Don't like to brag, but you could do worse than get snowed in Sunday morning with only Fox Soccer Channel for a diversion.
    Yes, I am aware that there are folks in North America who will be following another form of football this Sunday, but our lineup from Italy and the EPL ain't bad. In fact, it makes you wonder if the folks who program the schedule-making computers take particular delight in assigning the Euro big guns with especially daunting challenges right after a Champions League/Europa League program.
    Our Sunday starts in Rome where Lazio hosts AC Milan (9 a.m., Eastern), continues at Stamford Bridge, London for the little matter of Chelsea vs. Manchester United (11 a.m.) and continues at 2:30 p.m. in Milano where the other half of the Roma-Milano derby day takes place as Inter hosts AS Roma.

    The match of the weekend clearly is the one at Chelsea and Manchester United will never be better-placed to get a win than Sunday morning.
    Remember, Sir Alex Ferguson did not have to use his full side on Tuesday against CSKA Moscow because United's Champions League business had been perfectly attended to beforehand.
    And United was at home Tuesday while Chelsea played Atletico Madrid a day later and on the road. Allowing for the travel weariness and the shorter time to prep, Carlo Ancelotti can be forgiven for thinking that the visitors are getting a Sunday leg-up that they don't really need.
    Of course none of this will mean much if the teams play to their EPL form. Chelsea has looked stronger from day one, more robust even when dropping points last month. United has gotten the job done but without the usual elan. They have relied more on energy than creativity this season.
    The match winner? We'll be watching Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney, but the United defenders had better keep control of that Chelsea Michael Essien-Michael Ballack-Frank Lampard bunch or they will be in trouble.
--
    If you have actually been in front of the set from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. you're obviously a soccer fanatic so stay tuned for the Sunday finale on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. when the LA Galaxy and Chivas collide in what looks like the most inviting of the three MLS second leg playoff games this weekend.
   We've got the Chicago-New England Saturday night match (8 p.m.) while Telefutura will show Houston-Seattle at 3 p.m. Sunday.
    The remaining three winners will join Salt Lake, who downed the Crew 3-2 to advance. It was a stinging loss for the Crew, who went up 2-0 after just 35 minutes… and then collapsed.

DAILY READS
Speaking of collapsing: the Dispatch rips the Crew

Chelsea get reprieve as transfer ban suspended by CAS

Two tier EPL with the Scots on board?

Tax strike in Spain?


TV: (All times ET, our picks are in bold)

FRIDAY
Bayer Leverkusen v Frankfurt        1430    GolTV
Derby v Coventry                1445    Setanta

SATURDAY
Melbourne v CC Mariners        0300    FSC
Swansea v Cardiff            0745    Setanta
Bayern Munich v Schalke         0925    ESPND/360
Hoffenheim v Wolfsburg        0930    GolTV
Tottenham v Sunderland        1000    ESPN2
Man City v Burnley            1000    Setanta
Blackburn v Portsmouth        1000    Setanta X
Aston Villa v Bolton            1000    FSC/FSE
Rangers v St. Mirren            1000    Setanta P
Getafe v Coruna            1200    ESPN360
Tenerife v Malaga            1200    DTV
Catania v Napoli            1200    ESPN360/RAI
Wolverhampton v Arsenal        1230    FSC/FSE
PSG v Nice                1300    Setanta
Barcelona v Mallorca            1400    GolTV
Atalanta v Juventus            1430    FSC/FSE
Sochaux v Lens            1500    Setanta
Atletico v Real Madrid        1600    ESPND/360
Recife v Cruziero            1630    GolTV
Cruz Azul v Puebla            1800    Azteca
Nacional v I Medellin            1800    GolTV
Tigres v Atlante            2000    Telemundo
Indios v Jaguares            2000    Azteca/ESPND
Fire v Revs                2000    FSC/FSE
San Luis v Santos            2000    Telefutura
Atlas v Chivas                2145    Telemundo


