Atalanta’s stunning comeback and Juve’s costly near-miss: Football Weekly Extra

17:10Max Rushden:They had nine good chances that they missed. Gatti, Locatelli, Conchitao, Yildiz missed three decent chances. Turam. Yeah, Zagrova. Zagrova twice. I think they will look at that. Despite the deficit on the first leg, I think they should have gone through.

17:32Mark Langdon:yeah there's a Grover one it's the big one I think McKinney just sets him up and he's it's just a per for a left footer just to bend that in the corner and he puts it wide Max can I just

17:40Barry Glendenning:have a bit a bit of a shout out for McKinney because I know we've got a lot of US listeners um like not only has he got an extraordinary sort of long throw um because he can throw it as far as kind of the delaps but he it's at pace as well um so that might be sort of something they really look to use I think the US come the World Cup but this is somebody that started the first leg up front and the second leg at left back and is definitely sort of influential for Juventus in all manner of positions you know I think he's somebody been waiting quite a while for him to really show his best been a lot of talk about him for a long time and I feel like we really are seeing the best of McKinney now albeit he maybe should have taken responsibility with that to Grover when he sort of tried to do the assist rather than the goal but a big player for Juventus and somebody that US will really need to step up come the World Cup.

18:36Mark Langdon:Shout out to Weston McKinney. Yes Lars?

18:39Lars Sivertsen:Also just on Galatasaray they are such a mystery box of a team like you really never know what you'll get with them which I think makes them like the expected fun the sky high and they are if you're not sure which game to watch on a weeknight Champions League spread like this, you're not going to go too far wrong by watching the Galatasaray game. Because if you look at the team now, there's some really good players here. Like Ossiman, obviously, we can have the Ossiman shouldn't be in Turkey discussion. I think it's been had a few times, but certainly he is incredibly good. He would improve almost all.

19:13Lars Sivertsen:There are not many teams in Europe who couldn't use a number nine of that quality. you've got Leroy Sané coming off the bench and he's got great money just look at the line up there's so many genuinely brilliant players here and I keep waiting for them to grow up and become a serious team that can stay organized and behave seriously and they've done the 1-0 win against Liverpool in the group stage was very composed and very organized and I was like yes Galatasaray this is what we want to see but then they also had the disastrous 5-1 defeat to Frankfurt foot they were really poor against union saint-gillois but again they blew juventus apart in the first leg and then they come here with a three-goal lead and are dreadful for so long i cannot there's really no telling what happens when galatasaray start a football match and i think that is as a

20:02Mark Langdon:neutral that's an admirable quality so on that we've got liverpool or tottenham will play galatas royal atleti lars what's the perfect setup of those football matches they can beat both of them and

20:12Lars Sivertsen:they can lose 6-0 to both of them. I swear to God, there's no telling with Galatasaray. But I feel like from that perspective, we probably want them to play Spurs, I think, just to be the chaos off. They have beaten Liverpool earlier in the season, and Liverpool are still working through some stuff. I think anyone who saw them against Nottingham Forest at the weekend will feel that they're not out of the woods, as it were. But maybe because they've played before, I think them against Spurs would be more Or like the expected fun would be through the roof, I think.

20:43Mark Langdon:Right. Well, let's see. When's that draw? Is that tomorrow? Tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning. Friday morning. Okay. Well, I look forward to it. And that'll do for part one. Part two. We'll begin with Real Madrid.

21:04Mark Langdon:Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. Real two, Benfica one. And it feels fitting, Barry, that Vinicius Junior was the key man in this game.

21:14Max Rushden:Yeah, he scored the decisive goal, did a dance by the corner flag quite pointedly, which went down very well with the Bernabeu crowd. Gianluca Presiani, who's accused of racially abusing him in the first leg, travelled with Benfica despite having a suspension, which his club appealed, so he watched from the team hotel, I believe. Jose Mourinho was suspended from this game. He was nowhere to be seen. There's talk he might have watched on a tablet in the team bus. Real Madrid went into this game, no Bellingham, no Mbappe, no Dina Sane. So it could have gone badly for them, but they got through it.

22:02Max Rushden:And deservedly so. And I suspect there won't be too many people, sorry, to see the back of Benfica after what happened in the first leg.

