Champions League bonanza, Bayern’s first loss + Mbappe’s Panenka

0:00The Athletic FC

0:30in the pizza, two pieces. Plus, 18 games at once, your Champions League final round table awaits you, Mr. Creosote. It's the Totally Football Show.

0:43Monday, January 26th. Hi, everyone. I'm just excited to bring you a brand new Totally Football Show in the company of Tom Williams, who's here in the studio. Hello, James. Hello to you. And spread all across the continent, we've got, let's see. Paul Berlus in Catalonia. Here we are. Hello. Hello. Seb Staffer-Bloor in snowy Hamburg. Hello, James. And somewhere in Italy, James Horncastle. All right, James. Hello, Guayu. It is Naples, is it? It is. It's a rainy Naples. All right. Excellent. You went to Juve Napoli on Friday night, and now you're in Naples for the big Napoli-Chelsea game. Uh-huh. Big week for Napoli after losing against Juventus and also only taking a point in Copenhagen last week when they were 1-0 up and were playing 11 against 10.

1:42So a bit make or break, at least, when it comes to their Champions League prospects. The big question, James. You've got Monday night and Tuesday night. Where are you going to be eating in Napoli? To be honest, I would like to go by the Lungo Mare. I'd like to go to Maricchiaro, which is one of the neighborhoods I like in Naples. There's a really good seafood restaurant down there called Cicciotto. Very nice. I think I'll go to Cicciotto. If you're in Vomero, the fragrance named Vomero, there's a lovely restaurant. They're called Boata. It's like a little salotto. It's a very particular kind of thing, small.

2:24Boata. Okay. Yeah, via Filippo Ciferiello. Okay, fantastic. I had a really nice experience when I was interviewing a Napoli player last week because the taxi driver who took me to Castel Volturno, which is the training ground about an hour outside of Naples, he decided he would wait for me. And whilst he waited for me, he went and picked up some mozzarella for his family and got me one as well, which was fresh. So it was warm. And then, you know, as Neapolitans do, he called his cousin who just so happened to work in my hotel and got his cousin to get a plate out, get some prosciutto and just allow me to eat the mozzarella that he had got me.

3:18So, I mean, that is just the very best of southern hospitality down there. I think that might be the very best James Horncastle story ever. What a life. That's great. What a life. What a life. Just happens, doesn't it? Get out of bed, stumble into some none more authentic Neapolitan food experience. That's amazing. Well, I can't wait to hear the details of what else you get up to in between Juve-Napoli and this crucial Napoli-Chelsea game. Napoli, you'll recall, are currently outside even the playoff positions. Currently set the Champions of Italy to miss out on knockout football in the Champions League, but we'll see what happens on Wednesday night.

3:58Obviously, we're going to be talking about that mega 18-game fat burger fixtures that's coming up in a few days' time. but before we go any further anybody else got any restaurant chat or should we go straight into moment of the week Tom? so I was in Paris over the weekend I went for brunch yesterday and I went to, actually this isn't a great story but you've put me on the spot went to a chain brunch place called Eggs & Co which doesn't even sound French but very nice very nice brunch right and i it's basically the brunch option i i went for was a fairly conventional brunch eggs um you know really potatoes etc right and then it was pancake and fruits right and i have an did you say i've had enough do you know what actually do you know what this is this is the truth yeah after we left me and my friend were leaving and the the guy who around the place was extremely chatty so chatty that you had to kind of like physically wrench yourself away from him and as we were leaving he ran up to us we've been talking football a little bit at the counter and he was like wait wait before you go why do french people only have one egg for breakfast i was like surely a french person is not asking this joke because james as everyone knows one egg is enough is enough yeah but to have a french person who owns a restaurant that's brilliant though chasing you did you reply with a joke in french and blog No, we were like, ha, ha, ha, leave.

5:33There's a gap in the conversation. We can now exit. Yikes. Okay, so steer clear of Eggs & Co. and its many branches, this franchised egg operation. Yes, and basically I was after pancakes with red fruits and they did pancakes with every fruit other than red fruits. I said, well, unfortunately I'm not a big fan of those fruits. Can you replace those fruits with anything else? And they said, well, we can give you another pancake. Tom, your French football contribution has been outstanding. but I feel you've got to up your restaurant game. Perhaps a taxi or a passerby has stopped you and offered you a snail.

6:04This is my most recent Parisian restaurant experience. It's all I've got to go on. Okay. How about a moment of the week? Oh, me? Straight off the bat to try and atone. Let's go for Ethan Nguyen-Ari's debut goal for Marseille at home to Lens. Top of the table fixture. Lens trying to reclaim top spot, having lost it to Paris Saint-Germain on Friday night. And they got completely blown away at the velodrome. and Nguyen-Eri needed only 12 minutes to score his first goal in French football. And a lovely goal as well. It started in place of Mason Greenwood on the right flank of the OM attack, picks the ball up on halfway, drives down the inside right channel, cuts inside, curls one bottom left and he's up and running as a Ligue 1 player.

6:48Very, very nice indeed. Seb, what about you? Is it half-time at the Millen Tour? It absolutely is half-time at the Millen Tour. I've also got some photos I'm going to send to the group to make it kind of a group participation moment of the week. Is it snow photos? It's not. It's not. It's pyro photos. So I came back to the press box just for the second half that's about to start. And just as I did, the rival sets of Ultras set off huge amounts of pyro at opposite ends of the stadium. Haas Vow, obviously blue. Some Pauli red. Should be brown, but kind of red. Anyway, it all loomed over the stadium and created a kind of blue versus red canopy over the pitch, which I'm going to send to you right now.

7:30But it was not a great game. It was minus seven and it was goalless. So that was moment of the week from the moment it happened, basically, I think. Well, you had fire at your live match experience. Paul, I'm guessing you might have had a deluge at yours. Did you go on to the Barcelona game? I did go to the Barcelona game. Those are amazing photos you took there, Paul, as well. Yeah, although funnily enough, I just didn't get wet, like just by any means, because all the international media are not in the best seats in the house. So we are in the background of the press box and we have covert seats.

8:05So basically we saw just everyone getting drenched at the Camp Nou. That was not my moment of the week though. Right. What was your moment of the week? So basically my moment of the week, I just wanted to go with the best bicycle kick goal of the week in Spain, a great effort in the second half of the game, but it wasn't from La Minha Mal. It was from Elche. Somehow it's been bicycle kick week in La Liga, but this one was honestly better than the one that we saw from La Minha Mal. It was Adam Boayer that scored an outstanding goal. It was a match between Levante and Elche. The visitors were like one goal down up until Boayer pulled off a stunning bicycle kick, just like the dream goal, the one that you try on the beach playing with your mates.

8:56Elche has been of course one of the revelations this season in La Liga we have spoken about them like plenty of times here and they were about to frustrate the relegation candidate Levante but to add a bit more spice into the game Levante did not back down and won the game in the 97th minute through a set piece so basically the bicycle kick goal meant just nothing to Elche but a moment of happiness for just their fans and I wanted to highlight as well that it was a massive result for Levante that just lost one out of the last five games. And it was against Real Madrid, this one. They have a new manager, the Portuguese, Luis Castro, who has had a good impact.

9:33He was formerly at Dunkirk, if I'm not wrong, in France. He was, yeah. And then laterally at Nantes, somewhat less successfully. Yeah, Nantes, true. And yeah, it highlights that as well, like beyond the title race, like the relegation battle in La Liga is going to be wild. Absolutely wild. There's a six-point gap between the 8th and the 18th in La Liga. So it's going to be mental. that one. Adam Boyar. Adam Boyar. Just looked it up. Absolutely tremendous. Yeah. Fantastic. Tremendous goal.

10:20I don't know if that's better than Lamine Yamaz. Less expected, perhaps, because Yamaz was pretty sexy stuff. It's a proper over a bicycle kick. That's true, and Yamaz wasn't. It was more of a scissors kick. Yamama. James Horncastle, out of your many moments, which one will you choose? Well, I feel like I do Lazio or Fiorentina every week, but Lazio really is the gift that keeps on giving because there was this drama over the last week, James. I don't know if you saw this involving their captain. Alessio Romagnoli and one of let's say the four big transfer reporters in Italy who's particularly close to Lazio's coach Maurizio Sarri claims we've seen some text messages between Romagnoli and Lazio's owner Claudio Lottito in which Romagnoli was not particularly happy allegedly with the fact that he's going to be out of contract in the summer.

11:23Remember, he came through at Roma, but he's always been a big Lazio fan. And enough is enough. And Roberto Mancini's team in Qatar had basically come in and made an offer for him. And Maurizio Sarri, who's already had to deal with a transfer ban for the first half of the season, basically he then had to contemplate losing his skipper who's Lazio through and through Sarri before the game against Lecce basically said Romagnoli had come to his office in tears and then at the end of a nil-nil against Lecce where Romagnoli had kind of led this very complicated zonal defence that Sarri likes to implement to another clean sheet Romagnoli kind of said goodbye to the Lazio fans.

12:15He sort of patted his heart. Didn't exactly kiss the badge, but was patting his heart. And then, yeah, whilst I was on the train down from Turin today, Romagnoli is staying. He's staying. I mean, this has been the incredible thing about Lazio having this transfer embargo, James, where the fans thought that once it would be lifted, they would start doing all these deals to buy players. And instead, they sold Tati Castaglianos to West Ham. They're selling a goalkeeper to Bournemouth. They are signing Daniel Maldini on loan from Atalanta, but it just felt like almost a fire sale was going on. But for now, at least until this podcast comes out, Romagnoli is staying.

12:58Right. And Sarri too, because there's a question over that as well. Yes. I mean, he did not know that there was going to be a transfer embargo when he agreed to come back to the club and you know Sarri in that way that he has was sat next to Lutito and was asked about it and he said well this guy screwed me over here kind of joking but has tried to make the best of it and said at the weekend look you know I other coaches would have walked out and quit but I committed to the fans I'm doing this for the fans and so for now I am staying. I think he will see out the rest of the season but a crazy Lazio season.

13:39Honestly, really, really crazy. Currently lined ninth in Serie A, miles off their neighbours Roma who are right on the edge of the Champions League battle but anyway, we'll do Serie A chat in a bit. First up today, let's get on to those midweek Champions League decisive games. This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. Well, here it is then. Matchday 8 of the Champions League League phase. Wednesday evening, 18 games played simultaneously. Two teams already confirmed as being in the round of 16. There are another 16 sides who are chasing the other top eight spots.

14:23Two of the 18 games played on Wednesday will be some of those 16 teams facing each other. You've got Newcastle, their trip to Paris, and Borussia Dortmund at home to Inter. So those are two interesting fixtures to keep an eye on. You've got four teams already out. Definitely won't be making the knockout stages. That's Frankfurt, Kairat, Slavia Praha and Villarreal. You've got eight teams who are currently at risk of joining them, including Napoli, and another nine teams they can catch. And of those two groups of teams, there are another two games on Wednesday that feature sides involved in that.

14:56You've got Ajax against Olympiacos, both currently out of the playoffs, and Marseille, their trip to Club Bruges. So key matches those, I would suggest. But enough of me yakking. What are you guys going to watch? James, we know you've got Napoli-Chelsea because you're literally going to be there at the Maradona. What are your thoughts, given Napoli's woeful European form under Antonio Conte? Well it's very complicated for them because they do have a hell of a lot of injuries I usually kind of make excuses for Antonio at the best of times but this time I think it's fairly legitimate because watching them against Juventus on Sunday they were playing with a guy called Antonio Vergara who is definitely not Sofia Vergara and you know Dam could Napoli look better at the moment so Vigar is a guy who's been alone in the second division for a couple of years he's that classic kind of Italian case of oh he's one of our young players and you actually look at his age he's 23 and he was playing with Elif Elmas behind Rasmus Hoyland Juan Jesus was in the centre of defence so that was kind of one of the mitigating circumstances for the 3-0 defeat that they suffered to Juventus.

16:19Lukaku came back late in the game to play his first minutes, but really because Conte was forced to. And Conte said he was forced into doing something that he's never done before, which Napoli signed this guy called Giovane, who's from Hellas Verona, quite a talented young Brazilian striker, whose name is probably pronounced very differently, Giovane or something like that. And he had not done a single training session with Napoli and came on in the hour mark. So it kind of goes to show that they're at the barest bones. But Conte himself would hold his hands up and say, this time last week in Copenhagen, when they're 1-0 up, they're 11 v 10.

17:04They absolutely had to win that game. There was no excuse for the penalty that Alessandro Brongiorno gave away. They drop the two points. It makes life really difficult for themselves. And they can't afford to make life difficult for themselves when they've got so many injuries. Indeed. James, that's the game you're going along to. Seb, you're going to be following another Italian side, Inter, as they travel to Borussia Dortmund. Yeah, it's really interesting because I saw Dortmund's game in London against Tottenham last week. I was at the stadium and it was not flattering for Dortmund or for the Bundesliga.

17:41They seem to be at a huge physical disadvantage and a technical disadvantage against what is ultimately a really, really bad Tottenham. So having watched them win 3-0 against Union Berlin over the weekend down in Copenhagen and play really well, play really well, defend really well, protect their lead really well, things which Dortmund haven't always done, even domestically. Let's see how they match up here because it's not quite what Inter were last year, except that that's still a really, really capable side. Dortmund going to have to navigate a few absences. Daniel Svensson, who got his red card last week against Tottenham, he's going to be missing.

18:17Going to have to be a little bit of a reshuffle. Ryerson will probably go to the left. Jan Koto will play on the right. Let's see how they deal with it. Let's see how Dortmund measure up against another opponent outside of Germany. Tom, PSG Newcastle for you, is it? PSG Newcastle, absolutely, yeah. And echoes of that Champions League group game from November 2023. when Newcastle went to the Parc des Prins and were winning until a contentious 98th minute Kylian Mbappe penalty enabled PSG to equalise. And then neck and neck, PSG 6th, Newcastle 7th, level on points, level on goal difference, PSG above Newcastle on goal scored.

19:00So if either side were to win, they would be pretty much assured of a direct passage to the round of 16. and PSG going into this in Champions League terms off the back of that very wasteful two-on-defeater at Sporting last week. Newcastle with a breezy 3-0 home win over PSV but then Newcastle's midfielders are dropping like flies just as PSG's midfielders are starting to return from injury and Ashraf Hakimi might be able to play having returned from the Africa Cup of Nations. so yeah it'll be a biggie certainly will paul what will you be following i'm gonna be at the camp now i'm gonna be at the camp now watching the barcelona copenhagen game barcel who have a strong hand to be in the top eight i think well the results in the previous game week were really positive for them especially the man city defeat against bode glim the atletico result as well and the fact that psg and newcastle are playing against each other basically opens up a space in the top eight and if I'd say that if Barca win for two or three goals which is something that is doable against Copenhagen given the difference between both clubs they should be in the in the top eight which is great news given the league phase that Barca have had I think that they had a pretty easy draw but in a way because of the injuries they had and everything they had some problems but now they're going to be in the in the top eight from a financial point of view wouldn't it would be better for Barcelona to be in the playoffs and then they get two extra fixtures.

20:33I mean, if you say that to Hansel Flick, it's going to tell you off a little bit because he is having enough trying to deal with the fixture list and everything. And I think everyone at Barcelona just wants to go straight to the round of 16, of course. Fair enough. Manchester City's defeat against Bodo Glimt means that they are lying 11th Barcelona are in ninth spot right now. Man City also optimistic still of getting into the top eight, but they have to beat Galatasaray. Man City's prospect's not helped by the fact that their new signing, Mark Gay, won't be eligible, of course, and with Joska Guardiola and Ruben Diaz still sidelined, it's going to be back to Kuzunov and Alain, probably, at centre-back for Pep.

21:22City should beat Galatasaray, you'd think, but then again, they should have beaten Monaco, they should have beaten Bode Glimt a week ago. So they should have beaten Bayer Leverkusen even. Did our friend Martin, when we spoke to him, did he say he was going to Madrid for that game? I forget. He said he wasn't going. He couldn't because of work or something maybe. That's right, yeah. Okay. Yeah, Martin's sleepless. Another sleepless night. Thank you, Seb. Any other games you'd like to flag up? I might mention Jose Mourinho's Benfica, who will be welcoming his former employers, Real Madrid. to the Estadio de Luz.

22:00But Benfica are currently two points off even making the playoffs, so they need to win that and then hope other things go their way as well. Paul? Yeah, with the extra caveat that is the reunion between Mourinho and Arbeloa, one of his loyalist disciples when Mourinho was in charge of Real Madrid and now he's in charge of... Yeah, they have swapped roles a bit, so it's going to be nice. Albello has been speaking really highly of Mourinho over the past few weeks as he's been in charge of Real Madrid. And he's seen as one of the faces of the Mourinho-ismo around Madrid. OK. Jose Mourinho, who's been ficus, I got a bit of a lesson from Juventus only a week ago.

22:47Well, there you go. Any other games that you'll be keeping an eye on? Second screening? I might have a casual eye on tournament against Eintracht Frankfurt. just because Frankfurt have hit a really low point. Obviously, we're used to talking about them in glowing terms and good recruitment, good planning. But since they sacked Dino Topmuller 10 days ago, they're now under interim management. And some of the deficiencies in the squad have, for the first time I can remember, provoked some criticism of Marcus Croce, the sporting director. They lost at home to Hoffenheim at the weekend, 3-1, despite taking the lead.

23:22and some of the fans are getting a little bit restless about the lack of defensive reinforcements the lack of a proper number six arriving at Deutsche Bank Park and also some of the kind of the the flip-flopping around the goalkeeping situation which continues to be a bit of a muddle between Kawa Santos and Mikkel Zetterer and sort of the source of quite a lot of uncertainty at the base of that defense so quite interesting again kind of like a you know I'm not even sure how to describe Eintracht Frankfurt against Tottenham in their current state, but it could be interesting. Hear Dr. Tottenham is how I would describe it.

23:57What accent is that? It's a regional one. Is that your very best accent?

24:08We'll move on. Excellent. Anyway, that's the Champions League at 8 o 'clock, I'm guessing. I haven't even checked yet. I believe so. 8 o 'clock. Yeah. Madness. Madness. All right. There you go. Well, it's all coming up Wednesday. Friday lunchtime, the teams that make it through will find out who they'll be facing either in the last 16 or in the playoff round. We're going to be live streaming our reaction to the draw straight afterwards around about 12 o 'clock UK time on Friday with Paul, Seb, James and yourself, Tom. so join us for that on our YouTube channel it will be subsequently made available to more old fashioned folk as a podcast Good!

24:54Let's begin our round up of the league action in the Bundesliga

25:14the very best football writers around.

25:37Seb, it's true. All of it. Bayern have lost in the Bundesliga Saturday afternoon. They took the lead, as usual, against relegation strugglers Augsburg. But then what happened? Chaos, really. So you're right, they took the lead. Hiroki Ito, a first-half header. And then Bayern were a little bit profligate. They created some half chances, but there was a final ball missing. And they were in that sort of mood where they thought, well, this game's kind of already won. The second goal will come along when we're ready. And that'll be it. this is a struggling Augsburg down the wrong end of the table under Manuel Baum and about 15 minutes before the end Jonas Urbeg who is the replacement goalkeeper but also the long-term successor or supposed to be the long-term successor to Manuel Neuer he was agreed before this season that he'd be kind of rotated in for low stakes games comes in, flaps it across Augsburg equalise and then not necessarily surprisingly because Augsburg had counter-attacked pretty well throughout the game and even on the front foot were playing some pretty nice, intricate football.

26:47Created probably the most penetrating bit of an attacking play all match. Cut Bayern open, cut them to ribbons, scored 2-1 and then Bayern kind of panicked. There was no way through. Augsburg defended their box pretty well, packed pretty deep in front of their goalkeeper, Finn Dahman, made a few saves. The closest they came to conceding an equaliser was literally the last kick of the game when Elise Arjen Robbened in from the right side and hit the angle between post and bar. And that was that. And that's Bayern's first defeat in Germany since March 2025 in domestic football in Germany. And yeah, stunning, stunning.

27:27What I will say is, I mean, it's not really mitigation because Augsburg have had a similarly arduous workload to begin the second half of the season. Bayern have played five games in 21 days. This was their fifth. And some of those players individually look very, very jaded. Leonard Karl looked like he'd had a little bit too much football. Luis Diaz wasn't quite at it. Harry Kane wasn't his usual self. There was some heavy rotation. Alphonso Davies playing it right back as they try and get him a few minutes. Haruka Ito scored, but it is not necessarily a first choice defender in any part of that back line.

28:01And a tricky one for him because he's in a very difficult situation because everybody knows about this rotation policy. Everybody knows that he's kind of supposed to grow over time into whatever post-life after Manuel Neuer looks like for Bayern. And so anytime he has a mistake, it's not your usual, all right, second choice goalkeeper makes error due to rustiness. It becomes a referendum on whether he's really good enough to replace one of the great goalkeepers in footballing history, right? So he's been on the end of some pretty scathing commentary in the days since. But yeah, I mean, there's no long-term damage.

28:39Bayern are still eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. Vincent Kompany said afterwards, hey, this is a new point for us. If we go another, what is it, 10 months? 27 games, yeah. Yeah, you refer to it in months. You just said, look, if we only suffer another defeat domestically in that period, I'll be happy. So we start again, we get going. There were the usual noises about, you know, let's not be complacent, let's respond. And Bill did a feature where they tracked what every Bayern player had done after the defeat. So there were a few paragraphs about Leonard Karl spending the night in a Munich bar, apparently.

29:15And people staying out till quite late. The usual kind of footballer must not smile after defeat, fair. But yeah, Bayern would be fine. I just think it was a kind of, yeah, it was careless. Careless is the right word, I think, Jimbo. All right, cracks beginning to show in the Bundesliga champions as the gap comes down to eight points. A nervy eight points. Just the eight points. Curiously, the four teams immediately below them in the Bundesliga all were victorious away from home and all scored three goals in those victories. You had Dortmund beating Union Berlin 3-0. They're six points clear of Hoffenheim, Stuttgart and RB Leipzig who are separated by one point.

29:52Hoffenheim beat Frankfurt 3-1 away. Stuttgart beat Gladbach 3-0 away. Leipzig beat Heidenheim 3-0 away. Crikey. yeah in that Leipzig game a really good moment for Ridley Baku who remember during during Ebi Leipzig's defeat to Bayern Munich last weekend slipped at a critical moment for Harry Kane's goal when Michael Issa crossed the ball in and he just lost his feet and very difficult for him to take that six long days until you can play again I guess he scored the first goal against Heidenheim played really really well as did everybody else at Ebi Leipzig Yandere Mande gets better every time I watch him play He was very, very good at an excellent game.

30:32A couple of other things around the league which are interesting. So we've spoken, we've kind of had the, been on the rollercoaster with Gladbach this season. You know, their terrible lows under Gerardo Sirianni that saw him dismissed. And Jürgen Polanski coming in to replace him and seeing them lift up the table. Now I'm starting to worry about them again. The standard against Stuttgart on Sunday was really, really low. Stuttgart playing well under Sebastian Hines and have done ever so well to transition away from Nick Faldemar and move on into a kind of a new era. But Gladbach were back to where they were in October.

31:06They're really, really weak, full of defensive mistakes, a real lack of intensity, and they're drifting back towards the bottom of the table again. So interesting old times, every two or three weeks, one of these teams floats back into the relegation mix. And yeah, their form is really, really concerning. Gladbach currently five points above the relegation playoff spot. Augsburg have moved up to only a point behind them with that victory over Bayern. Have you got any Edin Dzeko news for us, Seb? I sure do. I sure do. So 39-year-old Edin Dzeko completed his move to Schalke. So Dzeko won a Bundesliga title under Felix Magat in 2009 in Wolfsburg and left in 2011, I think, to join Manchester City.

31:52and he's back. He made his debut as a second-half substitute for Schalke in their game against Kaiserslautern at home at Veltans Arena on Sunday. And it wasn't going well, actually. So Dzeko came on with Schalke 1-0 down. Schalke were top of the table and set to win promotion back after two years down in the Zweite Bundesliga. They then went 2-0 down, but 87th minute. If you get the chance to see it, really do, because it's just a proper centre-forwards goal. Long ball into the box. Dzeko holds off two defenders at the same time takes the ball down on his chest finishes as Dzeko does first touch Schalke back in the game 90 seconds later they get their equaliser 2-2 which not a great result Kai Slausen are kind of upper mid table so no disgrace at all but kept their lead at the top of the table and just a really really cool moment to see because you know like people said 39 years old but then Dzeko is Ed and Dzeko and he still is on this evidence so lovely to see him back in Germany Paul you have a question?

32:51Yeah, no, I just wanted to point out the fact that it takes some courage to be 39 and just decide to go and live in Hellsing Cretion. Well, actually, Gelsenkirchen, I will crack back against that. Like, Gelsenkirchen, it's not necessarily a beautiful city, but there's some really interesting stuff. If you're a fan of old collieries and kind of old industry, there's some really interesting things around there. So, no, I should make some disparaging remark about Barcelona. alright Seb thanks we don't get enough old colliery chat in this podcast but it's really it is it's interesting it's interesting there are no cathedrals there's no there's no Lido there's no you know there's we don't have palazzos in Gelsenkirchen sure but there's interesting stuff alright the stuff you can Instagram I'll put it that way I didn't I didn't expect I'd be so fierce in my defence of Gelsenkirchen who knew alright then Seb thank you so much for that Bundesliga roundup next up we're off to a place where they do have Palazzi, Italy.

34:15James Horncastle, Sunday night, Sunday evening, really. You were at the Allianz Stadium for Juve Napoli. Big game this one and a big, big result for Luciano Spalletti's Signora. You talked a little bit about the game from a Napoli perspective, but this was top stuff from Juve and from Juan Kenan Yildiz as well. Lots of standout performances from Juve, James, in this game. I think the team is really beginning to take shape under Spalletti and has done for some time, even in the draw against Lecce in the surprise defeat to Cali, which they dominated. Where to start? I mean, Jonathan David went into this game thinking that Juventus were going to sign another striker.

35:00Their supporting director had been in Istanbul to hold talks with N. Naziri of Fenerbahce. And he would not know this, but on the sideline before the game, Giorgio Chiellini basically was speaking to the Italian broadcasters and said, yeah, that's not going to happen anymore. And David got the opening goal of the game. And David is seen as this very elegant, silky striker. But he had to really kind of put himself about in order to get onto that wonderful little flick from Manuel Locatelli. And first half, Juventus dominated. I mean, Alessandro Bongiorno, the Napoli defender, made a clearance off the line.

35:41Kefren Turam hit the crossbar. and then late in the game where Napoli, what remains of Napoli, got tired and the changes just didn't have any impact. They were then just completely rampant and ran away with it. A couple of substitutes made differences. Fabio Medetti played, Kenan Yildiz threw for that second goal. Filip Kostic got the third. And Spalletti sort of asked, David started scoring now. Do you really still need a striker? And he said, no, because we've got the perfect centre forward. And that perfect centre forward is Weston McKennie. Excellent. Excellent. Juve moving up to just a point now behind Napoli and Roma, who are level with the partner pay after their Sunday night result, which was a 1-1 draw at home to Milan.

36:31Top of the table are Inter, who have a five-point lead over their neighbours, the Rossoneri. And given how Inter's weekend began, that's quite unexpected, eh? Yeah, I mean, they found themselves 2-0 down against Pisa. And the way the Pisa coach, Alberto Giledino, formerly of AC Milan, was celebrating, you'd have thought that he believed that they had enough to go on and win that game. but by half time Pisa were behind and an incredible comeback from Inter from 2-0 down to win 6-2 and I mean as much as Seb was saying that they're not the Inter of last year I mean this is an Inter team that is threatening to run away with this league, I don't think they ever had a lead this big last season in Serie A they've scored 50 goals only conceded 19 goal difference of 31 which is 10 more than the next best which is como who another story we'll get to um in the roundup and yeah people getting very excited about pio esposito again you know it was the hand of pio pio existe god exists you know pio exists and into wearing this new kind of fourth shirt which is a collaboration with kind of one of the um offshoots of nike but they just look like the New York Knicks.

37:56I don't know what you felt, James. Are you into this blue, black and orange melange? I found it a questionable choice but I couldn't argue with the outcome of that match. As you say, they weren't the only team scoring six goals this weekend because Como did too as they absolutely pasted. True enough, yeah. That means that across the two meetings with the Granata this season And they've beaten them, what, 11-1? Yeah, super impressive from Como. I saw there was a kind of viral video of sort of another podcast sort of attacking Fabregas as though, you know, he only wants to play one way, tiki-taka, when he doesn't.

38:41I think one of the great things about Cesc is he is the sum of all of the experiences he had working under lots of different coaches. So yeah, he worked under Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola. He also worked under Antonio Conte. So this is a guy who knows that there isn't only one way to play football, lots of different ways to win games. and Como kind of keeps showing that and yeah I mean if we look at their last week James beat Torino 6-0 beat Lazio 3-0 and that Milan game that they lost 3-1 I mean a little bit like with what happened with Milan against Roma a lot of people were scratching their heads thinking how have Milan won that game because Como was so good So, super impressive from them, super impressive from Cesc.

39:39And, you know, this is the thing, if Napoli can't get through this injury crisis, then there's every chance that Como, who are only three points off fourth place, it's definitely a chance that Como can push themselves into the Champions League places going into the final third of the season. Yeah, it's even closer than that. They're only three points by Napoli in third, but Juve in a four spot, only two points better off than Como. And what a race developing for the Champions League spot. Down the other end, meantime, a huge victory for Daniele De Rossi and Genoa, who've moved six points clear now of the bottom three, with a come-from-behind victory against Bologna.

40:21Bologna took a two-goal lead in this game. And then what happened, James? well I mean Genoa came roaring back you know I think I mentioned the crowds at Morasi this year and you know even though they've been in the relegation mire for kind of the first third of the season sacked Patrick Vieira the crowds have just been brilliant and you know they kind of really surfed the waves that were coming off the gradinata and to come back and score all of those three goals in the second half, some of which were pretty spectacular. I always remember there was a piece of graffiti outside of my flat in Rome, which used to say, ti amo come un gol al noventesimo.

41:09I love you like a goal in the 90th minute. That kind of just exhilarating feeling that you get, and that's what Genoa got. From Junior Macias, no less, the former white goods salesman or delivery man. the first of their comeback goals was a gorgeous free kick from Malinowski this was after Bologna's keeper Lukasz Korupski had come out to try and clear a ball handed it straight to the opposition had to foul the opposition player conceding the free kick which Malinowski then converted Ekuban who another gorgeous strike that one give that man a cigar etc and then as you say Junior Macias in time added on for stoppages and Daniel Di De Rossi going full Mourinho in his coat along the sidelines

42:19Yeah I mean just I think I've said this before, Di Rossi's my favorite player of all time, but particularly because he doesn't just wear his passion on his sleeve. He puts his passion on as just like a full suit. And I just think it's a really good club for him. I mean, obviously, he spent so much of his career at Roma and then did the most romantic thing possible, which was to go and play, what, six months at Boca Juniors. He started coaching with Roma and got fired. after taking him to a Europa League semi-final. But to be at Genoa now, which is the club that is paired, is twinned with Boca Juniors.

43:03You know, Boca Juniors' nickname means Genovese because so many people from Boca hailed from Genoa. It's just a really good fit for him. And he's just, Daniele's one of the best talkers in football, talkers in terms of like, not someone who's a blowhard, but someone who tells you stuff that is legitimately interesting. You feel like you learn every time he says something. He's really smart about the game. So, yeah, I'm pleased for how well things are going at Morassi at the moment. He's a real one with probably the best set of tattoos in football. Genoa moved up to 13th spot. As I say, six points clear of the bottom three.

43:47Fiorentina dropped back into it. They're a point off safety. They've got a big game next weekend when they'll be away to Napoli. A good time to be facing Antonio Conte's side. Very good. Anything else you want to mention, James? No, I think that's it, James. Maybe something will come to me, but I don't know. I'm probably in a mozzarella coma, so let's give Paul and Tom a chance to talk. That's it, yeah, then. Up next, woo, La Liga.

44:23now with you four times a week. Keep up to date with us on Insta and enjoy us in glorious Technicolor on YouTube at The Totally Show.

44:48La Liga, Paul Belus. What happened this weekend? And the top three all won. Real Madrid didn't get booed. This is all quite exciting. They had what looked like an important fixture away at La Ceramica against Villarreal, who were third in the table and having their best season ever and all that. But it didn't bother Real Madrid, did it? It didn't. Really good performance, if I'm fully honest, from Real Madrid. They won comfortably. I think that it was deserved. It was a well-fought game, but Real Madrid were the better side. All goals came in the second half. Mbappe unlocked a bit all the game.

45:27And yeah, it's all happy days at Real Madrid. We've seen Vinicius Koggingar Beloa. I think that the off-the-ball commitment was really good, which in a way was what Xavi Alonso and what was criticized under Xavi Alonso, the lack of application from the players. But I think that it played a big part, the fact that Madrid knew it was a big game against Villarreal. playing away from home. You have to win against a great Villarreal. So yeah, all players did a pretty good job. OK. Mbappé scored both goals. The first goal, there's a lovely little scene with the Villarreal manager Marcelino on the sidelines who's gesticulating at Mbappé.

46:05He's stood about a metre away from him saying, mark this man, mark this man. Mbappé turns around and looks at him and smiles. And then they share a little moment right before Mbappé then goes and scores the opening goal against him. Anyway, the second goal was from a penalty which he decided to Panenka. and what did he explain then afterwards, Paul? Yeah, he basically did a panenka and straight after went to Brahim Diaz who was playing. He came on as a sub and went to Brahim Diaz and said Esto es por ti, hermano. Esto es por ti. Which is, this is for you, brother. Well, that's how you do it. Yeah, well, yeah, maybe.

46:40I'm not sure he wanted to make Brahim feel a bit more down than he has in the last couple of weeks. But yeah, it was sort of homage And I think that what we saw from Raheem is that he appreciated that. Okay, that's good. I'm not having that. No? I'm not having that for a second. Raheem Diaz is going to be traumatized by that Miss Penenka until his dying day. And the very next time he sets foot on a football pitch, one of his club teammates decides to score with a Penenka when he could have scored in any other fashion. Someone made this point on social media. But it's like, you know, someone writes off their Ferrari and the next day a mate of theirs turns up with a new Ferrari.

47:16And it's like, oh, you know how you totaled your Ferrari? right i've got one now does that make you feel better i mean i don't know i'm not not really a not really a scenario i can envisage yeah no i i get the point he managed to score he managed to do the thing that brahim dears didn't i don't see how that's helpful to brahim dears in any way well i guess the philosophy and you know i don't want to go too deep on this but it might be to say you all mocked Brahim Diaz for making the choice to try and score a Penenka, but this is why it can be a good idea. It's not such a daft idea to try a Penenka.

47:53That could be the philosophy. James, what do you think? Are you still mozzarella-ed up? No, I mean, I remember just a few weeks before Brahim Diaz did that, Jonathan David, he tried the same thing against Lecce, which was as bad. so I don't know I love it when a Penenka comes off I mean PLO against Joe Hart Euro 2012 just a real real momentum changer in that penalty shootout a kind of pants down moment brilliant Totte against Van der Sar Totte against Van der Sar the all time best I mean don't be wrong I love a Penenka I will defend Penenka takers to the death but not when your teammates just blown one I just find the social dynamics of this troubling I've got a question about Trent Alexander-Arnold, Paul.

48:44There are rumours, correct me if I'm wrong, in Madrid that Arbalo has told Trent that he's not part of his plans. Yeah, that's part of the rumorology during the rounds. What we know is that he's quite close to make a return to the team. He's really close to Trent with the first team and everything and Real Madrid sources for what we've seen. they insist that Tren Alexander-Arnold is still a part of their long-term thinking. So let's see how this pans out. Tren Alexander-Arnold is expected to return soon to action, which basically has been the biggest problem in his Madrid career so far. He's been injured, not all the time, but mostly all of the time.

49:25So let's see if he can put this right. OK, Real Madrid victorious then this weekend at Vidi A. But they stay behind Barcelona because Barca beat Real Oviedo in a rain-sodden Camp Nou 3-0. Lots of goals here. Danny Olmo becoming, let me get this right, only, I think, the second player ever to score against a team that has the begins and ends with the same letter that his surname begins and ends against. Important statistic, that one. But perhaps more noteworthy was the magnificent Laminya Mal. Half bicycle kick, half volley. How would you describe it? I would put it out as a bicycle kick maybe but it's not, yeah, half bicycle kick, half volley I think a bicycle kick is what I mentioned more like the Elche one but that being just on the sides it doesn't fully qualify as a bicycle kick in my opinion but yeah, I mean it goes straight to one of the best goals that Lamin Jamal has scored in a Barca shirt straight away a good cross from Dani Olmo as well in a sort of Trivela and then you could see that Lamin Jamal really wanted to try this because the way he shaped his body when the ball was coming in and then he tried this and there's a take, I don't know if you've seen that but there's like a reverse angle where you see the ball coming in with the curve just next to the post and one of the ball boys behind the net just like putting his hands into the head like no way this is coming in and yeah this is curling in into the far post and yeah great image and another an iconic picture for La Minya Malou, which in a way is what he graced for.

51:07Excellent. Atletico Madrid 1-3-0 at home to Mallorca by Alexander Zorloz, getting a goal in his third consecutive game. Down the bottom is very tight, Paul. You've got four points between Osasuna in ninth, but not even anywhere near the bottom in that sense, and Getafe, who are in the relegation zone. What's going to happen? Yeah, just going back to atlético de madrid for a bit did you like the sunglasses thing with marco florente i did not what was the sunglasses thing so basically before the game mallorca sort of promoted the game with a banner on social media with three of their players posing with those sunglasses with red light glass like the red light glass that you use for when it's uh dark at night and everything just to reduce the impact of life yeah so marcos alonso is a complex character here in spain to put it in some way he uh has invested in a company that has this sort of glasses with yellow uh light glass and red light glass um but i mean he's he's defending like some how to put it like conspiranoic theory something like this um not gonna get a lot into that but the sunglasses has chemtrails what are these supposed to protect you from special rays or 5G, James, yeah.

52:27You're not ready for that? No. Yeah, well, some, yeah. I don't want to get into that, but yeah. So he has become a sort of meme because of that, right? So Mallorca, before the game, did that banner. Of course, after the game, Atletico won and Marco Llorente did a really good assist in Atletico's second goal. And after the game, Marco Llorente posted the picture on Instagram with red sunglasses on, saying, this week you have a 20 % off in my website using the code Mallorca20 damn so yeah basically did you get any? get a couple of pairs no? not yet yeah I'm still thinking about it what do they protect you from these special lenses Paul?

53:12I am interested so apparently like the red glass ones are like for when it's dark and just not to have too much like white light at home something like this that apparently is bad for your body and for your mentalism. And blue lights from your phone. Yeah, from your phone and stuff as well. Blue light, yeah, okay. But that's all fair enough. That's not a conspiracy theory. What's the other one? Yeah, but then if you get to listen to him, like how he says that the planes and the smoke that the planes leave behind... Contrails. Yeah, they are basically a way to fumigate all the society with stuff that they want to throw us.

53:52Yeah, that's like for another day maybe. They got you too, huh, Paul? I love that. I love that. Paul is just special. Maybe promised a special part of chemtrails. Why not? In the comments, listeners, if you want to hear Paul talk about chemtrails, please get in touch and we'll make it happen. Let's see. Further down the league of standing, it's so tight in the relegation battle. Levante, who are in the bottom three, picked up their first home win of the season and it was in a dramatic fashion. Hey, Paul, what do you think of this relegation battle which has got Osasuna there in ninth spot, only four points above, Getafe in the bottom three?

54:41No, just Matt, I remember that a couple of weeks ago we spoke about Girona and Real Fez being in the relegation zone and how they might have a chance to get into European places. because of how tight everything is. Let's see how it goes. I think Oviedo are in a pretty bad place, although they have improved over the last few games, but they're not in the best place. But a lot of teams are going to be there, and now it's going to depend on the momentum. I think that Real Sociedad are going to be far away from that because they have a really good team. And the ones that should be wary are Getafe, Oviedo, Levante, Mallorca, should be around there as well.

55:20So, yeah, it's going to be like a fun battle to keep following in La Liga. Okay. Well, thank you so much. Anything else before we get on to Ligue 1? Maybe we could mention Sergio Ramos trying to buy Sevilla. Is that something that might interest you? Yeah, very much so. So, basically, what we've reported in The Athletic, which has been out now, is that financial, like an investment fund in which Sergio Ramos is part of, they have just an intention to buy Sevilla and now in the next three months Sergio Ramos and his investment fund are going to just analyze the account of Sevilla and all the assets and all the areas of the club to assess if they can financially do this sort of operation so in the next three months this is going to happen it should be a purchase that should be around 320-400 million euros so yeah this this might happen and it's something that we're gonna keep uh reporting on but yeah just to keep everyone on the loop thank you so much paul next up off to ligue

56:34all right tom psg back on top endrick is amazing for leon and gary o 'neill is for strasbourg too Do you want to mention, what do you want to start with? We'll start with PSG, I think. Start at the top, given that they have been in this ding-dong battle with Lens this season, the surprise pacesetters. And this weekend, PSG were playing first, so had the opportunity to put the pressure on. And as we know, a big issue for PSG of late has been problems in front of goal. We saw that in the Champions League against Sporting last weekend when they went out of the Coupe de France against Paris FC. And this seemed to be another one of those games that PSG were going to dominate away at Ozer on Friday night without getting the three points.

57:25Bradley Barcola particularly profligate in front of goal. And there's been a lot of focus on his finishing recently. there was a piece in Le Keep last week about his motor skills and about how his motor skills with regard to his finishing seem to mean that he only feels comfortable shooting at goal from like a 90 degree angle. And so he's kind of opening his body out too much and his shoulders aren't in the right position, that kind of thing. And one of the features of Barcola's game is that he's so quick, he's so good in one-on-ones that he very frequently finds himself running through one-on-one with a goalkeeper but his one-on-one finishing is terrible and you may recall this from the Champions League final late in the game Inter are on their knees Bakula picks the ball up in midfield sets off on this mazy dribble drags the ball from right to left with his studs and I think he puts Francesco Acerbi on the deck one-on-one with Jan Sommer and you're thinking if he puts this away this will be one of the great Champions League final goals.

58:29And he rolls it wide of the near post. And he's always doing that. And he was quite wasteful again against Ozea. But then with 11 minutes remaining, Ousmane Dembele, who'd come on with about half an hour to play, put him through. And he dinked a shot over Donovan Leon, the Ozea goalkeeper. And PSG ran out 1-0 winners, putting the pressure on Lens, who were away at Marseille on Saturday night. And Marseille just blew them away. You know, Lons were on this 10-game winning streak in all competitions, but they have had this habit of late, of making very slow starts to their matches. And they were 2-0 down inside 13 minutes, never recovered.

