The American Soccer Weekend

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 15, 2023

Josef Martinez will be honored before Inter Miami's game in Atlanta, where he helped make the Five Stripes an instant hit. Photo: Inter Miami

• MLS

One of the biggest weekends of the year features two city derbies (NYCFC vs. New York Red Bulls and LAFC vs. LA Galaxy) and a meeting of teams working under new interim coaches (Colorado vs. New England).

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But the big match is Atlanta United vs. Inter Miami, marking the return of Herons coach Tate Martino to Atlanta, where he led the Five Stripes to the 2018 MLS Cup title.

Whether the star attraction -- Lionel Messi -- will play remains to be seen. He did not dress for Argentina's World Cup 2026 qualifier at Bolivia on Tuesday after asking to leave the 1-0 win over Ecuador late in the game four days earlier.

The match will also feature Josef Martinez's homecoming in Atlanta, where he won the MLS MVP award and Golden Boot in 2018. The Venezuelan, who signed with Inter Miami in the offseason after a contract buyout, will be honored before Saturday's game.

The Hudson River Derby features two teams in big trouble in the Eastern Conference: NYCFC in 12th place and the Red Bulls in 13th place.

The Red Bulls have made the playoffs 13 seasons in a row, tied with the Seattle Sounders' streak (snapped in 2022) for the longest in MLS history. NYCFC has gone to the postseason seven years in a row after missing out in 2015, its debut season.

In El Trafico, LAFC will look to snap a three-game losing streak in MLS play that has dropped it eight points behind Western Conference leader St. Louis City. The better team in recent months has been the Galaxy, still in 13th place but only four points below the playoff line with just one loss in league play since May 31.

Last in the Western Conference is Colorado, which will host New England. Interim coaches Chris Little (Rapids) and Clint Peay (Revs) will both be working their first MLS games since they took charge.

Saturday:
APPLE TV/MLS SEASON PASS
NYCFC vs. NY Red Bulls 3:30 pm. (free)
Atlanta United vs. Inter Miami 5 pm.
Charlotte vs. D.C. United 7:30 pm. (free)
Montreal vs. Chicago 7:30 pm.
Orlando City vs. Columbus 7:30 pm.
Philadelphia vs. FC Cincinnati 7:30 pm. (free)
Toronto FC vs. Vancouver 7:30 pm. (free)
FC Dallas vs. Seattle 8:30 pm.
Houston vs. St. Louis City 8:30 pm.
Minnesota United vs. Sporting KC 8:30 pm.
Colorado vs. New England 9:30 pm.
LAFC vs. LA Galaxy 10:30 pm.
San Jose vs. Real Salt Lake 10:30 pm. (free)

Sunday:
APPLE TV/MLS SEASON PASS
*Austin FC vs. Portland 8:30 pm. (free)
*Also available on FS1 and Fox Deportes.
Note: All times ET.

 
• NWSL

The Portland Thorns will host OL Reign in what could be Megan Rapinoe's last game in Portland before she retires.

Rapinoe, who has spent her entire NWSL career with the Reign in Seattle, began her road to stardom at the University of Portland, where she teamed up with longtime Thorns star Christine Sinclair in leading the Pilots to the 2005 NCAA Division I women's title with an undefeated season.

The Thorns begin the weekend in second place, one point behind San Diego, while OL Reign is in fourth place after its 1-0 victory over Orlando, which snapped a winless streak dating back to July 1.

Friday:
GOLAZO NETWORK
Racing Louisville vs. Houston 7:30 pm.

Saturday:
GOLAZO NETWORK
Gotham FC vs. Washington 7:30 pm.
Portland vs. OL Reign 10:30 pm.
PARAMOUNT+
San Diego vs. KC Current 10 pm.

Sunday:
CBS SPORTS NETWORK
Chicago vs. Angel City 6 pm.
GOLAZO NETWORK
Orlando vs. NC Courage 7 pm.
Note: All times ET.

• USL Championship

USL Championship teams will welcome the return of players from international duty across Concacaf.

Several players on contending teams had big weeks in Nations League group play.

• Western Conference leader Sac Republic FC: Luther Archimede scored in a pair of Guadeloupe wins in League B.

• Eastern Conference leader Pittsburgh: Goalkeeper Jahmali Waite earned the shutout win with two saves for Jamaica (1-0 over Honduras in League A).

• Tampa Bay, second in the Eastern Conference: Raiko Arozarena was in goal for Cuba and made four saves in the 0-0 draw against Haiti in League A.

Friday:
ESPN+
New Mexico United vs. Indy Eleven 9 pm.
Orange County SC vs. Colorado Springs 10 pm.

Saturday:
ESPN+
Miami FC vs. Pittsburgh 7 pm.
Loudoun United vs. Charleston 7 pm.
Louisville City vs. San Diego 7:30 pm.
Memphis 901 vs. Hartford 8 pm.
San Antonio FC vs. Tampa Bay 8:30 pm.
Oakland vs. FC Tulsa 10 pm.
Sac Republic FC vs. El Paso 10 pm.
Monterey Bay vs. Las Vegas 10 pm.
Phoenix vs. Detroit City 10:30 pm.

Sunday:
ESPN+
Rio Grande Valley vs. Birmingham 8 pm.
Note: All times ET.

• Americans Abroad

After shutout wins over Uzbekistan (3-0) and Oman (4-0), USMNT players will resume play across Europe this weekend.

The big game will be at the San Siro, where Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah will experience their first derby with AC Milan, which takes on added significance since the Rossoneri and Inter Milan are both off to perfect starts in Serie A.

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In the Netherlands, Sergino Dest, Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tillman rejoin PSV, one of three teams with perfect starts in the Eredivisie.

In France's Ligue 1, Folarin Balogun's Monaco enters the weekend in first place. He begins his first extended time at high-scoring ASM following his transfer from Arsenal .

Friday:
ESPN DEPORTES/ESPN+
Almeria vs. Celta de Vigo (Luca de la Torre) 4 pm.

Saturday:
CBS SPORTS NETWORK
Juventus (Tim Weah, Weston McKennie) vs. Lazio 9 am.
GOLAZO NETWORK
Inter Milan vs. AC Milan (Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic) 2:45 pm.
ESPN DEPORTES/ESPN+
Celta de Vigo (Luca de la Torre) vs. Mallorca 12:30 pm.
UNIVISION/TUDN
Club America (Alejandro Zendejas) vs. Guadalajara 11 pm.
ESPN+
Freiburg vs. Borussia Dortmund (Gio Reyna) 9:20 am.
Wolfsburg (Kevin Paredes) vs. Union Berlin (Brenden Aaronson) 9:20 am.
FC Cologne vs. Hoffenheim (John Brooks) 9:20 am.
Bochum vs. (Paxten Aaronson, Timothy Chandler) 12:20 pm.
PSV (Sergino Dest, Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman) vs. NEC 2 pm.
GOLAZO NETWORK
Inter Milan vs. AC Milan (Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic) Noon.
PEACOCK
Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace (Chris Richards) 10 am.
Fulham (Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson) vs. Luton Town 10 am.

Sunday:
BeIN SPORTS/BeIN SPORTS en ESPANOL
Lorient vs. Monaco (Folarin Balogun) 7 am.
ESPN+
Heidenheim (Lennard Maloney) vs. Werder Bremen 9:20 am.
AZ (Djordje Mihailovic) vs. Sparta Rotterdam 10:40 am.
Darmstadt vs. Borussia M'Gladbach (Joe Scally, Jordan Pefok) 11:20 am.
Eupen (Gabriel Slonina) vs. Standard Liege (Marlon Fossey) 2:40 pm.
Note: All times ET.