Major League Soccer’s 27th season kicks off this weekend | Soccer on TV

Friday, 12:45 p.m. (Paramount+)

Friday, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)

None of the three Serie A title contenders won last weekend: first-place Milan tied at last-place Salernitana, second-place Inter lost 2-0 at home to Sassuolo, and third-place Napoli tied 1-1 at Cagliari.

They’re all back at it this weekend, with the two Milan clubs kicking the weekend off. Napoli’s turn comes Sunday, a big test in a visit to Lazio (2:45 p.m., Paramount+).

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

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. (Univision 65, TUDN, twitter.com/MLS)

Colorado, last year’s Western Conference regular-season champion, begins the defense of its title against a LAFC squad that’s starting a new era under new manager Steve Cherundolo. The home team still has star Carlos Vela, which means its attack is always a threat to go off.

Saturday, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)

Charlotte, MLS’s newest team, makes its debut - and could be in for a bumpy ride. The roster has a Designated Player striker in 25-year-old Poland native Karol Swiderski, but there isn’t much depth overall.

Saturday, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)

This could be the debut for new the Fire’s new Swiss national team star Xherdan Shaqiri, bought from France’s Lyon for $8 million.

» READ MORE: Julián Carranza has a chip on his shoulder after joining the Union from Inter Miami

Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (Fox29, Fox Deportes)

A prime-time showcase should be a moment to spotlight reigning Supporters’ Shield winners New England traveling to American soccer’s most telegenic stage. Instead, it will unfortunately be mired in controversy.

Last week, The Athletic reported that the Timbers’ front office did not report domestic abuse allegations against former player Andy Polo for nearly nine months, until the allegations became public earlier this month.

Polo’s contract was terminated after the allegations became public, but his ex-partner claimed that the Timbers knew of the matter all along. Notably, the Timbers picked up Polo’s 2022 contract extension last December.

It’s another black mark against general manager Gavin Wilkinson, who was also GM of the NWSL’s Thorns (both teams share the same ownership) when the Paul Riley scandal unfolded. Portland’s Timbers Army and Rose City Riveters supporters’ clubs have not held back in expressing their displeasure.

MLS has launched an investigation of the Timbers, and commissioner Don Garber has promised the results will be published.

Saturday, 10 p.m. (Univision 65, TUDN)

Mexico City’s Clásico Capitalino is the game of the wekeend in Liga MX.

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

Sunday, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+)

Fresh off scoring his first Champions League goal of the season, Christian Pulisic goes for another trophy with the Blues in the League Cup final. It would also be another title for Chelsea’s Russian oligarch owner Roman Abramovich, who is close friends with Vladimir Putin. Those ties are coming under closer scrutiny amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

» READ MORE: This weekend's English Premier League schedule

Sunday, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+)

Dortmund’s Gio Reyna is injured again, a hamstring tweak suffered just 30 minutes into last Sunday’sgame against Borussia Mönchengladbach. That denies U.S. national team fans a chance to watch Reyna play against Augsburg’s Ricardo Pepi.

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

Sunday, 3 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes)

Atlanta had another big offseason, buying Thiago Almada from Argentina’s Velez Sarsfield for $16 million - the biggest transfer fee in MLS history. The Five Stripes also loaned Esequiel Barco to River Plate, and sold big-time U.S. national team left back prospect George Bello to Germany’s Arminia Bielefeld for just under $2 million.

Kansas City made two notable signings, Montenegrin striker Nikola Vujnovic from Serbia’s Vozdovac and Cypriot winger Marinos Tzionis from Cyprus’ Omonia Nikosia. But the club lost star Mexican striker Alan Pulido for the season when he decided to have major surgery on a knee injury that hampered him in the late stages of last year.

Sunday, 3 p.m. (ESPN+)

It won’t be as big of a spectacle as when Barcelona visits Bilbao, but both of these teams enter this matchup coming off big wins in La Liga last weekend: Sergiño Dest’s Barcelona beat Valencia 4-1, while Bilbao beat Basque rival Real Sociedad 4-0.

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

Sunday, 5 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

Reigning MLS Cup champion NYCFC kicks off its new season after seeing off a raft of offseason offers for star striker Valentín Castellanos. None of them were big enough to get the Pigeons to budge. He’ll go at some point, though, because eventually the offers will match New York’s valuation. Until then, let’s see how much playing time big-money prospects Talles Magno and Thiago Andrade get.

The Galaxy have missed the playoffs for two straight years, inexcusable for the league’s most decorated club. This year’s squad is as star-studded as ever, with former Brazil, Juventus and Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa joining Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and Efraín Álvarez.

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

Sunday, 5:15 p.m. (Paramount+)

This clash of Buenos Aires giants in Argentina’s Copa de la Liga Profesional is always worth checking out.

» READ MORE: More games to watch in Argentina