The first leg of the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League semifinals begins on Tueday, as FC Schalke 04 hosts Manchester United (Fox Soccer), followed by Real Madrid hosting FC Barcelona on Wednesday, April 27 (FX). Second leg matches begin on Tuesday, May 3 as Barcelona hosts Real Madrid (Fox Soccer) and continues on Wednesday, May 4 as Manchester United hosts FC Schalke 04 (FX). All exclusive, English-language semifinal HD telecasts begin at 2:30 p.m.
FOX NFL SUNDAY host Curt Menefee and FOX Soccer’s Eric Wynalda, Warren Barton and Christopher Sullivan preview and analyze Champions League semifinal action on UEFA Champions League Pregame, presented by Geico, live at 2 p.m. each matchday from Fox Soccer’s brand-new, state-of-the-art studio set at the FOX Network Center in Los Angeles.
This year’s Champions League semifinals showcases arguably three of the richest and most supported clubs in world soccer – Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona – and a tournament Cinderella in German club Schalke 04, reaching its first Champions League semifinal. Each team has advanced to the semifinals through significant contributions from its globally-iconic stars.
Barcelona and Real Madrid feature two of the world’s most renowned players in Lionel Messi (Barcelona; 2010-11 Champions League-best nine goals), and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid; six Champions League goals this term). Seven of Spain’s 2010 World Cup Champion starting 11 play for Barcelona and three for Real Madrid. Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the opening quarterfinal leg against Chelsea, while Schalke’s Champions League run coincides with the addition of former Real Madrid star Raul, who has scored a Champions League-best 71 career goals.
For the first time ever FX, Fox Network Group’s popular basic cable network delivered to 99 million US homes, brings viewers “Fox Soccer” on FX,” for one game in each semifinal with the other two games appearing on Fox Soccer.
