Champions League last 16 is here & are the title races back on in France and Italy?

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1:55Pol Ballus: The Athletic FC Derby, KDB returns, Laminia Mar and more in this Totally Football Show.

2:12Pol Ballus: Monday the 9th of March and it's the European edition of the Totally Football Show. Doing a remote one for you today, listener. Usual crew, just in different locales. James, you're heading off, you're on your way to Italy. Bergamo, is it?

2:27James Horncastle: that is where I'm going it's the only place in Italy where there is Champions League football James so I will be heading there for the first leg of Atalanta Bayern Munich Crikey

2:38Pol Ballus: want to hear more about that want to hear from Tom Williams about PSG's big clash with Chelsea and so much more besides welcome to you Tom Thank you James hello hello hello hello to you as well Seb Stafford Bloor is back in Hamburg ready to dish the dirt on the Bundesliga

2:55Seb Stafford-Bloor: Hello James Richardson Yes, yes indeed.

2:59Pol Ballus: Seb's got a working microphone. Woo, yay! We had one or two technical issues there. Paul Belus, how was your microphone? I think, well, I think that's working good enough, just to keep going with it. Like sweet, sweet music, Paul. Like sweet, sweet music. Woo! Hey, speaking of sweet, sweet music, here's a bit of a moment of the week segue. what on earth was going on before Celta de Vigo's clash with Real Madrid this weekend? Well,

3:29Jimbo: that's a really good shout, basically, because we could see that Celta de Vigo basically launched the campaigns through social media with Madonna, which is something that we did not expect to see. Younger listeners should ask their parents,

3:43Pol Ballus: but Madonna was a musical star who enjoyed a lot of success through many decades and has been given a new lease of life by the Galician side.

3:53James Horncastle: You'd still know Madonna if you were young, right?

3:55Pol Ballus: I wonder.

3:56Seb Stafford-Bloor: She's still prominent. I don't know.

3:58James Horncastle: I saw Bukayo Saka last week saying he does not know who Celine Dion is. Really? Wow. God, I feel old. Okay. All right. Okay.

4:07Jimbo: So basically, the thing is that Madonna did a gig, did a concert in Balaidos in the Celta Stadium back in the 90s, well, back in 1990, and performed that gig with a Celta shirt. and Celta D 'Avigo basically launched a campaign to know where this shirt was at, basically. Right. And Madonna ended up replying to that tweet, saying that this shirt just belongs to her and to the archive of his career and that she really appreciates what it has done and the picture that she just left to the club. And before the Madrid game, there was this gig and this just performing of a Madonna song just as a... All right.

4:51Jimbo: Like a Vigo, I thought.

4:54Pol Ballus: Like a Vigo. Yeah. But they did like a prayer, didn't they? Hola, Vigo!

5:05James Horncastle: Reis de amor! Life is a mystery Everyone must say I hear you come

5:27James Horncastle: And their prayers were answered. No. Oh, sort of. No, they weren't. I'm surprised that Madonna still has this Celta Vigo shirt. She says she has. She did this a lot.

5:39Seb Stafford-Bloor: It's quite a cheap trick, right? If you're an artist and you go around and you're trying to ingratiate yourself with a new fan base, wear a football shirt. It feels like something that a lot of artists will have done over the years.

5:50Tom Williams: Julianne Laurent, for one. And she is famously quite a material girl in terms of clinging on to possession. So probably should have seen it coming, to be honest. That's very good. That was great.

6:01Seb Stafford-Bloor: That was excellent.

6:02Pol Ballus: Tom, go on then. What's your moment of the week?

6:04Tom Williams: My moment of the week, I'm also going to go for something that occurred pre-match. And this was prior to Lens' home game against Mets. and Lens are currently celebrating the 120th anniversary of the club's foundation in 1906. But this week also marked the 120th anniversary of a very sad, very tragic mine accident in Lens. And mining is an intrinsic part of the local culture in that part of the world. you know Lens is a mining town it always has been there was a mining disaster at a place called Courrières which killed over a thousand people in March 1906 the worst ever European mining disaster and so Lens used the opportunity of this this game against Mets to you know sort of reflect that anniversary there have been some really spectacular pre-match shows at Stade Bollard this season because of the 120th anniversary commemorations and celebrations of the club.

7:19Tom Williams: It was a huge TIFO that was unveiled in the sunshine. And Lens wore their away kit, which is green and black stripes. And that was actually the kit they wore when the club was first founded. And they chose green and black because the green represented Place Verte, which was a green grassy area where the club was first founded and the black represented the coal of of of the mines um so this big day of commemoration and and remembrance um and met yeah long's run out three and oh winners and relaunched their their league and title push so it was a pretty special

