ESPN Shows English Favoritism With Champions League Schedule

ESPN and Setanta Sports have both unveiled their TV schedules for the Champions League quarter-final games, to be played on April 7-8 and April 14-15, and unfortunately it’s a slap in the face to soccer purists.

There’s no surprise on April 7 when ESPN2 will feature Manchester United against Porto, while Setanta will show Villarreal against Arsenal. But, on April 8, ESPN2 have put ratings before football by deciding to show Liverpool against Chelsea instead of the tie of the round which is undoubtedly Barcelona against Bayern Munich.

Sure, this is a Premier League blog and I love my English football, but I’m much more looking forward to see Barcelona clash against Bayern Munich than seeing another mindnumbing match between Liverpool and Chelsea, who are renowned for sucking the life out of soccer whenever they play in big cup matches.

Here’s the schedule:

Tuesday, April 7

• Manchester United v Porto, 2:45pm, ESPN2
• Villarreal v Arsenal, 2:45pm, Setanta Sports

Wednesday, April 8

• Barcelona v Bayern Munich, 2:45pm, Setanta Sports
• Liverpool v Chelsea, 2:45pm, ESPN2

Tuesday, April 14

• Bayern Munich v Barcelona, 2:45pm, Setanta Sports
• Chelsea v Liverpool, 2:45pm, ESPN2

Wednesday, April 15

• Arsenal v Villarreal, 2:45pm, Setanta Sports
• Porto v Manchester United, 2:45pm, ESPN2

What are your thoughts regarding the matches that ESPN and Setanta Sports selected? Share your opinion by clicking the comments link below.