Soccer on TV: UEFA Europa League and Liga MX playoff finals highlight this week’s big games

Tuesday, 6:15 p.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)

The last round of group-stage games in the Copa Libertadores kicks off with a clash of titans from Argentina and Brazil. River Plate (9 points), of Buenos Aires, would finish first in the group with a win or tie. Fluminense (8 points), of Rio de Janeiro, would jump over River with a win but not a tie.

Fluminense has incentive to win beyond bragging rights. Third-place Junior (6 points) of Barranquilla, Colombia, could jump over Flu with a win over last-place Independiente Santa Fe, another Colombian club (6:15 p.m., beIN Sports Connect).

» READ MORE: This week's Copa Libertadores schedule

Wednesday, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

The Bundesliga’s relegation-promotion playoff starts with Köln, which finished third-from-last in the top flight, hosting the team that finished third in the 2. Bundesliga. Kiel has never played in the German top flight but already made headlines this season with a run to the German Cup semifinals that included a penalty shootout upset of Bayern Munich.

Wednesday, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

In Spain’s Copa de la Reina, Barcelona hopes to add a third trophy to a haul this season that already includes the Spanish league and Champions League. Alexia Putellas, Jenni Hermoso, Caroline Graham Hansen, and Lieke Martens are part of one of the most fearsome attacks on the planet.

This post originally said Barcelona is playing Real Madrid. That’s wrong. Apologies. Madrid CFF beat Real in the quarterfinals, and now plays Barcelona in the semis.

Madrid CFF has a few players whose names you might have heard: American defender Amanda Frisbie, who played for five NWSL teams from 2014-18 including Sky Blue FC; and Brazilian forward Geyse, a 23-year-old who was on the 2019 World Cup team. This year, she scored a very nice goal against Argentina at the SheBelieves Cup.

Wednesday, 3 p.m. (CBS Sports Network, UniMás, TUDN)

The Europa League final isn’t always a big deal, but it will be to both teams involved this year. Villarreal, led by 23-goal scorer Gerard Moreno and veteran Paco Alcácer, seeks its first trophy of any kind since the Spanish club won the 2004 Intertoto Cup.

Manchester United had a better season than the rancor around it might make outsiders think, finishing second in the Premier League. But the Red Devils haven’t won a trophy since 2017, when they claimed the Europa League and English League Cup titles. You can be sure Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani will have their teammates fired up for this moment.

Wednesday, 7 p.m. (Paramount+)

CBS Sports Network is televising Kansas City-Chicago at 6 p.m. Wednesday to give the NWSL newcomer a spotlight. But you can be sure that a lot of fans will be watching a clash that’s one of the most star-studded the league can offer. Alex Morgan, Marta, Sydney Leroux, Ali Krieger, and Ashlyn Harris lead the Pride against Crystal Dunn, Becky Sauerbrunn, Christine Sinclair, and a Thorns side that’s coming off a rare home loss against archrival OL Reign.

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

Thursday, 2:45 p.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)

Union captain Alejandro Bedoya will be watching this game when he wraps up practice. Nantes, one of his old clubs, is in the French relegation-promotion playoff after finishing third-from-last in Ligue 1. Toulouse is trying to return to the top flight after finishing third in Ligue 2.

Thursday, 10 p.m. (Fox Deportes)

The Liga MX playoff final kicks off Thursday night in Torreón, a city in north-central Mexico whose hometown club has a long history of success. Now here comes a Cruz Azul squad that has steamrolled just about everyone this season but is haunted by a history of big-stage chokes. Santos is just the kind of team for an upset, featuring 18-year-old Mexican-American winger Santiago Muñoz.

» READ MORE: Alianza de Futbol is bringing its youth soccer showcase to the Philadelphia area for the first time