8:00Seb Stafford-Bloor: day excellent excellent same stuff for blue jimbo we had a stadium announce a controversy in cologne over the weekend so cologne were playing against brissey dortmund and there was a red card late in the first half um and the r review got given the stadium announcer kind of gave a running commentary on what he thought about the red card called it disgusting twice and then you know that was kind of fine even though the dfb have pretty pretty strict rules about being mutual uh with all stadium announcements get quite a lot of pass-downship across the league but even so and then the end of the game so cologne felt that they should have had a penalty yen kuto uh seemingly handballed the ball um in the dortmund box would have been a penalty it was 2-1 at that point cologne scrapping for every point they can get they're on a really bad downturn heading towards the relegation playoff place at the moment and at the end of the game the game finished and the stadium announcer carried on he said um you know i think i'm probably going to get in trouble for this but i just can't believe it uh there was a a handball in the box the the var didn't even review it and it just went on it went on to the point where um yeah he he was then interviewed by several german media outlets afterwards and he said look i'm i'm sorry if i offended anybody didn't really mean offended it's just a direct translation but i'm i'm just a fan i've been a clone fan for 60 years uh he the guy is in his 70s now he's been the stadium announcer stadion sprecher uh since 1999 i think so he's he's done over a quarter of a century and he the situation just got the better of him just a lot of frustration it's just a shame that obviously he had a live mic in front of 50 000 people right but yeah don't get many of those

9:49Pol Ballus: every week no indeed no he went full network mad as hell not gonna take it anymore extraordinary stories, Seb. Always have to be careful with a live mic in front of you, as we all know. I wondered actually if you might go for the Bundesliga Zwei moment this weekend, Seb, which caught a lot of people's eye, where the Hertha Berlin clash with Prusseln-Munster was disrupted when the VAR, sideline monsters, weren't working. Why were they not working?

10:18Seb Stafford-Bloor: This was such fun. This was such fun. So, Michael Cressence, who, if Jules were here, he would start talking about right now. um he was fouled in the box just for half time var review uh went to look at the monitor referee approaches the monitor the screen's blank everyone thinks that's very very strange uh he gets he's he's in contact with the var through microphone and the var instructs him to give the penalty because there is a foul and then in the prussian munster end a banner appears shortly afterwards which says unplug var everyone thinks okay there's something up here and then And later on, later in the afternoon, images were released, which showed a fan, an ultra wearing a green balaclava, scaling the fence next to the VAR station.

11:09Seb Stafford-Bloor: And later, a couple of hours beyond that, the club actually issued a statement apologizing for some VAR vandalism because the VAR monitor had quite literally been unplugged by the balaclavid ultra. who was wearing um he was wearing a green balaclava in club colors he looked like uh he looked like uh what was what do you call the um the high-flying wrestlers lucho libre wrestlers he looked like one of those in his balaclava and he was i'm not going to denigrate the guy but he wasn't in a he didn't look like an athlete but he was still scaling the fence so it was quite a

11:43Pol Ballus: quite an image quite a photograph if you can find it he struck the first blow seb full freedom in football. Where is the VAR station at a German fixture? In Cologne. In Cologne. Oh, it's actually in Cologne. So he went to their version of Stockley Park

11:59Seb Stafford-Bloor: and basically unplugged them. No, no. It was by the pitch. So he jumped the fence, he unplugged the VAR monitor. This is second division German football. So it's not like he's not breaking onto the pitch at the Emirates. It's not quite the same. And then he'd kind of jump back into the curve and vanished. And the club promised to find and punish him. And I don't think that's going to happen. He's gone. Wow. Into the wind. He is gone. Into the wind. Exactly that.

12:31Pol Ballus: Excellent.

12:32James Horncastle: James Horncastle, a moment of the week. Well, I think every moment of the week or two thirds of my moments of the week involve Lazio this season. And we've seen an escalation in protests. Now, Premier League fans, if you want to know how to protest, Just look at what Lazio fans have been doing. It's not the first time they've done this, but they've basically started boycotting their team's games. So the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday for the Coppa Italia semifinal first leg against Atalanta was practically empty. And, you know, we see this a lot in Italy generally, James, but they love sort of protest graffiti, don't they?

13:12James Horncastle: Along with protest banners. and there was some protest graffiti in Rome this week which said message for Donald Trump this is in English Letito has a lot of oil and he's a dictator

13:29James Horncastle: you've got to afford the ingenuity I mean maybe Trump is watching Serie A maybe he is aware of these protest graffiti on walls in the Eternal City. He has yet to come to the rescue of Lazio. Maybe he will get to that at some stage. But yeah, this situation with the Eagles, just when you thought last year with the Falconer, who basically sent the mascot around the Eagle, he had a penis enhancement and published that and then got sacked and squatted at the training ground needed evicting. Lazio is, in many ways, just the gift that keeps on giving.

14:15Pol Ballus: Well, indeed. Well, indeed. Crikey, they're in action this Monday evening, but the rest of Serie A have all played their games. We're getting on to Serie A very, very shortly. But first of all, with no less than three Liga-Premier League clashes coming up midweek in the Champions League, let's start off with the latest from our friends in Spain. This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. All right, Paul Ballus. Here we are. We've got Barcelona at Newcastle coming up midweek. Atletico Madrid are taking on Spurs. And Real Madrid have drawn Man City.

14:54Pol Ballus: What an interesting time for City to be visiting Madrid. Hey, Paul.

14:58Jimbo: No, it's a great time for Man City. I would say there's no one in Spain who would dare possibly to put Real Madrid as favourites in this tie. especially with what we saw in the weekend that Real Madrid won against Celta Vigo but they really struggled, they didn't really play well and they won after a last-minute winner from Fede Valverde and yeah, Man City, in a way, they also rested players Real Madrid cannot afford to do that because they have a long list of injuries there's a lot of uncertainty around Kylian Mbappe the expectation is that he's not going to be ready for the first leg let's see As we speak, right now it's Monday morning.