22:11Mark Langdon:Yeah, I think they weren't convincing, Raoul, in this game. No, not at all. Benfica had chances, didn't they?

22:16Lars Sivertsen:No, I was, and this is the game I was trying to, like, main screen. But it was quite bad. Like, just as the quality. At one point, the co-commentator just went, this is really poor play here now. There was just a sequence of some really loose passes from both teams. And this is not like both the point we're at in the tournament and the quality of a lot of the individual players on the field. You're just kind of expecting slightly better football than what was happening here. And Courtois had to come up with some pretty big saves here. I think it's hard to feel a lot of sympathy for Benfica as an institution after the last week.

22:57Lars Sivertsen:And of course that they're coached by Jose and all this sort of stuff, but just completely on the balance of play. I think they'll feel a little bit unfortunate not to actually have gone past Real Madrid here, because Real Madrid looked very gettable on the night. I know Real Madrid are missing some guys in defence, Militao's not there, Huygensen's not there, but they were not impressive really at all. and they look like a team who might get into big trouble against more capable opponents. That said, Mbappe was not available. He will be back. If you have Vinicius Jr. and Mbappe in your front line, you can put three, four, five goals past anyone on any day.

23:36Lars Sivertsen:But they're not. If we talk about teams, in the aftermath of Buda Glimt on Tuesday night, I've heard N use the phrase more than the sum of their parts so many times. Real Madrid currently not more than the sum of their parts, distinctly less than the sum of their parts. And yeah, this was not an impressive performance at all.

23:57Mark Langdon:The midfield seems to be an issue, Mark, with Real Madrid. It's hard to replace Tony Crowes, right, and Luka Modric. That is a hard thing to do, right?

24:06Barry Glendenning:It is. I mean, look, in terms of talent, Valverde, Turmene, Camavinga, all excellent footballers, and do different things as well. So you feel like the balance and the way they play should work, really. I think what they do lack is somebody to control a game, and that is what Tony Crowe's particularly did. It's never calm, is it? It's not.

24:32Lars Sivertsen:Yeah, they're not.

24:33Barry Glendenning:They were after Zubimendi, weren't they? I think that was the player that Xabi Alonso wanted, and I think Real Madrid spent their money elsewhere. but maybe there is somebody that just plays that role that they are lacking that can just knit the team together because Valverde, I think he could possibly do that but he wants to break forward to a man he is more of a destroyer despite his lovely goal. And Camavinga, I'm still trying to work out exactly what Camavinga is. I know he's a very good footballer but I don't know kind of what position he should play and maybe that's been a problem for him as well because he has played left back and they've tried to play him as the sort of defensive midfielder.

25:16Barry Glendenning:So there is definitely a balance issue. I would also say as well that there's an Mbappe issue in terms of this knee injury because Real Madrid are trying to get him through. And I don't know how many times have we seen this where you try and do that and eventually it needs an operation or it needs like a longer term sort of fixed on what we've got. And there is a World Cup just on the horizon as well. So that's a tricky one for Abueloa to manage there. And they're in a title race in Spain. So it's hard to know which games Mbappe should play and which ones he shouldn't. But he's clearly not at 100%.

25:55Barry Glendenning:And I'm not sure rest just kind of is what's required here. Like a sort of, you know, a midweek off. I think he maybe needs a longer period. But Real Madrid are not in that position where they can afford to be without Mbappe. just saying all that for the last decade or more people have said this about Real Madrid at about this stage of the competition then they wake up they get a big tie Courtois will do something amazing they'll get through a game and then all of a sudden they start to look good but as it stands at the moment while you'd still rather play Bodo Glimp than Real Madrid in that little section you shouldn't be fearing them like there's this mighty Real Madrid I don't think so yeah I agree with Laza on that.