SUNDAY
CSKA v Rubin Kazan            0600    Setanta
Falkirk v Celtic            0645    Setanta P
Hull v Stoke                0830    Setanta
AZ v Feyenoord            0830    ESPND/360
ADO Den Haag v PSV        0830    ESPN360
Lazio v AC Milan            0900    FSC/FSE
Genoa v Siena                0900    ESPN360
Wigan v Fulham            1000    Set X (SDD Setanta 1300)
West Ham v Everton            1000    (SDD FSC 1700)
U17WC: Colombia v Turkey        1000    ESPN360/Gala
Gijon v Espanyol            1100    DTV
Santander v Bilbao            1100    DTV
Lille v Bordeaux            1100    Setanta
Chelsea v Man U            1100    FSC/FSE
Werder v Dortmund            1125    ESPN360 (SDD 1500 ESPND)
Valencia v Zaragoza            1300    ESPN2/D/360
Fluminense v Palmeiras        1300    GolTV
Maritimo v Porto            1300    ESPN360
Morelia v UNAM Pumas        1300    FSE
Toluca v Pachuca            1300    Telemundo
U17WC: Suisse v Italy        1300    ESPN360
Inter v Roma                1430    FSC
Sevilla v Villarreal            1500    GolTV
Lyon v Marseille            1500    Setanta
Dynamo v Sounders            1500    Telefutura
America v Monterrey            1730    Univision
Tecos v Queretaro            1800    Galavision
LA v Chivas                1930    ESPN2

MONDAY
Liverpool v Birmingham        1455    ESPN2

    If you watched the US Under-17 team lose a 2-1 heartbreaker to Italy yesterday in the FIFA U17 World Cup you will doubtless have come away with one clear impression: at this level there is absolutely nothing to choose between an American elite-level player and his overseas counterpart.
    The Americans lost because they fluffed some golden chances, including a penalty. Know what? Teenagers make those kinds of mistakes and you simply play on. In this case, the coachspeak truth actually is correct. It's only when this age group doesn't create chances that you complain about a lack of skill or preparation.
    So if you are a neutral you probably walk away from the stadium in Kaduna, Nigeria figuring you have gotten money's worth and that American soccer is right there in comparison with the world's best.
    If you are an experienced American observer, however, you will immediately start to wonder how so much good will turn to sludge in the next 3-4 years. The great lesson of US Soccer's development of youth players is that we often get it right at stage one, then watch it all go wrong.
    In this case, the blame does not belong all with US Soccer. If we had a succesful pro league with a solid youth-reserve system there would be a place for these kids to go and grow. We don't have that, of course.
    Instead too many of these kids will go on to play college soccer. I've had more than one national team coach [both of men's and women's teams, mind you] tell me that when the kids come back from college soccer they have to be "uncoached" because they no longer play the international game.
    In a perfect world, Wilmer Cabrera could keep this group together, continue to coach it through the next level of FIFA age-group play. Actually, that would make sense. I'm not calling for heads here, simply saying that there is an argument for a youth coach to take a complete tour of duty. Let's find out if Cabrera could continue to develop this core into the next U-20 team.
    Get another U-17 coach for the incoming group and put together a 5-6 year plan. I don't know if that would solve the "lost talent" problem which currently afflicts our 17-21 age players, but I do know that what we do now doesn't work.
    Meanwhile, a "well done" to Cabrera and the kids in Nigeria. Two wins, two narrow defeats and not exactly an overabundance of luck.
    But that's the international game and this US bunch, once again, showed that at the U-17 level, at least, we don't have to take a back seat to anyone.

   Goal of the night on Wednesday?
   How about the Marius Onofras’ drive which denied Rangers what would have been a famous victory and perhaps eventually will be seen as the one which earned unfancied Unirea Urzicieni a passport to the knockout stage? This was a cracker of a game in tough conditions.
   Then there was that Ryan Babel strike in Lyon. At first it seemed likely to reignite Liverpool's Euro life and make the next few weeks livable for Rafa Benitez. But then came Lisandro Lopez to bundle in an untidy goal for Lyon on 90 minutes ... now the Reds are on Euro life-support, needing something close to a miracle to avoid winding up in Europa League next spring.
   But honors have to go to Diego Milito and Wesley Sneijder in Kiev. Maybe those weren't the prettiest of the evening, but they were dramatic and who knows what their ultimate value might be. The Serie A champions had looked at defeat and the Europa League consolation prize for most of the night. Then, in the span of three minutes, Jose Mourinho watched his team go from nearly dead to top of crazy Group F. That's why he's The Special One, after all.
   Ah, just another night of Champions League football ... the reason this competition has captured the globe and continues to threaten FIFA's World Cup as the premier attraction in the game.