15:39Jimbo: He's expected to return to Madrid today. He was in France this last weekend. And let's see how Real Madrid assess him. But yeah, there's a lot of doubts in how Real Madrid play. While Man City, they might not be the biggest force under Pep Guardiola, but they are seen as a team in a better place right now than Real Madrid.

16:01Pol Ballus: Real Madrid, who needed that deflected winner in stoppages to get past Celta Vigo this weekend, previous Monday, they lost against Getafe. Just how bad is the situation for Abelos' side?

16:15Jimbo: Yeah, so that's not a good situation. The defeat against Getafe was really painful. There was heavy booing, heavy whistling after the game. The performance was really below par because you didn't get the sense that Real Madrid really threatened Getafe in that game. And against Celta de Vigo, they won last-minute effort from Fede Valverde, a deflected shot, as we said, five minutes earlier, basically. Iago Aspas from Celta de Vigo, he hit the post. So Celta de Vigo had their chances as well. Real Madrid, right now, they struggle to collectively be a unit. I think that Arbeloas focus is just trying to be more solid but they lack a lot of offensive production I think that's that's their biggest flaw right now and they don't have a lot of the goods to try to improve that because as I was saying Mbappe is a major doubt Rodrigo is going to be out with an ACL injury Judd Bellingham is not going to be in there either so the creativity is down to Vinicius and it's down if like Vinicius has a good day and yeah that's a bit the bad thing I think that this Man City tie could be really important for Arbeloa as well our colleagues from Madrid here at the Athletic Mario Cortegana and Guillermo Rai they have reported that Arbeloa would be in a tough position if he doesn't go through against Man City so let's see what happens I don't know who else could round it a point in that situation if they eventually sack Arbeloa but it's just to give you a grasp of the tension and the noise that there's a wrong remedy that it hasn't ceased over the past weeks.

17:55Pol Ballus: Meanwhile, Tom, what are they saying in France about Mbappe's knee? It was only about a week ago that some were expressing doubts about even the World Cup.

18:01Tom Williams: Yeah, I mean, there's concern. I don't think there's concern to that extent. There's been a knowledge in France that he's been carrying this injury for quite a long time. And I remember going back, I think it was early January when Xabi Alonso was still in the Madrid dugout and Mbappe was being given some rest and agreed to curtail that period of rest for, I think it was a game in the Spanish Super Cup. Paul might be able to correct me if I'm wrong.

18:30Jimbo: It was the game against Man City in the league phase and then the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup.

18:35Tom Williams: Yes. And the reporting on that in France was Mbappe probably shouldn't be playing in this Super Cup game, but he knows that Xabi Alonso was in the last chance saloon and he's prepared to put himself on the line in that sentence in order to try and help, which he did. So, yeah, there is a degree of concern. I don't think there are concerns that he necessarily might miss the World Cup. I think ultimately the feeling is that he will probably benefit from this period of rest. There is a concern as to whether he's going to be able to play in the two friendly games that France have got coming up at the end of the month in the States.

19:19Tom Williams: But I think regardless of whether or not he's fit, he's probably going to go on that trip anyway, even if it's just to go out and hand some sponsors and wave for the cameras. So yeah, something that's being followed in France and inevitably a subject of concern. But I think there's also a sense of relief that he is finally getting a bit of rest and that this issue is finally being looked at.

19:42Pol Ballus: What a terrible time for Real Madrid's prospects, though, for him to be taking that rest. They are, thanks to the defeat last Monday to Getafe, four points now behind Barcelona in La Liga title race. Barcelona, who, as mentioned, will also have a Champions League midweek fixture. They once again make the trip to St. James' Park to take on Newcastle. 2-1 there in September with a Marcus Rashford brace. how do you see their prospects of something similar this time Paul?

20:12Jimbo: I think that Barca have a context to be moderately positive the team is tired, they have a lot of injuries as well they got a bit of a scrappy win on the weekend against Athletic Club it's always tough to go to San Mames especially after the Copa del Rey semi-final return like that they played midweek a lot of tired legs in there and Flick had to rotate but what we saw in the past week I mentioned that game against Atletico the Madrid because I think it was important to live the mood in Barcelona because Barca with that performance they won 3-0 but they were not able to come back from the 4-0 defeat that they got at the Metropolitano but they showed the fans that they have a team that is willing to compete and is willing to put the effort and have the faith to do unthinkable things which in a way is what you need in the Champions League.

21:05Jimbo: Now, as I was saying, Barca are missing a lot of people through injuries. They lost Jules Koundé and Alejandro Valde in that Atletico game. They are not going to be able to fit in the whole tie against Newcastle. And Frankie de Jong is out as well. So Flick has a lot of... a bit of a jigsaw in there and a bit of pieces like to shuffle. But I think that Barca has the mood and has the confidence and the courage to believe that they can improve in the next week, in the coming months. Plus, they have Lamin Jamal in the best goal-scoring form of his career, basically. Which, I guess that it helps to make life easier if you have Lamin Jamal in your team.

21:45Pol Ballus: Indeed. His career has not been that long so far, but it is pretty excellent form. He scored the only goal of their 1-0 win at Athletic at the weekend. That's taken him to 14 now for the season in the league, 19 in all competitions. It also means that he has scored 50 goals in professional matches at the age of 18 years and 237 days. Perspective time, Messi reached 50 goals at 20 years and 315 days. And Cristiano didn't get there until 21 years and 297 days. Wow.