26:39Lars Sivertsen:So that sort of controlling midfielder thing, that is what Camavinga looked like he was going to become when he was coming through when he was just a teenager and he was yeah, he looked like that was his role but then when he came to Real Madrid of course both Kroos and Modric were there so he was used more as his athleticism was utilized and he was played at left back and I guess they just don't trust him to do that kind of job and I also do wonder if this is part of the idea between bringing Arda Gouler into a deeper all hoping that he will develop into that sort of player because he seems more like an attacking midfielder even almost a second striker to me but they're playing him more in midfield but that seems that seems to be an issue this is like top class fence sitting by me but i do also just think all of these things will stop mattering if you've got vinicius and mbappe running at you like having talents like that it makes it harder maybe sometimes to create a coherent 11 because Yeah, for reasons.

27:40Lars Sivertsen:But the individual quality they represent and the devastating speed and the finishing prowess, like, yeah, you still, like I said, I would fear them, like contrary to what Lange, having just said that they didn't play well and there's so many things that don't work, I would still be terrified if my team had to play against them because that's just kind of how that works.

27:59Mark Langdon:So Real Madrid are on the other side of Bodo. So Real or Bodo will play Man City or Sporting in the last 16.

28:05Max Rushden:Just on the Camavinga thing, There was quite a sickening mid-air collision between him and Asensio in this game. I presume we'll get further updates today, but neither of them looked in great nick.

28:18Mark Langdon:Yeah, Abelo had said it's not as serious as first thought after the game, I think. But yeah, not entirely sure. But as you watched PSG Monaco, what did you finish 2-2? So PSG threw 5-4 in aggregate. What did you make of it?

28:33Max Rushden:I thought Monaco were a bit unlucky, to be honest. So basically they played 42 minutes of the first leg with 10 men and 32 minutes of this one with 10 men. So, you know, combined 74 minutes of the two legs, they were down to 10 men. I thought they started really well. Mamadou Koulibaly missed a sitter. It was him who got sent off later. Thilo Kerr sent a glancing header from a free kick, very narrowly wide. Florian Balogun had a looping effort from outside the box which landed off on the roof of the net I think it might have taken a nick off Marquinhos then they took the lead through Magnus Aliusz then Koulibaly got sent off and that's when the wheels came off because PSG equalised immediately from the free kick and then Hakimi shot from distance was just parried into the path of Kvarraskelia, and he scored the decisive goal to put PSG 5-3 up on aggregate.

29:41Max Rushden:So Monaco pulled him back and then Vout Fass had that chance we were talking about right at the death. The ball was on a plate for him to head it past the PSG keeper, and he just didn't make contact with it. I think it was a bad miss. You've got to at least get your head to it. you know and we've seen him score decent headers in the premier league at both ends

30:06Mark Langdon:no i'm gonna be harsh on about fast but you're right he sort of jumps in a funny way just gets the timing wrong and it is it is a good chance i suppose lars we so we talk about real madrid not quite being a real madrid level and you sort of get that same sense with with psg as well yeah it's funny what i we're just going to forget about

30:23Lars Sivertsen:this tie i think very very quickly because both of the nights it was one of the less interesting games I think of the evening and Monaco is a team that just not many people care about but it should be underlined just how close PSG were to going out here in terms of going two behind in the first leg and then Monaco just picking up an inning like bizarre stupidly he got a red card that should have been avoided and it turned the game and it helped turn the game anyway and then here yeah you are one Vout Fass header away from being knocked out this is kind of a little bit alarming i do still think like if i had to make a pick now i still probably back phd to win the tournament just because a lot of the other big teams have got stuff going on and you you know that their ceiling is super high but this was kind of alarming a

31:16Mark Langdon:little bit yeah i suppose to be a pedant it was about fast header from going to extra time unless about fast headers are worth two you know away goals don't count anymore but yeah um mark you

31:25Barry Glendenning:looked poised to say something interesting i first of all i think psg one of the problems this season is uh like last in the knockout stages last season they were relentless off the ball and would win the ball back um you know and that would like high up the pitch and that would kind of take the pressure off the defense because the midfield and the forwards were um you know just causing so many errors for opposition teams like it's easier to score it feels easier to score against psg this season then they've you know done the rumors departed Chevalier was signed did not play well at all and has now been dropped so um maybe they don't look as solid in goal as as they did last season but there's a there's a greater vulnerability to their defense which I don't think is just individually the defenders but the way that the midfield and attack is or kind of isn't working There are only a couple of points clear in France at the moment, which is a surprise, I think, and would be a surprise to anybody that kind of, if you've not looked at the league on the table for much of this season, you would assume it was already done, but it's not.

