What to watch in international soccer this weekend
Two of last season’s champions — Bayern Munich in Germany and Barcelona in Spain — are looking up at the leaders in their leagues. In England, Manchester United, winner of a record 13 Premier League titles, is struggling simply to stay in the top half of the standings. All three of the teams face tough tests Saturday as they try to turn their seasons around.
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich, which has lost two in a row for the first time since May 2015, heads to Volkswagen Arena to play Wolfsburg, a team that hasn’t beaten the six-time defending champs in eight games (FS1, 6:30 a.m. PT). Bayern will start the day in fifth place, four points back of league-leading Borussia Dortmund, the league’s only unbeaten team. Dortmund will play at last-place Stuttgart (FS2, 6:30 a.m. PT). Dortmund has 23 goals in seven games, seven more than anyone else in the Bundesliga, and has the league’s top scorer in Paco Alcacer, who has six goals, and the leader in assists, Jadon Sancho, who has six.
Premier League: Perennial power Manchester United has won just half its first eight matches this season and has a negative goal differential, a start that has put Jose Mourinho’s future as coach in danger. The Reds head to Stamford Bridge on Saturday to play unbeaten Chelsea, a team that hasn’t lost in 12 matches dating to last season (NBCSN, 4:30 a.m. PT). Chelsea’s Eden Hazard leads the league with seven goals.
La Liga: The Spanish standings look strange with anyone other than Barcelona or either of the two Madrid teams at the top. But after two months it’s Sevilla — a team that won its only league title in 1946 — leading the way. On Saturday, Sevilla travels to Camp Nou to play struggling Barcelona, which hasn’t won in more than a month (BeIN Sports, 11:30 a.m. PT). In the league’s super-early game, Real Madrid, which hasn’t won or scored in three games, will try to end both streaks at home against Levante (BeIN Sports, 4 a.m. PT).
kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11
