Games to Watch: Major League Soccer's 20th season kicks off in style
United States women vs. Switzerland
12:00 p.m. Friday (Fox Sports 1)
On Wednesday, Carli Lloyd and the U.S. women had to come from behind to beat Norway, 2-1. Switzerland won't pose nearly as tough a challenge, but it sends enough of a message that the Americans struggled against a Norwegian team they should have beaten more easily.
The U.S. will conclude group stage play Monday against Iceland (12:00 p.m., no TV), then play a classification round game Wednesday. That contest could be against another World Cup title contender such as Germany or Japan. If so, it will be one of the team's last crucial tests before heading to Canada this summer.
Chicago Fire at Los Angeles Galaxy
10:00 p.m. Friday (UniMás)
The opening game of Major League Soccer's 20th season comes with a lot of hype, and rightly so.
Chicago took three new Designated Player signings out west: Irish winger Shaun Maloney, Nigerian forward Kennedy Igboananike and David Accam. The Galaxy begin defense of their fifth MLS title without longtime star Landon Donovan, but they still have Robbie Keane and a rising star in U.S. national team forward Gyasi Zardes.
This weekend also marks the start of MLS' new eight-year, $720 million deal with its national TV partners at Univision, ESPN and Fox. Univision's networks will have an exclusive broadcast each Friday night. In addition to the traditional Spanish-language broadcast, there will be an English-language audio feed available via the SAP button on your remote.
On the Spanish side, Jorge Pérez-Navarro and José Luis López Salido will split play-by-play duties. Diego Balado, Raul Guzman and Marcelo Balboa will serve as color analysts and Iván Kasanzew will be the sideline reporter. Jorge Calvo will also contribute to studio segments, and for this game, Landon Donovan will be part of the crew as well.
On the English side, Ramsés Sandoval will handle play-by-play, alongside color analyst Paul Caligiuri.
Real Madrid at Athletic Bilbao
11:55 a.m. Saturday (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)
This will be a tricky matchup for Cristiano Ronaldo and Real, which holds a slim two-point lead atop La Liga. Bilbao is riding a three-game unbeaten streak in which it hasn't allowed a single goal. At the other end of the field, 22-year-old Athletic winger Iker Munain has been dubbed "the Spanish Messi" for his skills on the ball.
New York City FC at Orlando City
4:30 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
It's the biggest game of the weekend, and one of the biggest opening-weekend games in MLS history. Both of this year's expansion teams have spent big money on big stars: New York has David Villa, Mix Diskerud and Frank Lampard (coming in July), while Orlando has Brazilian legend Kaká. A sellout crowd at the Citrus Bowl of over 60,000 fans will be on hand for the occasion.
ESPN veterans Adrian Healey, Taylor Twellman and Mónica González return as the network's main MLS commentary team for the season. ESPN Deportes will have play-by-play voice Richard Mendez and color analyst Giovanni Savarese in its broadcast booth.
New York Red Bulls at Sporting Kansas City
7:00 p.m. Sunday (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)
MLS returns to Fox after a three-year absence with a prime time doubleheader. First up is a clash between two of the league's founding clubs.
The Red Bulls lost Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill during the offseason, but they added former U.S. national team midfielder Sacha Kljestan to an attack led by prolific striker Bradley Wright-Phillips. Kansas City has current U.S. national teams Graham Zusi and Matt Besler, and welcomes back Honduran midfielder Roger Espinoza after two seasons with English club Wigan.
J.P. Dellacamera will call the game, with Brad Friedel as his color analyst. Julie Stewart-Binks will report from the sidelines. Rob Stone, Eric Wynalda, Stuart Holden and Landon Donovan will be in the network's Los Angeles studio throughout the night.
New England Revolution at Seattle Sounders
9:30 p.m. Sunday (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)
The last game of the weekend could be the most entertaining. Seattle, which had the best regular season record in MLS last year, has a dynamic duo of strikers in Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins.
New England won the Eastern Conference in 2014 with an electric midfield featuring Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez and Jermaine Jones. This year, the Revs bring back one-time starlet forward Juan Agudelo. If he can rediscover his old form, New England will be favored to win the East again.
John Strong, color analyst Alexi Lalas and sideline reporter Grant Wahl will have the call in their first game together as Fox's top MLS broadcast team. Fox Deportes will have a three-man booth for all of its games, with play-by-play voice John Laguna alongside color analysts Mariano Trujillo and Claudio Suárez.
Arsenal at Manchester United
3:45 p.m. Monday (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)
Two of English soccer's all-time heavyweights are set to slug it out again, this time in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. Santi Cazorla and former United striker Danny Welbeck lead Arsenal into Old Trafford to face Wayne Rooney, Ángel Di María and the Red Devils.
Paris Saint-Germain at Chelsea
2:30 p.m. Wednesday (Fox Sports 1, ESPN Deportes)
After a 1-1 tie last month in Paris, the scene shifts to London for the second leg of this star-studded UEFA Champions League round of 16 series. Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Chelsea have the advantage coming home. But in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edison Cavani, PSG have game-breakers who can deliver big goals at any moment.