It's on to the Europa League tonight and even that second chance tournament has been surprisingly good to date.

Today's EUROPA LEAGUE TV card

1300 Eastern Standard kickoffs
Roma vs. Fulham, DTV 462
Hamburg SV vs. Celtic, Gol TV, DTV 463
Genoa vs. Lille, DTV 464
Dinamo Bucuresti vs. Galatasaray, DTV 465
Dinamo Zagreb vs. Ajax, DTV 466
Sporting Lisbon vs. Ventspils, DTV 467
Sturm Graz vs. Panathinaikos, DTV 468
Heerenveen vs. Hertha Berlin, DTV 469

1500 Eastern Standard kickoffs
Villarreal vs. Lazio, Gol TV
Everton vs. Benfica, DTV 462
Nacional vs. Athletic Bilbao, DTV 463
Werder Bremen vs. Austria Wien, DTV 464
Toulouse vs. Shakhtar Donetsk, DTV 465
FC Kobnhaven vs. PSV Eindhoven, DTV 467
AEK Athens vs. BATE Borisov, DTV 468
Levski Sofia vs. Salzburg, DTV 469

MLS Cup at 2000 Eastern Standard
First Round, Second Leg
Columbus Crew vs. Real Salt Lake, ESPN2


DAILY READS:
“Silent Stan” nears Arsenal threshold; takeover seen as imminent

MLS playoffs, part two:

    Even when they keep a bunch of their best on the bench and fall behind by two goals you can never write off Manchester United in Europe.
    That is Sir Alex Ferguson's legacy: he has convinced his team that they cannot be beaten in Europe.
     It was not all that long ago -- maybe a decade -- when Europe nights were not all that much fun for English teams. Sir Alex has changed all that, not only making United into the most-feared opponent but also lifting the rest of his EPL partners in the Champions League.
    Didn't you know that as soon as Paul Scholes' header beat Igor Akinfeev that United would get all the way back against CSKA Moscow Tuesday night? The Russians certainly played like a team fearing the worst. Yes, Akinfeev had no luck on the own goal that produced the 3-3 final scoreline, but if that hadn't been the one that got United into the last 16 there would have been another.
    Similarly, when Didier Drogba is on the field there's no way to deny Chelsea.
Having missed the first half of the group stage because of last year's semifinal petulance (mind you, he was correct to protest the lack of calls in favor of his team in that infamous Barcelona semifinal triumph), the EPL's most dangerous striker killed off Atletico Madrid's upset hopes with two late goals. Yes, Atletico salvaged something -- maybe a Europa League place -- with their own tying goal, but Drogba and Chelsea march on, perhaps to a date in the final.
    Best win of the night was Bordeaux's in Munich. My goodness, how the one-time Bundesliga power has slipped.
    Juventus got the job done in Israel and Wolfsburg had a dominant night in Turkey. FC Porto joins Chelsea out of Group D, rendering the final two rounds of that section moot.
    Group C is the one which is still wide open after a 1-1 draw in Milan kept both the home team and Real Madrid tied for the top. Marseille is right there, of course, after puncturing the Zurich myth, 6-1 in the Stade Velodrome. This is the section worth following down the home stretch.

