Soccer on TV: NWSL Challenge Cup, Bundesliga season ends, FA Cup quarterfinals

The NWSL Challenge Cup starts this weekend, the Bundesliga season ends, and there are big games in Italy, England, and Spain.

Here’s your viewer’s guide to the top action to watch.

Friday, 3:45 p.m. (ESPN+)

Led by Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala, Juve now has a four-point lead atop the Serie A standings. Winners of the last eight titles, the Bianconeri can take another step toward making it nine with a win over 18th-place Lecce, which is battling relegation.

Click here for the weekend’s Serie A schedule.

Saturday, 9:30 a.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes)

On the final weekend of the Bundesliga season, all games kick off simultaneously. The title and UEFA Champions League places are already decided, but the Europa League race is not. John Brooks’ sixth-place Wolfsburg and seventh-place Hoffenheim both have 49 points, and Wolfsburg has the goal difference tiebreaker. The better finisher qualifies directly, the worse one goes to a playoff.

Hoffenheim plays Borussia Dortmund (Fox Sports 2, UniMás) in what could be the last time to watch Gio Reyna play this season.

Saturday, 9:30 a.m. (Fox Soccer Match Pass)

At the bottom of the standings, next-to-last-place Bremen has one last chance to avoid relegation. If Josh Sargent’s team wins and Fortuna Düsseldorf loses, Bremen will go into a survival playoff against the third-place finisher in the second division. If Bremen wins and Düsseldorf ties, they’ll be tied on points. Düsseldorf currently has a four-goal edge in goal difference.

This game is part of the last ever weekend of games streamed on Fox Soccer Match Pass, the subscription streaming service that Fox has run for 10 years. Because the network’s Bundesliga rights deal is ending, it won’t have any European soccer leagues anymore. The service will be discontinued next week, after Sunday’s final round of second-division games.

Click here for the weekend’s full Bundesliga schedule.

Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (CBS3)

The NWSL will become the first American pro team sports league to resume during the coronavirus pandemic when the Challenge Cup kicks off this weekend. It’s fitting that the opening game — the first club women’s soccer game ever to air on a major U.S. TV network — features the NWSL’s two biggest teams.

Crystal Dunn, Sam Mewis, and Jessica McDonald lead the Courage; Lindsey Horan, Christine Sinclair, and newly acquired Becky Sauerbrunn lead the Thorns. There won’t be fans in the stands, but there will be loads of talent worth watching on the field.

Later Saturday, Julie Ertz’s Chicago Red Stars face Rose Lavelle’s Washington Spirit (10 p.m.). That game and every game in the tournament are available online through CBS’s subscription platform CBS All Access.

Click here for the full NWSL Challenge Cup schedule.

Sunday, 11 a.m. (ESPN+)

Two teams battling for England’s Champions League places turn their attention to the FA Cup quarterfinals this weekend. Hershey native Christian Pulisic has scored in two straight games for Chelsea; Leicester’s Jamie Vardy has 19 goals this season. We’ll see whether they play or get a day off to rest for upcoming Premier League games.

Click here for the FA Cup schedule, and here for the weekend’s handful of Premier League games.

Sunday, 4 p.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)

Veteran forward Karim Benzema and young phenom winger Vinícius Júnior have helped Real Madrid climb into first place in the weeks since La Liga resumed. This should be another win, as Espanyol — the smaller of Barcelona’s two La Liga teams — is in last place.

Click here for the full La Liga weeked schedule.