Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., Aug. 21, 2020
Starts and Restarts
The Austin Bold are playing at Tulsa as we go to press Wednesday, needing a win to pass the Roughnecks for the second playoff position in Group D of the USL Championship. It's the second game of a five-game road stretch that started Saturday with a heartbreaker: ceding a stoppage-time equalizer at archrival and group leader San Antonio, after nursing a 1-0 lead for nearly an hour. Next up: at RGV, Colorado Springs, and OKC in rapid succession (Aug. 22, 26, 30; all games available live on ESPN+.)
The MLS regular season is back underway as of tonight, with regional matchups to reduce travel for the first month (and Canadian clubs playing only each other, since they wouldn't be allowed back into Canada if they crossed into the U.S.). In all, the plan is to play 18 games in the 80 days between now and the end of the regular season on Nov. 8, for a total of 23 regular-season games in 2020, and playoffs starting Nov. 20 and running through the MLS Cup, Dec. 12. Plenty of action on ESPN.
The 2020 European football season finally comes to a close this week with a pair of championship finals: Sevilla plays Inter Milan for the Europa League title at 2pm Friday, Aug. 21, and it's Bayern Munich against Paris St. Germain in the Champions League final at 2pm Sunday, Aug. 23, both on CBS Sports... Meanwhile, the 2020-21 season has already begun in both those tournaments, and in several of the European domestic leagues. Ah, to be living in a civilized nation...
