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Two Champions Leagues and the NWSL Challenge Cup provide knockout drama this week | Soccer on TV

Real Madrid hosts Manchester City on Europe's biggest club soccer stage, and the Seattle Sounders aim to become the first MLS team to win Concacaf's crown in 22 years.

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema (right) battling for the ball with Manchester City's Rodrigo during the first game of their Champions League semifinal series, last Tuesday in Manchester, England.
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema (right) battling for the ball with Manchester City's Rodrigo during the first game of their Champions League semifinal series, last Tuesday in Manchester, England.Read moreJon Super / AP

Bournemouth vs. Nottingham Forest

Tuesday, 2 p.m. (ESPN+)

This is a big game in the race for promotion from England’s second-division Championship to the Premier League. With two games to go, Bournemouth, which was in the Premier League from 2015-20, is in second place by three points over third-place Nottingham Forest, the 1979 and 1980 European Cup winner but out of England’s top flight since 1999.

The second-place finisher earns automatic promotion, and the third-place finisher goes into a two-round playoff featuring teams 3 through 6.

Villarreal vs. Liverpool

Tuesday, 3 p.m. (Univision 65, TUDN, Paramount+)

Liverpool’s 2-0 win at home in the first game of this UEFA men’s Champion League semifinal series should be enough to see the Reds through. But for as much as Villarreal focuses on its defense, the Yellow Submarine is capable of scoring multiple goals in a game — such as in a 3-0 win at Juventus in the round of 16. If Villarreal can get an early goal here, things will get interesting quickly.

Note that this game is not on big CBS, as all the other semifinal games are.

América Mineiro vs. Atlético Mineiro

Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. (beIN Sports Xtra)

It’s rare for two teams from the same country to land in the same Copa Libertadores group. It’s even rarer for two teams from the same city to do so. But here we have a Clássico das Multidões, a “Derby of the Masses,” as this 109-year-old rivalry is known in Belo Horizonte, Brazil’s sixth-largest city.

Their first meeting of the group stage was a 1-1 tie on Atlético’s home field, the Mineirão stadium that was a 2014 World Cup venue. Now the scene shifts 15 miles north to the Estádio Independência, a venue built on the site where the U.S. men famously upset England in 1950.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia's Walter Bahr helped spark the U.S.' upset of England in Belo Horizonte

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City

Wednesday, 3 p.m. (CBS3, Univision 65, TUDN, Paramount+, ViX)

Amazingly, the first game of this series was even better than the world expected of these heavyweights. Manchester City won, 4-3, but almost everyone — likely including many City players and coaches — left thinking Madrid had the advantage coming home.

Buckle up for what could be one of the great European occasions we’ve seen at the club level, as City throws the house at trying to reach its second straight final and Real aims for its record 17th European Cup title game.

United States vs. Jamaica

Tuesday, 4 p.m. (Fox Soccer Plus, ViX)

The U.S. team has steamrolled the competition at Concacaf’s women’s under-17 championship in the Dominican Republic, posting double-digit goals in every game but one so far. This should be another rout, but it’s notable because the one player from the Philly area who’ll be involved will be on Jamaica’s side.

Maya Raghunandan, a 14-year-old freshman at Council Rock North High School, was recruited by Jamaica because her mother was born and raised there until age 10. Raghunandan currently plays for a youth team of the Ukrainian Nationals, one of Philadelphia’s most famous amateur soccer organizations.

» READ MORE: The Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals were once the best soccer team in America. Now, they’re working to save war victims.

Washington Spirit vs. OL Reign

Wednesday, 8 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)

Three days after these teams met on the opening weekend of the NWSL’s regular season, they meet again in the Challenge Cup semifinals. It’s a quirk of the league’s scheduling — and not a good one, many fans say — that a preseason tournament overlaps with the regular season.

On top of that, the Reign are the higher seed in this game, but the Spirit are the home team because Seattle’s Lumen Field is booked by the Sounders’ Concacaf Champions League final home game. (More on that in a moment.)

This much is certain: any time you can watch the Reign’s Rose Lavelle and Jess Fishlock play against Washington’s Andi Sullivan and Ashley Sullivan, take advantage of it.

Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage

Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. (Paramount+)

This is the less star-studded Challenge Cup semi, with Kansas City’s Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams out injured. But the Current don’t lack for firepower, as shown by their four wins and 10 goals in six group-stage games. Kristen Hamilton, a former Courage stalwart, tallied four times.

North Carolina is led by Brazilians Debinha and Kerolin, as entertaining a forward duo as there is in the league.

» READ MORE: Subaru Park to host Gotham FC-Orlando Pride NWSL game on Aug. 20

Seattle Sounders vs. Pumas UNAM

Wednesday, 10 p.m. (FS1, UniMás, TUDN)

Seattle escaped Mexico City last week with a wild 2-2 win, coming back from 2-0 down with second-half penalty kicks including a 99th-minute equalizer. Now the opportunity is right there for the Sounders to become the first MLS team to win the Concacaf Champions League in its current format.

The largest crowd in CCL final history will be on hand at Lumen Field: 61,000 fans as of last Friday, and charging toward a sellout of 69,000-plus that would break the tournament’s all-time attendance record.

» READ MORE: Seattle's Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan share the joy and relief of the USMNT qualifying for the World Cup

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. West Ham United

Thursday, 3 p.m. (UniMás, TUDN, Paramount+)

Frankfurt delivered another impressive road win in the first game of this Europa League semifinal, 2-1 over West Ham in London. Now the German club is one good result at home from its first continental final since the 1979-80 UEFA Cup.

Rangers vs. RB Leipzig

Thursday, 3 p.m. (Galavisión, Paramount+)

Leipzig won the first game of this series 1-0 at home. If they can hold on to the lead, they’ll reach their first European final. If Rangers can come from behind, they’ll go to a European final for the first time since the 2007-08 UEFA Cup.

Marseille vs. Feyenoord

Thursday, 3 p.m. (Paramount+, TUDN.com)

The first game of this Europa Conference League semifinal series was wild, a 3-2 Feyenoord win at home in front of a jam-packed crowd in Rotterdam. This game could be even more electric, as Marseille tries to come back in front of its raucous supporters at the venerable Vélodrome.

AS Roma vs. Leicester City

Thursday, 3 p.m. (Paramount+, TUDN.com)

Roma holds the advantage in the other Conference League semifinal after getting a 1-1 tie at Leicester in the first game.