Greetings and welcome to another week of TV goodness. We’ve got Champions League and Europa League second legs to look forward to, along with the usual full weekend of league action including a bonus Saturday night game. Nice. Let me show you what’s ahead.
Tuesday 10th April
No prizes for guessing what to watch here. Man City vs Liverpool might be the most discussed Champions League game of all time (probably not) but the second leg will see Man City try and overturn a 3-0 deficit. I guess the drama will start when the Liverpool bus arrives but the action we’re all looking forward to is on the pitch and Pep’s side go in the hunt of goals to turn this tie around. Barcelona are also a viewing option, but they have a healthy lead to defend in Rome. Both games are on BT Sport at 7.45pm. Sky have a dog in the Tuesday viewing fight, but it’s Aston Villa vs Cardiff from the Championship so probably not your first choice if you are neutral. Neil Warnock might go ballistic again, so there is that.
Wednesday 11th April
Once again the Champions League/Championship dilemma is upon us. The two Champions League ties are more or less done. Real Madrid vs Juventus might feature more overhead kicks from Ronaldo but it is basically over as a contest, whereas Bayern Munich vs Sevilla is already in favour of the home side. That might bring Wolves vs Derby into your thinking on Sky, also at 7.45pm, as Wolves look to edge closer to winning the title. There’s late night viewing on lovely FreeSports, Internacional vs Vitoria from the Brazilian Cup is at 11.30pm.
Thursday 12th April
It’s BT again on Thursday for the Europa League second legs. Many of the quarter finals have a bit of a one sided look about them but Arsenal will hope a 4-1 lead is sufficient to leave Moscow with a semi-final spot. Tournament favourites Atletico Madrid take a 2-0 lead to Sporting Lisbon whilst Red Bull’s Salzburg and Leipzig are in action at home to Lazio and away to Marseille respectively. All the games kick off at 8:05pm though, which is a shame. Sky have Bradford vs Shrewsbury from League One if that’s more your thing, a 7.45pm kick off for that.
Friday 13th April
A surprisingly quiet Friday schedule where the best I can offer you is Aston Villa vs Leeds from the Championship. It’s Sky at 7.45pm for that one and it’s…a repeat of the 1996 League Cup final. BT’s only comeback is Wolfsburg vs Augsburg from the Bundesliga at 7.30pm. Poor show.
Saturday 14th April
There’s so much football on Saturday we even have two evening games to enjoy. First though there’s Southampton’s latest attempt to climb out of the relegation zone. Mark Hughes plays host to his former club Chelsea and with games running out you feel any home game is vital at this stage. Chelsea will still be clinging to the hope they can pinch a Champions League spot but it looks less and less likely. That’s a 12.30pm kick off on Sky, who also have a Scottish Cup semi-final between Aberdeen and Motherwell at 12.15pm. That’s also on BBC One Scotland. Into the evening and Liverpool host Bournemouth. BT love to show Liverpool in the 5.30pm spot and I guess they still need the points to guarantee a Champions League place, so even if they do beat Man City on Tuesday it should be a strong team here. That is the warmup act for Tottenham against Man City on Sky at 7.45pm. This has been shoehorned into the Saturday schedule because of the midweek games ahead, but I’d watch this match at any time to be quite honest. Elsewhere, Fulham host Brentford at 5.30pm (Sky) then Inter Milan are off to Atalanta at 7.45pm on BT. Not a bad day at all.
Sunday 15th April
There is so much going on across the continent it’s really quite a day everywhere except England. There’s a midlands derby between Wolves and Birmingham at midday, the two teams have very different ambitions for the seasons end but Wolves will fancy their chances of perhaps even wrapping the league title up. For the third Sunday in a row, we are treated to Arsenal, this time away at Newcastle in the 1.30pm kick off. In Serie A at 2pm over on BT we have AC Milan vs Napoli, then at 2.30pm the Old Firm clash in a Scottish Cup semi final. In the Dutch league at 3.45pm it’s PSV vs Ajax, which is probably a bigger game than Man Utd vs WBA which is inexplicably televised at 4pm. More Serie A comes your way at 5pm, as BT have Juventus vs Sampdoria. Into the evening and more huge games, this time from Portugal as Benfica host Porto on FreeSports (6pm) and then Rome derby between Lazio and Roma at 7.45pm (BT). There’s even an MLS double header at 9pm and 11pm to see you through the rest of the night. Sublime.
Monday 16th April
Good news! Monday night football is back for the first time in a while. Bad news! It’s West Ham vs Stoke. Still, that’s quite a vital game down at the foot of the Premier League table so all eyes on the London stadium at 8pm.
There’s decent options on just about every night, even if Friday is a stretch. Make the most of it.