Soccer Watch

All quiet this week on the stadium/MLS expansion front, in the wake of last week's City Council resolution declaring the city's support for such efforts. So the site search goes on, as does the investor search. And meanwhile, the Austin Aztex gear up for what may well be their last season as an amateur PDL team: They hold their final tryouts this weekend, March 15-16, for the season that kicks off May 10. Those take place at Round Rock's Kelly Reeves athletic complex; get more info at www.austinaztex.com.

Lots of Champions League action this week: In Europe, Bayern Munich finished off Arsenal on Tuesday in the Round of 16, while Atlético Madrid ousted AC Milan. Barcelona-Manchester City is today, Wednesday, and the final four games are next Tuesday-Wednesday, March 18-19 – all on the Fox networks, 2:45pm (an hour later than usual, because Europe hasn't yet gone on daylight saving time). ... Meanwhile, the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals open this week with three USA-Mexico matchups: San Jose-Toluca was Tuesday night after our press time, then on Wednesday, MLS champion Sporting Kansas City hosts current Liga MX leader Cruz Azul (7pm), and the LA Galaxy kicks off a border clasico with Tijuana (9pm). The second legs will be played next week in Mexico, and all games are being shown on Fox and Univision channels. ... Speaking of MLS, their season kicked off last weekend; more on that next time.