Arsenal flatten Bayern Munich and Liverpool’s struggles continue against PSV: Big Match Breakdown 11/26/25

0:00It's Rog, if you haven't noticed. I absolutely adore New Balance and all that they create, and although I'm not a professional footballer, I still love their boots, worn by some of the greatest in the game, such as Bakayi Osaka, Eberichi Eze, Jeremy Frimpong, and the legend James Rodriguez. Whether it's the Fioran or the T 'Kella, both boots are made for performance. Fiorans are crafted for speed, features a new speed control stud, the sign for certain stop shot pivots and moves used by the fastest players on the field. And T 'Kella provides superior touch and control to bring your vision to life, reducing the space between the foot and the ball for a close intuitive feel.

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1:14Football club deliver a win. Heard round the world. 3-1 Liverpool out. Suddenly like the Milhouse of football. Everybody wins at Anfield these days. Apart from the Reds. Oh, PSV Eindhoven. The latest to come in and absolutely do them. Buy three goals or more. Spurs, valiant but not enough. Going down with all hands at PSG. The bold pursuit of near misses. Stop me if you've heard that before. And David Luiz, aged 87. scoring his first Champions League goal in more than eight years, coming off a trademark header for mighty, mighty Paphos. I will, of course, touch upon Manchester United 0-1, obviously the biggest European game of the week, but I'm not here alone to break it down, to make it make sense.

2:00Joy, to welcome back the beard of truth, the brain of dimensions, the Umberto Eco of football from the Athletic, to Mr James Horncastle. Rog, thanks for inviting me back. Always a pleasure to be with you, particularly on the night of, as you said, 42 goals. It's an orgy. It was an orgy. It wasn't football. It was an orgy. But happy Thanksgiving, Eve Horny. What are you thankful for? Well, I'm thankful to be here. Thank you for the, as you mentioned, that Caligula-style orgy of goals with horses involved. I only watch football for the horses. I'm grateful for your new book, The Soccer 100, which obviously Christian Pulisic is in his rightful place in number one, right?

2:45Of course. I mean, there might be a revised edition. Christian leads the US to the World Cup victory and Trump passes him the trophy in New York. I'm sure you'll be there, Rog. And we'll all doff our caps. You won't be there. I think Trump will probably be our starting striker in that final if it happens. And glory is guaranteed. We're getting ahead of ourselves. By the way, Horny will be out next week in New York City on the 5th and Boston on the 6th. Both shows are sold out, such as his heft and popularity in both cities up and down the East Coast. But this is the big match breakdown. It's presented by Football Manager 2026.

3:33Football Manager 26 live across platforms. Purchase it now to define your managerial destiny on a slot. Give it a bit of work. And we're not here alone. This big match breakdown live on YouTube, which means you, dear GFOPs, can come on the show, ask James questions about tonight's football, about anything in Europe, about life. Here's how. Scan the QR code at the top left of your screen, take you into a Zoom with our producer, the quite valiant Tony, who'll get you set up to come on and ask your question in a moment. Come and be with us. Get in the chat. Get cracking. Give us a couple of likes.

4:08Subscribe, subscribe. Just come and be with us. Chat is humming at Daniel Horton 8826. My favourite of all the 8 ,827. Daniel Horton says, what a night for football. We're about to change that, Danny H. At Demi D'dre says, when should Arsenal supporters get their treble tattoos designed? Now or next week? Now! Isn't that right, James? Why would you wait? yeah not just not just treble tattoos you know yeah um i mean we we got in some trouble uh at the end of last season for remarking on the floppy cannon um at our school the article psg well that cannon's not floppy anymore that carol is is that's kind of standing yeah even even the tifo game has been upgraded by the way when james does come out to new york he and his emo cover band, the Floppy Cannons, are going to be playing a couple of gigs.

5:05I love that. The Floppy Cannons at KM Bump says, as good as today's Champions League matches are, the big match still has to be Monday's match between United and Everton. Yes, we will get to that before the night is out. Yes, we will. But to the football, the Champions League football, Arsenal 3, Bayern Munich 1, once, 3. What a sizzling prospect. The Champions-elect of England Did I just curse them by saying that? Against the Perma champions of Germany, the Michael, the Lise, Eberreche, AJ Derby, the Palacio, Harry Kane, returning to the ground where he scored more than any other visiting human being.

5:42Not tonight, H. Two changes to the Arsenal side that gave Spurs, that bare-bottom beatdown. Mosquera in for Incapié at centre-back, and Marz Luiskele was exhumed to give the handsomeness of Kelly O 'Fiori a little bit of a break at the back. The Gunners had won all four games so far in the league phase. Actually had not yet conceded a goal, but Bayern, a team in their own pomp moment, also 100 % record. I mean, this was delicious stuff. They had Kane, 27 goals he scored already this season. Who does he think he is? Erling Haaland. James, can you reconjure the emotions you felt pre-game? Were you hyped for this beauty?

6:22Or does this crazily forgiving Champions League format in which the football is kind of played without jeopardy for the loser? does it reduce the Horncastle pulse just a bit? No, I mean, I was already seeing a lot of people on social media saying, ah, this game is meaningless. I didn't feel that, particularly on the back of the North London Derby. It felt like two of the biggest games in recent Arsenal history, which is saying an awful lot, really, when you think of what they've been building towards over the last five years, all of the things that they've achieved on the Mikel Arteta, albeit only one FA Cup.

6:57But yeah, in terms of progress, definitely. No Tifo this time. I was disappointed, Rog. I mean, I've remarked on the floppy cannon already. They clearly have spent six months on the one that they prepared for the North London Derby. Blown their load. Blown. You didn't think this game was worth it. Didn't think it was worthwhile doing something for. Where do you think the floppy cannon is? Do you think it's somewhere like folded up, stored? Or do you think it's been sent off to the shredders? I genuinely would love in like a hundred years time someone to find this as the only remnant of our civilization like at the end of planet of the apes and they try and make sense of who we were as a people by the floppy cannon t-frame um i mean it was it is kind of fascinating um whether it means everything or it means nothing ultimately what james is saying to paraphrase um this game was not meaningless it's just life viewers that's meaningless am i right this game meant everything Let's pretend anyway.

7:56I was fascinated to see, honestly, whether Arsenal could seize this moment to announce themselves to the rest of the field and also kind of an experiment scientifically. This is, for me, the most fascinating thing about the Champions League, whether it's easier for a team who are dominant in their own league, like your Bayerns, like your PSG, to keep their players fresher for the big moments in the Champions League, grip or grapple. But you wouldn't have known that from the first engagement because Arsenal could have been two up in the first five minutes. They created chances at will. They blew the finishing.

8:30Then 22nd minute, a corner that, I don't know how it was. I know you watch these games on the Italian television with Italian commentary. So I don't know what they said about it. But to me, the opening goal was like ripped from the NBA. Arsenal just know how much they can get away with putting the keeper off without that being called foul. They boxed Neuer out, almost ran. I think in the NBA, it's a double screen to seal him off originally. Just a little bump early on. And Neuer was so confused, left in no man's land during Timber, finished here, the Bible brother. This was as close, James. I don't know how they analysed it on Italian television.

9:10Close to an NBA player you'll get. And Bayern did not know what hit them. No, and I think, you know, Arteta has spoken quite a lot about how he uses his assistants as offensive coordinators, special plays, all that kind of stuff. And you do see, I found it fascinating, his pre-match press conference last night, one of the reporters kind of trying to ingratiate himself to Mikel Arteta by saying, wow, against Spurs in the North London derby, every goal was from open play. And Mikel Arteta did not just set teams Arsenal anymore. And Arteta was like, I mean, he's clearly just got a set piece better.

9:49She was like, I was disappointed we did not score a set piece. And all of a sudden, that's how they opened the scoring again. And you know what? I think watching some of the other Premier League teams and how they've scored goals in the Champions League this match day, it does sometimes look like rifles versus spears. In terms of just like, they're so dominant when it comes to set plays. It's like they've got a cheat code or a weapon that nobody else has, nobody else can use. and even a defence as good as Bayern's, which I don't think he conceded in the Champions League this season, he'd only conceded seven goals all season, they're powerless to it.

10:29Manny Neuer, with all his experience and size, still can't handle that. He couldn't handle the craft of the corner again. It was a little bump early on that sent him back so he couldn't come out for the ball. He didn't know how to recover. They were utterly exposed. they'd given the Bayern Bayern had set up to give Manuel Neuer space and time to come out this is your zone to clear the ball they gave him that bump rocked him back he couldn't come out and boom it was it he didn't just look beaten he looked utterly confused 39 years of age now when he's angry he looks more and more like Tom Hanks in there I think Sully era Hanks I love I love his now he's got a pencil moustache yes I know it's like Hanks it's like I will land this on the water at Radiant Productions 9799.

11:18Again, probably my top 10 ,000 Radiant Productions says, tats now, lads. It's official. By the way, we're all getting them. It's all of us or none of us getting this tat, guys. So let's make a decision together in the next night. It's Daryl NEF6560 says, quite cruelly. I can't read this out. Noia, time to retire, grandpa. He's not grandpa. He's unk. Bayern knew they were up against. Remember, Arsenal had not conceded in the entire Champions League this season, which is just incredible. I've got William Saliba coming on on Friday, and I am going to talk to him about what that feels like to be Arsenal.

11:55The bullied who are now bullying their opponents, it must feel, I can only imagine, it must feel phenomenal. But the Germans couldn't live for long spots with the intensity, Arsenal's press, the physicality, until suddenly they could so powerfully, but simply a diagonal ball from deep by Kimmich, met on the volley by Namberew, just sped past Myles Lewis Skelly, charged into the box, cushioned the ball perfectly to a young, who? Lennart Karl, 17 years, 277 days, finished, first time, ruthlessly on the volley. It was a stunningly emphatic team moment. First of all, James, let me ask you, a question everyone in football is asking, Lennart Karl, 17.

12:41I think if only the Germans had a word for Wunderkind, compared constantly to Messi, which feels lazy because I don't think Messi could have grown that moustache at age 17. But James, what do you think of this teeny bopper? Yeah, I mean, it's clearly, it's Movember in the Bayern dressing room. I'm pretty disappointed Kane. Movember, Movember. Movember, Movember bar. Yeah, I mean, I'm all for someone who's called Lenny by his teammates. You know, sort of, yeah, Lenart, okay, in Bavaria, maybe it's still a popular name, but outside of Bavaria, not so much. And so, yeah, just any kind of like Leonard Cohen kind of, you know, sort of equivalent in German football.

13:3117 years old, Lenny Karl. And, I mean, there's a goal on YouTube. viewers, just go and search this out it's like in a futsal game it's ridiculous what this kid can do With that left foot, I mean it's just utterly it's just from the gods Yeah, I mean I just hope Liverpool don't sign him and he doesn't have the same fate as Florian Burtz Stay at Bayern Lenny and let Let the world be your oyster from there. Come to Everton, Lenny. I mean, here's what we say he is. I mean, it's like Eduardo Galeano. What did he say? Maradona played as if the ball was stuck to his shoe. Lionel Messi played as if the ball was stuck inside his shoe.

14:20I mean, what we've seen of this gentleman on a tiny body of work that we are utterly losing our minds over, despite the fact that he's played like a handful of games and impacted them with confidence, fearlessness. I mean you've watched him a little more than I have this is the height, the tour, the wonder this is real Yeah and you have to take your hat off to German football they keep creating these diminutive number 10s who are extremely silky to watch they play football the way it should be played I think the way that all of us think of ourselves playing it when we actually can't play it like that in any way at all for two decades we've been told that these players have sort of been crushed you know they're not they don't have the physical ability anymore to cope in the in the modern game with all the physicality the pressing coming up against your salibas and that sort of stuff and instead I think regardless of what the result was tonight yeah these guys show that they can do it in the same way that Xavi and Iniesta showed that they could do it against kind of conventional wisdom about, actually, no, you all need to be six foot five, weigh 200 pounds in order to be competitive anymore.

15:39I love it when a player like Lenny Carr comes through. This is just me and James still talking ourselves into being contenders. We still got our shot. By the way, I don't think you will see Arsenal's back line torn apart like that again this season. It was a stunning, stunning moment that that back line was torn asunder. and what's amazing is it's been a decade since Arsenal last beat Bayern in European competition I think they'd won just three out of 14 clashes between the two they rippled their muscles, they tried to enforce their will a slung free kick and corner at Neuer who flinched yet stood strong but then in the football manager 26 manager decision of the match deep into the second half, Mikel Arteta inserted Califiori for Myles Lewis Skelly who really toiled and his impact was immediate he slapped across a stunning ball across the face of goal invited and they begged to be lashed in and it was Madweke who did deal on this first Arsenal goal in this massive night it was so lovely to see him point up to the sky's relief, joy meaning I bet you can't believe how his life has changed over the past 12 months Gab Martinelli stunning first touch back from injury humiliated Manuel Neuer to run in on goal for the kill shot so much joy for Arsenal Football Club at the moment.

16:55It reminds me of Liverpool in their pom last season. All the songs, all the vibes, all the memories, all the jokes, all the joys. By the way, all the injuries still, but so much depth. Bayern beating for the first time in 18 games this season. In the scheme of things, in the forgiving nature of this big goal opening round Champions League stuff, what does this win actually mean, James? Well, I mean, you look at it now. They beat PSG in the league phase this time last year at the Emirates. They beat Real Madrid and now they've beaten Bayern. I mean, that is quite a roll call of making yourself very credible as a contender, not only for the Premier League, obviously, but also for the Champions League.

17:37And we've talked about how they've been sort of trending towards at least a Champions League final now, having gone to quarterfinal two years ago, semifinal last year. It's on this year. It's really on this year. And as you mentioned, all those injuries that they have, you know, I mean, Martin Odegaard, people talking about where's Odegaard going to fit in now after Eze and everything Eze achieved in their North London derby. Giocares and Kai Habert's out. Doesn't really matter when you've got this. I mean, what is Mikel Marino? What is he? This is an amazing focal book. There's a book of a deep philosophy.

18:19What is Mikel Mourinho. That's genuine. You'll win the Nobel Prize for philosophy if you can answer this question. How would you answer that question? Well, I mean, I think it would confound René Descartes. I think it's the sort of thing that would make Nietzsche punch a horse in Chirin. It's tricky. And then, I mean, the guys coming off the bench today, Roger, I mean, you mentioned Calafuri and Martinelli. I mean, like, these are some of the readers' emails I get, Rog. I'm an Australian travelling around Europe and you know what the best thing about the London transport system is? Seeing this hot Italian stud on billboards wearing Adidas underwear.

19:09Ricardo Calafuri is his name. Wow. Like I said, it was an orgy. It's not football. We don't watch it for the football it is amazing i went to interview um michael arteta uh not this time uh last time but the season before the off scene where they just signed califuri and i spent all day with another english journalist um who we were both waiting and yeah we're chatting about the weird stuff that i do and not and um and anyway arteta came in did an interview with me it was really lovely um so the english journalist tried to do like stuff like i do which is never advisable for anybody and his first question he goes kelly fiori and arteta was like this like back and he goes very very sexy hair and i'll tell you just like

20:02deadpan him that's what i think of every time i see him anyway arsenal top of the table three points clear the rest of the champions league pack um are they now favorites for the tournament That is a question. Mikel Osset has been trying to actually dead, you know, just complete dead bat it in the same way as he did the question about Califiori's sexy. Yeah. Something fascinating to me very quickly, James. This idea, the first time I ever interviewed Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, he went off on this forever to me and I didn't understand it then. I kind of, I mean, I understand it, but I don't understand it.

20:37He went off to, I'm not going to do a bad Pep impression, but he shouted it. He was like, this city, how can they win the Champions League? They have no history of winning the Champions League. You can't win the Champions League without the history. You must have the history, the winning culture. He was essentially saying, you know, how hard it is to break not winning the Champions League. Like it takes years. You can't just do it. Mikel Arteta said something similar, and it really fascinates me, Horny. He said he believes Arsenal, quote, remain in a different universe to European heavyweights such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, because they've won the Champions League.

21:12we've never won the Champions League in our history. Bayern have won it six times. We are not there compared with Real Madrid. They're a different universe. Can you explain that? How past success is, completely different players, different managers, different cultures, different contexts, different realities, but them having won it mentally in the past impacts the present. Yeah, I would recommend any of our viewers to go to Madrid and go to the Bernabeu. I mean, this is the most extreme example but what they do now is when you get off the bus as the opposing team you have to walk in front of all of Madrid's Champions League trophies before you get to the dressing room and it's there, it's the psychology and then when you're out on the training pitch, well out on the first team pitch doing the walk around with your little espresso and you look at the kind of the big screen overhead they just play the winning goal from every final Real Madrid that's ever won.

22:11And it's literally like a halo. It's an aura that is around you. And, yeah, players in those dressing rooms talk about, even before kickoff, feeling like they're 1-0 down. And that is what teams that have won this competition have and teams that haven't won this competition just don't have. Well, video clips. maybe maybe okay so I like this Rog maybe what Mikel Arteta should now do is create some kind of AI slot he should go on like Sora and kind of invent 15 finals where Arsenal have won the Champions League use it just like Shemak rising up to head the ball over an outstretched hand of Manuel Neuer to win the 2014 Champions League final for Arsenal.

23:04When Zoran Mandami was talking about how he thinks every day about Schemach, and Pascal Segan, you can just get some eye to have those three in a very flowing move scoring a winning goal against Real Madrid, Arsenal's fifth consecutive Champions League. And that's it. That's it. You fixed it. Or else just show a video of the floppy cannons. That's what we're talking about. New Balance is a brand I've loved dearly for my whole life. And as if I couldn't love them more, they're now an official sponsor of the MIB Media Network. And as it turns out, I'm not the only elite footballer they're sponsoring these days.

23:47Bakayo Saka, Hendrik, Eberichieze, Jeremy Frimpong, legendary James Rodriguez and our own beloved Tim Weyer. They're all riding with New Balance these days. and with a bigger summer in soccer, fast approaching, I can't wait to see their incredible footballers pave their path on the world's biggest stage. Whether it's Hendrik cutting up opponents in his Takellas or Bakayo Saka banging in goals left and right in his Furons, we're here for it all. Grab yourself a pair today at newbalance.com slash soccer. From Premier League joy to Premier League joy turning to ashes in our mouths. I take no pleasure in this.

24:25Liverpool won PSV4. God, the fact that it was a Dutch team must have hurt double, or whatever the word is for older Ranji Boom on a slot. Before the game, Slott said he, quote, feels guilty for Liverpool's alarming slump in form, described their spectacular unravelling as, quote, ridiculous. And so we rubberneck as we assemble to see Liverpool, who'd lost, was it six to the last seven in the Premier League? They made two changes into the Forest game. Mamash Vili in for Alison, poor Isaac out, Hugo Eketike in, which meant the struggling trio of Mo Salah, Canate and Cody Gakpo all kept their places, which suggests that that line about the definition of insanity has not yet been translated into Dutch, James.

25:13No, I mean, the Dutch are very opinionated people. It's hard to change the mind of Dutchmen. and the persistence of playing Kerkers, you know, against everyone's sort of better judgment. Nope, Arnie Slott knows better. Or does he? I mean, you mentioned he felt guilty and felt what's going on is ridiculous. Ridiculous, yeah. He was saying on English media before the game, he was like, I'm just really confused. I know. I mean, he's a very honest man and I'm finding his comments increasingly, almost verging on like a bald hammer rim. but it lays a truth teller in a time of chaos. But this match got off to a drunken start.

25:55Six minutes in, Virgil van Dijk just went full Dutch. Dennis Rodman went up for the rebound, palmed the ball in front of goal. I mean, handed a penalty, picked up a yellow, spent the rest of the first half looking just so shell-shocked that everyone stopped talking about Canarte's poor form, which I realised was just a truly selfless move. What a captain, what a captain's move that is. I'll take the attention from you, Canate. Ten minutes later, Liverpool over level, tidy reflex rebound from Dominic Sobosai. Really the only player for Liverpool who seems immune to whatever sleeping sickness has just completely consumed his entire teammate squad.

26:34But it was ultimately a piece of misdirection. Just over ten minutes into the second half, Liverpool began to unravel, being on the counter. Really an evergreen comment this season. James, even the mighty Ina Garton can't carve a turkey the way PSV effortlessly slides through Liverpool's midfield. I think a guy called Goose Till, two U's in there, scored the winner for PSV against Breda, as you know, last weekend. Picked up his 10th goal of the season. I think it means he gets to add a third U to his first name. Isn't that how it works? But Liverpool were on their way to, this is incredible, nine defeats in 12.

27:10This is shocking. Their worst run since 1954. They were relegated that season, James. Yeah, well, I suppose in the league phase of the Champions League, they can be relegated. I mean, they have to play Inter. They play Union Saint-Gilois. I saw a colleague of mine saying, it's all right. On the final day, they play Carabag. Carabag has sort of been a bit of a revelation so far in this competition. I know they lost last night against Napoli, But, you know, it was nil-nil until 65 minutes. They saved the penalty. They almost beat Chelsea. They've beaten Benfica in late. Oh, I just know Rory. I'll say Karabag.

27:47You'll be like, I fear Karabag. That's where it's gotten to. Rory, when he sees Karabag, he does not have a floppy cannon. He loves Karabag. But, yeah, so I don't know. I know people say it's completely crazy to consider sacking Arnie's slot, given we're only, what, three months removed from him winning the league. And Jamie Carragher was on English TV the other night saying, championship winning coaches at Liverpool never get sacked. They either resign or just kind of leave when they want to retire and that sort of thing. But I'm not sure that decision kind of rests with Arnie Slott. I know, this is fascinating to me.

28:31I mean, you've got to where I want to go to. I mean, they were so open. there were two goals laid on by Kuhe Drios final goal was just the best or the worst illustration of just how open and bedraggled Liverpool are right now and you've driven a star on the slot last season seemed to the master of half-time adjustments just always tweaking always recalibrating suddenly he looks like a man who's out of ideas he's like Jaleesa Castredale my Liverpool supporting fan who tells me, you know, insights into the games here. She wrote that he's like a magician who knows he's never going to guess your card.

29:12You know, he's just, he's in flop sweats. Is he going to finish the trick? He's probably not going to finish the trick. He's just bald, cold, lying naked on the floor. No one wants to see that. He's got West Ham at the weekend, then Sunderland. It is that he looks so woefully solutionless and he's signalling that to us. It's ridiculous. I'm confused. These words, this man needs to show he can staunch the bleeding very quickly, because this is not a club that can afford to be out of the Champions League places just for the whole financial model, James. Well, yeah. And also, I mean, maybe they could have had they not spent 400 million in the transfer window.