Atleti stun Real as Barca v PSG headlines Champions League week

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1:54Pol Ballus: the Ballon d 'Or, the second big football event that Real Madrid didn't turn up for this week. There's Ligue 1's wide-open title race in Serie A, Milan-Napoli and some Pisa takeaways. And Frankfurt is on a roll in the Bundesliga with Gladbach trying to catch up, but getting the verse. It's all in this Totally Football show.

2:17Pol Ballus: It's Monday the 29th, September. We've got the Euro show crew together early because it's a Champions League week. that means Julian Aron put your phone down

2:27Julien Laurens: hello Jimbo who are you texting hello no it was just a message that I responded to

2:32James Horncastle: Jules sells labubus

2:34Julien Laurens: anybody wants a labubu just get in touch I've got a few

2:37James Horncastle: because if Jules didn't do enough podcast and TV work as it is his sideline is selling labubus right

2:45Julien Laurens: it's trendy it's cute business is decent to be fair the kids are selling them at school which I'm not sure my kids are hustlers I'm not sure they should but anyway

2:54Pol Ballus: The first one is free, Jules. That's the business principle.

2:57Julien Laurens: Well, not with my kids.

2:58Pol Ballus: Right. James Horncastle is here with us. Business is good with him. He's wearing a brand new pair of AI sunglasses. He's loving them.

3:06James Horncastle: They are amazing. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, I'm recording all of this.

3:12Pol Ballus: Excellent. On the big screen, we've got Paul Belus. All right, Paul.

3:17James Richardson: I'm fine. I'm fine. I can complain. I don't have such a busy life as James and Julianne here. Paul. Selling Labobus. I've got one for you if you want

3:26James Horncastle: I was going through my Instagram the other day and there was a story that you had liked and it was about Nando's Did Nando's get in touch? It was about a girl who'd been to Nando's and she was telling her father about going to have a cheeky Nando's

3:45James Richardson: Yeah, yeah, yeah I mean, I can tell you like an inside story because it was Laya Saraballo my colleague who sent that to me when she listened to the podcast. Oh, okay. So basically she sent me like the reels on Instagram and I liked it because why not?

4:01Pol Ballus: Okay. And also with us and coming slightly underneath Nando's posts in the introductions is Seb Stafferblor. Sorry about that, Seb.

4:09Seb Stafford-Bloor: That's okay, Jimbo.

4:11Pol Ballus: Seb, you're wearing a snood or a piece of, well, as James put it, a bit of German Kraftwerk actually.

4:20Seb Stafford-Bloor: my wife is responsible for the german craft work yeah my and it's also chilly and i'm you know in a cool european northern german city so i can get away with that that is the most germany ever

4:31James Horncastle: sounded so my wife is responsible for this uh little technical fabric yeah if rafa honigstein

4:37Seb Stafford-Bloor: hears that he ends your friendship immediately i swear to god um it survived worse what is your

4:43Pol Ballus: wife's profession Seb?

4:45Seb Stafford-Bloor: My wife's a fibre artist.

4:47Pol Ballus: A fibre artist.

4:48Julien Laurens: All kinds of stuff. I'd love to be a fibre artist. It sounds like

4:52Pol Ballus: fibre optics.

4:53Julien Laurens: It does a bit but better.

4:55Pol Ballus: You're an artist with the but cooler.

4:56Julien Laurens: Cooler 100%.

4:58Pol Ballus: Are you in fibre optics? I'm a fibre artist. Boom. Yes. Half that. What's that? Oh yeah there's the Champions League. Sorry right yeah we've got lots to talk about today. Champions League coming up actually to the league phase. Also a lot of things that happened since we last got together, like, for example, Le Classique. Yes. Yes. It happened. Jules had forgotten about it. Nah. He sold several hundred Le Booboos in the winter. I was only kidding. Yeah, PSG, the delayed game away at Olympique Marseille, took place on the Monday. Yeah. And Jules?

5:33Julien Laurens: At the same time as the Ballon d 'Or ceremony, which we should talk about, really.

5:36Pol Ballus: Yeah, we should also talk about what happened in the Classique. Should we?

5:43Julien Laurens: Le butte Marseille! Le butte Marseille! Le butte de l 'Olympique de Marseille! They won. Marseille won. They started well. They were very good in the first half, very aggressive. The Zerbis plan worked well. He used the kind of old school, let's make a fight of this, let's play for pride, our fans, which worked.

6:06James Horncastle: They usually do that in the dressing room at Marseille.

6:08Julien Laurens: I mean, to be fair, yeah, between themselves even. But it worked well. they were so up for it and the fans as well the atmosphere was quite hostile and it's good they haven't won at the Velodrome in 14 years 14 years against PSG so it was long due and to be fair on the first half they deserve it second half PSG were the better team and probably a draw in the end could have been fair but it's a good win and certainly makes the league very interesting and then Marseille followed that up by winning a Westrasbourg on Friday night which was great too for them so they're very much in the mix and I expected them to be in the mix they should be in the mix for quite a long time this season I think

6:46Pol Ballus: you're happy about it that's great it's not that

6:47Julien Laurens: it's objectively I mean you know as much as I don't like them they played well

6:52Pol Ballus: they deserve to win three teams separated by only one point at the top of Ligue 1 and a big game coming out next weekend we'll talk about all this later on much much later on much much later towards the end

7:02Julien Laurens: stay with us

7:03Pol Ballus: also of course as you mentioned since our last show was the Ballon d 'Or ceremony en Paris which saw Ousmane Dembélé winning

7:11Julien Laurens: my boy yeah he cried in his speech the mum was there she didn't cry but Mustafa his best friend cried as well everybody seemed to cry it was lovely I think he's a well deserved winner really and I think if you look at the votes Lamine is a wonderful player wonderful talent he will win many Ballon d 'Ors in years to come his time will come very soon but I think on this year there's been nobody better than Ousmane Dembele and I think the votes also show it he won by 321 points clear of Lamine when last year for example Rodri won by 40 points against Venice so he was a outstanding I think winner and the best player in the world

7:52Pol Ballus: what a shame he's not fit this midweek for the PSG Barcelona game absolutely alright then we'll talk about the Champions League very very shortly but moment of the week Seb what's been your special moment when Eintracht Frankfurt

8:08Seb Stafford-Bloor: was 6-0 up against Bristol Mish and Gladbach on Saturday night there was a very very clear handball in the Gladbach box which penalty if it gets converted would have made it 7-0 and it was undeniable it was one of those which it could only be more blatant had the Gladbach defender just picked the ball up really I don't know if you've seen any of the still shots and the referee made the understandable decision kind of compassionate decision I'm going to pretend I didn't see that let's just move on whilst of course in the age of VAR all the slow motion replays are going on on television and all fine no one would ever have talked about it again had Gladbach not pulled four goals back towards the end of the game and all of a sudden it becomes a topic again it's very very bizarre because I think it's a very human moment but also he's being absolutely damned for it in

8:53Julien Laurens: Germany afterwards yeah I agree with Steph completely it should have been it was a like dead-on penalty really but I don't like empathy I don't like passion I don't know why the referee than give it. That's why you can't allow human emotions. Absolutely. I don't know. Yeah, I was like, really, just give it.

9:12Seb Stafford-Bloor: Give it. Yeah. All right, Paul, your moment of the week. I don't like empathy and I don't like compassion. It's me. Exclamation mark.

9:21James Richardson: No, I'm going to go to the Madrid derby and to Julian Alvarez free kick, basically. He has a free kick that he scored, that it was a 4-2 goal in the game. But most importantly, just after he scored the goal, for me, like the picture of the game was Digo Simeone just crying, just falling into tears in the touchline after 4-2 which, it was not like the dying stages of the game, but you could tell that it meant a lot to the Atletico manager, we have talked a lot about the struggles that they've had this season, sometimes lacking this bit of end product and creating a bit more than they've been used to, like in past seasons, but they didn't have this clinical edge up front but over the last week Julien Alvarez has been just outstanding just at another level and seeing him scoring from a free kick was possibly this in a way touch of God that like Diego Simone was wanting against their arc enemies Real Madrid outstanding performance they had in the second half big win for Atletico who are still a bit far away from the top of La Liga but I think that this win just boosted the new project at the club and quite a meaningful moment and possibly, yeah, the most important moment of the weekend here in Spain.

