The single biggest game in European soccer takes place in a few hours (3pm ET). It’s Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, and I can think of no better way to ease into the work week than to follow the game online. (Or, if you’re playing hooky today, watching it on GolTV or ESPN Deportes.) Thankfully it’s the year 2010 (nearly 2011!) so it’s pretty easy to keep up with the likes of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, and Benzema. Here we go!
Of course, the easiest way to watch the game is to watch it on GolTV or ESPN Deportes. (These are the channels it’ll be available on in the US.) If that means you have to stay home, go to a bar, or use something like Slingbox, that would be the simplest solution. Plus on GolTV you get Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen, two pretty great announcers.
If that’s not an option, your next best bet would be to check ESPN3.com. As mentioned during the World Cup, ESPN3.com is sorta an online channel that’s available to certain ISPs throughout the country, including Comcast. Best to check some time beforehand to see if you’re on the whitelist. If you are, then sit back and enjoy.
Of course, there are other, slightly less official steams out there you can tap into. I’d suggest visiting rojadirecta.com around 2:30pm ET, then look for alternative streams there. You probably should go here if you have a “real” job where you can get into trouble based on the sites you visit, since this site very much occupies a grey area in the world of copyright and all that.
Lastly, you could follow text play-by-play. The Guardian should have a good one in English, but also give AS, Marca, SPORT, and El Mundo Deportivo a shout, depending on your affiliation. Twitter may also be worth checking out, search terms like barcelona, real madrid, futbol, messi, ronaldo, etc. I’m sure some of these will be “trending” by then, so it shouldn’t be too hard.
So yeah, you shouldn’t have too much trouble following the game online today. You should be grateful, too, because back in the early 2000s there was no such thing as live video streaming. Well, there was Real Player, but unless you were on a university campus you’d be buffering all day long!
And while we’re at it, any scoreline predictions? I say draw: these two teams are so evenly matched that’s it would take some herculean effort on the part of the two cracks, Messi and Ronaldo, to see the balance tip one way or the other.
In related news, a very awesome reader has sent in this photo of Barcelona and Real Madrid potato chips found somewhere in Singapore.