32:31Barry Glendenning:And they've been poor by their standards domestically. But they've had a few injuries as well. And I do wonder about that Club World Cup back from the summer. They reached the final of that. They'd obviously played all the way through, having won the Champions League as well. And it's just been harder for Luis Enrique to get the best 11 out on the pitch on a consistent basis. And I think last season, in those knockout stages, you could almost reel off like kind of 10 of the players that would start. And it hasn't quite been like that this season. That said, they've still got such a frighteningly good attack.

33:08Barry Glendenning:But they don't look as good as they were last season. but it wasn't until about this time last season that they really came alive. And one final point on At Cluj, PSG have been looking to sign the best French young players. I mean, he's definitely one of them and might end up at PSG or a similar standard team next season. I think he showed his quality in this time.

33:31Lars Sivertsen:I do think the Donnarumma thing is a low-key big point here. We were talking about with Real Madrid that any game they go into, Mbappe of an issue, is those dudes can score some goals out of nothing and then Courtois does something incredible and then you win. And all the other fuzzy stuff in midfield and team structure and all this nerd nonsense that people like me care about doesn't matter anymore. PSG had the same thing, right? With Kvartiskelia can do stuff on his own. Dembele was incredible last season. All these players. And then Donnarumma could just completely save shots that are supposed to go in.

34:05Lars Sivertsen:One of those parts of the equation is missing now. Whether it's Suralia or Safano, it's just not the same. And in the knockout games especially, I think that can really hurt them.

34:15Mark Langdon:Yeah, and I suppose when he was signed for City and everyone was like, why have Man City bought this big oaf who can't kick the ball? It turns out he's really good and we should have paid more attention.

34:28Lars Sivertsen:Goalkeepers who save the ball, good actually, is sort of one of the things we've learned.

34:33Mark Langdon:Yeah, totally. Thank you for your voice note yesterday, Lars. So you're reflecting in the glory of Bodo Glimms. James says, I know very little about Norwegian player squad inclusion. You and me both, James. But a Google search tells me that only two Bodo players are in the national squad. I'd be interested to hear from Lars whether players from Norway's domestic league are well represented in the national team or whether there are just too many better players. Your thoughts?

34:56Lars Sivertsen:I mean, it's a real throwback to the 90s, this, because we used to have this as well. So we had this glorious period in the 90s under Egil Olsen when we qualified for two World Cups and at once we were second in the FIFA rankings and the national team was really going well. At the same time as Rosenberg, we're playing regularly in the Champions League group stages and we're creating upsets, but there were always not that many Rosenberg players in the national team and that was always a source of debate and schisms. This is starting to happen again now, yeah, because there are... Patrick Bagg in midfield is always going to be in.

35:33Lars Sivertsen:Jens-Peter Haugge will have to be in the squad at least I think definitely one of the center halves Because we have an issue at center half going into the World Cup Udin Biondorf I think after that game has to be considered And of course there's only one I mean yeah there was Kasper Hö up front is Danish But almost the entire team is Norwegian Except the goalkeeper Nikita Heikin I think there are efforts being made to try to get him Norwegian citizenship Because I think he qualifies for it I believe he's Russian-Israeli is his background, but he's been in Norway for quite a long time. And if someone could dig up a Norwegian passport for him, I think he'd start for us in the World Cup.

36:11Lars Sivertsen:So there's some of that going on.

36:13Mark Langdon:Well, you could always go for Anthony Niemi, but, you know, there we go. He's finished, Max. No, he's not. He's 53. Tonight, Celtic in the Europa League, they're 4-1 down. They go Stuttgart.

36:25Max Rushden:Sorry, Max, just in your Fitback Corner on Monday, we didn't address this, but there were some shocking, shocking VAR decisions in the Scottish Premiership last weekend. Probably the most egregious, although Rangers fans may beg to differ, but was Aaron Trusty getting sent off for a nothing foul, which the ref spotted. and it was basically someone grabbed Trusty's arm at a corner and he slapped it away. And the ref went and had a word with him and whoever it was had grabbed his arm and that was the end of the matter until VAR intervened, re-refereed the game and got Trusty sent off. And Martin O 'Neill went off on one about this in his press conference yesterday, which it was a touch of old man yells at class about it but I couldn't have agreed more with him you know say he basically said look there will come a point that referees would just be superfluous to the game and everything will be reffed from a I don't know where the the Scottish equivalent of Stockley Park is Max Stockley Park but yeah I I I was applauding Martin so then if he's not yet then if it then it's not old man yelling at cloud it's just old man yelling at middle-aged man it's sort of fine isn't it and

37:57Mark Langdon:i do like whenever whenever managers say that they always like traduce stockley park from like this sort of glitzy office into just a caravan don't know that's what they have to say they have to say just in a shed in a shed 3 000 miles away uh but yeah i mean i think we'll agree just get rid of it nobody who wants it apart from ifab then we've already done ifab maybe some people do but I don't Forrester 3-0 upon Fenerbahce and Palace 1-0 with Zrinski Mostar, it's interesting Mark what's happening at Palace, because they still could and probably should win the Conference League, I guess

38:34Barry Glendenning:I would have said that at the start of the season I'm not sure, now I mean they'll still be among the favourites just Premier League wages Premier League players you are going to have an advantage in the Conference League, but and it would be a big deal, and Crystal It was a big deal when they won the FA Cup. Glasner was talking about this in his press conference yesterday, that Palace have tried for 120 years to win every competition they've been in and they haven't been that successful at doing so. It just doesn't feel right, though, and I'm not sure how that changes. There's a banner recently from the Palace fans wanting Glasner to go.

39:14Barry Glendenning:He feels like he's begging to be sacked.

39:17Mark Langdon:I know, I'm just trying to think, what else can he do? What else can he do? Like he's had a go at the board, the fans. Would he just turn around and face the wrong way?

39:29Barry Glendenning:It's hard to know what could come next. Maybe sort of come on, do a slide tackle or something and sort of end in disgrace that way. But yeah, I don't know. They should win it just in terms of, like I say, the financial advantage they've got. But I'd almost be surprised if they did because I just don't like what they're serving up at the moment, really, from a footballing point of view. And it would go against the grain of kind of what a club's supposed to be to be successful if they do go on and win it.

40:01Lars Sivertsen:It's just interesting with Glasner I want to stick around with because I've read most, I think I've read most of the things he's said over the last couple of weeks. And the funny thing is, I feel like pretty much everything he says is factually correct. Like when he starts bringing up, like, this is actually a very good season for us and historically, But there is an element of just kind of saying the quiet part out loud with him. And it's also timing as well, because obviously they've won two in the last 16, I think, is the record. If you're a Palace fan, you've gone through this sort of cold, miserable English winter and you've paid a lot of money for tickets.

40:34Lars Sivertsen:And the manager has said he's leaving. Like, I'm out of here. Like, this place is beneath me. Peasants. Like this. And that is not the time for him to start delivering home truths about where the club actually belongs. Like, it just comes off really badly. But it's an odd one where like when he says, actually, we've been very good. And even being 13th is kind of good. It is objectively true, right? Even if it's not what you necessarily want to hear as a Powers fan right now.

40:59Mark Langdon:All right. That'll do for part two. Part three, we'll do a little championship roundup and have a Premier League preview.

41:14Mark Langdon:Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. So Coventry won 2-1 at Sheffield United, came from behind at Bramall Lane. So they are now five points clear of Middlesbrough in second and nine points clear of Millwall in third. Millwall had a brilliant win over Birmingham, 3-0. So well done to them. Birmingham are 10th, five points outside the playoffs. But yeah, Millwall are 59 points in third place. Norwich beat Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke beat Oxford. Sheffield Wednesday down. Obviously, Oxford looked like they're joining them. But as it's worth mentioning, Sheffield Wednesday, when Chancery left and there was that sort of, you know, they had on the big screen, you know, rebooting, he's gone and people were watching the live stream of his name being taken off the seats.

41:53Mark Langdon:You sort of thought, okay, they'll probably go down, but there's hope. But there's been another disappointing moment for them.

