There’s Champions League and relegation drama on the Bundesliga season’s final day | Soccer on TV

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

The promotion playoffs in England’s second-tier Championship kick off this weekend. Eight years ago, Luton was in the fifth tier. Now the Hatters are close to returning to the top flight for the first time since 1992.

Huddersfield is trying to get back to the Premier League for the first time since 2019. Its squad includes American midfielder Duane Holmes, who earned two U.S. national team caps in 2019.

The other semifinal series, between 5th-place Sheffield United and 4th-place Nottingham Forest, starts Saturday (10 a.m., ESPN+).

Friday, 10:30 p.m (CBS Sports Network)

The latest clash of the NWSL’s Cascadia rivals will be a duel of in-form young strikers. Portland’s Sophia Smith is a rising star with the U.S. national team, while the Reign’s Tziarra King – a Sicklerville native – scored both of her team’s goals in a 2-2 tie with Racing Louisville last weekend.

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

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayer Leverkusen have the top three spots locked up, and the Champions League berths that come with them. The fun starts after that.

Tyler Adams’ RB Leipzig enters the weekend in 4th place with 57 points. Freiburg is in 5th with 55, Union Berlin is in 6th with 54, and Köln is in 7th with 52. Fourth place gets a Champions League berth, 5th gets a Europa League group stage berth, and 6th goes into qualifying playoffs for the Europa Conference League.

Leipzig visits 17th-place Arminia Bielefeld, already doomed to relegation. Freiburg visits Leverkusen. Union Berlin hosts 11th-place Bochum. Köln visits 16th-place Stuttgart, which is in a race to avoid a relegation playoff.

If Leipzig gets a tie, that will be enough to clinch 4th, because its +35 goal difference is way ahead of Freiburg’s +13 and Union Berlin’s +5. If Leipzig loses, the door will open for Freiburg to clinch the first European Cup trip in its history.

Köln’s goal difference is +4, which means it probably won’t be able to jump over Freiburg if the teams finish tied on points. But if Köln gets a better result than Union Berlin, the Billy Goats – live mascot included – can snatch the Conference League berth.

At the bottom of the standings, Stuttgart is trying to overtake 15th-place Hertha Berlin, which visits Dortmund. If Hertha gets a tie or win, it will stay up. If Hertha loses and Stuttgart wins, they’ll be tied on points (33) and Stuttgart should have the better goal difference. New Jersey-born manager Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team enters the weekend with a -19 differential to Hertha’s -33.

The team in the relegation playoff place will face the 2. Bundesliga’s third-place finisher in a home-and-away series. That will be Hamburg, Darmstadt or St. Pauli, depending on how their games this weekend play out.

» READ MORE: The rest of this weekend's Bundesliga schedule

Saturday, 11:45 a.m. (ESPN+)

Amid the ongoing turmoil caused by the sale of Chelsea to new owners, Christian Pulisic and the Blues can win a trophy in the men’s FA Cup final. Chelsea last won the trophy in 2018, while Liverpool hasn’t done so since 2006 – and hasn’t made the final since 2012.

Saturday, 7 p.m. (Paramount+)

After giving up four goals to Alex Morgan in San Diego last weekend, Gotham FC comes back to Red Bull Arena for its regular-season home opener. Unfortunately, the game overlaps with the Union hosting the Red Bulls in Chester, but fans watching from home can try to take in both contests.

» READ MORE: The rest of this weekend's NWSL schedule

Saturday, 7 p.m. (Univision 65, TUDN)

The Liga MX playoffs started in the middle of the week, and this is one of a few headline-grabbing series. América, Mexico’s biggest team, surged from next-to-last-place to 4th after firing manager Santiago Solari in March, going unbeaten in its last eight games of the campaign.

Las Aguílas then played to a 1-1 tie at 5th-place Puebla on Wednesday in the opener of this quarterfinal matchup. Former Union striker Fernando Aristeguieta had Puebla’s tally in the game after being the club’s top scorer in the regular season.

Sunday, 9 a.m. (Peacock)

Leeds’ hopes of escaping relegation aren’t gone yet, but they’re in deepening trouble. Jesse Marsch’s team pretty much has to win out and hope that Burnley slips up. Leeds and Burnley both have 34 points, but Burnley has a game in hand and a better goal difference, -17 to -38.

The good news for Leeds is that Burnley plays at Tottenham on Sunday, and Spurs are trying to chase down Arsenal after thrashing the Gunners 3-0 on Thursday.

» READ MORE: The rest of this weekend's Premier League schedule

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

Sam Kerr and Chelsea can add this season’s women’s FA Cup title to the league championship theey won last weekend.

Sunday, 4 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

Seattle returns to Lumen Field for the first time since its Concacaf Champions League title game triumph on home turf – and for the first tine since being upset in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday by San Jose. That game was at the Sounders’ alternate home, the 4,500-seat stadium at the Starfire Sports Complex in the suburbs.

The Sounders have just 7 points from 8 regular-season gamese so far, and are in next-to-last place in the Western Conference. But that’s a bit deceiving, because MLS rescheduled some games to give Seattle breathing room during its Champions League campaign. Now Jordan Morris and company can get back into a regular rhythm.

» READ MORE: The rest of this weekend's MLS schedule

Sunday, 7 p.m. (Univision 65, TUDN)

It’s one thing to have a Clásico Tapatío in the Liga MX playoffs. It’s another for Atlas, traditionally Guadalajara’s smaller team, to have the upper hand. But that’s the case this time. Atlas is the reigning champion, finished third in this regular season, and won the first game of this series 2-1 at Chivas on Thursday.

» READ MORE: The rest of this weekend's Liga MX playoffs schedule