Serie A Abroad?, Manchester Derby, Marcelo Bielsa, Sherwood Returns to Spurs, Sevilla vs. Barcelona, Napoli vs, Fiorentina

Gianluigi Buffon (with Fabio Cannavaro) at Parma in the late 90s...

Boof! It's Friday, yo. Time to gear up for another wonderful weekend on the pitch. We'd better enjoy it, too. There are not many left. The big one on the calendar is Sunday at 11 a.m. EDT when Manchester United host Manchester City. Hit NBCSN for that one. Hit the links below for all of your Premier League prep.

Premier League Preview

Team News

10 Things To Look Out For

Miguel Delaney: Will Chelsea hold the lead?

David Hytner: Sherwood returns to Spurs and a very complex legacy

Manchester United vs. Manchester City: Prediction, Team News, Preview
Manchester United vs. Manchester City: The Key Battles
Manchester derby memories from the men who played in the game

Paul Merson's Predictions

Lawro's Predictions

Marcelo Bielsa. The Argentine is currently the gaffer at Marseille, but might he make his way to West Ham if Big Sam gets the boot? Barney Rooney is the man in charge of taking a look at this one.

Good news here. Montreal have already sold over 35,000 tickets for their home leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final. Well done, Montrealers! Impactors?

Major League Soccer Weekend Preview

Wait. Who is running out of time to save his job...?

What's up in Italy? Well, for one, Napoli host Fiorentina in a match with Champions League implications. Gigi Buffon goes back to Parma for perhaps the final time. And get this: The Big Whigs of Serie A are considering starting next season outside of Italy. Very interesting...

Down in Spain, Barcelona face a tricky trip down to Sevilla tomorrow. Here's a preview of the La Liga weekend activities, plus an article about Real Madrid's recent struggles.

Backheel Breakfast

Remember Michu? Yeah, you do. What's up with him these days, anyway?

We mentioned earlier in the week that MLS signed a deal to broadcast in the UK. Well, they've now done it in Brazil. Tap that global ass audience, MLS!

That'll do it for this week. Keep it tite.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Real Madrid & Barcelona Win, Cup Fun As Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Lazio, PSG Advance

Why always me?

Woop! How is everyone today? Excellent. As expected, the top two sides in La Liga won without too much trouble. Ronny scored his 300th goal for Real and Messi and Suarez were in the money for Barca. Sid Lowe was kind enough to file a special Thursday report with more on the mid-week happenings in Spain.

Cups? Cups. Bayern Munich's treble run is still alive after they edged Leverkusen on penalties in the German Cup. Raphael Honigstein is in Germany and has a look at Bayern here. And down in France, The Zlatan scored a hat-trick to lead PSG to the French Cup final. Meanwhile, over in Italy, Lazio won at Napoli to advance to the final of the Coppa Italia where they will meet Juventus. In England, Liverpool finally overcame a stubborn Blackburn side and earned a trip to Wembley with a 0 - 1 win at Ewood Park. Andy Hunter was there and filed this report. Liverpool will face Villa in their FA Cup semi-final. Richard Jolly was also there, and he came away with Three Observations. Phil McNulty would like to join in, too. He says it's the FA Cup or bust for Liverpool this season.

Here's a nice article about Roma. Read it.

Now, go on.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Back to the Grind, Blackburn vs. Liverpool, MLS in the UK

The Velodrome in Marseille is back.

Hey there! Wow, that was a nice little Break 'O Spring, if we may say so ourselves. The entire SSN Staff scattered from Headquarters and enjoyed a little time away. It was good. But, it is time to hop back in the saddle. Odd to restart on Hump Day, but it's time to get rolling.

We'll begin with yesterday's Aston Villa/QPR match and Christian Benteke. Remember that guy? Used to score a lot, got hurt, stopped scoring? Well, he's scoring again. It was a thriller at Villa Park that finished 3 - 3. Peter Lansley was at Villa Park and filed this report. Talking Points? Here are Five. So, your Premier League table looks like this. Villa move three clear of the relegation zone and QPR remain in trouble. Here's more on the struggle to avoid the dreaded drop. Back toward the top, Manchester City suddenly find themselves in trouble of not qualifying for the Champions League. Phil McNulty looks at what's gone wrong at the Etihad.

Check this out. Major League Soccer has inked a deal with Sky and will be shown in the UK. At least two regular-season games a week, the All-Star game, and every play-off fixture and the MLS Cup final. Hmmm. We're wondering what sort of attention it will garner. Speaking of MLS, the Montreal Impact have advanced to the CONCACAF Champions League Final. Well done, Impact! Way to represent Canada, eh? Or Quebec. North America? Whatever. More MLS? How about Grant Wahl on Orlando City? And finally...POWER RANKINGS!!

Enough MLS. We've got an FA Cup Semi-Final Replay on our hands this afternoon (2:45 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1). Blackburn host Liverpool at Ewood Park after the previous match at Anfield failed to yield any goals. The winner will go to Wembley to face Aston Villa in a semi-final. Here's a preview.

There are also matches in La Liga today. It's tight at the top between Barcelona and Real Madrid, and Guillem Balague wants to have a look at their respective run-ins. It shall be allowed. Today, the Catalans host Almeria while Ronny's Army go to across town to face Rayo Vallecano.

There was some discussion around SSN Headquarters prior to Spring Break about who should be Player of the Year in the Premier League. Tactical guru Michael Cox says it's got to be Eden Hazard. That was pretty much the consensus here, as well.

Backheel Breakfast

And finally...former Liverpool player Andrea Dossena was arrested at Harrods on suspicion of shoplifting.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com