10:35James Richardson: OK, so he was actually feeling the pressure then, Simeone. I mean, after two consecutive summers with huge spend in the summer window, I think it's eight new signings this last summer, struggling to get wins, struggling to score goals. Having this empathic win against Real Madrid is just basically what Atletico needed. I'm not sure that he was going to be on the sack just like next morning if they didn't manage to win the game but in a way Simeone was feeling that the start of the season was not at the level that he was expected and having this sort of performance basically banishes a lot of things at Atletico de Madrid because of what it means to beat Real Madrid and to score them five goals which is a manita as we call it in here which is quite significant certainly is.

11:24James Richardson: Biggest

11:25Pol Ballus: defeat a Real Madrid have suffered in what 75 years in the derby

11:30Julien Laurens: the last time Atletico scored five goals against them was like 70 years ago or something

11:34James Horncastle: I was about to say that great empathy from all there for Diego Sinha I respected it maybe not

11:44James Richardson: no no no yeah yeah yeah

11:47James Horncastle: James a moment of the week from you I enjoyed the Tuscan derby on Sunday lunchtime Goalless Yeah it doesn't mean It's a bad game It's a perfect game Yeah perfect game It's a very Italian game As you know Gianni Brera And Anibali Frossi Back in the day Would say Italian journalists But no It was great I hadn't been On the fixture list For 34 years In the top flights And You know You had all these Kind of

12:12Pol Ballus: This was Pisa Against Fiorentina Yeah you have to say

12:14James Horncastle: Pisa I do I do But the Florentine Ultras They didn't want to show up Because the ticket price is too expensive but they so they didn't go to the game but they did go to the outskirts of pisa where they organized a scrap with the pizani as you do um i mean you can't understate how much these two two cities hate each other right why is that james well it goes back to sort of middle ages fall of the house of medici guelph's gibberleens these two factions one city standing for one, the other standing for the other. And sort of treachery as well, sort of Pisan noblemen selling out Pisa to Florentines.

12:55James Horncastle: I could go for some Pisa right now. Where were they selling it? Well, one of the banners at Pisa at the Garibaldi is Pisa non si piega. Which is, Pisa doesn't bend. Or they're alluding to the leaning tower. Oh, I see. But the team doesn't bend. It may bend but it doesn't break. Right. and it was a great game because there were two disallowed goals for Fiorentina disallowed goal for Pisa which was if it had stood it would have been the goal of the weekend in Serie A Henrik Meister whipping in the shot from outside the box which David De Gea could do nothing about until the VAR spotted that Henrik Meister had brought this ball down with his two hands and then Mbala Inzola hit the crossbar for Pisa he used to play for Fiorentina Juan Codrado used to play for Fiorentina as well.

13:46James Horncastle: He hit the post. Alberto Giladino in the dugout for Pisa. Famous ex-Fiorantina player. It was great. It was a lot of blood, thunder, no goals. No goals. But it was, I enjoyed it. It's a welcome addition to the Serie A calendar.

14:02Pol Ballus: Excellent. Excellent. Jules, your moment of the week.

14:05Julien Laurens: So on Saturday, I went to Enfield Town against Quorn FC. Do you know where Quorn is? Near Lothbrook.

14:13James Horncastle: if you're pronouncing it correctly Quorn Quorn FC

14:16Julien Laurens: sorry to all the Quorn fans is that Q-U-O-R-N yes near Loughborough Leicester oh okay yeah it's near there in the third one qualifiers of the FA Cup

14:26Pol Ballus: is that because Laurent was featuring

14:29Julien Laurens: yeah my middle one was the ball boy because he plays for the under 13s of Anfield Town so him and his team his teammates were ball boying that's what they say at the game so we went with the younger one

14:41Pol Ballus: ball artists

14:42Julien Laurens: ball artists He's five, yeah, sorry, ball artist. And it was great because I don't really go too much to, you know, lower league games, to be fair. And this was amazing. 700 people were there. It was a great, like, really nice atmosphere. Great game.

14:57Pol Ballus: Did you get recognized much?

14:58Julien Laurens: Yeah. But a lot of people who love this show, love the gold show. Do you remember the gold show? And other shows that I sometimes take part of. But it was great. but that's not I just wanted to give them a shout out but well done so they qualify for one more qualifying round and then it's the first run of the FA Cup oh wow which Anfield Town have never reached so you know hopefully who have they drawn

15:22Pol Ballus: in the next round then

15:23Julien Laurens: I don't know I should know maybe but I don't know

15:26Pol Ballus: somebody best of luck to you yeah exactly

15:28Julien Laurens: but my moment of the win is Sunday night we had Rennes against Lens it's a bit better one because it's a it's a cool one after 54 seconds Jonathan Gradit got sent off which is one of the quickest red cards surely in history I don't think it's the I think it's the only second red card in French football or Sennifer Fly since Opta have the stats I think Jean-Claude Todibo got sent off once after 10 seconds or 20 seconds something like that but to be sent off in the first minute of a game that's pretty early what was it for? denying so he was the last man when the player was through but it was near the halfway line I think it was a really harsh red card but Lens played with 10 men for literally the whole game and still were the better team against Rennes in Rennes and this would have won that game, but he finished nil-nil.

16:11Julien Laurens: Nil-nil, okay.

16:13Pol Ballus: Excellent. Well, lots to discuss from the various leagues and of course the Champions League as well. Let's start off with a quick run through some of the key fixtures next.

16:21Seb Stafford-Bloor: This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network.

16:27Pol Ballus: Champions League, it's match day two of the league phase on Tuesday this evening probably. It's Atletico Madrid taking on Eintracht Frankfurt. Atletico fresh from that extraordinary Derby victory. Eintracht Frankfurt, as Seb was telling us, also involved in a humongous game this weekend. You also have Galatasaray taking on Liverpool. Chelsea up against Benfica. Jose Mourinho back at the bridge, etc. But it's actually his eighth visit to the bridge.

16:56James Horncastle: Yeah, Judas is still number one. Memorably said on one of those visits.

17:01Pol Ballus: Did he? Yeah. Judas is still number one. Is he, though? Is he, though? We'll find out. He's not. He's not number one anymore, obviously. Well, hmm. Chelsea, not looking too much like number one. They've only won one of their last five games, and that was against lower league Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup. Anyway, that's happening on Tuesday, as is Bodo Glimp against Spurs. On Wednesday, I should mention we're going to have an extra Totally Football Show on Wednesday morning, rounding up the Tuesday night action. On Wednesday night, you've got Arsenal up against Olympiacos. that's a fixture that brings back memories 2020-2021 now the Olympiacos in rubbish form and they even drew 0-0 with 10 man Cypriot side Paphos on match day one Barcelona up against Paris Saint-Germain also Union Saint-Gilois who's Newcastle and Monaco are up against Man City Barcelona PSG though hey are you coming Jilt?

18:01Julien Laurens: No, no, no, no. I will be covering here for English TV, my friend. He's doing Enfield.

18:08James Richardson: And the last... I'm doing Enfield against... I was about to bring you to the Spanish Nandos.

18:12Julien Laurens: Yeah, I would have loved to. Last time we came, with my two boys as well, for the quarterfinals of the season before last, it was a memorable night. I don't remember that game. I do remember. I can remind you, Paul, if you want.

18:24Pol Ballus: Well, I can remind you because Paris Saint-Germain have won on their last two visits to the Catalan capital by a score of four goals to one. That's very good. Wasn't there another game before that, though, in 2017? No. Was there another game before that?

18:38Julien Laurens: No, but that's too far away.

18:39James Richardson: Might be, might be, yeah.

18:40James Horncastle: The key here is, I seem to remember, Jules, you took your kids to the game at the one where they won in Barcelona. Yeah, that Montjuic one, yeah, two years ago. So Maximilien, your middle child. Maximilien was at Enfield for this game. He was in Munich for the Champions League fund. That's right. I think Maximilian has some energy. Was he at the Club World Cup final?

19:02Julien Laurens: No, he wasn't. And that's maybe why, you see. He has to go everywhere. Yeah, see?

19:07Pol Ballus: Boom. So Barcelona, just on top of the Liga poll, rather like their opponents on Wednesday. Barcelona, they are beset by injuries, but they have got Jamal back. What's the buzz in Catalonia about this game?

19:22James Richardson: So there's a big buzz. Whenever a big Champions League game comes to the city, there's a special buzz. as I think that we've mentioned that in the past, but people here in Barcelona, they give more importance to the Champions League rather than to La Liga. The Champions League feels like the big stage, feels like the trophy that is going to define a generation. And it's been 10 years now since they don't win a Champions League trophy. So they basically want to do well. And now that PSG comes, people in Barcelona see that as a test to tell them where Barca really stands. Although in my opinion, I don't know if you can count that as a test because looking at the absences that are going to be on PSG's side of things.

