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ProSoccerTalk’s Major League Soccer previews and predictions

By Steve DavisFeb 20, 2013, 1:00 PM EDT
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Major League Soccer’s 18th season kicks off March 2, and we have the nourishment for your MLS-hungry soul.

Can Los Angeles and a wishy-washy Landon Donovan capture an unprecedented third straight MLS Cup? Can fab Frenchman Thierry Henry finally lead the Red Bulls into a more accomplished universe? Where are the breakout men of 2013? Who are the standard bearers at their positions?

It’s all ahead (plus lots more) at ProSoccerTalk as we drop the MLS preseason knowledge:

  • PST Eastern Conference Previews

Feb. 20: Toronto FC

Feb. 21: Montreal Impact

Feb. 22: New England Revolution

Feb. 23: Columbus Crew

Feb. 24: Philadelphia Union

Feb. 25: Houston Dynamo

Feb. 26: Chicago Fire

Feb. 27: New York Red Bulls

Feb. 28: Sporting Kansas City

March 1: D.C. United
  • PST Western Conference Previews

Feb. 20: Chivas USA

Feb. 21: Colorado Rapids

Feb. 22: FC Dallas

Feb. 23: Vancouver Whitecaps

Feb. 24: Portland Timbers

Feb. 25: Seattle

Feb. 26: Real Salt Lake

Feb. 27: LA Galaxy

Feb. 28: San Jose Earthquakes
  • PST Positional rankings:

Feb. 21: Goalkeepers

Feb. 22: Right backs

Feb. 23: Left backs

Feb. 24: Center backs

Feb. 25: Right midfielders

Feb. 26: Left midfielders

Feb. 27: Central midfielders/holding midfielders

Feb. 28: Attacking midfielders

March 1: Strikers
  • Critical preseason knowledge

Feb. 28: PST All-United States Best XI

March 1: PST’s Major League Soccer Best XI, 2013 preseason version

  • PST preseason predictions

Feb. 26: Our predictions for Rookie of the Year

Feb. 27: Our predictions for Most Valuable Player

Feb. 28: Our predictions for 2013 leading scorer

March 1: Our conference champions and big winner
  • Good MLS preseason reads

No goal line technology for MLS in 2013

Major League Soccer IS a seller’s league … and that’s OK

Three Good Questions for: New York Red Bulls manager Mike Petke

Portland, Porter confident heading into new season

New setup leaves FC Dallas looking for answers in midfield

Three Good Questions for: San Jose head coach Frank Yallop

Dominic Kinnear, the dean of MLS coaches (and then some)

Three Good Questions for: Portland’s Diego Valeri

Two sides of the coin with Obafemi Martins

Are we headed for a highly unpredictable MLS season?

Dortmund hammer Freiburg but gain no ground on Bayern

Patrick Seeger/dpa via AP
Associated PressApr 21, 2019, 5:52 PM EDT
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Borussia Dortmund moved back within one point of Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich with a 4-0 win against Freiburg on Sunday.

[ LA LIGA: Real Madrid win to stay within striking distance of 2nd ]

Dortmund went ahead in the 11th minute when 19-year-old Jadon Sancho scored from the six-yard box after a run by Marco Reus. It was Sancho’s 11th Bundesliga goal this season.

Dortmund added three after the interval with goals from Reus, Mario Gotze and Paco Alcacer with a penalty.

[ MORE: PSG crowned Ligue 1 champions with five games left ]

In the day’s other game, Hertha Berlin was held 0-0 at home by bottom side Hannover, which ended an eight-game losing streak.

On Saturday, Bayern beat Werder Bremen 1-0.

With four rounds left, Bayern leads with 70 points, Dortmund has 69 and Leipzig is third with 61.