22:20Jimbo: Yeah, yeah, just mad to see. I think in the last seven La Liga games, he has eight goal involvements, which are seven goals and one assist. and his performance in the weekend i mean i i've got a lot of like i've right i've written a lot of articles about lamin jamal comparing with lino messi i'm not a big fan of like comparing him with the figure of messi but he reminded me a bit of because he he had one of these performances that he was not at the top of of his game but at some point in the second half when he got the ball to score that goal you you get the feeling that he said right i'm gonna decide this i have not had like the greatest game of my life.

22:57Jimbo: I'm going to take the ball here, boom, cut inside, and ball to the top bins. And that's what he did. And this capacity of being just the guy to decide games, yeah, it's just astonishing to see in an 18-year-old. When you ask people at the club, people like Senior Sources at Barcelona, they tell you, look, we don't know what La Minna Malle is going to become. But at this age, Lionel Messi was not asked to do what La Minya Mali is asked to do right now. Because when Messi was 18, people were looking at Teco, at Ronaldinho, at Samuel Eto 'o, and Messi could afford to have a bad game. Now, La Minya Mali is the go-to guy, and when Barca need to win a game, they just look at him.

23:40Jimbo: So he's dealing with that, and he's coping with that quite well.

23:43Pol Ballus: But that is a concern, I imagine. Messi had a little bit more of a chance to build up to his extraordinary career. so much pressure has already been put on on Yamal. The big change meanwhile at Barcelona since the turn of the year is the fact that they are no longer shipping goals in such industrial quantities. Eight clean sheets since 2026 began. They kept clean sheet the second leg against Atletico and did again this weekend. Has Hansi Flick taken into account some of those player meetings that were urgently called?

24:15Jimbo: I think that this plays a part on it because, as we said, discussed in this podcast, players over the past month shared a bit their concern in certain moments just to practice this sort of approach. At the same time, we still have to see that Barca are able to translate this into the Champions League because it is the Champions League where they have their worst record in terms of conceding goals. And Newcastle is going to be a good test for that. and there was a feeling in the squad as well that what happened against Atletico de Madrid needed to be a learning for the Champions League because if we look at last season all the knockouts of the Champions League Barcelona conceded a lot of goals they beat Borussia Dortmund in the return like they struggled in there with Inter Milan we know how the story went so they knew that they have to improve this season in the Champions League in that regard and Newcastle is going to be a good test for that.

25:12Jimbo: The bad thing for them is that, as I mentioned, they have a lot of injuries in the backline and let's see who plays in there. But Flick is not going to have the best setup possible just to try to defend Newcastle's quick counters.

25:27Pol Ballus: Also in action against the Premier League side this week are Atletico Madrid, who will be facing Tottenham Hotspur, the same Tottenham Hotspur side that, of course, beat Dortmund and to Eintracht Frankfurt in the competition this season that finished fourth indeed in the Champions League group phase. So they must be quite concerned, Paul, about them.

25:48Jimbo: I mean, I don't know how concerned they are, but if Tottenham want to take that as a sort of boost to their morale. Basically, Simone rotated all his squad on the weekend, focusing for the Champions League. In a way, it is because Atletico Madrid have, I'm not going to say given up, but they know that their chances in La Liga are just non-existent and that they have to focus in to make the top four. And they have to concentrate really on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. They have the job done in the Copa del Rey. They are in the final, but in the Champions League. Yeah, basically they have to save all the best players.

26:23Jimbo: And that's what they did on the weekend. It was enough for them to beat Real Sociedad, which is always good. And now, let's see, I think in Spain, everyone sees Atletico as favourites in this time, despite not having the second leg at home, but the form that Tottenham has been in. There's also the feeling that the Premier League is above La Liga at all levels and that what happens in the domestic competition in England might not be translating in Europe because the Premier League is just above every other competition. and they might still be competitive at the European stage. But if they are honest, they feel that they really have a chance and that's why Simeone gave a rest to all his big players.

27:10Pol Ballus: Right. The sight of Crystal Palace putting three pospers in the space of seven minutes will have buoyed their morale no end. They beat Sociedad this weekend, Atletico 3-2. That's who they'll be facing in the Copa del Rey final, so that'll be another comfort for them. Alexander Sorloth taking his goal tally to 11 goals in 17 matches since the turn of the year.

27:32Jimbo: He's bang in form. Absolutely. He's been the best striker of Atletico de Madrid this season. I would say that if you ask some of the Atletico fans, they would prefer to have Sorloth in front than Julian Alvarez this season. Or if you ask for more of a go-to man, they would say that Sorloth has been the most reliable character in there. a boost for them is that Antoine Griezmann is expected to stay until the end of the season as well which there were some rumors that he could be leaving to Orlando mid-season but after the Copa del Rey success they are in the final he had an amazing performance at the Camp Nou and he might be an important piece for Atletico de Madrid in these last months of the season because his experience his warfare on the pitch is just yeah giving Atletico an extra and I expect him to play like I don't know if he's going to start against Tottenham but I expect him to play an important role in this tie as well

28:27Pol Ballus: Seb as a person who's watched a lot of Tottenham maybe too much Tottenham any chance for them Tuesday evening?

28:34Seb Stafford-Bloor: No, no, no, none at all Wow, really? I straw-polled some of my friends ahead of this because we're kind of mixed my Tottenham supporting friends I should say we're sort of mixed as to whether this tie needs to be chucked in favor of rejuvenating Premier League form, whether it can be used to generate a little bit of momentum, self-belief, or the third option was they take an absolute hiding with a full-strength team and it diminishes whatever little momentum and self-belief there is actually left in that Tottenham team. So there isn't really a... I haven't found anyone yet who believes that Tottenham will win either game or progress through.

29:12Seb Stafford-Bloor: And I think it's probably best that they don't because all the eggs need to go in the Premier League survival basket, Jimbo, I think.

29:19Pol Ballus: Crikey. Very good. We'll see what happens on Tuesday night. Tonight, possibly for you, listener, the other Champions League games coming up Tuesday are Galatasaray and Liverpool. Galatasaray who previously beat Liverpool back in the league phase. James' Atalanta-Bayern clash. And, of course, that Newcastle-Barcelona game Wednesday brings Bayer Leverkusen against Arsenal. Bodo Glimt against Sporting, that Real Madrid-Man City affair, and Paris Saint-Germain against Chelsea. So many treats in there. Next up, let's find out about brave Atalanta's brave prospects against Bayern Munich.

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32:10Seb 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 Pierce, Olly Kay and the very best football writers around.

32:24Pol Ballus: James Horncastle, heading back to Italy. You were there last week, James. You had that lovely sit-down with Ficcao Tomori of Milan in Milan. And that's available on all our usual platforms. Where did you record that, James?

32:41James Horncastle: It was a pastry shop near where Ficcao Tomori lives in Milan. which, yeah, it wasn't the most traditional Milanese place. You know, it was sort of a, quite a new pastry shop in a glass building. So you could be forgiven for thinking you were anywhere in the world, let alone Milan, but he's very much at home in that neighborhood and in that city, James.

33:11Pol Ballus: Yeah, that very much came across as well. Lovely stuff. Anyway, back you go to the peninsula this, well actually in a short time to catch up with Atalanta and their game with Bayern Munich. Lots to talk about from City A itself this week with the Milan derby and the rise of Como continuing and various other things too. But let's begin with Bayern's visit to the Guis Stadium. Atalanta, whose form ever since Palladino won February's Manager of the Month has fallen off dramatically. Have they maybe been keeping themselves for this big game?

33:49James Horncastle: Well, remember they had to lift themselves for that second leg against Dortmund as well, where I think a lot of people saw their first leg defeat in the context of the defeats that Inter had suffered and Juventus had suffered. And Atalanta were the only ones to kind of pull a rabbit out of the hat and still be in the competition. in fairness to Palladino they are playing across three fronts in that Lazio moment of the week their foe in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg was Atalanta so Atalanta are the only team involved in three fronts so far their squad depth which is considerable has been kind of running a little bit thin since the start of the year when they let Adam Ola-Lukman go to Atletico Madrid they replaced him with Giacomo Raspidori Raspidori's been out injured Edison's been out injured Charles de Quetelaire has been out injured I think if they were to get those players back they would perhaps be in better condition going into this game I think they're quite realistic against Bayern we've heard from Seb throughout the season that Bayern have gone a long way to becoming more of a complete team than they were last year under Vincent Kompany in his second season.

35:09James Horncastle: They are considered Champions League favourites along with Arsenal. But I think Atalanta, this is a team that's got quite a lot of European experience over the last eight years. They've knocked out teams that you wouldn't expect, like Jürgen Kopp's Liverpool in the Europa League. So they go into this with clear eyes, full heart, can't lose mentality, James.

35:36Pol Ballus: Very, very nice. Among those unexpected victories are two big German names. Borussia Dortmund, as you mentioned, in the playoff with that remarkable comeback. And of course, Bayer Leverkusen in that Europa League final, the only team to manage to beat Javier Alonso's side of that whole extraordinary campaign. How much fear does the iname Atalanta bring in Germany, Seb?

36:00Seb Stafford-Bloor: Not any to Bayern. I think they've been at pains to be very respectful. Alex Palovic was speaking about the prospect of playing them, was full of admiration for what they've been, particularly in Europe. But Bayern are Bayern and they're extremely strong. The one reservation they have is Manuel Neuer won't make this trip. He's suffered a third thigh injury, a muscle tear of the season, which has kind of started that conversation about his longevity again. Harry Kane didn't play at the weekend, but that was just precaution. He'll be back and he'll be fit. So saving Davis and Neuer, Alphonso Davis still a couple of weeks away.

36:36Seb Stafford-Bloor: They feel in pretty good shape and they're playing pretty well. I mean, they come into this off a pretty healthy battering delivered to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday night. So they look in good shape and I think they're ready to go. So I don't think there's any trepidation. It's different for Bayern.

36:51Pol Ballus: OK, back-to-back victories against Borussia's after beating Dortmund in the Classica 4-1, as you say, against Gladbach at the weekend. So Kane, who didn't play, a calf strain was the reason, but that was just precautionary, Seb. We're sure of that.

37:05Seb Stafford-Bloor: I think more of a knock than an impact injury, Jimbo, rather than a strain of any kind. Certainly when Max Epple spoke last week and when Vincent Kumbi spoke, there was no suggestion that Kane was going to miss the Atalanta game. So barring something on for scene, he'll be ready to go over in Italy on Tuesday night.

37:24Pol Ballus: Four goals anyway from Luis Diaz, Germán Muziala, Conor Limer. and Nicholas Jackson for Bayern as they continue their march towards the German title. There you go then, that's Atalanta's clash with Bayern. Atalanta, the underdogs, but we've seen them laugh in the face of those odds before Will It Happen Again This Time. Meanwhile, James, Sunday night, down the road at San Siro, we had the Milan derby. And what a Milan derby it was.

38:08James Horncastle: A pivotal one really James because I think it decided whether we're going to have a title race or not between now and the end of the season if Inter were to have won that game they would have been 13 points clear and I think already people including myself were prognosticating that this was going to be a procession for Inter and instead Milan won 1-0 as they often do this season and the gap is now down to seven points Inter have got quite a tough march essentially play all of the big teams after Milan and after Juventus and you can see that even though for example this was their first defeat in 15 league games since the last derby in November certainly since being eliminated by Bodo from the Champions League sort of dark clouds have formed over Inter where they've got very defensive like I was on last week's pod and they seem a little bit rattled by it and I'm not sure that's really a good place for them to be right now particularly going into this this run of games that they've got Christian Kivu became the first intercoach in 50 years to lose his first two Milan derbies and even though he's done a good job in the round and could win a double, league and cup double this season, they have lost most of the big games.

39:49James Horncastle: They're out of the Champions League and so that has left quite a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. But credit for Milan for giving us a title race and credit to Pervis Estupinian, the wing-back that they signed from Brighton in the summer, who's had a really up-and-down season. He got sent off quite early on in his Milan career against Napoli, lost his place to a kind of no-name youngster called Davide Batisagi. Batisagi got injured at the end of last week's game against Cremonese, last minute, 89th minute. Stupinian comes on, gives the ball to Modric, Modric puts the ball in, and Milan score and then go on to win that game 2-0.

40:37James Horncastle: And Stupinian got the only goal of this game with quite an emphatic strike in the first half. Brilliant finish. Which came very quickly after it looked like Inter were going to take the lead, James, because I think Mike Mignon made a save at the other end from Henrik Mkhitaryan. And everyone was sort of distracted by that, talking about that, how Inter were on top and didn't realise that. Oh, look, Estupinian's thrown go, oh, Milan.

41:03Pol Ballus: Right, well, gorgeous pass from Fofana to set him up. No Lotharo Martinez wants to go for the Nerezori. When's he due back?

41:11James Horncastle: I think they've been quite cautious. I mean, he was on the bench, but not part of the squad because he's a leader. But I think this is one of the stories, really, of Inter's last few weeks. He got injured in the first leg against Bodo Glimt in the Arctic Circle and hasn't featured since. Inter have coped pretty well this season with injuries, but now that we're in March, the absences of Chalinolu, who didn't play in this game, Lautaro and Marcus Churan. So for the first time, Inter were playing with Francesco Pio Esposito and Anjuan Boni up front. And those guys have made good cameos and there's been plenty of hype, particularly around Esposito.

41:58James Horncastle: but they never played together before and Milan's defence were very aggressive in how they went about marking those two players so those absences have hurt Inter and I think that is a necessary part of context when looking at this game but Milan now, I mean back in 1999 James when you were in Italy opening Gazzetta della Sports in Piazzas they famously came back from seven points behind with seven games to go so fewer because there are 10 games to go to overhaul Lazio and win the league so can they do it i don't know but it's

42:40Pol Ballus: going to be fun finding out and the top four race behind them looks pretty exciting too Milan currently in second place seven points off the top as you say third place Napoli winning this weekend. They're 11 points themselves off Inter and in their 2-1 victory I think against Torino, they had Lukaku and De Bruyne finally sharing a pitch in a league match. First time that's ever happened. Wow. Como are now fourth. They won 2-1 at Cagliari. That's their third straight victory. They move past Roma on goal difference after the Giallarossi lost away at Genoa against, of course, their former hero. Well, always hero.

43:19Pol Ballus: Daniele De Rossi, Juve are sixth and they beat Pisa 4-0 in a very dominant second-half performance. That Lukaku and De Bruyne reunion, James, emotional?

43:32James Horncastle: Yeah, it was. I mean, Lukaku has been making cameos since the middle of January. But De Bruyne had not been seen since he got injured against Inter, I think, back in October. he basically left Italy to concentrate on his rehab, I think in Belgium. And then he was sort of paparazzi'd outside of Naples's airport at the beginning of last week. And everyone was like, right, he's finally back. But there was no expectation that he would play. And yet Conte said his rehabbed really well, watched him in training, looked like he'd never been away. Same with Frank Zamboyanguisa. Anguissa who's been such a critical player in both of their league championships.

44:23James Horncastle: Anguissa has been injured since I think December. So to have all of those guys back is really important for Napoli. And I must say, I'm super impressed with what Conte has done this year. As much as they are third, I mean they were only a point behind Milan going into the Debi della Madonnina. really putting pressure on Milan to sort of win that game. And considering all of the injuries, and I saw Seb mouth, wow, when you said Lukaku and De Bruyne had not played at all this season together. To do what he's done, keep this team competitive, and as he keeps reminding us, win a Super Cup, is quite a fine job on the whole from Mr.

45:14James Horncastle: Conte.

45:14Pol Ballus: although a lot of people would throw in a little asterisk about their European form as is so often

45:20James Horncastle: the case with Conte outfits yeah but as I've said and I think some of that's fair James but I think it also needs to be seen in the context of all of these injuries which they have had I think maybe 30 or 35 separate injuries this season and for the new signings to not play together to be injured or in the cases of Lorenzo Luca and Noah Lang be kind of let go in January. I think he's done tremendous. I mean, even looking at the team that beat Torino at the weekend, Elieff Elmas and Billy Gilmore in midfield, Vergara and this new kid, Alisson Santos, who they signed in January, who looks really good, off Rasmus Hoyland, and Joan Jesus and Miguel Gutierrez in defence with Oliveira.

46:15James Horncastle: I mean, if you look at that, I know Conte's been provocative in saying, if you look at this team, it would be like, you know, people would be saying they'd finish eighth. But I think if you do look at that team, you are saying, hang on a minute, that's not a team that should be very close to second as they have been in Serie A for pretty much all of this season.

46:33Pol Ballus: Fair enough. Fair enough. Other bits of Italian news. Oh, there's a big derby coming up in the Europa League on Thursday as Bologna, who lost this weekend, take on Roma, who lost this weekend. The Coppa Italia semifinals are looking finely poised. You mentioned Lazio had a two-two draw with Atalanta on their first leg. The other one was Como 0-0 last Tuesday. Second legs not until late April. Yes. And in the meantime, here's a question from KCH1982, who posted this during our YouTube live stream Sunday night said, can we get an update on Sampdoria? Over to you, James.

47:13James Horncastle: Well, I wasn't following what Samp did at the weekend, but I suspect they lost because I saw... They lost 3-0 to Frosinone.

47:20Pol Ballus: Yeah.

47:21James Horncastle: And to be fair, Frosinone have been going great guns, as they say, in Serie B this season. But I did see Samp's executive, and this may have changed by the time this goes out. he was like well we're going to have to consider changing um the coach and the coaching staff on the back of that defeat for the second time watch this space um yeah i mean just it's become an extremely volatile club with quite an unclear ownership situation um between sort of um london based italians and i think um maybe some singaporeans yeah they are in 16th place Samp they haven't won in the last four games they've lost three of them so you know when they went down a couple of years ago they had a wage bill that was you know sort of I think along with Padme's maybe the highest in Serie B and instead that's got them nowhere in fact they've just plunged even further so worrying but it just goes to show how we talk about the championship being a difficult league to get out of.

48:31James Horncastle: Spezia for example last year were in the playoffs with Pio Esposito. Spezia 18th in Serie B. Pescara who signed Lorenzo Insigne brought Insigne back who scored the other day. They are bottom and Bardi who are owned by the De Laurentiis who own Napoli are 19th. So it's a tough place to get well not only promoted but a tough place to stay in that Serie B now

49:00Pol Ballus: well the way things had been they were pretty content staying in the second division because for a long time they were in the relegation places fantastic stuff many thanks for that James you're heading off to Bergamo we next are going to head to Ligue 1

49:25James Horncastle: with the FIFA Club World Cup final. Three goals in 42 minutes. Three goals now at this Club World Cup for João Pedro. And what a signing the Brazilian has turned out to be. He only joined Chelsea during the tournament.

49:44Pol Ballus: Tom, Paris Saint-Germain facing Chelsea again. They met last summer in the Club World Cup final. Back then, PSG were in what seemed like unstoppable form. That's not the case this time, though.

49:58Tom Williams: It's not, no. Beaten again in Ligue 1. That's two defeats in their last four league games, this time by Monaco, who they, of course, got the better of, albeit in very unconvincing fashion in the Champions League playoff round. This game taking place on Friday night to give PSG a bit more time to prepare for the first leg against Chelsea. And, you know, as we've said before, a lot of the talk around PSG this season has been, well, you know, at some point, surely things are going to click and we're going to rediscover the PSG of last season. I think the feeling now is that that might not happen.

50:33Tom Williams: The keeps write-up of the defeat against Monaco basically said, we need to forget this idea that PSG are magically going to turn back into the team that they were this time last year. They look absolutely knackered. They look psychologically worn out as well. And they They just keep making the kind of mistakes that they didn't make last season. And the physical fatigue, which, as we've said before, is a consequence of the very long season they had last season, culminating, of course, in the defeat by Chelsea in the Club World Cup final, means that they can't do the all-pitch press that was their real trademark last season.

51:15Tom Williams: And you see it when you're watching them. There's a desire to play the same kind of football, but the players just don't seem capable of it. On top of that, you've got all the injury issues. Ousmane Dembele made his comeback from injury as a second-half substitute against Monaco on Friday night, came on for the last half an hour, looked relatively bright and brought a bit of impetus to PSG's play. But is he going to be fit enough to start in the first leg against Chelsea? Who knows? Fabian Ruiz wasn't involved. Jean Neves wasn't involved. I think Neves might be able to feature, Ruiz probably not.

51:50Tom Williams: And you've got players out of form everywhere you look. And all three of Monaco's goals basically came from PSG errors. The first one, Warren Zay-Emery, who is one of the very few players at PSG who has been in good form this season, has been playing a lot and a lot more than last season because of all the absentees in midfield, wins the ball back on the PSG byline on the left-hand side and then sets off on this kind of quite misguided dribble through the middle of his own penalty area, ends up losing the ball. Magna Zakhliouche, who's hit form for Monaco in recent weeks, slams home. Second goal scored by Alexander Golovine comes after Vitinha tries to clear a ball on the edge of the box and succeeds only in poking it straight into Golovine's path.