19:58James Richardson: Barcelona have plenty of injuries as well. They have Joan Garcia, they have Gabi, Fermin and Rafinha who won't play. But as Eugipo said, there's Laminia Malbach. He returned on Sunday and 30 seconds into the game, he basically ripped Sergio Gomez apart and just crossed the ball to Lewandowski to score the winner. Yeah, it's not that we discovered last Sunday how good Laminia Malbach was. is but he basically reminded us of what he can do on a football pitch and I'm sure that he's going to be relishing the challenge of facing PSG, facing Dembele's team although Dembele is not going to play most likely but yeah the sort of proving a point side of things is what La Minha mal enjoys and and he wants to be in basically.

20:46Pol Ballus: What's the mood like for Paris Saint Germain after the defeat to Marseille? Victory 2-0 against Osser at the weekend but again and lots of injuries.

20:56Julien Laurens: Yeah, two more in Graskelia and Vitinha. Vitinha was a strange one because he set up the goal, had played really well in the first half hour of the game, didn't look injured and then came off after 35 minutes to the point that we were wondering if it was just part of the plan to rest him as soon as PSG would open the scoring as a very defensive team and probably knowing that Oxel would not come back in the game so you probably didn't really need Vitinha after that anyway. But now we're saying like it was precaution. Yeah, and so he should be fine for Wednesday for Askelia fell his hamstring which is never good and you don't want to risk it but you already are without Dwayne and Dembele Neves and Ruiz we're not too sure no Marquinhos so it starts to be a bit long which we can thank the club world cup obviously amongst other things Luis Enrique said it really nicely yesterday

21:43Pol Ballus: Barcelona weren't at the club world cup and they've got all sorts of injuries

21:45Julien Laurens: yeah that's very true too I think the club world cup didn't help as we can see with Chelsea too I think the whole schedule for the last two or three years has been too crazy anyway but Luis Enrique I think put it nicely on Friday on Saturday it's such a shame that such a big game won't be played with the two teams at their best with their best players and their best team and we can go at it

22:03Pol Ballus: With the former Barcelona connections with the likes of Dembele and Luis Enrique but also with the history of games incredible games between these two teams has this become one of the most special European fixtures for PSG and perhaps for Barca as well

22:16Julien Laurens: Yeah I think so absolutely I mean it's also Dembele-Lamin the Ballon d 'Or kind of jewel if you want it's potentially I know Inter beat Barcelona in the Champions League but it feels like two of the top three top four best teams in the world right now so it's it's amazing on paper to be fair it's just a shame that I think again there's all those players missing but really they should meet each other again later in the competition maybe they will maybe they will and then maybe they will be like a full strength and even even better but it's a big it's a big test for PSG because I think the Lamin Yamal Vino Mendes is the key here, obviously.

22:54Julien Laurens: And last season, Nuno Mendes did so well against all the wingers he played against, from Salah to Saka to, you know, whoever else.

23:02James Richardson: Well, in the Nations League finals, it was great against La Minjava. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you're right, completely.

23:07Julien Laurens: So, you know, we see. But it would be the key very much more and who can have the ball more than the other team.

23:13James Richardson: From a Barcelona perspective, possibly, I think that outside of Spain, I don't want to use the word hate, but Barcelona see PSG as just one of the rivals that they dislike the most, I would say. Just from past games, but also the signings of the likes of Neymar, Dembélé, they see PSG as a team that has harmed Barca in many other ways.

23:38James Horncastle: No, they brought about Barcelona's ruin in that by signing Neymar, they then basically put you in a position where you're like, okay, we need to go and sign a replacement now. Let's get Coutinho, Dembélé. Oh my God. what's happening we're going to have to remortgage everything oh no and that's it but that's the start

23:56James Richardson: of the problem for Barcelona because the way of how they handled this Neymar money just the way that they were just irresponsible

24:02Julien Laurens: two years ago before the quarterfinal second leg when we went with the kids it felt really hostile like I've barely seen and they had to go because I had to go for TV they had to go on their own at some point and I said to them don't show put your shirt don't show anything don't show that you're fine don't speak just hold hold each other because I promise you and my oldest one is 16 is you know he's a big boy he's in a big boy but like you know yeah exactly that's what I meant but I was like whoa like this is really he was hostile more than yeah more than a lot of places I've been to even when PSG were playing away from him proper naughty yeah he'd be like the atmosphere is going to be I know it's only the Montjuic but James is good at proper naughty too it's only Montjuic and he doesn't feel the same inside the stadium but outside it's a very intimidating place the way it's built how you have to go up the hill where the fans are outside of the stadium it's just pitch battles in the trees

24:58James Horncastle: yeah no no it feels quite intimidating

25:00Julien Laurens: to be fair

25:01James Horncastle: it feels like you're storming a castle on the hill wow yeah yeah I know it's really cool I love that

25:06Seb Stafford-Bloor: Seb yeah Jules how's Lucas Chevalier doing because every time I look up and see a PSG game he's having a difficult old time

25:14Julien Laurens: whoa whoa whoa which game is that well Le Classique for one he might have missed that super cup punch

25:21Seb Stafford-Bloor: Supercopy was pretty poor

25:22Julien Laurens: oh he saved the penalty in the shooter that you know led PSG to win it my point is no you're right

25:27Seb Stafford-Bloor: he's filling some pretty big shoes and that's a tough old ask

25:32Julien Laurens: it is and you know what I think the most difficult and he made a few mistakes obviously that we mentioned it's just that he has one save to make I mean it might be different Wednesday because he's such a the player against such a good team that he might be busier than usual but in the league it's just one save or that one cross that you have to go for and you can't get it wrong with Lille before there was much more to do he was much more involved etc this time he just has nothing to do for 85 minutes or 90 minutes and then there's one moment where he just has to be there and I just I think he's still learning to deal with all that kind of there's pressure but there's not really pressure because you're not going to do anything for 85 % of the game so he needs to get into that mode and Champions League is good for that this is a this is a big test for him.

26:15Seb Stafford-Bloor: Do the locals understand it? I understand it's been rationalised on a business level but if you're a PSG fan and you just got rid of arguably one of the top five goalkeepers in the world, has the reception to that been in any way negative?

26:29Julien Laurens: No, not so much because I think he needs support to be fair and his distribution there's a lot of good things that he does for this team. I know he made some mistakes and the one against Marseille was costly to be fair but But games like Wednesday night against Barca is the games where you can judge him. I know Marcel was a big game and it was his first classic, etc. But this is the kind of game against Barcelona where we see, okay, what really he has inside and if he can cope with all that kind of pressure and opposition, talent, playing against those kind of players because this is all new to him.

27:03Pol Ballus: Brilliant. See how he gets on on Wednesday night then. All right, let's have a chat now about some of the other stuff that's been happening this weekend. Some of the other big games coming up midweek. But we'll begin with a Liga poll and that Madrid derby.

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28:02James Horncastle: Too easy. Think something's up? You tell me. They got thousands of options.

28:07Seb Stafford-Bloor: Mm-hmm. Found a great car at a great price. Mm-hmm. And it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed. Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. Hey, it's Adam Grant from Ted's podcast, Work Life. And this episode is brought to you by ServiceNow. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85 % of the Fortune 500 companies use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows, and AI, connecting every corner of your business.

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29:08Seb Stafford-Bloor: This is the Totally Football Show part of the Athletic FC podcast network The Athletic is the only place you can read articles by Daniel Taylor, Amy Lawrence, Phil Hay James Pearce, Oli K and the very best football writers around

29:33Pol Ballus: Wow, Saturday afternoon in Madrid. Seen as Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid in the derby. Didn't just beat them, they beat them 5-2. Handing Xavi Alonso, his first to beat as Real Madrid manager. Scoring five goals in the Madrid derby for the first time since 1950. Coming into this derby poll, Real had been in great form. And Atletico Madrid had very much not been in great form. So what happened?

29:59James Richardson: So what happened is that Diego Simeone's plans basically outplayed Xavi Alonso's plans. He was really good, in my opinion, at bringing Alexander Sorlov in, not just because he was a focal president up front, but he liberated Julien Alvarez just to roam up front a bit. And then the two midfielders, Pablo Barrios and Koke, put in a masterclass. Those are the main ingredients on how Atletico de Madrid dismantled Real Madrid, which looked like a really weak side, conceding five goals coming from a team that had barely conceded a goal this season in La Liga. It was quite shocking to see. And yet, Xabi Alonso has been quite in the spotlight over the last few days.

30:36James Richardson: I would say that this has been even more painful than the PSG defeat at the Club World Cup for the fact that it was a derby, it was La Liga, it was a Madrid side that was looking really good against an Atletico side that just wasn't. And yet, many players that have been criticised. I've seen Dean Howson today posting an Instagram story just asking for sorry to the fans because he was not great.

30:59Julien Laurens: He was so bad. One of the worst performances I've seen individually this season. Incredibly bad. Yeah, yeah. He was so bad.

31:04James Richardson: Him and Álvaro Carreras were not great. And yeah, a lot of a spotlight on Jude Bellingham as well for the fact that he started the first game after a long injury spell. But yeah, still things to figure out for Real Madrid and the O'Simone team that their project boosted this season. Indeed.

31:22Pol Ballus: And get sweet revenge, of course, for that heartbreaking last 16 exit in the Champions League at the hands of their neighbours, featuring the double touch, the double tap penalty from Julian Alvarez, which had such an impact on that game. This time around, he had another spot kick. He converted it nervelessly and then produced that magnificent free kick which you referenced earlier on. We also had a first goal in La Liga since February for Antoine Griezmann. And just fantastic scenes for Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid, the issues at the back, a lot of people pointed to a lack of intensity from the defence.

32:03Pol Ballus: Also, the number of injuries that are piling up there. Dani Carvajal is out. Militao came off as well Trent's out Rudiger as well Fernand Mendy too so quite the issues for Real Madrid there

32:16James Richardson: Yeah yeah there's a conversation on who should be the right back right now because of course Dani Caravajal is out and Trent is out as well Raúl Asensio seems like the most obvious candidate but he's not been great he's been far from great whenever he's played this season under Xavi Alonso so there's a debate on putting Fede Valverde in there but Fede Valverde doesn't want to play there and he's been vocal about it. He's gone to press conference saying that he doesn't want to be a right back. So let's see what Xavi Alonso does in there. I think that Militao is not going to be a big thing. He's not travelling to Keira Talmati for the Champions League game, but he should be fine reasonably soon because it was a knock on his ankle.

32:54James Richardson: But yeah, a lot of injuries piling up for Real Madrid. Although, I mean, I agree with the fact that Dinhousen was not great. Alvaro Carrera was not great. A lot of players can be singled out. but I still think that it's a collective thing what Real Madrid need to solve. They need to work as a unit, which is something that they lacked last season, that they are still lacking now. And they possibly lack a bit of creating a spark in the middle of the park as well, which is something that given the squad that they have, they don't have the likes of Modric, Cross, these sort of players, and something that Chai Alonso will have to came up with something new.

33:31Pol Ballus: Well, midweek they face an almighty challenge in that they are playing in Almaty, in Kazakhstan, against Kairat, the Champions League new boys. You may have seen the Kairat squad is estimated to be worth 13 million euros, which is less than half of Kylian Mbappé's annual salary.

33:49Julien Laurens: That's right, yeah.

33:50Pol Ballus: Wow. But it's a journey of 4 ,000 miles, a Real Madrid team that's been badly shook at the weekend. Sheriff Tiraspol, anyone?

34:01James Horncastle: Was this game in their heads, Paul? when they were playing the Atletico. Maybe, maybe, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

34:08James Richardson: That's what cost everything, maybe.

34:10James Horncastle: I mean, I don't want to diminish Kyra having just done that. But, Paul, remember last year when Madrid went out of the Champions League? I think Ancelotti and a few others made comments to the effect of, we missed a player like Hosolu, right? You talked about this right-back problem. Lucas Vazquez's remorse. like these players like you know we come to Jules we talk about Mbappe we talk about Vinicius doesn't get the Ballon d 'Or blah blah blah but it's actually these players who can do lots of jobs for Madrid or do a role for Madrid who are willing to be more humble than other players at Madrid who kind of allow Madrid to be Madrid and they're not there anymore like you know I mean it sounds crazy to say Hosselu and Lucas Vazquez are why Madrid are currently in a quote-unquote crisis but there is something to that maybe no yeah yeah no i agree with that that

35:06James Richardson: it's the lucas vasquez it's the nachos it's these sort of players that uh make a difference throughout the season but at the same time i don't think that lucas vasquez make his case a standout last season i think that looking at his performances last season you could agree that it was time to move on and just to extend uh his contract but yeah possibly raul Asensio is a guy that is steep for this sort of role. But yeah, he's not in great form. Of course, a lot of things going on with him as well beyond the pitch. But yeah, I think that Rammery duo are possibly right. They are lacking this sort of profile, this sort of depth.

35:43James Richardson: Players that are willing to take on these roles because all the players that they have, they seem to really want to be starters. And if they are not a starter, they are just not happy. So how you handle that is a big problem. and when you put those guys on, possibly they don't perform at the same level because they are not happy with their roles.

36:00Pol Ballus: Perhaps so. Atletico Madrid, anyway, reaping the benefits on Saturday and tears of joy from Simeone or tears of relief. But next up, they've got another tough game. Atletico Madrid taking on Frankfurt on Tuesday. Frankfurt, who've been quite the story so far this season. Seb?

36:19Seb Stafford-Bloor: Frankfurt had quite a weird Saturday night, really. so we talked about how they were 5-0 up at half time and then when that happens i always think if you're in the losing dressing room you kind of go in and say you know a few industrial things and throw some crockery and say look 10 minutes after half time make a tackle elbow someone put someone on the stand within 60 seconds of the game restarting frankfurt scored a sixth goal simple cross from the touchline right to the back post glad back defender loses his man just shocking but it was it was strange because it was almost as if untracked once they went six nil up didn't really know what to do next right and dino topmutter went from being absolutely delighted with the performance because they played beautifully in the first half to being really quite grumpy at the end of the game because you concede four times when you're six nil up and to gladback who are in a all sorts of trouble huge mess the fourth goal for gladback coming deep

37:16Pol Ballus: into stoppages so it never got too close to them actually coming back to take a point but

37:20Seb Stafford-Bloor: it never became a contest again but it became a talking point right it became a kind of one of one of eintracht's issues has been defensive solidity do you have a maturity because you're a young team built to accelerate players do you have the maturity to manage games and so the more gladback scored when it never became a contest the more that narrative gained a few legs and it became yeah it irritated tournament and i understand why because yeah it was seriously, seriously soppy.

37:46Pol Ballus: Well, he'd said that they were keen to make a bit of a statement in this game because of their performance against Union Berlin the previous week when it finished, what, 4-3 with more late goals. They are, by some metrics, the most entertaining team in Europe right now. No, they started off their Champions League campaign with a 5-1 victory over Turkish giants Galatasaray. This weekend, there were 10 between themselves and Gladbach. There's seven matches in all competitions. In fact, so far this season, I've produced 41 goals, which is almost six per game almost six per game it's kind of what happens if you if you load your

38:20Seb Stafford-Bloor: team with flair and particularly in the front four where janet is playing the football of his career so far his young career at the same time you've got a lot of transition happening at the back so you've got two young fullbacks you're cal santos the brazilian goalkeeper who's a great goalkeeper in the making but he's he's not quite undisputed number one yet and he's still learning the game He's still adjusting to kind of, he's still developing relationships with centre-halves, Robin Koch and Arthur Tiat. And the gaps show a little bit. And it's kind of as much flair and expression as they have at one end of the pitch, there's as much fragility at the other.

38:55Seb Stafford-Bloor: And so, yeah, it's going to be entertaining. But you never quite know what you're going to get with Eintracht, whether you're going to watch them being dismantled by Oliver Burke or whether they're going to run up a 6-0 scoreline in Gladbach. It's very weird.

39:07Pol Ballus: Well, this next one's in Madrid at Atletico. Is this one going to be an entertaining poll?

39:11James Richardson: I think it will be entertaining because I don't fully trust Atletico de Madrid to being that solid, especially in the back. I don't think that they were especially good against Real Madrid. The two goals that they conceded in the first half, the two centre-backs weren't great. Lenormand and Langled were not great. So given an Eintracht goal-scoring record, I envisage here a quite entertaining game for sure. Mad, isn't it?

39:36Pol Ballus: Eintracht, the club that sold Ekitike in the summer to Liverpool. And Marmush. And Marmush previously, yeah. But showing no sign of them.

39:45James Horncastle: And Tolomuani before that. I mean, they're trying to shed these goals. We need to be less entertaining. And yet, no. It's incredible.

39:56Seb Stafford-Bloor: I would say, actually, maybe that front four at the moment is the strongest all-round Frankfurt attack that we've seen in a really long time. just because so ectiko goes and with part of the money generated by that sale they bring in johnny burkhart from from mines who's a wonderful counterpressive but a really talented all-round forward he's combining so well with duane with ozon uh mario goetzer is fit again and um has got some new hair mario goetzer oh yeah by the way yeah it looks looks very nice looks very nice got a very uh got a very i mean it just sounds like i'm envious actually the longer i go on

40:32Pol Ballus: with this modlock Jimbo. Well, that's nice. We'll look forward to seeing that in action on Tuesday evening. Just to finish up a bit of administrative business, so it's now Barcelona on top, a point ahead of Real Madrid. In third place, it's Villarreal, who Real Madrid are going to be taking on next weekend, so that's very exciting. And then in fourth spot, you've got promoted side Elche, who are doing a bit of a sunlit. I take it they haven't really played anyone yet.

41:00James Richardson: Is that right, Paul? Well, they've played Atletico de Madrid. They won Atletico de Madrid's place. They are the lowest budget in La Liga and they are unbeaten. So it's basically the story of the competition so far. Plus, they are playing really, really well. The manager is Eder Sarabia, who used to be Quique Setién assistant and the son of a former Athletic Club player. Yeah, and he's doing a good job. Talented players, really young, talented players like Mendoza, who is in the under-20 World Cup now Martin Neto a Portuguese guy who is looking really good and then some experienced players up front especially such as Andres Silva who is in one of the best forms that he's been in recent years former A-N-Tractor fan for a striker who I think he has scored in three consecutive games if I'm not wrong so yeah quite the story of the weekend Elche as well Brilliant

41:51Pol Ballus: Thank you so much Paul for being with us enjoy your Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday Yes I will try to

41:59James Richardson: hope Jules doesn't enjoy that much

42:02Pol Ballus: we'll catch up with you again next week thanks so much Paul Belous ciao Paul cheers

42:06James Richardson: been a pleasure

42:12Seb Stafford-Bloor: this is the Totally Football Show part of the Athletic FC podcast network

42:18Pol Ballus: woof Serie A Europe's tightest league is at it again top four separated by how many points James Horncastle one one point

42:28James Horncastle: because the top three are on 12 points I thought you were going to say there are three teams unbeaten in Serie A

42:34Pol Ballus: and they're not in the top three oh that's a much better line

42:38James Horncastle: say that one who are they?

42:41Pol Ballus: Juve, Atalanta and Cremonese whereas the top three are Milan, the team that they beat on Sunday night, Napoli and Gasparini's Roma all level on points with Juventus just one point behind and excitingly Jules to Milan-Juve next week. Yeah.

42:58Julien Laurens: And the Milan-Napoli game was good, I thought. Very eventful.

43:02Pol Ballus: This Milan team are for real. Yeah.

43:06James Horncastle: I think they've got better with every game. And this was the first big test because, look, they played Bari, Bologna, Lecce twice between Ligue and Cup. And so games in which you'd expect them to win, even the opener one against Cremonese, which I think they're actually quite unlucky to lose in hindsight but they've won five straight in all competitions. Over the last couple of years where Milan have struggled is clearly got lots of talent but they just haven't been able to find balance. They haven't been able to defend well as a team. So I think last year their defence was seventh in the league before that 11th.

43:48James Horncastle: Now as we saw against Napoli they can go down to 10 men and they went down to 10 men because Pervis Estupin and the former Brighton fullback gave away a penalty De Bruyne scored it but even with 10 men for half an hour they didn't concede and I think there's a new spirit about this Milan team it's a much more orthodox club if you like and they've got a sporting director who's got experience in Serie A Iglitare, they've got Max Allegri who is a very successful coach in Serie A guys who know Serie A and what you need in order to be successful in it and everyone's on the same page there's a lot of less toxicity that there was last year particularly getting rid of Teo Hernandez and where they've really invested is in midfield and that midfield is is very good at protecting the defence Rabiot has hit the ground running obviously worked with Allegri before Juve knows all his staff knows a lot of the players on the Milan team because he plays with them for France Modric, as Rabiot said after the game he's like, I don't know how this guy does it he's 40 and he's playing 100 minutes we're down to 10 men and he's there running, running, running intercepting balls, screening the defence getting in the way of Napoli

45:12Pol Ballus: So the first five matches of Serie A this season look at Modric ranks first for successful passes first for successful passes in the opposition half first for line breaking passes first for possession one back and first for interceptions

45:27James Horncastle: yeah and I think some people look at those stats and say ah, Serie A, slower tempo not what it is elsewhere but you know I would implore those people to actually watch Milan and these games

45:41Pol Ballus: bring a book but watch Milan no it was a great game but the surprising thing about it is a different pace Straight after the Newcastle-Arsenal, it's a different variation.

45:51James Horncastle: Well, I would also count to that compared with Arsenal-Newcastle, actual football is played rather than what we see in the Premier League these days, which is just long throws and set pieces. No. No, it deserves dwelling on. But, like, Luka Modric at 40 is still able to turn players like who have played in the Premier League. a lot of those players that are on that Napoli team have played in the Premier League know what playing at Premier League intensity is they don't just suddenly show up in City and slow down and you know I think for a 40 year old guy to still be able to go past players just by being cleverer than them sort of doing a body shift here a feint there rolling his body and getting past them it is amazing to watch and Allegri afterwards I mean actually before the game he said there are so few players out there like Modric.

46:47James Horncastle: You can't even count them on the palm of your hand. And so the incredible thing is that Pulisic had such devastating impact in the first 15 minutes of this game. He's the top scorer in Serie A, and yet after the game, everyone is talking about Modric. Right. Pulisic's performance deserves a mention as well.

47:08Pol Ballus: Another assist for him. A goal as well, his fourth of the season.

47:13Julien Laurens: Pavlovich puts it in the middle. Pofana. Polizic goal! Yes, Polizic! On the assist of Pofana! C 'ha creduto Pavlovich! L 'ha messa in the middle. Polizic, assist, goal! Polizic, assist, goal! Polizic, assist, goal!

47:26Pol Ballus: Is he up to six now? Six goals and assists so far this season?

47:30James Horncastle: He's averaging a goal and assist every 43 minutes. Wow. Because he hasn't started every game. He's played some cameos. But every time he plays, as Allegri's assistant, Marco Landucci, says, it's a death knell for goalkeepers wow death knell

47:46Pol Ballus: his ball for for Fana was reminiscent of Kaká for Crespo for Crespo back in the day gorgeous

47:56Julien Laurens: it's also a non-European Milan a bit like Napoli last season when everybody else would play Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday Atalanta Juve Inter not them it's a team

48:07Pol Ballus: that lost its opening game but has then gone on a winning run it's a team that's not playing in Europe it's a team that's brought in one of the kind of blue chip managers

48:16James Horncastle: so yeah the parallels are there with yeah although they would say they have been playing every three days because they were so bad last year that they had to start in the preliminary rounds of the Coppa Italia so they've played Bari in the Coppa Italia played Lecce in Coppa Italia it's not Champions League yeah but they have been playing every three days so Luka Modric Sean what about Kevin De Bruyne well this was the big talking point from a Napoli point of view is that they get back into it Estupinan gets sent off for pulling down Di Lorenzo gives away a penalty De Bruyne puts it away 2-1 half an hour to go and Conte makes a triple change and he takes off all of the Manchester contingent clearly because those three Manchester players from the Premier League aren't capable of playing at the intensity that Antonio Conte requires for 90 minutes and yeah look Hoyland was pretty ineffective and anonymous in the game McTominay spent a lot of time on the ground having had a challenge with Christian Pulisic looked like he'd hurt his ankle, grit his teeth tried to play on, he accepted the decision to come off, De Bruyne did not accept the decision, De Bruyne was half an hour for me here I feel like I can break the deadlock and you're taking me off again having already taken me off against Man City when we went down to 10 men and my homecoming was finished after 26 minutes and you know Conte was not asked about it by De Zon.

49:43James Horncastle: He was asked about it in his press conference afterwards, and he was like, well, come on. I mean, I think Kevin was, I hope Kevin was upset by the result, because if he was aiming his discontent at me, then he's got the wrong guy. But, you know, I think De Bruyne, the competitor, clearly felt that he would have had Napoli in a better position to get an equaliser or maybe even go on and win the game if he was still on the pitch. and instead he was having to watch from the sidelines for the last half hour.

50:10Seb Stafford-Bloor: James, was there a rationale for why he got taken off? Because if you're pursuing an equaliser and you've got a man advantage, there aren't many players I'd want more on the pitch than Kevin De Bruyne with his craft. What was the explanation given?

50:24James Horncastle: There was no explanation because Conte doesn't feel you're entitled to one set. That's right, I remember his greatest hits, yes, yes. No, but the thing is, on the one hand, they've got an abundance of players that they can bring on in attacking positions. So they brought on David Neres, Noah Lang, really nearly equalised. Yeah, and Neres was the player who came on for De Bruyne. So dribblers who can beat low blocks, they've got depth in that. Lorenzo Luca, the kind of towering centre forward, also came on. So it wasn't like Conte was being negative. I think Conte has looked at things and thinks De Bruyne is okay six years younger than Luka Modric but he's coming off a couple of years where he's had problems with injuries got to manage his body regardless of how Kevin De Bruyne himself feels you know Conte and his staff will see the medical data fitness data Conte going into that game and this is the story the context we should add to Milan's win Conte gives a debut to a centre-half because his two best centre-backs are out Rachmani and Bongiorno and gives a full-back a debut as well so two players in the back four come into it, make debuts at San Siro in the biggest game of the season because of injuries and yeah, Hoyland was playing because Romelu Lukaku on the eve of the season was ruled out for six months with a bad injury I'm pretty sure Conte looked at it with De Bruyne and think, right, I've lost another couple of players this week.

52:00James Horncastle: I can't afford when we're in the middle of a Champions League league phase campaign to lose another player, even though he might be able to give me a good chance to win. So, Kevin, really sorry, but I've got these really good wide players, good attacking players on the bench. I'm going to spare you and maybe, you know, hopefully annoy you, but keep you fit for the rest of the first half of the season.

52:22Pol Ballus: Well, it leaves things nicely poised at the top of the league. Three teams level on 12 points and Juve one point back. Juve playing Milan next week. They had a 1-1 draw with Atalanta, their third straight draw, the old lady. But this was Saturday evening, 1-1 between them and Atalanta, who started to put together a bit of a run of form. Certainly in the league, they're unbeaten under Ivan Juric. And they've both got tough games coming up in the Champions League as well this midweek. Atalanta are hosting Bruges, that's early Tuesday. a game which may well feature Niccolò Tresoldi who's the son of former Atalanta player thinks hard Emmanuel Tresoldi three penny right yeah and as for Juve's game they are visiting Villarreal

53:14James Horncastle: okay yeah where Vlajevic scored I think his first Champions League goal for Juve and that's the big talking point around Juve at the moment is the strikers right because Igor Tudor keeps changing them. He's not settled on any of them. He started the season with Jonathan David. David scored. He took him off. Vlajevic scored in his place. He then seems to have lost a little bit of confidence in David. So he started Vlajevic because Vlajevic kept coming on like he did against Dortmund, scoring and assisting. And then when he starts Vlajevic, Vlajevic doesn't perform. And so the weekend he started Appenda instead.

53:48James Horncastle: Appenda didn't score. So it's almost like he's got too much choice up front as Tudor. With Atalanta, I would say that Ivan Juric recommended that they signed Suleymane from Southampton. You know, Juric's ill-fated spell at Southampton. And Suleymane, his goal was probably the goal of the weekend at the Allianz Stadium. I think Atalanta unlucky not to win that game. You know, ultimately, De Roan gets sent off. The game changed very quickly. But Atalanta, yeah, they are unbeaten. they should have more points than they already have because they drew with Pisa and Palmer at the start of the season.

54:27James Horncastle: But I think people forget that they haven't really played their best players yet. They went to Turin for that game without their first choice back three. Edison didn't play. Luckman didn't play. And they're still unbeaten. So I think as much as people like sort of like, Ivan Juric, he's rubbish. It's like he's unbeaten in the league at least.

54:50Pol Ballus: because of course they lost 4-0 with it two things from that one, Luckman could well be back in the squad for the Atalanta game and secondly, peas and parma sounds like a pasta recipe though, doesn't it? you make a good pasta with peas

55:07James Horncastle: don't you? I mean, do I? you didn't make pasta with anything no, you didn't do pennella vodka no, no, no, that's with spring onions what about the salmon one you do?

55:17Pol Ballus: Yeah, I mean, listeners know this recipe by now off by heart. But yeah, yeah. Put a P in it, why not? Napoli are taking on sporting in the Champions League. Inter up against Slavia Prague.

55:31James Horncastle: We have to talk at least on one thing about Inter. Okay. Which is the Esposito derby. Right. At the weekend. So Inter played Caleri. Pio Esposito is the great hope of Italian football. and people after his first two starts against Ajax and Sassuolo were like, this guy, he's been overhyped. He's not scoring. What are all these newspapers talking about? He came on, he did score against Caleri. Slightly upset his brother Sebastiano because Sebastiano was playing with Caleri. Caleri looked like they were coming back into the game. But I do think it was great on TV in Italy the other night because they had the Esposito's dad was in the stands and he did a FaceTime.

56:13James Horncastle: they were saying oh it must be so great to see your your boys playing together it must be just incredible to have three kids and they're all professional footballers like Salvatore Esposito well Jules is hoping to become that but Salvatore Esposito plays for, has played in Serie A with Spal, he almost got up with Spezia playing with Pio Esposito last year, they lost in the playoffs to Cremonese and Pio scored 70 goals in Serie B last year which is why everyone and got really excited by him. Sebastiano has been on Inter's books for a long time. He's on loan at Cali. It's his eighth different loan spell.

56:50James Horncastle: And then Pio basically convinced Inter not to buy a replacement for Mediterranea or Arnautovic in the summer. And these kids are all like 24 and under. You know, Pio's 20, Seba's 23, Salvatore's 24. I mean, that's some great genes. Great genes.

57:08Pol Ballus: Pio as well is a name you can really conjure with. Pio's cruising Pio in the box Pio a tiring hitter I mean I'm going back a little bit with that one but yeah

57:22James Horncastle: but the other great thing last thing is they went to the same soccer school in Castella Madrid which is just down the coast from Naples as Gigi Donovan

57:34Julien Laurens: I was going to say yeah

57:35James Horncastle: so in terms of like I always find it amazing how there are these pockets of places which produce incredible athletes Paris is one

57:45Pol Ballus: but these are Castellamare

57:47James Horncastle: born and bred that whole area to the kind of

57:51Pol Ballus: south east of Naples is so fecund Montella so many others Qualirella but yeah I mean

58:02James Horncastle: ones to watch

58:04Julien Laurens: talking about Sons is the under 20 World Cup starting that just started where you have the green cards where your coach can challenge.

58:12James Horncastle: Right. I thought Trump was making them hard to get.

58:15Julien Laurens: And that's how it started and they're using it. It's great. But my point about the Under-20 World Cup is that you've got a few sons of playing. One of Zidane's sons is playing. Christian Shevchenko is playing for Ukraine. Yeah, you've got... Do you remember Daniel Gesson who played for Millwall and a few other English clubs? His son, Gillian, plays. He's a wonder kid that played in Ligue 1 at 16 for Saint-Etienne. And he's going to be one of the big stars of that. There's Gusev, who plays as well there. There's a few others, like Kevin Karani. Do you remember Kevin Karani from Falco? Yeah, for sure.

58:46Julien Laurens: Plays for Panama because his mum's mum is from Panama. So represent Panama in the other 20 World Cup.

58:52Pol Ballus: Instead of caps, do they get... No, actually, let's move on. Panama hats.

59:06Julien Laurens: you go son but Kevin Kiranye

59:11James Horncastle: is half German half Brazilian yeah that's amazing I like this I mean to be fair Germany

59:17Pol Ballus: Brazil oh no Panama yeah

59:19Julien Laurens: I mean Christian Shevchenko Christian Shevchenko could play for the US as well right and probably even maybe for England yeah the mum is

59:26James Horncastle: he's American

59:27Julien Laurens: why for England wasn't he born in London as well was he I don't know but I mean they certainly live in London yeah I don't know if he can play for England But certainly, Ukraine and the US are clearly two of his potential countries. So it's great. I'll be watching, so I'll keep you up to date next week.

59:42Pol Ballus: Excellent. Thank you so much. And James, you'll let us know what happens in Milan-Juve. Yeah. Very good. Seb, let's next up hear what's been happening, apart from that extraordinary Gladbach-Frankfurt game in the Bundesliga.

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1:02:28Pol Ballus: again their 19-year-old Turkish prodigy Can Usun, who's now got six goals and four assists in all competitions this season. He does not stop.

1:02:37Seb Stafford-Bloor: He does not stop. And this is probably, I'll say stylistically, his best goal of the season.

1:02:52Seb Stafford-Bloor: Really nicely well-worked move from the edge of the box and well-placed finish. It kind of, at the time it sort of felt beside the point because the bigger issue was what was happening in the game as a whole but no doubt Zen probably not a year away but maybe two or three years away from being the next guy at Eintracht Frankfurt the next player that might be worth somewhere close to 100 million euros and actually in Germany obviously Janazen was born in Germany and chose to represent Turkey and a lot of Germans say well there's an alternate world in which could have had Florian Wirtz, Jemima Siala and Chano Zun as number 10s in the same national team potentially which is um which is a shame for Germany and Kevin Karani's son as well and Kevin Karani's son as well if he had a kind of a little bit of a renaissance well not renaissance actually he's 17 isn't he um no doubt a great player like I think one of the trials for him is now when you play for Eintracht Frankfurt and you have a a goal contribution sequence like he has and created the sort of the the real of highlights that he already has done you become lumbered with a kind of right well we'll see you in the premier league in in eight months time right i'm not sure he's quite there he's still quite a slight boy this is really going to be his first season as a a full-time starter and that's obviously going to involve the rhythm of playing weekend midweek weekend because of eintracht's involvement in the champions league so let's just see where he is come the winter powder but no doubt a hugely talented player and and a really fun number 10 in the making, I think.

1:04:21Pol Ballus: We might see him in action against Atletico midweek. We might see him in action next weekend when in the Bundesliga Eintracht Frankfurt's next fixture sees them take on who, Seb? Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich. Crikey. How many points between them at the top of the table?

1:04:34Seb Stafford-Bloor: There was a six-point gap between Bayern, Eintracht, Frankfurt.

1:04:38James Horncastle: Seb, you mentioned three number 10s that Germany could have had. Obviously, they're not going to have Chennauzen, but why? Like, how are they producing these 10s? This is a role that has supposed to have gone out of fashion, no space for tens anymore. And yet Germany seems to be producing them in, well, you know, just over and over again. Like, what are they doing?

1:05:03Seb Stafford-Bloor: I think, actually, I'm going to go full Honigstein. So the real question here is what they're not doing. So when Germany reinvented the technical production and decided to focus on creating multi-talented players who could be flexible who could be adaptable in different positions and who could play multiple different areas i think what that led to is the creation of players who are essentially number tens without necessarily being bred to be number tens you have the skills and the ability and the vision to play that role to be you know one of a small army of married gutzes essentially isn't it i think that's really the question whereas germany's problem is and this is part of an existential crisis really in the country is where have the actual specialists gone where are the center forwards where are the center backs where are the players that kind of have one job and aren't multi-skilled and i think i think it's a little bit overblown i think the talent is there and i think this is a global problem rather than necessarily a german one but yeah no no no problem in creating it in creating creators and playmakers certainly all right did you just say new heirs for

1:06:07Pol Ballus: for Mario Goethe.

1:06:09James Horncastle: I did try.

1:06:10Pol Ballus: Right. Very nice. Very nice. Bayern Munich, who will be taking on Eintracht Frankfurt next week. Ooh, yet more records for them. They beat Werder Bremen 4-0 last Friday. Harry Kane with a brace, which means that he has become the fastest player to reach 100 goals for his club since the turn of the century. Anywhere in Europe's top five leagues, he did it quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo managed at Real Madrid, quicker than Erling Haaland has done it at Manchester City. 100 goals in just his 104th game. Remarkable. Even for me, that's crazy, said Harry after the match. Oh, also, the first of them came from the penalty spot, which means he's now successfully converted 18 spot kicks in a row in the Bundesliga.

1:06:57Seb Stafford-Bloor: Yeah, he sure has done. And he's just playing at a very, very high level. And I think also we've touched on kind of the breadth of his performance and his role at Bayern a couple of times already this season, but just combining beautifully with so many different players there. And hey, worth a word on Tom Bischoff, actually. I didn't score, but he came in to the double pivot, played alongside Leon Goretzka, moved to Bayern over the summer on a free transfer from Hoffenheim. He's kind of a size, can play between an 8 and a 6, sometimes a 10. Like really, really sweet left foot, quite combative, very, very talented.

1:07:31Seb Stafford-Bloor: He's going to be kind of a great German orchestrator for the next six, seven, eight years. Already been capped at national team level or Panama hatted. Brilliant. Nice. And yeah, he was absolutely excellent for Bayern. Probably won't start in the Champions League against Paphos. But yeah, he just, he's another one who's evolving really, really quickly on the company.

1:07:49Pol Ballus: All right. Paphos who held Olympiacos to a nil-nil stalemate in that opening game. Bayern did Chelsea 3-1. Also next week, we've got Dortmund against Leipzig. Dortmund who are the closest team to Bayern at the top of the table they are two points behind still unbeaten of course and their latest game a 2-0 win over Mainz at the weekend Leipzig are on their way back as well, they're up to third they're only a point behind Dortmund after that opening day Schelleking at the hands of Bayern they have won four straight so all looking quite healthy in terms of a Bundesliga title race potentially Seb

1:08:28Seb Stafford-Bloor: yeah i think so i think after that six nil loss at allianz arena for ebi leipzig i think they kind of slipped back under the radar and very quietly have won four games consecutively only conceded once beat volsburg in volsburg over the weekend uh joan bakuyoku played really really well he looks like an excellent signing he's just in the perfect environment i think what eliverna the leipzig head coach he joined over the summer has done is is recognize what worked for him under peter bosch which is get him playing vertically get him playing quickly and use him to capitalize on on turnovers it's kind of pure red ball football and that's exactly how we scored at the weekend dormund yeah dormund are unbeaten this season but dormund are actually unbeaten in the bundesliga since march they haven't lost since losing in leipzig actually to erby back in march and since then in any competition they've only lost to barcelona and to real madrid in the

1:09:17Pol Ballus: in the club world cup the last team they they lost to was leipzig yeah and who are they facing

1:09:23Seb Stafford-Bloor: next weekend so leipzig wow one also to watch out for jimbo is karam adiemi who i think if you're someone that doesn't watch the bundesliga and just tunes in periodically to dortmund games you'd think adiemi is a bit of a world beater because he occasionally comes up with brilliant goals like the one against juventus and turin had a really great night against celtic uh last season back in the autumn of 2024 adiemi probably for the first time in his career is playing consistently well because Kovac seems to have identified the perfect way to use him. With Adiemi, obviously he's very quick, very vertical.

1:09:58Seb Stafford-Bloor: You want him playing on instinct, in space, one-on-one against defenders. What you don't want him to do, really, because I think one of the flaws in his game is his first touch isn't the best. Sometimes his decision-making isn't all that good either. You don't want him facing packs of defenders. But Kovac has got him woven perfectly into a counter-attack. he helped create the first goal against Mainz on Saturday scored the second after a really good break in combination with Julian Brandt got the opposition goalkeeper sent off Robin Zender red carded after Adiemi went through on goal he brought him down and Kovac has also got him working without the ball and I'd argue outside of Bayern outside of maybe Januzin probably the most exciting attacking player in the Bundesliga at the moment and he'll be a handful for Athletic club in the Champions League.

1:10:45Seb Stafford-Bloor: Really, really playing well.

1:10:47Pol Ballus: Excellent. Dortmund then keeping the pressure on Kovac's former club, Bayern Munich, at the top of the Bundesliga. Seb, thank you so much for today.

1:10:57Seb Stafford-Bloor: You're most welcome.

1:10:58Pol Ballus: And we look forward to seeing you and more exciting knitwear in a week's time. Have a good one.

1:11:05Seb Stafford-Bloor: I shall wear something different every single week to keep it fresh.

1:11:08Pol Ballus: This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson. Liga Jewellers. Ligue 1 So Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon now level at the top And Deserbi's Olympique Marseille right behind them They had the victory in the Classique They then beat Strasbourg Which is pretty impressive Because Strasbourg have been one of the formed teams That was last Friday 2-1 at theirs

1:11:32Julien Laurens: And being a goal down as well Coming back with Aubameyang Who can still do it Murillo with a late winner Showing that character again that De Serbi is and was so keen to get into this team. Levi Colwell was there.

