Chicharito to MLS gains steam

Soccer Report: Real Madrid win Spanish Super Cup, Dynamo continue off-season additions

Victor Araiza
Jan 14, 2020, 8:28 am
Real Madrid visited Houston last July as part of the 2019 International Champions Cup. Manuel Gonzalez / DTUSA

The 2020 MLS SuperDraft brought a few more additions to the Houston Dynamo, bringing the number of players under contract to 25 as of Tuesday morning. South of the border, the Clausura 2020 season got underway in Liga MX and cup action dominates the talk over in Europe.

Here are the top stories of the weekend:

Houston Dynamo add Croatian GK, select four MLS SuperDraft

The Dynamo officially announced the signing of GK Marko Marić from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Monday. The Austrian born player who has played internationally for Croatia is expected to be the starting man in goal this season. The signing was first reported by KXLN's Lester Gretsch back in December.

The club also selected four players in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, two in Rounds 1 & 2 on Thursday followed by the other two in Round 3 & 4 on Monday. The selections, which still have to come to terms on a contract, are as follows:

  • Rd 1, #8 overall - F Garrett McLaughlin (SMU)
  • Rd 2, #34 overall - M Luka Prpa (Marquette)
  • Rd 3, #70 overall - GK Duncan Turnball (Notre Dame)
  • Rd 4, #86 overall - F Kyle Edwards (UTRGV)

For a full list of Matt Jordan's selections in the SuperDraft during his Dynamo tenure click here. Also, check out the top five draft picks in club history.


English Premier League

Top six: 1. Liverpool (61), 2. Man City (47), 3. Leicester City (45), 4. Chelsea (39), 5. Man Utd (34), 6. Sheffield (32)

Bottom three (relegation): 18. Aston Villa (21), 19. Bournemouth (20), 20. Norwich City (14)

Scoring leader: 17 - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

Assists leader: 14 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

Real Madrid win Spanish Super Cup

FC Barcelona sack Manager Ernesto Valverde

Mexican star Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez linked to LA Galaxy

Italian Serie A

Top six: 1. Juventus (48), 2. Inter Milan (46), 3. Lazio (42), 4. Atalanta (35), 5. Roma (34), 6. Cagliari (29)

Bottom three: 18. Genoa (14), 19. Brescia (14), 20. SPAL (12)

Scoring leader: 20 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)

Assists leader: 11 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)

Liga MX Clausura 2020 kicks off

The second half of the Liga MX calendar year kicked off over the weekend with only four teams not participating in the first week, Apertura 2019 finalists Monterrey and Club America among them. The teams that took three points in their first outing of the year were Leon, Chivas Guadalajara, Atlas, Pumas UNAM, Xolos of Tijuana and Toluca.

TV listings (All Times CT):

For full info on soccer TV listings and streaming services in the United States, visit worldsoccertalk.com

Tuesday, January 14

8:00 a.m. - [Coppa Italia] Napoli vs. Perugia (ESPN+)

11:00 a.m. - [Coppa Italia] Lazio vs. Cremonese (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [Coppa Italia] Inter vs. Cagliari (ESPN+)

2:00 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Tottenham vs. Middlesbrough (ESPN+)

Wednesday, January 15

11:00 a.m. - [Coppa Italia] Milan vs. SPAL (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [Coppa Italia] Juventus vs. Udinese (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Manchester United vs. Wolves (ESPN+)

2:00 p.m. - [Ligue 1] Monaco vs. PSG (beINSports)

Thursday, January 16

2:00 p.m. - [Coppa Italia] Parma vs. Roma (ESPN+)

9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] FC Juarez vs. Pumas UNAM (TUDN)

Friday, January 17

1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Schalke 04 vs. Borussia Monchengladbach (FS2, TUDN)

2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Leganes vs. Getafe (beIN Sports)

9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Atlas vs. Puebla (TUDN)

Saturday, January 18

6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Watford vs. Tottenham (NBC Sports)

8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Augsburg vs. Borussia Dortmund (FS1, FOX Deportes)

8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Hoffenheim vs. Frankfurt (FS2, TUDN)

9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Arsenal vs. Sheffield United (NBC Sports)

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

11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Newcastle vs. Chelsea (NBC)

11:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] RB Leipzig vs. FC Union Berlin (FS2, FOX Deportes)

1:45 p.m. - [Serie A] Napoli vs. Fiorentina (ESPN+)

