What to watch in international soccer this weekend
In England, Manchester United and Chelsea will try to salvage something from otherwise lost seasons this weekend while teams in Germany and Spain try to hang on as thebattle for European tournament spots heats up:
Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund, shut out in two of its last three matches, needs a big rebound Saturday against visiting Bayer Leverkusen if it hopes to qualify for next season’s Champions League (FS2, UDN, 9:30 a.m. PDT). The teams will enter the match tied for third in the table at 51 points with four games left in the season.
England: With Manchester City clinching the Premier League title last week, attention turns to the FA Cup, thedomestic crown left unclaimed. In the tournament semifinals Manchester United, in need of some type of hardware to justify its summer spending spree, faces Tottenham on Saturday (Fox, 9:15 a.m.) while Chelsea, the dethroned Premier League champion, meets Southampton on Sunday (FS1, 7 a.m.).
La Liga: Atletico Madrid’s hopes of winning the Spanish title have faded in the wake of Barcelona’s 39-game league unbeaten streak. But now second-place Atletico, which has won only three of its last seven, is beginning to look back in worry since the three teams behind it have all made up ground in the last six weeks. Charging hardest is fifth-place Real Betis, which has won six in a row going into Sunday’s match in Madrid (BeIN Sports en Espanol, 1 p.m.)
Follow Kevin Baxter on Twitter @kbaxter11