1:11:50James Horncastle: He loves Roberto though.

1:11:51Julien Laurens: Yeah, they have a very strong relationship. And it was good. And I think it's unfair on Strasbourg who played really well and had plenty of chances and probably at least a draw would have been fairer, maybe even a Strasbourg win. But Marseille XG is still very good. They still played well. And this game against Ajax on Tuesday is where they have to make it count because they are on a good run of form, obviously, the winner begins at PSG in Strasbourg. Everybody's so happy, full of confidence. It's a developed room. The atmosphere is going to be amazing. And also,

1:12:24Pol Ballus: they had such a good performance away at Real Madrid in their opener.

1:12:27Julien Laurens: Yeah, kind of. Yeah, in a way. Yeah, they did. They did. Although, because they went down, they were 11 v 10 for 25 minutes and didn't make it count and that was disappointing. True. So, this is typically a game if they want to qualify at least for the playoffs, this is the kind of game they have to show that they're good enough and there's Herbie said today in his press conference on Monday like we want to show we can do something in the Champions not just let's see if they qualify I think they should aim for top 8 would be a bit difficult I guess but below that they should be there really they are good enough for that and he is certainly good enough for it

1:12:59James Horncastle: Lille got top 8 last year did they not? yeah I always think with Roberto so much he's said about his style his innovation and we haven't really seen that translate in Europe as much. No, you're right. Now, he would say, went to Shakhtar to get some Champions League experience. Shakhtar were kind of overmatched, blah, blah, blah. At Brighton, getting knocked out by Jose's Roma. And now at Marseille, it would be interesting to see whether he can sort of push on because there are other Italian coaches who get a lot more flack for their record in Europe. I agree.

1:13:45Julien Laurens: I think he knows that as well.

1:13:47Pol Ballus: Ajax then on Tuesday, is it that game?

1:13:49Julien Laurens: Tuesday, I think so, yeah.

1:13:50Pol Ballus: Johnny Heitinger's Ajax these days, interestingly enough. I'll say three points behind PSG and Lyon, the two leading teams. Lyon, who were victorious away to Lille on Sunday, won nil, Jules.

1:14:05Julien Laurens: Yeah, a bit of a miracle, to be fair. but this whole season

1:14:08Pol Ballus: is being a bit of a miracle for Lyon

1:14:10Julien Laurens: yeah the team said it nicely on Monday they said like if there was an award for doing the maximum with your minimum Pablo Fonseca would win it easily because they're putting and I don't know how sustainable it is and I don't know how long they will keep winning when they don't really deserve to when is his suspension end so I think it's I think it's over but then I thought it was over

1:14:30James Horncastle: I saw him he did this great video the other day where he showed up at the Lyon training ground oh yeah And the camera crew was there, and he opens the door to his car, and he's got, like, music blaring out, and he's singing. Yeah. He's singing really passionately. And he's just going through a couple of great Ukrainian pop songs.

1:14:52Julien Laurens: Nice music, Osh. How are you? Good, and you? Ukrainian music. You like it? I like it. I like it. It makes me in a good mood. Yeah.

1:15:04James Horncastle: Yeah, he loves it. Paolo's wife he met his wife when he was Shakhtar coach so he loves he loves Ukrainian music fantastic so I thought I knew he was back when I saw him rolling into the Lyon training ground blaring out some of the greatest

1:15:21Pol Ballus: chart topping

1:15:22James Horncastle: Ukrainian hits I don't think he's

1:15:23Pol Ballus: officially in charge of them on a match so he would be in Europe

1:15:26Julien Laurens: because Europe is allowed right yeah but in the league it might be another game or two or something like that but it's very close and Lyon had so many chances. Tyler Morton, the former Liverpool player, who's having a really good season so far, scored the only goal and the winning goal with a great header. Lyon played with number nine. They have kind of this fluidity in midfield for the two central midfielders with Morton, Tolisso, plus the two wingers. So it's really interesting. But I just don't know how long it will last. They have other options, but in this game, they were a bit lucky. A bit fortunate.

1:16:03Pol Ballus: They take on RB Salzburg in the Europa League on Thursday, while Lille, having been beaten by Lyon, are up against Gasparini's Roma. That's a big game, that. Yeah.

1:16:14James Horncastle: It was De Rossi's Roma that dispatched of De Zerbi's Brighton. Yes, that's it.

1:16:20Pol Ballus: It was Gasparini's Roma who dispatched Nice last time out in the Europa League. Oh, the goal in that game. Gianluca Mancini on the Simicac cross.

1:16:28Julien Laurens: It's just the whole move as well. Yeah, it's the move because Mancini starts it. Yeah. So, yeah, very good. And Nice were poor. And they were poor again this weekend. They drew 1-1 with Paris FC. Not good at all.

1:16:40Pol Ballus: Not good at all. No. What about Monaco, Jules, ahead of their clash with Manchester City?

1:16:45Julien Laurens: Yeah, it's a bit worrying, Jimbo. They're still fourth in the table, so they're level with Marseille. So only three points behind. They basically lost two games. PSG and Lyon lost one game. So this is where we are at the top of the table. But they lost away at Lorient. Like a really bad game. Thilo Kerr got sent off. when they are nil-nil, I think, or they're one nil down already. Antoufati scores really late. Really, they were battered by Lorient. And Adi Hutter, I think, is really struggling. We saw them being dismantled in the first game of the Champions League by Bruges. And since then, really, things haven't improved too much outside of Antoufati's rescuing them and having a decent impact, to be fair, like it is against Messe.

1:17:27Julien Laurens: But even against Messe, they won't. But for a lot of that game, they were not the better team on the pitch either. So it was not good enough. I think, I know this is the style we do in this very hostile and packed stadium, but... So intense. So intense. I think there's a possibility that City just dismantled them again. Wow. So we see. But the last time they played City, obviously, was this great Jardim team with Kylian starting at the Etihad, his first ever Champions League game. And then the second leg where they knocked out.

1:17:57James Horncastle: Was that the first game that Pep overthought? Or was it Lyon with Rudy Garcia? No, yeah, Lyon.

1:18:03Julien Laurens: The Lyon won in the final eight. It was Pep Genesio, I think. Oh, no, you're right. Maybe Garcia, this one. Pep Genesio beat him with Lyon another time. But yeah, no, because if I remember well, this Monaco tie... Don't overthink it. Yeah. He didn't try anything weird in those two games. I just think they took Monaco for granted at the time. Right. And this Monaco team...

1:18:26Pol Ballus: He'll be sure not to make that mistake this time around.

1:18:29Julien Laurens: Yeah, although they should win that.

1:18:31Pol Ballus: Any chance that Paul Pogba might pitch up on the bench?

1:18:35Julien Laurens: No, he will be back after the international break.

1:18:37Pol Ballus: After the international break. Will he?

1:18:39Julien Laurens: He should, yeah. Don't wish him back. No, I don't. We ask this question every week. He's training.

1:18:46James Horncastle: Is Paul back?

1:18:47Julien Laurens: He's training. The plan, suddenly the plan is after the international break. Okay. So let's, fingers crossed.

1:18:54Pol Ballus: Very, very good. Jules, anything else from Ligue 1?

1:18:56Julien Laurens: just briefly we had one nil-nil draw this weekend which was Mets against Le Havre and after six game weeks this is the the latest we've had a nil-nil draw in Ligue 1 for 40 years or so so it's good that you don't have many nil-nils you know that's very good I don't know yeah I don't know about other leagues but ours

1:19:17James Horncastle: but was it as good a nil as the Tuscan derby

1:19:19Julien Laurens: surely not not so many woodwork hits you know hits and stuff but yeah

1:19:24Pol Ballus: very good excellent well lots of things to look forward to then this week as I mentioned there's an extra Totally Football Show on Wednesday lunchtime should be with you looking at what happens on Tuesday so look out for that and we'll be back with the Euro show next week sometime on Tuesday I'm thinking for now many many thanks to Seb and Paul to Jules and James and producer Lucy and you listener from all of us here it's goodbye

1:19:58Seb Stafford-Bloor: you've been listening to the Totally Football Show part of the Athletic FC podcast network for more great podcasts just like this one including the Athletic FC and our dedicated club podcasts search for The Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places we're also at the Totally Football Show on Insta and at the Totally Show on YouTube the Totally Football Show is an Athletic Media Company production

1:20:25Seb Stafford-Bloor: The Athletic FC.

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