USMNT midweek viewing guide: Cinderella one step away

The midweek thread is back! We have the US Open Cup semifinals Wednesday night, Champions League qualifying, and friendlies galore. Let’s get into it!

Tuesday

• Notts County v Nottingham Forest, 2:45p: Alex Mighten has taken a first-team role with Forest in preseason. We’ll see if that continues in this friendly.
• Barcelona v Juventus, 8:30p on FS2, fubo (free trial), Sling TV: Sergiño Dest faces Weston McKennie at a friendly in the Cotton Bowl in Dallaas.

Also in action:

• Alavés v Beşiktaş, 1p on Onefootball (friendly): Tyler Boyd is back at Beşiktaş after loans the past 2 seasons.
• Ajax v Shakhtar Donetsk, 2p: Kik Pierie is an option in Ajax’s friendly.
• Leon v Toluca, 10:05p on VIX+: Sebastian Saucedo has moved to Toluca in Liga MX.

Wednesday

• AEK Athens v Utrecht, 10a (friendly): Taylor Booth has officially been given the #10 shirt for Eredivisie side Utrecht.
• Real Betis v Marseille, 2:30p on ESPN+: Konrad de la Fuente faces a club he was linked to earlier this transfer window in this friendly.
• Orlando City v New York Red Bulls, 7:30p on ESPN+: Newly-arrived Niko Gioacchini and Orlando host Aaron Long, John Tolkin, and Caden Clark in a US Open Cup semifinal.
• Sacramento Republic v Sporting KC, 10:30p on ESPN+: Second-tier Sacramento already knocked LA Galaxy out of the Open Cup, so they won’t fear visiting Sporting KC. The USL side includes 17-year-old CB Santiago Suarez, who will be on his way to US U-19 camp soon.

Also in action:

• Gijon v Mallorca, 6a: Matthew Hoppe and Mallorca have a friendly.
• Feyenoord v NAC Breda, 7a: Cole Bassett and Feyenoord are in friendly action.
• Slovan Bratislova v Ferencvaros, 2:30p on Paramount+: Henry Wingo and Ferencvaros are trailing 1-2 going into this Champions League qualifying second leg.
• Olympiacos v Maccabi Haifa, 3p: Josh Cohen and Haifa are tied 1-1 after the first leg of Champions League qualifying.
• Pumas v Mazatlan, 10:05p on TUDN, UniMás, fubo: No Sebastian Saucedo for Pumas, as he’s move to Toluca, but young Jorge Ruvalcaba is a prospect to watch in Liga MX.

Thursday

• Astana v Raków Częstochowa, 11a on Onefootball: Ben Lederman and Raków carry a 5-0 lead into this Conference League qualifying second leg.
• Brøndby v Pogon Szczecin, 2p on Paramount+: Christian Cappis and Brøndby are tied 1-1 after the first leg in Conference League qualifying.
• Drita v Antwerp, 2p: Sam Vines and Antwerp played to a scoreless draw in the first leg at home. The tie comes into the away leg tied 0-0 as they look to qualify for Conference League.

Thursday

• 1860 Munich v Borussia Dortmund, 2:45p on ESPN+ (free trial): I don’t want to get too ahead of myself — the weekend match thread likely has you covered here — but we could see Gio Reyna in a competitive match this Friday as BVB travels to Munich to open the DFB Pokal.

That’s it! Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments below. Let’s see who impresses this week!