Matchday 12 Preview

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1:31Hello everyone and welcome to this week's Friday Preview Pod. I'm Phil Kitramelidi, Sidlow is with me as ever. Hello Sydney. Good morning Philip. Have you played football this morning? It is a good morning. I haven't played football yet, I'm playing this afternoon.

1:43Phil Kitromilides:Ah Ah, okay, I see. All right, excellent. You and I were together last night for a wonderful evening in Vallecas, Rayo playing Lech Poznan in the Conference League. There was all sorts of issues in the build-up to this game. We did a TSFP diary about what it was like to attend a game with so much edge to it, which will be up for patrons later on today. And we witnessed Rayo come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the most extraordinarily dramatic fashion. It was a good day for Spanish teams in European competition because Betis beat Lyon and Celta Vigo won 3-0 away to Dinamo Zagreb. Before we get on to preview a matchday 11 in La Liga EA Sports, which is what we're here to do, a brief word on the fallout from that Rayo game because we were just talking about it before we came on air.

2:30It was an unbelievable night in Vallecas, an incredible comeback from Rayo, a stunning goal to win it in the 94th minute. and yet the fallout from this game has been about the manager Inigo Perez because some of the cameras on the touchline caught him having a big argument with Ivan Bayou after he was substituted and then after the game Sid, Inigo Perez just leaves the stadium, doesn't do the post-match interview with the TV, doesn't do the post-match press conference, puts on his rucksack and walks out of the stadium which is basically unprecedented like no one's ever done this before just left like this not done any of their post-match responsibilities and there's a lot of speculation about what's going on it's a it's a strange situation yeah it's I was in the press conference

3:20Phil Kitromilides:and I actually messaged you and I said to you I'm going to go and listen to Inigo Pérez because he always speaks so well and after a game like this I'd love to hear what he has to say and David Corbeña the sporting director came in we were told that Inigo Pérez has has an is in dispuesto which tends to mean, you know, he's been sick or he's got, you know, or he's got a bug or something or a virus and just doesn't feel very well. And to be honest, no one in that room at that point thought anything of it. And nobody asked. I mean, the obvious first question to the sporting director is, why are you here?

3:49Phil Kitromilides:What's wrong with the manager? But we just took at face value, oh, he's in this puesto. And then it turned out that obviously people have picked up on the fact there'd been a confrontation with Bayou on the bench, a real argument on the bench when Bayou had come off. that there was then a couple of players in the mix zone who had said that they'd effectively admitted there'd been a confrontation in the dressing room as well. And Inigo Pérez walked out. Now, it's very unusual for a manager to do that, and particularly for a manager with the emotional intelligence and the calmness and the rationality of Inigo Pérez.

4:20Phil Kitromilides:Every time you hear him talk, he speaks so well. We were just talking about this briefly off-air a minute ago. There was a case about six weeks ago, roughly, when Patria Espino said something to him and Inigo came into the press conference. and dealt with it head on and said, no, it's absolutely fine. Yes, he was upset. I would expect him to be upset, but he absolutely didn't lack respect. You know, he wasn't disrespectful towards me. It's fine. We talked about it. That's absolutely normal. And Inigo, one of his great strengths has been the group management and that emotional intelligence. And in fact, one of the reasons why he's the manager of Raya Vaikana is because this squad of players wanted him to be, because he'd worked as the assistant manager with Andoni Ida a lot.

4:58Phil Kitromilides:Now, of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that nothing will ever happen again. then there'll never be any confrontation. The strange thing for me is the way that he responded to it. Now, I wonder if part of it is him responding to it because he didn't want it to get worse, because he didn't want a confrontation, because he could feel himself maybe about to do something that he didn't want to do and just decided, I'm going to just effectively draw the shutters and walk away from this. I very much hope it's not more serious than that, but it is really quite strange. Very strange indeed. and somewhat taking the gloss off what was an extraordinary evening in Vallecas, up and going to watch football there since 2011, is the best game I've ever been to.

5:41Phil Kitromilides:It's funny, isn't it? Because we went for the riot and we actually got a brilliant match instead. There was no riot, apart from my celebration for that winning goal. Yeah. You may or may not. I accidentally smacked you in the face. I accidentally smacked you in the face and then repeatedly started smacking the chair. It really hurt my hand. Yeah, well, that's the thing. About five minutes later, you said, my hand really hurts. I said, yeah, that's because you punched me in the face. I said, no, no, no, I think it was the chair. I had no idea I'd punch you in the face, to be honest, until you told me.

6:10There we go.

6:12Phil Kitromilides:Just a little addition to our diary on it. I had a slightly surreal experience, actually. Post-game, I came out, obviously, because I'd been in the press conference a little bit late. The Lech Poznan fans were still in the stadium, but they were just about to be let out. So it meant, as I turned up Avenida Albuferra, There's, what would you say, six bars in a row there? Five bars in a row, maybe? All of them had, and I promise you I'm not making this up, horses at the door. All of them had horses standing on the pavement, two abreast, looking at the bar to keep the Rio fans inside the bars because they were about to bring the Lechopold fans up.

6:46Phil Kitromilides:There was literally a line of about 12, it would have been 10 or 12 horses for the five or six bars, two apiece, standing, looking at the bar in the doorway of the bar, on the street, but in the doorway of the bar. And it just made me think, this is like the beginning of a joke. You know, a horse walks into a bar and says, yes, bartender, give me a whiskey, you know. Right. Okay. Let's leave what happened last night to one side and focus on what's coming up this weekend. It's Matchday 11 in La Liga EA Sports. These are the fixtures we've got to look forward to. All kicks off tonight at the Estadio Martinez-Balero with Elche hosting a resurgent Real Sociedad.

7:24Then on Saturday, Sid will very much be hoping Alaves win at Girona, simply because Girona are the only team who are below Oviedo in the table, the basement club, looking to get a victory. Sevilla hosting Osasuna. You and I, Sid, what a treat for viewers in the UK and beyond are commentating Atletico Madrid against Levante at the Metropolitano. So looking forward to that. And then Espanyol against Villarreal is the Saturday night game. On Sunday, we've got Atletic Club del Bajo against Oviedo, Rayo Vallecano hosting Real Madrid, Mallorca against Getafe and Valencia against Betis, two games at the same time.

8:04And then the Sunday night game is Celta Vigo against Barcelona. There's no Monday game because it's the international break. Let's start off then, Sid, by looking at that game that you and I are commentating tomorrow, Atletico Madrid against Levante. on paper, this should be a victory for Atletico Madrid because they're at home where they've genuinely been playing well, genuinely been scoring goals, haven't had too many problems. They're 10 matches unbeaten in La Liga since the start of the season, the opening day when they were beaten by Espanyol. And yet Levante have won each of their last two visits to the Metropolitano, Sid, which is just strange, curious, curious statistic.

8:47it doesn't really mean too much when you come into it. But yeah, it's a game which I'm quite looking forward to.

8:54Phil Kitromilides:I am as well. I think we know the way that Levante will approach this. They tend not to want a huge amount of possession. They're fairly defensive, but they break reasonably well. I'm not going to overplay this because I don't think they're a team that are sparkling on the break, but they play from a deeper position to try and come out. And then obviously quite likely to try and look for set plays and so on. And Etta Young is playing really, really well. And I think the question, I mean, this is going to sound silly. I was about to say the obvious question, as it always is with Atletico Madrid, is who scores first.

9:27Phil Kitromilides:But of course, that's not an obvious question, because Atletico Madrid score first in every single game. And so it's not really a question. It's what they do. I guess the question then becomes, what do Levante, how long does it take Atletico to get that goal? And can they get that goal? And then what do Levante do? and can Atletico take advantage of that on the break? As you say, Atletico are at home. Their form is fantastic. They are scoring reasonable amounts of goals. It was three against Sevilla, wasn't it? It was only one against Osasuna and Viterly, but then there was five, of course, against Real Madrid.

10:00Phil Kitromilides:What did they do the week before Real Madrid? Was that three-two against Reyes? It's been quite a lot of goals. They beat Betis 2-0 away. Beat Betis 2-0 away. And actually, that away game is possibly the most significant of all these results, apart from the derby, because that was the one where we thought that they had doubts. Because it's at home, it's very difficult to imagine anything other than an Atletico Madrid win. But I think it will be difficult for them. And they've had three consecutive league wins without conceding for the first time in a year and a half, Atletico Madrid. 1-0 against Osasuna, 2-0 against Betis, 3-0 against Sevilla.

10:30So if the pattern continues, we're looking for a 4-0 win against Levante.

10:36Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, and exactly, if you draw that as a kind of as a bar chart, it's little stairs going up, isn't it? In midweek, Jose Makhimenev, this question was posed to him. He said, look, you've freed clean sheets in a row, and it's since you've come back. And he said, I can assure you that's chance. I can assure you that this is a collective effort, it's the entire team. But he's wrong. It's not chance. It is partly about him. And actually, there is now the probable absentee of Robin Lin-Owner and waiting for that to be confirmed, the extent of his injury. So I do think that's a real problem. I mean, there were suggestions he was going to be out for the rest of the year, potentially returning in January, then maybe that it wasn't quite so serious and he might be back before Christmas.

11:18So we'll see. We'll see how Robin Leonard-Odeman fares. But yes, OK, let's move on and talk briefly. Don't want to dwell too much on this. But on Oviedo's trip to Bilbao, Sydney, I guess it might be a good time to visit Bilbao and take him on Athletic. Yeah,

11:35Phil Kitromilides:at the risk of falling horribly on my face and looking like a total moron by Saturday when Athletic have put five past us. It's on Sunday. Sorry, Sunday. I can't go, tragically. I am sending my special envoy, of course. Are you? Yes, I am. Yeah. Doing the full weekend, Guggenheim and everything. So that should be fun for him, the little bastard. I mean, look, in Oviedo on Monday night, we were talking about the, I think, massive, massive missed opportunity in Oviedo on Monday night. Oviedo not getting anything from Osasuna. And we're looking at the coming up games and it's Rio at home. which, to be honest, I don't expect to get anything from.

12:12Phil Kitromilides:Atletico Madrid away, which I'm guaranteed that you don't get anything from. And actually talking to friends, I was like, well, do you know what? It's not impossible you get something from Atletico at the moment. Lots and lots of injuries, a real fatigue. I think if you like an emotional low at the moment as well, there isn't European football for the next week. So that maybe helps them and maybe says that, you know, it's one last effort before you go on international break. And obviously not that many of them will go on international break. Probably just Danny Vivian and Unai Simon, I would guess.

12:39Phil Kitromilides:I can't think of anyone else. Well, yeah. Yes, no, I mean... Because I don't think Nico will go because Nico's injured. Yeah. So I would assume that would be it. And so there might be a couple of under-21s, actually. There might be a couple of under-21s, but I'm not sure about that. But anyway, I think the short answer you said you didn't want to dwell on is maybe there's half a chance for Oviedo in what is the game that I most wanted to go to all season and can't. Couldn't you just say, guys, I really need to go to Bilbao this weekend? I should. I should have done that. I should have grasped the net all right at the very start and just said, at the very start when we were planning, I should have said can't.

13:17Phil Kitromilides:I then tried to get out of it later on when I realised and the alternative wasn't there. Well, that's not the way to do it, Sid. I know, I know, I know. Foolish. I know. You cannot, well, you can believe how much I'm kicking myself. Yeah, I mean, I expected better from you. You should be able, you should be better at this by now, organising yourself to get to football matches. Well, and also just, I should have the... Go on, I should have the nerve. to say, I'm just not working for you on this Sunday. I'm calling a Bilbao, but you're not. You are going to Vallecas, presumably. I am going to Vallecas, yes.

13:51That's why you can't go to Athletic Club against Oviedo, because it's Rio against Real Madrid, a fixture which in the last three years has been very problematic for Real Madrid. Last season, it was 3-3. The season before that, it was 1-1. The season before that, Rio 1-3-2. So they have dropped points in each of the last three visits to Vallecas. Just quickly going back to Atletico Madrid, actually, they will see this as a weekend where potentially we can cut the gap because Barcelona away to Celta, which is a potential banana skin. We'll talk about that in a second. And Real Madrid away to Raya, which is a potential banana skin.

