNT, Galavision)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Napoli vs. FC Barcelona (UniMas / TUDN, B/R Live)

6:30 p.m. - [Copa Sudamericana] River Plate vs. Deportivo Cali (beIN Sports)

7:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Atlanta United vs. Motagua (FS1, TUDN)

9:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Cruz Azul vs. Portmore United (FS2, TUDN)

Wednesday, February 26

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

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

5:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] NYCFC vs. AD San Carlos (FS2, TUDN)

7:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Montreal lmpact vs. Deportivo Saprissa (FS2)

7:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Tigres UANL vs. Alianza (TUDN)

Thursday, February 27

12:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Espanyol vs. Wolves (UniMas, B/R Live)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Manchester United vs. Brugge (UniMas, B/R Live)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Arsenal vs. Olympiakos (TUDN, B/R Live)

9:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] LAFC vs. Club Leon (FS1, TUDN)

9:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Seattle Sounders FC vs. Olimpia (FS2)

Friday, February 28

1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Dusseldorf vs. Hertha Berlin (FS2, FOX Deportes)

2:00 p.m. - [Premier League] Norwich vs. Leicester City (NBC Sports)

2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Real Sociedad vs. Valladolid (beIN Sports)

9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Monarcas Morelia vs. Cruz Azul (TUDN)

9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Club Tijuana vs. Puebla (FOX Deportes)

Saturday, February 29

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

8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Hoffenheim vs. Bayern Munich, (FS1, UniMas, TUDN)

8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Dortmund vs. Freiburg (FS2, FOX Deportes)

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

9:00 a.m. - [La Liga] Valencia vs. Real Betis (beIN Sports)

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

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

5:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Pachuca vs. Queretaro (TUDN, ESPN Deportes)

7:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] America vs. Necaxa (Univision)

9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Tigres UANL vs. Pumas UNAM (Univision)

Sunday, March 1

8:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Everton vs. Man United(NBC Sports)

8:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Tottenham vs. Wovles (NBC Sports Gold)

10:30 a.m. - [English League Cup Final] Manchester City vs. Aston Villa (NBC Sports)

2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona (beIN Sports)

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome