Arsenal scrape past Sporting Lisbon and Bayern Munich overpower Real Madrid: Big Match Breakdown 04/15/26

23:44We're lucky. we're saying we get two games instead of one.

23:47James Horncastle:Yeah, I think what I'm really excited about is, could this game be better than what we saw last year when Inter played Barcelona, which many people thought over both legs, not just over one game, was, if not one of the best semifinals of all time, the best semifinal. And already I think this is set up to be, I think if you were putting two teams together that could maybe match that or surpass it, it would be both of these teams. And what I like about this is both sort of flawed. I mean, we're talking micro flaws. You could say Manny got Noyes goalkeeping tonight. You could say Upa Mikano. Are you convinced by him?

24:36James Horncastle:You could say PSG. They've not replaced Donnarumma. They've got Safranov, the Russian in goal. All of those things. And yet they've got electric, skillful players who are so good in 1v1 situations. You mentioned Michael Elise. I had the privilege of watching Elise take Atalanta apart in Bergamo in the round of 16. When, like, it was the third choice goalkeeper Bayern had that night because they had an injury crisis. Just punted the ball into the sky. and Michael Olisse kind of almost like pulled out a plush cushion had time to pump it up and then just sort of brought the ball down and then just sort of lay the red carpet for it and just rolled it into Serge Gnabry's path and he was magnificent I'm still scratching my head that you look at this the last 48 hours we've seen Ademola Lukman score an important goal for Atletico against Barca.

25:39James Horncastle:We've seen Musiala play. We've seen Olisse. All of these guys could have chosen to play for England. It's incredible. And they play for Nigeria, Germany and France. That's their choice. Can you imagine? Like it's remarkable. Oh, Godspeed. England versus the rest of the world. Quick word on last night. Atletico Madrid 1, Barcelona 2. Atletico win 3-2 on aggregate. Just a brilliant bloody brawl. right for emotional energy and spite and vibe. Bostolini 2-0 down from the first leg. Felt they were set to produce a comeback that ballads are crafted from, be sung for ages. It's like 24 minutes. Scored twice.

26:20Luminium Alfa and Torres. Firmin Lupez could have got a third quickly, but instead got a boot in the face for his efforts. Seeing their dreams erased so quickly would have destroyed lesser teams. But somehow, you've already mentioned it, The Athletics summon the tenacity to respond within seven minutes. Everton legend, Adam Ola Lutman sweeping home. The comeback to the comeback. You also hinted at this. James, this is a very different Atletico team to the one we think about traditionally. They can attack. And they're also, oddly for a Diego Simeone team, vulnerable at the back.

26:56James Horncastle:They are. In part because they had to play Clermont Longley, the star of last night's game. But they can attack. and they're a joy to watch attacking. It's not necessarily that they're like really well choreographed in how they go forward. It's just they've got a really eclectic bunch of forwards that are so silky. Antoine Griezmann, you're going to have so much fun watching him play in MLS because like I still look at him now and I think he's one of the best players in Europe. I mean, he was sort of coming short to help Atletico relieved the pressure that Barca were relentlessly putting them under.

27:36James Horncastle:Magnificent. His work in the goal that Luckman scored, great. Luckman is daring. He's still the guy who grew up playing cage football in South London. He's not afraid of anybody. And then you've got Julian Alvarez, who the free kick he scored last week was one of the best goals of the Champions League so far. Whenever knockout football happens, he steps up. We saw that in the World Cup four years ago. We're seeing it now. So to see those three players, it's just a lot of fun, Rob. I mean, it's fun. Adam Ola Lutman, I loved as an Everton player, scored very early on in his career and told the press immediately, my dream is to play for Real Madrid and then never scored again for us.

28:21So it makes me so happy to see him with Atletico, just, you know, free, sprightly, deliciously menacing game. By the way, you mentioned Anton Griezmann. And it was beautiful at the end to see him. He is leaving for Orlando at the end of the season by himself in the middle of the field, singing in communion with the Madrid fans. It was really beautiful. But the game also ended with Diego Simeone making the go-to-sleep sign to Barca fans like some kind of Argentinian Steph Curry. And then Rafinha of Barcelona decided to tell the cameras they'll lose the Champions League in the next round. I love mostly that the fair play spirit is still very alive in Spanish football, James.

