While we wait on Atlanta United to announce several things:
- Coaching staff;
- Reported third kit (with numbers that we can hopefully see ... looking at you Adidas);
- And any player signings.
There will be several games this week that have the potential to be outstanding to watch:
MONDAY
Noon, Santa Clara vs. Benfica, GOLTV, FUBOTV: Can Benfica remain unbeaten in the Primeira Liga?
3 p.m., Southampton vs. Liverpool, NBCSN, FUBOTV: A win puts Liverpool, the greatest team in the history of all sports, three points clear of Manchester United, which I believe also plays in England, for first in the Premier League.
TUESDAY
7:30 p.m., River Plate vs. Palmeiras, beIN SPORTS: A Copa Libertadores match between two of the biggest clubs in South America. I’ve never been to South America. I’d love to go. If you’ve gone and attended a game, please share your memories with me.
WEDNESDAY
2:45 p.m., Manchester United vs. Manchester City, ESPN+: Nothing like a League Cup mid-week match between two of the biggest spending clubs in the world. I’m pretty sure you could fund education in America for about 10 years with the transfer money spent by these two.
2:45 p.m., A.C. Milan vs. Juventus, ESPN2: Serie A resumes with this fantastic matchup. A.C. Milan leads Serie A with 37 points. Juventus, which has won Serie A one billion times, trails by 10. But Juventus has Cristiano Ronaldo. Instagram was making a gigantic deal this weekend about the number of followers that Ronaldo has reached. I have 249. I challenge Ronaldo to follow me (@douglasdavidroberson) on the Instagrams.
3 p.m., Saint-Etienne vs. PSG, fuboTV: Mauricio Pochettino’s first game in charge of the French giants.
FRIDAY
2:30 p.m., Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Bayern Munich, ESPN+: Bayern leads Leipzig by two points in the Bundesliga. If you root for Monchengladbach, Julian Gressel will be disappointed.
2:45 p.m., Aston Villa vs. Liverpool, ESPN+: Look, I’m glad for all the Aston Villa supporters out there, including Chris Winkler. But Jack Grealish drives me crazy. Can’t put my finger on why. It may be the hair. Or the socks. Or the calves that are as big as my thighs (my wife says I have skinny legs).
SATURDAY
12:30 p.m., Granada vs. Barcelona, beINSports: Barcelona is in fifth in La Liga, 10 points behind Atletico Madrid. That’s odd. Granada is in seventh. This won’t be the walkover that it would seem.
12:30 pm., RB Leipzig vs. Borussia Dortmund, ESPN+: Leipzig is second in the Bundesliga and Dortmund is in fourth. I hear that Dortmund’s attack features an exciting American and Norwegian. Let’s see if that’s true.
12:30 p.m., Arsenal vs. Newcastle, ESPN+: It’s the FA Cup. We can watch Steve Bruce fumble around and set up Newcastle, featuring former Atlanta United player Miguel Almiron, to lose. Seriously, Bruce is that co-worker we’ve all had who somehow gets a management position until upper management realizes that the co-worker is inept, so that co-worker leaves and joins another company and the cycle repeats. Before you know it, while strolling LinkedIn, you see that person is starting what seems like their fifth job in five years. That’s Bruce.
SUNDAY
6:30 a.m., Roma vs. Inter Milan, ESPN app: No. 3 vs. No. 2 in Serie A.
8:30 a.m., Manchester City vs. Birmingham, ESPN+: If I were to win the Powerball and had the funds to buy any club in England, I think I would consider Birmingham. I’ve watched a lot of Peaky Blinders. I tried on one of those hats while we were recently in Williamsburg. I turned and told everyone that there would be no freaking fighting. I was politely escorted out of the store.
10 a.m., Aberdeen vs. Rangers, ESPN+: It’s Atlanta United’s partner club, Aberdeen, which is in third place, taking on the team that will be crowned champs because it has a 19-point lead over second-place Celtic.
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