    Three huge games today as the fourth round the Champions League group stage concludes.
    There's none bigger than the early kickoff contest in Kazan, when Rubin will attempt to repeat its stunning win over defending champion Barcelona in the 12:30 p.m. Eastern appetizer.
    Then attention will turn to France and Ukraine where two of Europe's famous sides, Liverpool and Inter Milan, face the music.
    Who would have thought that both Barcelona and Inter Milan might be worried about landing in the Europa League?
    Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev have been all that those two Euro giants can handle in the first half of Group F's round robin. If both Eastern European teams win today they would be 1-2 in the section with two matches remaining.
    Rubin's win in Barcelona was totally unexpected two weeks ago. That night they got off to a fast start, defended stoutly and did not cave when the defending Euro champs scored early in the second half. Barca sometimes looks like a Spanish Arsenal -- lots of pretty football, not quite all the necessary steel. That formula won't get the job done tonight in Kazan.
    Dynamo Kiev can create serious problems for Inter Milan with a home win this evening. Three draws on the trot are all that Jose Mourinho's team has to show so far and even one of football's most "results are what matter" managers must be concerned about how this group is unfolding.

    Over in France it's Rafa Benitez and Liverpool on the spot in Lyon. Benitez gambled on Steven Gerrard's fitness two weeks ago in the first meeting, saw his captain limp off in 20-plus minutes and we all know what happened next. Now the embattled Benitez is facing further criticism over playing Fernando Torres too much and maybe too soon in another injury-return.
    Lyon starts with a perfect nine points tonight and can qualify out of Group E with a result. Should that happen, especially if Fiorentina defeats Debrecen in Italy, Liverpool could be left staring directly into the Europa League.

    Sevilla and Arsenal can both wrap up their campaigns with home wins tonight. In Group G, where Sevilla is perfect, the more interesting question is whether Unirea can repeat its demolition of Rangers and advance toward the knockout stage.
    Group H can actually finish tonight. If Arsenal and Olympiakos both win that would qualify both teams and leave AZ and Standard to fight for third and the Europa League.

TODAY ON TV:

Today's lineup (Kicks are at 14:45 Eastern Standard, expect in Kazan)
Group E
Lyon vs. Liverpool, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports Espanol, DTV 467; Fiorentina vs. Debrecen, DTV 465
Group F
Rubin Kazan vs. Barcelona, Fox Soccer Channel, 12:30 Eastern; Dynamo Kiev vs. Inter Milan, DTV 462
Group G
Sevilla vs. VfB Stuttgart, DTV 463; Unirea vs. Rangers, DTV 464
Group H
Standard Liege vs. Olympiakos, DTV 466; Arsenal vs. AZ Alkmaar, Setanta


AND:
U17WC: USA v Italy and Colombia v Argentina at 0948 ESPN360. Followed up by Germany v Switzerland and UAE v Turkey at 1248.

If David Beckham does arrive in South Africa with England will he be able to do anything?

No player on the face of the globe has worked harder to ensure that he can be part of another World Cup party. Beckham is clearly a driven man, willing to play virtually non-stop for two years for the opportunity to carry the England banner in 2010.

Give him credit -- and we will be the first to admit that we have been more than occasionally skeptical -- because as the announcement of a renewed loan deal with AC Milan is made we have to say that he has made good on his promise to give MLS his attention since his controversial return in July. Landon Donovan is the MVP candidate from the LA Galaxy and coach Bruce Arena deserves the plaudits for holding things together over the first (the non-Beckham) half of the season, but since the England man returned the Galaxy has often been pretty good.

We'll be interested to see how much is left when Becks returns to the San Siro, to say nothing of whether he can be a major player for Fabio Capello, Further down the road, will there be any gas in the tank for another LA comeback late next summer?
One thing works in Beckham's favor: he may still be a major player at MLS level but he is a role player in Milan and with England.
--
MLS has some nicely-balanced second leg matches. One can only hope the fact that every game hangs in balance will improve attendances for the first round finishes.
The returns start Thursday night with Columbus starting a goal down against RSL in Crew Stadium. First, Columbus must make sure to keep it tight over the first 15 minutes to avoid getting into a 2-0 aggregate hole. After that, the Crew should begin to assert itself.

Saturday we've got the Fire vs. Revolution game on Fox Soccer Channel with New England leading, 2-1. Another chance to see the Rev's MVP candidate Shalrie Joseph and a challenge for a Chicago team which has not played to expectations over the second half.

