How to Watch the Bundesliga’s return

The coronavirus shutdown is still in effect, more or less, in sporting terms in the United States, but soccer is slowly opening in other parts of the world. After the K-League kicked things back off last week (but you can’t legally watch most K-League games in the United States) this weekend the Bundesliga, the German top flight, restarts and is available on American screens.

24 or 25 games into the season (depending on the team), the 18-team Bundesliga is aiming to finish the 2019-20 campaign while emerging out of the coronavirus shutdown. Defending champion Bayern Munich once again sit atop the league, but Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Borussia Monchengladbach are all within six points of the leaders and are aiming to topple FC Hollywood.

Former LA Galaxy academy and LA Galaxy II player Ulysses Llanez, now at Wolfsburg, is not in the first-team squad for their match against Augsburg, but with teams allowed to make five substitutions and games likely to come thick and fast, he’ll likely get some playing time in coming weeks.

Here’s the slate of games this weekend and how you can watch them in the United States:

• Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke - Sat., 6:30 am PT - FS1, Fox Deportes
• RB Leipzig vs. Freiburg - Sat., 6:30 am PT - FS2, TUDN
• Hoffenheim vs. Hertha Berlin - Sat., 6:30 am PT - Fox Soccer Match Pass
• Fortuna Dusseldorf vs. Paderborn - Sat., 6:30 am PT - Fox Soccer Match Pass
• Augsburg vs. Wolfsburg - Sat., 6:30 am PT - Fox Soccer Plus
• Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Borussia Monchengladbach - Sat., 9:30 am PT - FS1, TUDN
• Köln vs. Mainz - Sun., 6:30 am PT - FS1, Fox Deportes
• Union Berlin vs. Bayern Munich - Sun., 9 am PT - FS1, TUDN
• Werder Bremen vs. Bayer Leverkusen - Mon., 11:30 am PT, FS2

FS1, FS2, TUDN and usually Fox Deportes are available on most cable packages in California. You can also find those channels on FuboTV. Fox Soccer Plus is a paid add-on channel for cable and FuboTV, while Fox Soccer Match Pass is a paid streaming service, currently retailing for $19.99/month and $139/year after a seven-day trial.

So most of the games are in the Saturday 6:30 am PT slot, but hey, soccer is back and there’s a few slots over the coming days. Better something than nothing, right?

Are you planning to watch any Bundesliga games this weekend? Which are you looking forward to the most? Let’s chat in the comments below.