14:29So Atleti at home to Levante. They will have highlighted this and said, lads, three points, absolutely vital here. Because Real Madrid are going to Vallecas,

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16:40Now, Sid, last night it finished late. It was very emotional. We've had all that bust up with the manager as well. Now, Raya will have had about 65 hours between matches, so much less than the 72 that is recommended between games. And Real Madrid, of course, played on Tuesday. So I guess the conditions are favourable for Real Madrid going into what is traditionally a tricky fixture.

17:05Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, absolutely, they're favourable. Just a quick aside, I think we may have mentioned this at the time. I don't know if that 72 is just set as its free days. and that really and truly there's any real difference between 72 and 70 and 68, if you see what I mean. I honestly don't know that. What really matters is the sleep cycles rather than the actual number of hours. What I mean is I don't know if 72 was chosen just as a way of saying three days, do you see what I mean, rather than as a way of saying it actually needs to be 72 rather than 68 or 70 or whatever. Anyway, that's by the by. That's by the by.

17:37Phil Kitromilides:What isn't by the by is that this is, I think, a very, very significant advantage for Real Madrid. And of course, it's applicable to the Celta de Vigo game as well. Real Madrid and Barcelona, I think, have been very fortunate to get these two teams in away games in a week in which they play in Europe on Thursday. There is no alternative in terms of putting the fixtures in. You just can't avoid that. These teams play on Thursday. You have to play your weekend games. And Real Madrid and Barcelona have played on the Tuesday or the Wednesday. And there's no Monday game. And there's no Monday game.

18:06Phil Kitromilides:So it's not even as if you could push one of them into Monday. And you probably wouldn't with Madrid and Barcelona anyway, to be honest, because of the TV. So I think it is a significant advantage. And I think it's particularly a significant advantage with Raya. Although it is true, as we saw last night, Raya started with a mixed-up team, then made, was it four or five substitutes in one go? Four, wasn't it? Or was it five? Hang on. I think it might have been three. Four, I think, wasn't it? Was it? It might only have been three. It felt like it was four to me. But yeah, maybe it was only three because we were looking for...

18:33Phil Kitromilides:Who were we looking for? Jorge de Frutos, who didn't come on straight away? Anyway, the point is he made lots of changes. I think he's trying to manage it. he is trying to effectively have a European team and the league team to try and reduce the impact on it. Apart from old Féren Lejouin, who plays everything all the time. Al's report saying it was four, by the way. But I think it is a significant advantage. I think it's partly a significant advantage because the nature of the way that Rayo play is very physical. And so I think the impact is greater than it would be if Madrid were playing against, say, for example, a team that wanted to play in a very, very deep, playing on the counter-attack or wanted to play through possession.

19:12Okay. The fallout from Real Madrid's defeat at Anfield has been pretty extensive. It has, isn't it? People are questioning everything now. There was a headline yesterday in As, a sea of doubts. Apparently, everything's being questioned now. Just how the team are playing, the manager, his decisions, everything's being questioned after Liverpool.

19:36Phil Kitromilides:I think that's quite mad. Now, it's true that Liverpool were the better team. It's true that it could be more than 1-0, but for Thibaut Courtois. But it's Liverpool away, right? This is a place you can lose. And it's one game. And it's true that Real Madrid went to Atletico Madrid and got beaten 5-2. But they've just come from a Clasico where everybody thought, OK, this is really good. They've won all but one game in La Liga. They've won all but one game in Europe. They haven't been sparkling. We've talked about this, but there's a structure developing. That said, of course, this is about, I suppose, about expectation level.

20:08Phil Kitromilides:It's about pressure. It's about the internal doubts that there always are with managers at Real Madrid. Always. Because I think, you know, I don't want to make this the focal point of absolutely everything, but it is true and it is definitely a conditioning factor in terms of the reaction. Essentially, Real Madrid have a president who believes that managers are kind of a necessary evil, that really and truly it's about the players that they've got. And so when things go wrong, the finger is always pointed at the manager, which doesn't mean it's permanently pointed at the manager. It doesn't mean the manager doesn't always get where he wants.