Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., Feb. 19, 2016
The U.S. Women swept through the group stage of Olympic qualifying in fine form, outscoring opponents 16-0 in three games up in Frisco, including a 10-0 rout of Puerto Rico, in which Crystal Dunn scored five goals. They face Trinidad this Friday, Feb. 19 at 7:30pm in Houston (live on NBCSN) for a spot in this summer's Olympics in Brazil. The tournament final is at 4pm, Sunday, Feb. 21, likely against archrival Canada, streaming live on NBC Sports Live, and airing at 10pm on NBCSN.
The European Champions League Round of 16 continues each Tuesday-Wednesday for three of the next four weeks, with Fox Sports showing two games simultaneously each day at 1:45pm on FS1 and FS2. Next Tuesday, Feb. 23, features the two marquee matchups of the round: Barcelona at Arsenal, and Bayern Munich at Juventus. The favorites held serve in the first games this week: Paris bested Chelsea 2-1, Wolfsburg held on for a 3-2 victory over Gent, and Real Madrid all but dashed AS Roma's European dreams with a convincing 2-0 win.
The CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals – which begin those same days, Tue.-Wed., Feb. 23-24 – is a straight-up U.S.-Mexico showdown, with four MLS clubs facing off against four from Liga MX. There's a big structural advantage for the Mexican clubs, who are in the heart of their season, while the MLS teams are still three weeks away from opening day, and may not even have their lineups set. Or, maybe the Mexican clubs will be distracted by their league race, and worn out by the extra travel and mid-week games. Either way, on Tuesday it's DC United at Querétaro (7pm) and América at Seattle Sounders (9pm); and on Wednesday it's Real Salt Lake at Tigres (7pm) and Santos Laguna at LA Galaxy (9pm), all showing live on Fox Sports 1 & 2.
