Soccer on TV: UEFA Champions League resumes, Liga MX continues

The UEFA Champions League returns from its coronavirus-enforced hiatus with some rare weekend games that finish the round of 16. There’s also a round of prime-time games in Mexico.

Here’s a look at the top action to watch in the next few days.

Friday, 3 p.m. (CBS Sports Network, UniMás, TUDN)

CBS begins its much-anticipated coverage of the UEFA Champions League with this star-studded matchup. Manchester City craves the European Cup more than any other trophy, and especially this year after Liverpool took the Premier League throne. Real Madrid won La Liga, and now aims for its 14th Champions League title. City won the first leg in Madrid 2-1. If Real, led by Karim Benzema, can score an early goal, buckle up.

» READ MORE: CBS begins its UEFA Champions League coverage with Clive Tyldesley, Kate Abdo, and European soccer stars

Friday, 3 p.m. (Galavisión, CBS All Access)

Lyon won the first leg at home, 1-0, in a game that a noted doctor claimed brought the coronavirus into that part of France thanks to traveling Juventus players and fans. Juventus now plays its home leg played behind closed doors (as all games left in the tournament will be) in Turin, Italy. Cristiano Ronaldo and company should be able to easily overturn the deficit, though fellow Juve star Paolo Dybala is in a race to recover from a thigh injury.

Friday, 10:30 p.m. (TUDN)

You might know about the big teams in Mexico’s league, but you might not have heard of Mazatlán until now. That’s OK, because the team didn’t exist until a few weeks ago. The owners of Monarcas Morelia, a longtime Mexican stalwart, moved the team 470 miles across the country this summer and rebranded it. At least the team has some familiar players in Chilean midfielder Jorge Valdivia and former Union forward Fernando Aristeguieta. Toluca is led by veteran midfielder Rubens Sambueza.

Click here for the full Liga MX schedule.

Saturday, 3 p.m. (CBS Sports Network, Univision, TUDN)

Lionel Messi is always worth a big TV spotlight, but it’s especially true after Napoli got a 1-1 tie at home in the first leg. It’s also Barcelona’s first game since blowing a lead atop the La Liga standings — which led Messi to blast the team publicly on the final day of the season. Can Messi, Luis Suárez, Antoine Griezmann, and the rest of Barcelona’s stars get it together against Napoli’s own dynamic attack of Arkadiusz Milik and Dries Mertens?

Saturday, 3 p.m. (Galavisión)

This is a matchup of big teams, but it probably won’t be a great game. Bayern won 3-0 in London in the first leg, and Chelsea has a pile of players out injured including Christian Pulisic.