Sunday Houston hosts Seattle starting 0-0. You have to root for Seattle because an MLS Cup in their home stadium will be rockin' if the Sounders can get there. This one offers two of the best mentors in the league, Sigi Schmid and under-appreciated Dominic Kinnear.

The Sunday finale is the so-called "superclassico" and it also begins on level terms after a four-goal, 2-2 first leg. This is the game where Donovan and Beckham have to produce the goods.
--
We gave you the rundown for today's Champions League matches yesterday. Here's the TV lineup one more time:

The schedule (all kicks at 14:45 Eastern Standard)
Group A
Bayern Munchen vs. Bordeaux, DTV 462; Maccabi Haifa vs. Juventus, DTV 463
Group B
Manchester United vs. CSKA Moscow, Setanta; Besiktas vs. Wolfsburg, DTV 464
Group C
AC Milan vs. Real Madrid, Fox Espanol/Fox RSNs; Marseille vs. FC Zurich, 465
Group D
APOEL Nicosia vs. FC Porto, DTV 466; Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea, Fox Soccer Channel, DTV 467

DAILY READS
“Silent Stan” is 00.3% away from an Arsenal takeover

Hull gets even sadder as Michael Turner sale is investigated; perhaps this is the wrong time to mention a “clearout” to save cash?

Tomorrow kicks off the start of the second half of group play. Some big names had better be getting things right quickly if they hope to be playing Champions League football next spring when the knockout phase begins. The heat is on in Milan and Munich while two EPL powers should insure their qualification by simply taking care of business.

No question where the big match is: the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milano.
Real Madrid collapsed in spectacular fashion at home to AC Milan two weeks ago, the start of a major tailspin for the Galacticos. After that loss, the Meringues also managed to get shocked by a third division-level side in the Spanish Cup and it seems only a matter of time before the knives are out for everybody in management.

Of course, all that can change in 90 minutes at San Siro. Victory and Real Madrid is back on track for its expected qualification. Defeat, especially if coupled with a Marseille home win over FC Zurich, would create a high-pressure scenario. Did we really expect that losing Cristiano Ronaldo to injury would create this much havoc?

The other side of the coin is AC Milan, a club in apparent chaos before the second half rally in Madrid. Leonardo was thought to be facing the chop and there were suggestions that Milan's season would evaporate before the end of November.

If the red-and-black collect three points even their harshest critics may be willing to forget the last San Siro appearance in this competition — that was a loss against FC Zurich, of course.

In Munich, Bayern needs a win to pull back level with Bordeaux in the three-team Group A race. The French champs had two penalties saved in their 2-1 home win two weeks ago and the Germans had two players sent off, but there's no reason to think that Bayern faces a major uphill climb. Louis van Gaal's team is deep enough to reverse that result and leave it all up to the two final tests against Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.

Juventus might be the team under more pressure. They need a win in Israel against pointless Maccabi. Even a draw will leave the trapdoor open for a third place finish because their last two in the section are against Bayern and Bordeaux.

Manchester United and Chelsea will qualify if they win as expected. FC Porto can also advance out of Group D if they can defeat APOEL Nicosia in Cyprus and Chelsea wins in Spain.


DAILY READS
Liverpool’s Torres may miss key Lyon game to injury

No sand for the Arabs this time. (Even Broughty Ferry was flooded.)

“Superclassico” a drawn, defensive mess.

Drew Carey on MLS

TUESDAY TV:
The schedule (all kicks at 14:45 Eastern Standard)
Group A
Bayern Munchen vs. Bordeaux, DTV 462; Maccabi Haifa vs. Juventus, DTV 463
Group B
Manchester United vs. CSKA Moscow, Setanta; Besiktas vs. Wolfsburg, DTV 464
Group C
AC Milan vs. Real Madrid, Fox Espanol; Marseille vs. FC Zurich, 465
Group D
APOEL Nicosia vs. FC Porto, DTV 466; Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea, Fox Soccer Channel, DTV 467