La Liga: Real Madrid win to stay within striking distance of 2nd

Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images
By Andy EdwardsApr 21, 2019, 4:10 PM EDT
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A roundup of all of Sunday’s action in Spain’s top flight…

[ MORE: PSG crowned Ligue 1 champions with five games left ]

Real Madrid 3-0 Athletic Bilbao

Karim Benzema bagged a hat trick (WATCH HERE) — his 19th, 20th and 21st goals of the league season (second-most, 12 behind Lionel Messi) — to send Real Madrid to a comfortable victory over Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu. The result also keeps Los Blancos within four points of capital rivals Atletico Madrid in something of a battle for second place behind runaway leaders Barcelona.

Benzema has scored 10 goals in his last seven La Liga appearances, a run in which Madrid have complied a 5W-1D-1L record. Benzema failed to score in Zinedine Zidane’s re-debut as Madrid manager, but has scored eight goals in five games since.

Sunday’s game marked the 300th league appearance for midfielder and 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric in a Real Madrid shirt.

Getafe 3-0 Sevilla — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS

Sevilla’s hopes of returning to the UEFA Champions League following a one-year hiatus took a serious hit on Sunday, as Pablo Machin’s side was hammered by Getafe, the side which now occupies fourth place, two points ahead of them. Getafe continue to enjoy their meteoric rise through the Spanish ranks, as they were competing in the second division this time two years ago.

Two of the three goals the scored on Sunday came from the penalty spot, as Jaime Mata and Jorge Molina converted in the 35th and 45th+4′, respectively. Molina completed the scoring eight minutes into the second half.

Elsewhere in La Liga

Real Betis 1-2 Valencia
Levante 2-2 Espanyol
Villarreal 2-1 Leganes

PSG wins French league after 2nd-place Lille fails to win

AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Associated PressApr 21, 2019, 2:27 PM EDT
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PARIS (AP) Paris Saint-Germain clinched the French league title without kicking a ball as second-place Lille could only draw 0-0 at Toulouse on Sunday.

Lille had to win to have any chance of catching PSG, but PSG is now 16 points ahead of its only rival with five matches left after this weekend.

After failing to clinch the title in the past three matches, drawing one and losing two, PSG can celebrate the eighth title in its history ahead of its home game against Monaco later Sunday.

It is PSG’s sixth title in the last seven seasons, with only Monaco in 2017 breaking PSG’s dominance.

Although the title was long expected from a side scoring 92 goals in 32 games so far, it took longer than it should have.

PSG could have won it three games ago, but drew 2-2 at home to Strasbourg when a win would have clinched it.

Then PSG needed a draw at Lille last Sunday, only to lose 5-1 in the club’s heaviest defeat since Qatari investors QSI took charge of the club in June 2011.

A win away to Nantes would have sufficed, too, on Wednesday night only for PSG to lose 3-2 .

The 10 goals conceded in those three games made for PSG’s worst defensive record during a three-game spell since 1985.

Also Sunday, striker Kalifa Coulibaly scored twice as 13th-place Nantes beat 17th-place Amiens 3-2.

Later, Saint-Etienne needed a draw at Reims to move above Marseille and into fourth place.

—

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/apf-Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Klopp hails Liverpool mettle in face of “proper banana skin”

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaApr 21, 2019, 1:33 PM EDT
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Jurgen Klopp knows that more than a few clubs would’ve slipped up Sunday at Cardiff City, given the hosts’ desperation and the visitors’ midweek triumph, but his Reds stood up to the test.

[ RECAP: Cardiff 0-2 Liverpool ]

Liverpool beat Cardiff City 2-0, scoring a pair of second half goals to go back atop the Premier League before Manchester City plays its final match-in-hand of the season in a midweek Manchester Derby.

“It was prepared to be a proper banana skin and we knew that, the boys were unbelievable,” Klopp said after his team kept a second consecutive clean sheet.

He insists that he’s not feeling pressure as Liverpool may need to win every one of its matches and get help to capture its first Premier League crown.

“I only know about me and I didn’t feel it (the pressure) we have to do it like we do it. We cannot change it. The boys try really with all they have, we only speak about the things we have to do. Their attitude is outstanding and it’s a tough season but a very positive one as well.”

Liverpool has two banana skins left, a visit from Huddersfield and trip to Newcastle, closing out the league slate with Wolves at Anfield.