Games to Watch: MLS Supporters' Shield race nears climax
Real Salt Lake at Portland Timbers
10:00 p.m. Friday (NBCSN)
Diego Valeri and the Timbers are running out of time to make the MLS playoffs for the second year in a row. If they want to overtake Vancouver in the fight for the Western Conference's last playoff spot, they must find a way past RSL and U.S. national team stalwart goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
Chelsea at Crystal Palace
10:00 a.m. Saturday (NBCSN)
Chelsea returns to the scene of their most important loss last season: a 1-0 loss in late March that all but sank their Premier League title dreams. They return this weekend as the EPL's best team, led by playmaker Cesc Fàbregas and super striker Diego Costa. If the Blues can avoid another John Terry own goal, they should have no trouble with Jason Puncheon and the Eagles.
Montréal Impact at Toronto FC
2:00 p.m. Saturday (Univision Deportes)
Toronto's playoff hopes hang by a thread. Michael Bradley, Jermain Defoe and the Reds must win their last two games and hope that Columbus loses their last two games. You can be sure that Montréal would like nothing more than to bury its big-spending Canadian rival's postseason dreams. The Impact have a player who can do just that in Italian striker Marco Di Vaio.
Columbus Crew at New York Red Bulls
3:00 p.m. Saturday (UniMás)
Depending on how the playoff seeding shakes out, this could be Thierry Henry's last ever home game in a Red Bulls uniform. The French veteran hasn't confirmed that he's retiring yet, but at the very least he's moving on from New York. Columbus will assign midfielder Wil Trapp, a potential future U.S. national team star, to try to spoil Henry's party and vault the Crew over the Red Bulls in the standings.
Seattle Sounders at Los Angeles Galaxy
8:00 p.m. 8:15 p.m. 8:30 p.m. Sunday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
It's always a big deal when the two superpowers in MLS' Western Conference match wits. The stakes are higher than ever now, as Landon Donovan's Galaxy and Clint Dempsey's Sounders meet on back-to-back weekends to close out the regular season. First up is Donovan's last regular season home game in SoCal.
Expect lots of tributes to honor the best and most successful American player MLS has ever produced. You'll see all of the pregame ceremonies on the national TV broadcast, which is why ESPN twice moved up its air time from the original schedule.
Real Madrid at Liverpool
2:30 p.m. Wednesday (Fox Sports 1, ESPN Deportes)
Liverpool's famed Anfield stadium hosts the most glamorous game of the latest round of UEFA Champions League action. Expect the fabled Kop stand to be rocking as Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling try to take down Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodríguez and the rest of Real's galacticos.