29:01James Horncastle:Yeah, I mean, this was, what, the sixth time they played each other this season. Atleti had already knocked them out of the Copa del Rey. I think it was almost like a sort of NBA playoff where you sort of almost get to a game seven and everyone just hates each other by this stage. Yeah, they were complaining about the pitch beforehand. Yeah, the grasp was too tall. It was going to slow the ball down, all this kind of thing. But, Roger, I mean, you were mentioning Diego Simeone there doing the go-to-sleep gesture. He was sort of, there's an incredible video from just behind his dugout of him sort of stooped, but just shouting, barking.

29:42James Horncastle:I'm on fire! Yeah, but this is the thing. Like, with him, like, it sort of works, doesn't it? It's who he is, and it gets a reaction, not only from his players, but from the crowd. Whereas it's seen as a sign of anxiety and someone who's creaking when it's Arteta. But yeah, it's authentic simulatism. I really liked watching his reaction last night to going through because 14 years, I think there'd been some speculation that maybe this is going to be his final year. Doesn't look like it's going to be his final year now. but for him to sort of almost react like he'd got to the Champions League semi-final for the first time It's beautiful man it is beautiful and also a beautiful small story, American just plucky little investors of Paul coming in, I mean it's amazing by the way, it is amazing for them they just got taking control of the team boom, they're back in the semi-finals for the first time in 10 years Wait until we see how much Atletico paid Diego Simeone We'll have to have a quick word on Liverpool nil, PSG 2.

30:52PSG win 4-0 on aggregate. Another night of agony for you defending Premier League champions. Arnaz Slot had said Liverpool didn't face an impossible task. They had to unleash a perfect performance. There was more fight, but only compared to the complete woeful performance the week before. So I kept thinking about that's Friedrich Nietzsche, who said, no doubt, he would have been a big red, wouldn't he, really? Hope, in reality, is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man. Take that for me, an Everton fan. Three quarters of the game, there was some fight. Poor Hugo Eketike.

31:27That was an agony to see. We'll get back to that in a minute. Alexander Izak and Eketike started together just for the third time together this season. There's a story there. The moment PSG stepped up their intensity, Dembélé scored twice. It was almost brazen and blithe. Liverpool end up being smashed by the same scoreline collectively they were by City in the FA Cup quarterfinal. Sad for Mo Salah that he's played his final Champions League game at Anfield and that his final season will be blank and barren and trophy-less but on the slot now, six defeats in his last ten games and that includes the sordid draw to Igor Tudor, a really bleak run to head into a derby in which no doubt you will do us.

32:12I think Rio is going to do us, if I'm being honest. One other profound agony, that young hero striker Ekeke, Ekeke, leaving on the stretcher, out of the World Cup. I think he's ruptured his right Achilles tendon. You look at who Liverpool brought in, James. Isaac, 130 million. The broken leg, Ekeke, 108 million. The ruptured Achilles. Frimpong, 40 million. Persistent hamstring strain. Young Italian centre-back, Leone, played one game, was it? Torn ACL. French young centre-back yet to arrive. Jeremy Jacquet, 81 million. broken shoulder. Has it been a more unfortunate crop of incoming talent? It's almost like just a permanent injury list.

32:56James Horncastle:Yeah, it does feel cursed in some respects. Really unfortunate. And also like Isaac, you know, sort of has come back quicker than I expected him to. I mean, that injury that he suffered looked really bad. But yeah, he doesn't look up to speed, which is understandable at this moment in time. But yeah, I think again, a lot of questions about Liverpool, the spend that they made. I'm always reluctant to kind of write players off after seven months in a new country with a new coach, different expectations. I feel the same way with someone like Victor Giochia as at Arsenal. and sort of just give these guys a bit of a chance.

33:47James Horncastle:But yeah, it's... You'll give them seven months. Most football fans give them seven minutes, James. I mean, that's... I've given you seven minutes! I mean... But Roger, I was thinking about this today, actually, because I was talking about Andoni Iraola. Were you talking about this with Gigi Buffon? With Gigi? We weren't... I wasn't suggesting to Gigi, like, tell the Italian Football Federation about this. We just sitting there in your speedos, He's oiled up, both of you, having a little peroni. You were like, hey, let's talk about Anthony. One of those silver tanning. Pauly Walnut style. Yeah, and a no-show job.

34:23I love it. I love it. I love it. Just do us your Anthony Irola and we'll get to questions.

34:29James Horncastle:Yeah, no. You could talk about the churn at Liverpool as being one of the kind of problems that has afflicted his slot this year. But then you look at Irola. lost Dean Hoyssen lost Zabane lost his goalkeeper lost Kerkers lost Semenyo and Utara Utara and they're only I think three points worse off than they were last season so minimal variance in their performance incredible job and he never complained never complained not lost since Semenyo left which is remarkable quick one on PSG I'd say if French had a word for former Darbel third Champions League semi-final in a row I think fifth in the last seven is that?

35:10Incredibly. The two seasons, they didn't reach this stage, 2022 and 2023. Who was leading their line? Do you remember?

35:18James Horncastle:Would that be Messi, Neymar and... And Bafe. Yeah, which tells you a lot about football and life. At KMBoom7279 in the chat, says Liverpool are saving all their goals for Sunday against Everton. And I know this, KMBoom7279. This is how it works. A lot of people in the chat I want to know if they can get Horncastle to do the audio book for their autobiographies. Speak to the horny agent. Let's get to your questions. Mind how it works. On YouTube Live, scan the QR code, top left. Get on there with Tony. There's also a link in the chat. Come on up and ask a question or just bang that question into the chat.

35:56We'll get it up. Let's start with a very, very patient. It's the mighty Ambrose. Come on up. Tell us where you are and what's your question, you beautiful human being.

36:05James Horncastle:I'm in Kingston, Ontario, but I'm from West London. I go to university out here. How is it in Canada, man? To be honest, it's pretty bleak at the moment. I got final in an hour and 30 minutes. Yeah, yeah. Imagine that. I'm an Arsenal fan. Had to deal with that. And now I have to deal with the stresses of a final. What's the final, Ambrose? We're here for you, baby. What is the final? It's a poli-sci final and I'm trying to major in it. So luckily I've been pretty locked in over the past couple of weeks. So I'm feeling, I'm feeling good. I love you. Just write down when you get into the exam room, just write in huge, maybe even in human blood, just write, I'm on fire!

36:46And everything will be fine. What's your question? Tell us what your question is.

36:51James Horncastle:So I was, I was just, I just wanted to get your guys' opinion on what you think this game will do for the running, whether it will have a positive effect or maybe a negative effect. I sort of, I'm on the fence with it a bit. I think like on the one hand, great, we got over the line. It's nil-nil, it's shaky, but you know, onto the next, onto City. And then on the other hand, it was, wow, this was a worrying performance. Still didn't have a lot going forward. And then we have City and then a Champions League semi-final in a couple of weeks. I just wanted to get your guys' opinion on that and what you guys think.

37:27I think it's a fascinating question, Ambos. and I was slightly stressed because I want you to lock in, man. I want you to focus. I don't mean to come over all paternal, but education is the future, Ambrose, and I want you to go and smash that exam, baby. But really, I was thinking about this today, James. It's like, great semi-final, two more bloody games for a team that are just trying to kill off the number of games until they can finish. Two miles to go before I sleep. I mean, part of me always felt like the Premier League is everything. You almost throw the Champions League at this point. Manchester City are now box fresh.

38:05They don't have to do the midweek stuff. They've got to go now again. When I think about how this will affect, it was psychologically not an uplift. It wasn't like they scored. They didn't have that release. They didn't have too much to take from it, apart from more reinforcement of many of the negatives, both psychologically, but also in terms of the workload for a shattered team. How do you think about it, Hammers?

38:29James Horncastle:Yeah, I think, I mean, you mentioned some of the injuries that they've had, Rog, and we're reluctant to kind of give them a pass, given we've spent sort of six or seven months saying this is the deepest squad football has ever seen. But you don't really get that impression. And I think even if they had every one of their players available, I still think you wouldn't get that impression because it is such a psychodrama, I think, for this team at the moment. and you know I think the best reading of today's game is that they know how big obviously the weekend's game is against Man City and they were just managing that the advantage that they had from the first leg and trying to get through this game but to only beat sporting I don't want to show them a lack of respect but this was the the less difficult draw of all the teams left in the quarterfinal to only beat them 1-0 over 180 minutes and not really to create anything at home I do think is concerning.

39:37James Horncastle:I just hope that positive reading of this, that they're maybe playing within themselves knowing that the weekend's game is big. But yeah. I don't know, man. I'm trying to put a positive spin on it. I don't believe that. I think you can see how they're playing through treacle at the moment. Yeah. Playing through treacle of fear. The treacle of fear. Ambos, I do want to hear, before you go, and I'm going to get you off, because I do need, I promised your parents, we'd get you into that exam room in a good step. And I want to hear how you feel this Sunday's going to go. But I do think, ultimately, it's not just about this game anymore.

40:19It's about the deeper context. And I'm old enough to remember when Manchester City drew Real Madrid, And there was a lot of laughter. And Liverpool in the FA Cup, there was a lot of laughter, particularly amongst Arsenal fans. Look what we got. We drew Southampton and we drew Sporting. Our draw is just utterly delicious. The heavy work they made of this, the miserable, doomed failure against Southampton. I mean, this is where we are now. It's just gutting it out. It's absolutely... We had the tennis player Medvedev come on the show once and he talked about how ultimately he just can only win five setters.

41:00He has to drag the opponent into a world of hurt because he trusts he can suffer more than his opponent. And that's really the question for Arsenal fans, well, for the team, for the rest. Can they suffer more than the team who are chasing them? I guess the question is really, can they suffer more than even their fans are suffering, which I don't think is humanly possible. Tell us how Sunday's going to go in your mind, Ambrose.

41:23James Horncastle:Yeah, I mean, you talked about the draw that we got and our FA Cup and that run. And I remember last year, Liverpool's run in the Champions League. They came first and it was really difficult. And two months ago when the draw, or however long it was, when the Champions League draw came out, I jumped out of my bed and I did a celebration. I did the Jokera celebration. I was gassed, but we've put ourselves in a difficult position and, you know, the tie was really hard. Like, let's not beat around the bush here. We, you know, I don't want to say it, but from my perspective, we kind of scraped through this sporting draw and I kind of wanted today to be a game where, you know, we just, we put the nail in the coffin of this, but it wasn't really like that.

42:11James Horncastle:I was on edge and it makes me feel more on edge for the weekend. how, you know, the Carabao Cup final went. I'm really, you know, I try to be as optimistic as possible in every sort of facet of life. But with this, it's difficult. It's difficult to look at the sunshine and the rainbows when there's a bunch of clouds, essentially. Oh, Ambrose, you're a beautiful man. You're a beautiful man. I once asked Roberto Martinez when he was Everton manager, a big player was going to leave. I asked him whether he was going to stay. He said, I always have to believe that the sun will come out tomorrow. And then we both looked out the window and it was pissing down in Liverpool.

42:52So I love any weather optimism. When you finish this exam, please make sure you do the Trossard celebration and just storm out into the West London, Ontario. Now, you're a beautiful human being. It's great to be with you. Thank you, guys. I appreciate it. Good luck. Tell us how it is. Meninblazers.gmail.com. Tell us how the exam went. I'm stressed for you. I will. Thanks, guys. Have a good one.

43:17coming up it's the mighty Gustavo come and ask James after you tell us where you're from what your question is all right I'm from Orlando Florida oh aka the city that Anton Griezmann built that's right how is Griezmannia hesitant to speak English he was speaking French to the the Champions League show I was surprised I figured he was pulling the whole Alexander their Arnold trick. You know, he was going to come here with a different accent and everything. I don't know what happened with that. It's Griezmania at 11 all over Orlando.

43:49James Horncastle:Oh, yeah. I've already seen shirts. I went to one of the national teams that play here and there was already a Griezmann shirt with their Orlando shirt. So I was surprised by that. But we're ready. What's the question you got for the great Hammers? Just about Arsenal. Do we think that the balance between youth and experience is what is doing this team in a little bit? The fact that they don't have a Xhaka or you know like Liverpool does a Salah or Virgil in the squad that can like have that experience and that composure in this big moment or is it more just the injuries and the bad look that kind of seem to always come and hunt Arsenal but at the same time it's always the wobbles so just want to hear thoughts about that it's a great question yeah I think there are a few things going on.

44:37James Horncastle:I mean, you look at how much Declan Rice and Zubimendi have played this season. I mean, they do seem to be running on vapor. I think there's a lot of attention on how Zubimendi suffered the kind of Bournemouth press at the weekend. I think Dec as well. There are lots of times where he'll sort of go forward. And then when the play breaks down, you can see him sort of on his haunches sort of like keeling over um he's just have he's got i don't know how much tread left he's got left on his tires um and then you know everyone thought that maybe um this season with jokeres coming in they would find scoring goals easier um they sort of have against a certain caliber of opponent but it seems more and more difficult for them to score goals now We've had maybe 18 months, two years of people getting wise to how Arsenal takes their pieces and are really threatening.

45:36James Horncastle:And it feels like that has even been blunted. So they just don't... I'm not sure it's a kind of a lack of experience or they haven't got that balance right between youth and experience. Because I think it's similar to what happened at Liverpool. A lot of these players are... At Liverpool, they were successful for the first time with Liverpool. Be it Virgil, be it Mohamed Salah, be it Alisson. And I think you could say the same with the likes of David Raya, Saliba, Gabriel. It feels sort of similar with them. I just think it's the moment that they're going through, both the accumulation of tiredness, people being wiser to them, injuries, and the narrative around Arsenal.

46:25James Horncastle:which all of those guys are not immune to it. They've all got phones. They all read what is on social media about them. If they're in the car, they've got the radio on. People are always talking about Arsenal bottling, Arsenal bottling, Arsenal bottling. And I think it's actually combating that. And we've been talking about Mr. I'm on fire. These things, like that kind of communication doesn't help change that narrative, does it, Rog? Like you need someone who is able to cut through that and kind of almost convince you that the record is going to change. And instead, you listen to Mikel in that press conference and you're like, kind of like, that's a strange thing to say.

47:10Yeah, it also feels, to be honest, it's like he's now just fronting, running on, you know, adrenaline himself. It is the last third of whiplash is what his press conference is reminding me of. and it's a human agony. Look, I think it's a great question, Gustavo. I don't think it's a mix of experience and youth. I mean, what's fascinating on that is that there were so many young players last season who Mikel just does not trust or does not fancy anymore. I remember doing an interview with Declan Rice and Myles Lewis Skelly not a year ago where Declan was like, what are the skills this guy has, the fearlessness?

47:45You just do not see... We were all like, my God, Myles Lewis Skelly is the Max Downman of Myles Lewis-Skellys. Not trusted at all. And you see that not trust in the Norgard-Zubamendi axis where Norgard was brought in to replenish the squad in moments. He's hardly gotten the kick outside of Carabao action. And you see Zubamendi, his minute load. What is it? It's only Sobberslai who's played more this season. And it's just an utter agony to watch him, a player that could force the game, could control the game, just utterly impotent when his team needed most. So it's that mix. But there's another mix I do think about, which is the mix of good guys and, you know, bastards.

48:38Who was it? Oh, it was my friend, Hamir Halmergrisson, who took the Ireland team that was not doing very well. His first team talk was, I need you to be a real mix of bastards in here.

48:51James Horncastle:Jose Mourinho had another word for this in the all or nothing Tottenham documentary, which I'm not sure I can actually say. It's the word that Americans find most offensive. Yeah. What's that? It's Tuesday. Oh, really? I thought it was taxes. Go on. Yeah, I mean, you've got to be that. And Arsenal, they have older guys. Martinelli is not a young player anymore. Trossard is not a young player anymore. But in those moments, there's no kind of Jordan Henderson for Liverpool in that role. Just a standard setter, a standard demander. The accountability, the responsibility. The Xhaka, as you say. I mean, funny enough, Xhaka was not the guy either within that Arsenal set-up.

49:44but you do need that and you see in these moments you know, Erdogan is a very sweet, wonderful human being but in dark moments, who's shouting? Even their defenders, they all talk about Big Gab being the leader but you don't see it in the same way as you do Virgil Virgil, peak Virgil, acting, demanding, holding accountable I think that's ultimately, they're almost two good guys when the dog needs to occasionally bite someone, I think, instead of just coming for the cuddles. And let's hope that happens before Sunday. It's a fascinating, fascinating question. I want to take these two quickly before we pop off.

50:24I've really, really enjoyed this. I've enjoyed the questions. I've enjoyed, I mean, I love listening to James Horncastle, but I also love listening to some mighty Christina Stotts. It's been a while. Christina, remind us where you're from and what's your question for the great Hamas.

50:39James Horncastle:Hello, Raj. It is Christina Stodds from Joplin, Missouri. I wanted to ask you, do you believe Bayern Munich is the favorite to win the Champions League? I know the talk has been Arsenal. I posted my comment yesterday as one of the moderators in the Discord Champions League channel that I believe Bayern Munich are the team to beat going forward in the Champions League tournament. Playing the defending champions PSG, James, or Bayern, if you were to rank the four teams left, how would you order them? So I think the winner on that side of the bracket wins the tournament. It should be one of Bayern or PSG.

51:25James Horncastle:I would love Vincent Kompany to do it because he's just, I think, a really kind of cerebral young manager. We don't have many black managers as well. And I think he's been a kind of great advocate and kind of representative for young coaches coming through. They gave me the best individual performance that I've seen this season. When I saw them play in Bergamo against Atalanta, I came away from that game thinking they will win the Champions League this season. I've seen a few little cracks in the meantime, particularly in both games against Real Madrid. But to be honest, Christina, they are playing Real Madrid.

52:08James Horncastle:You know, you are going to have moments. I'm not talking about the mistakes that the goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made tonight. But in the first game where Neuer was one of the men of the matches, because, yeah, players like Mbappe, players like Vinicius, they can create anything. Even if the team is playing badly, they can still do something out of nothing. So I wouldn't necessarily judge them down on the basis of how they performed against Real Madrid. I think Upa Meccano at the back is maybe a bit of a problem for them. He's so inconsistent. But I do think it's between Bayern Munich and PSG. It just feels like PSG at this moment are doing more or less what they did last year, which is peak at the right time.

52:56they can do things that kind of other clubs around Europe can't do

53:01James Horncastle:which is basically sort of lean on the league to say can you give us a weekend off before our Champions League games and you see the freshness, it really makes an impact for them and plus this PSG team has been there and done it before this time last year and I think that does matter so two weeks ago I would agree with you Christina that Bayern would be favourites I have recently changed my mind. I think I'm backing PSG at this moment. Amen indeed, Christine. It's a joyous thing to hear your voice. We're going to take quickly the mighty Jake. Tell us where you're from. Close out the night by delivering just a question made of gold.

53:46Hello, lads. Jake from Tampa here.

53:48James Horncastle:I've got one that's a little bit of a throwback to a conversation you guys were on earlier. speaking of the strong Bayern Munich squad, the head of that squad at the very front, Harry Kane. Well over 11 years now since he kind of burst onto the scene, he's obviously become a titan of English football, arguably the greatest English striker of all time, certainly I would say in the modern era. But would winning the Champions League make him, in your eyes, one of the best English players full stop of all time? I think he's pushing for that I think he's pushing for greatness here and it would be quite the achievement especially after swapping from a team and leaving it somewhat in shambles with Tottenham really missing him.

54:32Jakey Jakey what an incredible question and we are headed to Tampa Friday night too I'm going to ask that very question to our guest Alan Shearer about where Harry Kane stacks up in the ranks of great English human beings. James, do the honours. I'm not a big fan of recency bias, but I also believe Harry Kane. There's something about him, the way he carries himself, the top-ness of it all, his good-natured reality, his unwillingness to try and dazzle off the field in the way he does on it. Almost plays against the hype that would be around any other human being with these statistics and this goal record and lifting a team in the way that he has lifted Bayern.

55:18We love to laugh at people in England. We love failure. We're not quite comfortable. We don't quite know what to do with success. How do you see Harry Kane's success and where does he rank?

55:30James Horncastle:I think you've touched upon, both of you, Jake and Roach, have touched upon two, I think, really important things in the perception of Harry Kane. One, there was always this feeling, well, he never wins anything. And when he left Tottenham, um they did win something they won the Europa League his first season at Bayern Bayer Leverkusen won the league um and that kind of got in the way of people just judging Harry Kane the player regardless of what the team does you know Kane would always show up always score goals um has evolved into such an all-round player that you know you you can't just classify him at number nine he is a number 10 he is sometimes a number six he can do everything some of his passing is some of the best passing in the world um the other thing and to go back on on Tottenham is that um when he did leave yes okay they won the Europa League last year but the trend for 18 months has been this is a team that is fighting relegation without him and I I think it really puts into stark relief how big Harry Kane was for that team, how big Hyunmin Son was for that team, that they've never been able to replace them, that the fall off from them has been massive.

56:49James Horncastle:And now you look at everything he's doing for Bayern. Rog touched upon the number of goals he's scoring, which is up there. we kind of almost, the only person really who's surpassing it was Messi sort of 10, 15 years ago at Barcelona. He's staggering. And I think, where does he rank? Well, I think he is England's all-time top scorer. He surpassed Rooney, he surpassed Shearer, he surpassed Lineker. I think he's a better all-round player than all of those, maybe apart from Rooney. but he's scored more goals for his national team than Rooney. He might win something with his national team, which alluded Rooney.

57:35James Horncastle:He has been a member of an England team that has reached two finals, which unfortunately they have lost against Italy and Spain. But England did not reach finals for a long, long time. So I think all that is to his credit. I think there's a very good case to say he's number one among the England strikers. Not best England player of all time, but I think there's a very good case to say he's number one. Sir Albert Finney's rolling in his grave. But, you know, God bless and I adore you with my heart. I wish one for Harry Kane to see him with the champions. It would be amazing. I'm now stressed that Arsenal are going to get into the final and then lose it after losing the league, which is too heartbreaking to contract.

58:28James Horncastle:Or with Kane's goals, and Tottenham stay up on the final bill. Oh my God, this old narrative crap in my timeline. I will tell you, Michael Cohen has just texted me to say, we'll get absolutely pumped by City on Sunday. So that's a nice note to leave on, because that is it for tonight. Two quick notes before we do go. First, this Saturday, right here on YouTube, we'll be having a brand new episode with that great journaling wonder and goal-scoring feast for the eyes, Anton Semenyo, head of a massive weekend for City. I can't wait for you to see it. Such a spiritual human being off the field and incredibly, I mean, just well-adjusted, transformative agent, really, for City in this season.

59:08And for any of you listening in to the Chief State Metropolis, known as Philadelphia, we're headed your way May 12th for a special live show. I cannot wait to be at the Franklin Music Hall. Come join us. We've got a host of incredible guests for a night of celebration, football and a couple of beers. I cannot wait for you to just drown me out with the Go Birds chance link for the tickets in the show notes. It's lovely to be with you, you incredible human being. By the way, James, the words of Declan Rice in his post-match interview, he just said, bring on these last couple of weeks. He's dreading them, isn't he?

59:50James Horncastle:Oh, wow. Yeah, not sort of like, you know, we're going to give them their lunch and their dinner my family have not been kidnapped everything's the opposite of what it is right now so I'll just tell you James I love you I don't take a second I'll listen to you granted you're an incredible human being