59:09Unfortunately for them, Samson Baidu, Austrian centre-back, signed from Salzburg last summer to replace Kevin Danso, another Austrian centre-back, who is now, of course, at Tottenham. He's been their defensive rock this season. He was injured. So Pierre Sage had to totally reorganise his back three. And Lens didn't look quite as solid as they do ordinarily. Amin Gouiri got a brace really nicely taken. Ethan Nguyenary, as we mentioned earlier, got his first goal in Marseille Colours. And now PSG are top. Lens are second. And there's been this feeling of late. You know, we discussed it on last week's show.

59:47How long can Lens stay out in front? They could well come back because this is not the PSG that we saw at times last season. But I think the feeling is that this may mark the beginning of the end of the non-title challenge. But they're only two points behind. Still a long way to go. OK, a lot of football still to be played. Amongst that football is Paris Saint-Germain's clash with Newcastle on Wednesday night. What chances do you give Newcastle of usurping their hosts and taking that top eight spot? Yeah, I mean, PSG have been pretty scratchy of late. You look at the last two games in the Champions League, drew away 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao just before Christmas.

1:00:25Not particularly impressive. Prior to that, they beat Spurs 5-3 at home in what was an unnecessarily chaotic game. Lost away at Sporting last weekend. I mean, players are coming back to fitness. They aren't missing too many first-choice players. I think Hakimi, coming back from the AFCON, as you mentioned before, will have a huge impact because that also allows Luis Enrique, should he wish, to play Warren Zairemery in midfield. And he's been in really good form of late. I think a full-strength Newcastle, you'd fancy them to cause PSG problems. I think because there are question marks over all three of Newcastle's starting midfielders and the fact that it's at the part they pronounce, you would have PSG as favourites for this.

1:01:08But, you know, they haven't been massively convincing of late. So, you know, who knows? We shall see. in Ligue 1 meantime with flagging up Lyon's extraordinary 5-2 win away at Mets which featured yet another man of the match performance from their new arrival Hendrik who's got five goals or assists now in his three matches so far Hendrik face to Fischer le triplet pour le Brésilien ses trois premiers buts en Ligue 1 auront été marqués au Stade Saint-Symphorien trois matchs avec l 'OL 4 buts already for Hendrik after he's been in the Coupe de France at Lille

1:02:11Hendrik runs in behind, slots it past Jonathan Fisher in the Mets goal. And then Hendrik completes his hat-trick with a late penalty that he had himself won. And that is Lyon now strengthening their grip on fourth place, which, of course, would take them into the Champions League qualifying rounds. And they've now got a four-point gap over Lille as well after Lille's defeat at home to Strasbourg. Right. The other Lyon goal, meanwhile, coming from another of the Kluivert boys, Ruben Kluivert. Yes, Ruben Klaiver. So basically, as the Klaiver brothers get younger, they play sort of further back up the pitch.

1:02:49So Ruben Klaiver is a centre-back. Okay. And arrived at Lyon last summer, looked very scratchy in his first few performances and then disappeared from the starting 11 for a while, but has come back in in recent weeks. and, yeah, played very well. Again, took his goal very nicely. I mean, shades of Patrick Kluiver in the finish and that it was a cross from the left and he ghosted in at the near post to tuck it past Fischer in the Mets goal. Lyon looking really good and, you know, they were already having a very good season and now you've just bolted on this sort of generational talent of a centre-forward in Endric who, as we know, has gone to Lyon looking for the game time that was denied him at Madrid desperate to get into the Brazil squad for the World Cup.

1:03:38If he is fit, he will start every game. He will probably play every single minute of every game. And if he carries on at this rate, he's going to finish with 15, 20 goals in Lyon colours. And you would think that he would have really strengthened his case for a place in Brazil squad for the World Cup. Lyon's case for Champions League football potentially opening up as well. They are two points behind Marseille in third spot. Strasbourg with Gary O 'Neill closing the gap on these European places a 4-1 win against Pep Genesio's Lille Pep Genesio apparently trying to resign this week Yeah, they're having a really sticky time of it, Lille there's five straight defeats in all competitions which is their worst run since 2003 I mean, they're fifth in the table so they're still well placed but they have been pretty dreadful of late and were it not for the very late consolation that Matthias Fernandes Pardo scored, it would have been three defeats without a single goal scored on the bounce in Ligue 1.

1:04:37Injuries are really starting to bite. They were missing Benjamin André and Nabil Bentaleb, who were the only two central midfielders in that Lille squad. Hamza Igerman, former Rangers striker who came in last summer to take some of the burden off Olivier Giroud's shoulders. He is injured as well. So Giroud is having to start every game. And there seems to be a bit of tension between Genesio and Olivier Letton, the Lille president and the Lille board, about the amount of money that there might be to spend on transfers between now and the close of the transfer window. Because as things stand, they look quite short in key areas.

1:05:15But yes, Trasbourg, very impressive. So Gary Neal won his first game in the Coupe de France, won his first home game last weekend in the derby against Mets, and then won his first away game. Martial Godot, formerly of Fulham, and who spent a season on loan at Wigan in Ligue 1. In 2023-24, he got a couple of goals. Joachim Panacelli scored as well. Julio Anciso was on target with a really nicely taken goal. I think given the fact that both Lille and Rennes, who were directly above them in the table, dropped points, Strasbourg, who were on a really wretched run of form in the latter stages of the Lille and Rossini era, certainly right back in the mix for European plays.

1:06:01Good Lord. Very exciting. Well, they've got PSG coming up at theirs this coming weekend, which will have implications both for their hunt for a European spot and indeed the very lead in Ligue 1. So we'll be reporting on that in next Tuesday's show. Of course, before that, Friday we'll all get together again and react to whatever comes out of the pot at UEFA HQ for the Champions League playoff phase and last 16 bracket. For now, though, I think that wraps it up for this Tootley Football Show. James Horncastle, many thanks to you. Enjoy yourself in Naples. Paul Belus, same to you. To Seb Stafford-Bloor, Tom Williams, producer Lucy.

1:06:45And you, listener stroke, viewer, will be back with you soon. Perhaps on Friday you'll join us. But for now, from all of us here, it's goodbye. you've been listening to the totally football show part of the athletic fc podcast network for other great podcasts just like this one including the athletic fc and our dedicated club podcasts search for the athletic in all the usual places we're also at the totally show on insta and at the totally show on youtube the totally football show is an athletic media company production.

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