Soccer on TV: U.S. men start Olympic qualfying in quest to end 13-year Games drought

Tuesday, 4 p.m. (CBS Sports Network, UniMás, TUDN)

There probably won’t be as much drama in this week’s Champions League round of 16 second legs as there was last week. All four home teams already lead their respective series.

With Real Madrid, though, there’s always the potential for something wild to happen. Yes, even for the team whose 13 European Cups are a record by a mile.

Real has lost in the round of 16 for two straight years. The streak really ought to end this week, as Real won at Atalanta 1-0 in the first leg. Karim Benezma is in some of the best form of his career, with 20 goals in 30 games this season. But if Atalanta can steal an early goal, the panic attack in the Madrid media will be a sight to see.

Tuesday, 4 p.m. (Galavisión, Paramount+)

Man City won the first leg of this series, 2-0. That should be a plenty big enough lead.

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Wednesday, 1:45 p.m. (ESPN+)

Apologies if you came to this story after it was first published. The game was postponed.

Wednesday, 4 p.m. (Galavisión)

Bayern won the first leg at Lazio, 4-1. The return game in Munich could be just as lopsided.

Wednesday, 4 p.m. (UniMás, TUDN, Paramount+)

This is the game that has the best potential for real drama. Chelsea won the first leg, 1-0, in a contest that was technically Atlético’s home leg but was played in Bucharest, Romania, due to England’s COVID-19 travel protocols. That’s one of the 13 games in the Blues’ current unbeaten streak across all competitions.

But there was a hiccup Saturday in a scoreless tie at old rival Leeds United on Saturday. And more importantly, this is the kind of game Atlético relishes: a chance to sit back for a while, then have Yannick Carrasco and Marcos Llorente spring Luis Suárez and João Félix on counterattacks.

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Thursday, 1:55 p.m. (UniMás, TUDN, Paramount+)

For the first time in a while, Arsenal might not be in a crisis. The Gunners have put together some fine results lately: a 3-1 win at Leicester, a 3-1 win at Olympiakos in the first leg of this Europa League series, and a 2-1 win this past Sunday over archrival Tottenham. Progress to the Europa quarterfinals would keep the good feelings going.

Thursday, 4 p.m. (Galavisión, Paramount+)

One of the most intriguing American attacking prospects in Europe right now is Bern, Switerzland-based Young Boys striker Jordan Siebatcheu. The 24-year-old Washington, D.C., native has 12 goals in 33 games this season, including three goals in the Europa League.

A tri-national with family roots France and Cameroon, he recently committed his national team future to the United States. We could see him on the men’s national team’s squad for friendlies in Europe later this month.

Young Boys lost the first leg of this series 3-0 in Amsterdam, but Siebatcheu’s potential is worth watching.

Thursday, 4 p.m. (UniMás, Paramount+)

Milan stole a 1-1 tie at Old Trafford in the first leg of this series with a 92nd-minute equalizer. And with attacking stars Zlatan Ibrahimović and Ismaël Bennacer potentially set to return from injuries this week, the second leg at San Siro could become even bigger.

Thursday, 5:30 p.m. (FS1)

For American soccer fans, this is the biggest game of the week: the start of Olympic qualifying for the U.S. under-23 men’s team. The American men haven’t reached the Olympics, an under-23 age group event (plus three over age players per team at the Games themselves), since 2008. That created a huge gap in the U.S. development pipeline, and it came home to roost when the senior men failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Everyone on the U.S. team, from coach Jason Kreis to his 20 players, knows how huge this tournament is. Set to be played in Guadalajara, Mexico, the U.S. faces a tough group that includes Costa Rica and the host nation. The Americans likely must win at least one of those two games to reach the semifinals, whose two winners qualify for Tokyo.

But it’s much better to play Mexico in the group stage than in the semis, which would have been quite possible had Mexico been in the other group.

Union goalkeeper is one of the players on the U.S. team. He’s probably No. 2 on the depth chart behind the San Jose Earthquakes’ JT Marcinkowski, but Kreis has said there may be some rotation during the group stage.

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Other major players to watch include left back Sam Vines; midfielders Johnny Cardoso, Ulysses Llanez and Djordje Mihailovic; and forwards Jesús Ferreira and Sebastian Soto.

Fox Sports will televise every game of the tournament in English, with 13 games on FS1 and two on FS2. TUDN will have every game in Spanish, though it will join this contest in progress after Europa League coverage.

The U.S. roster is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Matt Freese (Union), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders: Julian Araujo (Los Angeles Galaxy), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake), Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire ), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids)

Midfielders: Johnny Cardoso (Internacional, Brazil), Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United), Ulysses Llanez (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Djordje Mihailovic (Club de Foot Montréal), Andrés Perea (Orlando City), Sebastian Saucedo (UNAM Pumas, Mexico), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes)

Forwards: Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids), Benji Michel (Orlando City), Sebastian Soto (Norwich City, England)