Soccer on TV: Spotlight on Spain in a huge weekend for the La Liga title race

Friday, 2:45 p.m. (ESPN+)

We’ll get to Spain in a moment, but first there’s some other business to attend to. Earlier this month, ESPN signed a deal to stream a few Belgian league games each week on ESPN+. That means U.S. fans now have an easy way to follow the league’s many American players, including former Union centerback Mark McKenzie. But because it’s only a few games a week, Genk hasn’t been on until now — coincidentally, a day after McKenzie’s 22nd birthday.

Charleroi has names to know too. Forward Shamar Nicholson could play for Jamaica against McKenzie in World Cup qualifying later this year, and Saido Berahino used to play in the English Premier League.

» READ MORE: Mark McKenzie leaves the Union having grown as a soccer player and an anti-racism activist

Saturday, 9:30 a.m. (ESPN+)

Bayern’s loss to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend cut its lead over second-place RB Leipzig down to two points. Köln is down in 14th, so this should be a get-back-on-track win for the reigning champions. Then it will be up to Leipzig to keep pace later Saturday.

Saturday, 10:15 a.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)

The field is closing in on first-place Atlético Madrid in La Liga, and both of these teams are in the hunt. Sevilla is in fourth place, Barcelona is in third and Real Madrid is in second, with the gap from first to fourth just seven points.

If Barcelona is to win Lionel Messi one more title, this game would be a huge statement. But Sevilla is riding a 12-game unbeaten streak in La Liga, led by Youssef En-Nesyri’s 13 goals. And of course, all eyes will be on Ivan Rakitić, the former Barcelona star who’s now one of Sevilla’s talismen.

Saturday, 11 a.m. (beIN Sports Connect)

Any game at this point for PSG is a must-win, since Kylian Mbappé and company are four points out of first place in Ligue 1. Fortunately for the Parisians, Dijon is in last place and hasn’t won since Dec. 23. But believe it or not, Dijon won the last time it hosted PSG in a league game.

» READ MORE: This weekend's Ligue 1 schedule

Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

On paper, this should be a fun game between teams coached by two of Europe’s most innovative and attack-minded young managers: Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann and Mönchengladbach’s Marco Rose. (Both men, by the way, are protégés of Union sporting director Ernst Tanner.) But Mönchengladbach hasn’t won a Bundesliga game in over a month, while Leipzig must win to keep pace with Bayern. So forgive Nagelsmann if he doesn’t want the game to be too entertaining.

» READ MORE: This weekend's Bundesliga schedule

Saturday, 10 p.m. (Univision, TUDN, ESPN Deportes)

Seven games into the Liga MX season, Cruz Azul tops the standings, featuring young Mexican attackers Orbelín Pineda and Roberto Alvarado. León, usually a power, is down in 14th. Cruz Azul will be favored, and will try to avoid a repeat of last week’s game vs. Toluca when it had one of the most shocking double-misses you’ll ever see.

Sunday, 11:30 a.m. (NBCSN, Telemundo)

The Premier League title race is pretty well settled at this point, with Manchester City 10 points above United. And it’ll be 13 points if City beats West Ham early Saturday (7:30 a.m., NBCSN, Universo). But it’s a big deal any time these two meet, and of course American fans will want to see if Christian Pulisic makes his first Premier League appearance since Feb. 3.

» READ MORE: This weekend's Premier League schedule

Sunday, 2:45 p.m. (ESPN+)

Here’s the game of the weekend in Italy. Milan is second in Serie A (49 points), but has fallen four points behind Inter (53). Fourth-place Roma (44) is one point back of third-place Juventus (45), but just one ahead of fifth-place Atalanta (43) and Lazio.

Roma’s success impressively has come without a high-scoring striker. Midfielders Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jordan Veretout are the team’s goals leaders with nine each. Milan, of course, has Zlatan Ibrahimović, who has 14 goals in 13 Serie A games this season.

» READ MORE: This weekend's Serie A schedule

Sunday, 3 p.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)

Back to Spain we go, with sixth place hosting first. Luis Suárez and Atlético still have a game in hand over Real and Barcelona, but Paco Alcácer and Villarreal are riding high after a Champions League sweep of Brenden Aaronson’s Red Bull Salzburg.

Monday, 3 p.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)

The weekend wraps up with second-place Madrid hosting fifth-place Sociedad — and by the way, the latter is the only team that officially calls itself La Real. It’s pretty neat that all of the top six teams in Spain are facing off against each other over three days. Who knows if Comcast will ever carry beIN again, but there are enough ways to get it through subscription streaming services these days. The cheapest, Fanatiz, costs just $7.99 per month.

» READ MORE: CBS lands Concacaf World Cup and Nations League rights, plus Argentina and Brazil men's club leagues