42:00Max Rushden:Yeah, they rebooted and now they're in a serious buffer. So they've gone down as everyone knew they would. I think the earliest relegation in EFL history. But it looked like they were going to be taken over by a consortium led by this professional poker player called James Board. Every time I see his name in print, I think it's James Bond. And it's slightly disconcerting as him, a German crypto casino owner and a Jordanian businessman.

42:34Lars Sivertsen:I'm saying nothing. Okay.

42:38Max Rushden:Anyway, they had bid, I think it was 40 million for the club. And they got a due diligence report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the super accountants, and decided they'd bid, I think, eight to 10 million quid too much. So they've withdrawn their offer. So it's back to square one for Sheffield Wednesday, whose fans are now unhappy as to why the administrators gave this shower preferred bidder status. But they won, I think it was a six-way auction. So I presume Wednesday fans will be hoping that one of the other five will now step into the breach. But it's going to take time. They'll have to deal with the football regulator who will be in position by the time this goes through.

43:37Max Rushden:And Mr. Board and his associates, they hadn't passed the proper person's test at the time they pulled out of the bidding, which is not to say they wouldn't have, but they hadn't. And whoever else steps in now will, if someone steps in, will have to pass that as well. So it could be a very time-consuming process. and yeah, still loads and loads of uncertainty around Hillsborough, despite the fact that they thought

44:07Mark Langdon:they had a new lease of life. It's a real shame for that. I mean, absolutely devastating for those fans and not important. But if your chairman is called bored, do you think sack the board or just sack bored? Which do you do? In the Premier League, so in the title race, Leeds play Manchester City. That's the late game on Saturday and then on Super Sunday, Arsenal played Chelsea. I suppose on paper, Mark, Arsenal-Chelsea is the most interesting of the fixtures.

44:35Barry Glendenning:Yeah, absolutely. Standout game. If you go back to the sort of League Cup tie they had recently, that second leg, Chelsea shut Arsenal down for most of that 90 minutes. It was only right at the end that Arsenal got the winner, but they were already sort of one goal up at that point and Rosinia was criticised in some quarters for his defensive approach to that game. I feel like that's the right way to go about it. Again, though, from Chelsea's point of view, it's just whether they can do that. I always feel like there's one mistake in them. Arsenal bounced back very well from the Wolves game against Spurs on Sunday.

45:16Barry Glendenning:Physically looked very strong. I think a lot will depend on that game on Saturday because City's away record is not amazing. And Leeds are on a fantastic run, albeit that Arsenal went there recently and won very convincingly. That looks like kind of almost like a more difficult game, I would say, or as difficult a game for City as what Arsenal against Chelsea is. It's definitely not a gimme for Guardiola's team.

45:45Mark Langdon:No, I think you're right. And actually, Lars, what's interesting is we said that about Arsenal's trip to Leeds. We were like, well, this isn't it. And Arsenal went there and just said, look we're really good at this and i think it's still true that the sort of floodlight law of leads have won every game where the floodlights come on right i mean okay it probably come on at 4 30 on a saturday but like so it's a late kickoff on a saturday 5 30 not 8 but they are brilliant under the lights at ellen road um make of that what you will last but yeah it should be fascinating

46:14Lars Sivertsen:so so ellen road under the lights is the new tuesday night at stoke this is the new thing

46:21Mark Langdon:yes i don't know it's different i think because i think isn't a tuesday night in stoke because it's

46:27Lars Sivertsen:it's unpleasant but it is but that's the whole thing about this leads team they're really big and strong and physical like they are quite intensive like you you don't want to go into a 50 50 with stack that's not fun like he's very big no no i agree with you but there's there's a

46:44Mark Langdon:romance to ellen road under the light that there isn't at the britannia on a cold empty tuesday

46:50Lars Sivertsen:you're saying that Tony Pulis' Stoke was not a romantic team

46:54Max Rushden:the Britannia on a wet Tuesday is more of a knee trembler up against the Bosch okay

47:01Mark Langdon:thank you Barry thanks for your input so far

47:05Lars Sivertsen:you know some places

47:07Mark Langdon:that is considered very romantic Barry that's yeah anyway that's the title race and then okay Chelsea are in the race for those Champions League places alongside Villa who go to Wolves, Man United who host Crystal Palace, and Liverpool who host West Ham. So you imagine would be as you were with that third to sixth position.