2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Eibar vs. Atletico Madrid (beIN Sports)

5:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Monterrey vs. Monarcas Morelia (FOX Deportes)

7:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Pachuca vs. C.D. Guadalajara (Univision, TUDN)

9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Club America vs. Tigres (Univision, TUDN)

Sunday, January 19

5:30 a.m. - [Serie A] A.C. Milan vs. Udinese (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)

8:00 a.m. - [Serie A] Lecce vs. Inter (ESPN+)

8:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Burnley vs. Leicester City (NBC Sports)

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

10:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Liverpool vs. Manchester United (NBC Sports)

11:00 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Paderborn vs. Bayer Leverkusen (FS2, FOX Deportes)

11:00 a.m. - [Serie A] Genoa vs. AS Roma (ESPN+)

11:30 a.m. - [Liga MX] Toluca vs. Necaxa (Univision, TUDN)

1:45 p.m. - [Serie A] Juventus vs. Parma (ESPN+)

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

3:30 p.m. - [Liga MX] Queretaro vs. Tijuana (TUDN)

6:45 p.m. - [Liga MX] Santos Laguna vs. Leon (FOX Deportes)

crist... serie a ac milan juventus roma inter milan soccer

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Houston leads the series 1-0

Astros get a late rally to take ALWC Game 1 from Twins

Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

With a fresh slate in front of them, the Astros entered Target Field on Tuesday needing thirteen wins to get their second World Series win in franchise history. First, they needed to take two of three in the ALWC (American League Wild Card) round against the Twins. As with most playoff series openers, it shaped up to be a fierce pitching matchup. Here is a rundown of the game:

Final Score: Astros 4, Twins 1.

Series: HOU leads 1-0.

Winning Pitcher: Framber Valdez.

Losing Pitcher: Sergio Romo.

Greinke allows a run then gets the early hook

After stranding Michael Brantley on second base after a double in the top of the inning, the Twins put early pressure on Zack Greinke in the bottom of the first. They took advantage of Greinke struggling to find the zone, getting a one-out single, then back-to-back walks to load the bases. With some stellar defense behind him, though, he would escape unscathed.

After loading the bases in the first, Greinke retired the next seven in a row, not allowing a baserunner until two outs into the third when he would walk Max Kepler. That proved costly, as Nelson Cruz would drive him in on a long RBI-double, putting the Twins ahead 1-0. He would get the next batter out, then tossed a 1-2-3 fourth, but would get the early hook with his pitch count rising and the top of Minnesota's order coming back around in the fifth. Greinke's final line: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 79 P.

Valdez takes over then the Astros tie it up

One reason they were quick to take Greinke out early is that they were willing to use Framber Valdez, who took over in the bottom of the fifth. He would struggle against his first two batters, walking both before sitting down the next three to keep it a one-run game heading to the sixth.

The Twins also dipped into their bullpen starting in the top of the sixth, with another scoreless inning by Houston's bats. The Astros would tie the game and get on the board in the top of the seventh, getting back-to-back two-out singles by Josh Reddick and Martin Maldonado to set up an RBI-single by George Springer, before Maldonado would run into the third out trying to advance to third.

Astros blow it open in the ninth and take Game 1

The game remained tied 1-1 into the ninth with Minnesota going inning-by-inning with relievers while Valdez was dealing for Houston. In the top of the ninth, the Astros started the inning with back-to-back singles to threaten to go ahead. After outs in the air by the next two batters, an error by the Twins loaded the bases instead of recording the third out, keeping Houston alive and bringing Jose Altuve to the plate.

Altuve would get the go-ahead RBI, working a walk to put the Astros in front 2-1 for their first lead of the game. That brought Michael Brantley to the plate, still with the bases loaded, and would drive in two of them with a two-RBI single to push the lead to 4-1.

Houston would ride the hot hand into the bottom of the ninth, sticking with Framber Valdez to bring it home. He would maintain the lead and get the win, erasing two one-out singles to finish the Houston victory, putting them a win away from advancing to the ALDS.

Up Next: Game two of this best-of-three will start an hour earlier on Wednesday, with a 12:08 PM Central start. With Framber Valdez being used in Game 1, the Astros are expected to start Jose Urquidy in Game 2, while the Twins will send Jose Berrios to the mound.

astros recap astros score astros vs twins alwc game 1 zack greinke george springer framber valdez jose altuve michael brantley astros

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