47:31Max Rushden:You would on the face of it. I think Wolves might give Villa some problems. The geography, it's a derby of sorts. I know it's not the big Villa derby, but Wolves have significantly improved under Rob Edwards without necessarily getting the results or wins. I think they'll get a big win at some point this season. This could be it. Having said that, Villa could just as easily turn up and absolutely slap them down. But without the ball being kicked, I could see Wolves giving Villa more problems than West Ham will give Liverpool or Palace will give Man U.

48:12Mark Langdon:And from a Spurs point of view, Mark, hope West Ham lose. Tottenham go to Fulham in the relegation fight. Tottenham go to Fulham and Forrest go to Brighton.

48:23Barry Glendenning:Yeah, yeah.

48:25Mark Langdon:How's your hope? How's your hope? Yeah, that wasn't even, it was just anguish that, Mark.

48:30Barry Glendenning:Dan won a game this year, in terms of in the Premier League. So it's hard to fancy them to win any game at the moment. Confidence is absolute rock bottom. Danso and Poro have returned to training this week, which I think will help in a number of ways. Poro being one of Tottenham's better players And also, if Tudor wants to play for back three, having three centre-backs is at least a start to being able to do that. That should help in that regard. But I don't feel like enough people kind of outside of real kind of close Tottenham watchers, I know that Max and Lars would watch more than most as well.

49:13Barry Glendenning:But they've been in this relegation trouble, I think, for a while. definitely since they lost to West Ham and it's only about now that people are starting to come to terms or grips with the fact that they really could be relegated and it's just hard to think that they can win any game at the moment I'm sure the way football is you do just win a game eventually even Burnley have done that but the team is not in a good place at all And the roar that went up around the concourse when Liverpool scored in the 97th minute against Nottingham Forest on Sunday would tell you that just about every Tottenham fan knows the severity of this relegation battle because it's almost like relying on other teams to not be good enough to catch them rather than Tottenham taking care of their own business.

50:09Lars Sivertsen:in late March start of April they have this run of playing Forest at home Sundland away Brighton at home and Wolves away that feels to me like the four games where Spurs will probably find like one or two wins which should be enough kind of depending on what West Ham do between now and the end of the season and I kind of think everything between now and then is just Igor Tudor figuring stuff out trying to get people healthy again my expectations are not high and actually my takeaway from the Arsenal game honestly was Arsenal did try to mess that up like they did their best like they were the best team by a lot but after they went ahead Declan Weiss just gave away a goal for no reason in the same way Arsenal have been giving away goals for no reason against Wolves against Brentford but unlike Wolves and Brentford Spurs were not good enough to you know take advantage of that Spurs are just not yeah it is quite dreadful at the moment and the relegation form has been happening arguably even since before this season you know second half of last season andrew would say well we were saving ourselves for europe but they finished 17th ahead of three you know unusually bad teams in their historical perspective so this is this is more than more than a year now of looking like a team that you know is right near the bottom of this league uh in scotland baz hart's host aberdeen so you'd

51:30Mark Langdon:expect them to win that and then it is the old firm uh on sunday at ibrox at midday and that is I mean they're always big and maybe it's hyperbole to say one of the biggest for a while but I mean it's great for Hearts that one of those sides at least will drop points Yeah

51:45Max Rushden:one presumes Hearts wants a draw and they'll increase their lead with a win over Aberdeen what Hearts really don't need to do is focus too much on events in Glasgow and just take care of their own game win that and then just sit back and enjoy the old form Yeah Alright Well, that'll do for today.

52:06Mark Langdon:I've had a nice time. Thanks, everybody.

52:07Max Rushden:Thank you, Lars.

52:08Barry Glendenning:Thank you, Max.

52:09Mark Langdon:Thanks, Mark. Thanks, Max. Cheers, Barry. Thank you. Football Weekly is produced by Silas Gray. Our executive producer is Ian Chambers. We'll be back on Monday.

52:31Mark Langdon:This is The Guardian. to my ever-balanced i wanna keep this and i want to chợ Thank you.