52:36Tom Williams: and then the third goal which Balogun scored late on came after Lee Kangin overran the ball in a dangerous area.

53:07Tom Williams: I think that the feeling in France now is that PSG are not suddenly going to become the team that they were last season. They are going to have to grind their way through these games and try and grind their way back to some kind of form because they just look physically incapable of playing the kind of football that we got used to seeing from them last season.

53:25Pol Ballus: Four defeats in the league since the turn of the year. Also the two draws in the Champions League, one against Newcastle and the one in the playoff with Monaco. So beyond their Champions League prospects against Chelsea, how confident can they be of retaining the Ligue 1 title? Only one point now between them and Lens again.

53:46Tom Williams: And this is an additional factor. I mean, last season, one of the reasons that they were able to play with such remarkable energy and such freshness in the Champions League, particularly in the knockout phase, was that Luis Enrique was able to rotate quite a lot in the league. And he rotated quite extravagantly last season. I mean, there were periods where Dembele just wasn't starting any Ligue 1 matches so that he could be fresh for the Champions League. And they could afford to do that last season because they had a 10-point lead in Ligue 1 going into the second half of the season. That is not the case this season.

54:18Tom Williams: Lens just will not quit. Lens will not leave them alone. We thought that the Lens challenge was fading because they'd gone two games without a win, lost at home to Monaco, drew away at Strasbourg. Salzburg, PSG had opened up this little four-point lead and you thought, OK, that's probably going to be that. But now all of a sudden, Lens are right back in there, one point behind. Very convincing winners at home to Mets. I mean, Mets are absolutely terrible, rock bottom, heading towards Ligue 2 at frightening speeds. But, you know, Lens are playing with no pressure whatsoever, whereas PSG just look like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders.

54:57Tom Williams: we're now only three weekends away from that big clash between Lens and PSG which I think everyone who follows French football is hoping is going to have something riding on it. Pierre Saar as the Lens coach has been comparing Lens title challenge to the Tour de France and he was asked you know after the win against Mets you know how he felt about the title race and he said oh no we're still in the Alps there are still some big uh big stages uh you know still to get through uh you know before we can start thinking about being on the Champs -Élysées but yeah I mean I think if they if they carry on playing the way they are there is going to be something riding on that game against PSG and again just as we you know we kind of thought that that you know there's this there's so many natural assumptions at play in football you always think this bigger stronger richer club are going to come good at some point that the little plucky underdog are going to are going to fall by the wayside, starting to realise that maybe PSG aren't quite as good as they were last season and actually starting to realise that perhaps Leeds really could go on and do this, which would be, I mean, incredible.

56:02Tom Williams: And still in the Coupe de France, having come through their semi-final against Lyon last week. Incredible.

56:08Pol Ballus: Just on the subject of Chelsea, is that much of a grudge match? Is there a lot of needles still after last summer's clash?

56:15Tom Williams: I think there will be a bit of needle, particularly when you think of the circumstances of that game in that PSG were absolutely flying. They'd beaten both Madrid clubs 4-0 in the Club World Cup. They beat Bayern Munich. They looked unstoppable. And suddenly Chelsea just picked them apart. And I think it was a combination of Enzo Maresca very shrewdly pinpointing tactical weaknesses in PSG's setup that other clubs hadn't identified, and also PSG looking a little bit knackered and as we probably recall that you know the scenes that greeted the final whistle were pretty unedifying from a PSG perspective lots of pushing and shoving and effing and jeffing Luis Enrique slapping Jao Pedro so those things won't have been forgotten and there have been you know previous meetings between these teams in the Champions League I mean going back a little bit now but in the early years of the QSI era at PSG they came up against Chelsea a few times I I remember covering a game at Stamford Bridge where Denver Bar scored late on to send Chelsea through on away goals.

57:22Tom Williams: There was another game at Stamford Bridge where I think Thiago Silva scored a late header that maybe sent PSG through or put them in a good position. So, you know, they do have a bit of history. So I think that, yeah, I think there probably will be a little bit of needle. Excellent.

57:35Pol Ballus: Love to see it. Back in Ligue 1, meanwhile, Wren picked up their fourth win in a row since ditching Javi Bay. 4-0 against Nice Habibé, meanwhile, enjoyed another victory with his new side, Marseille who've moved up into third spot because Lyon only drew with Paris FC and Marseille beat Toulouse the very same team who they played last week in the Coupe and got beaten by they secured their revenge over thanks to a goal from Mason Greenwood Anything you want to say about those games, Tom?

58:10Tom Williams: Yeah, I mean I mean, Habib Bay has been on a rollercoaster ride already as OM coach, as you would expect. Loses way at Brest in his first game. Oh, terrible start. Beats Lyon 3-2, stoppage time winner in his second game. First run to the Belletron. Oh, incredible. Bay, he's brought the club together. He's going to take us back. Knocked out of the Coupe de France by Toulouse with PSG having already fallen by the wayside. This is terrible. The Marseille fans who went to Toulouse on Saturday night had a banner in the stands that just said, Vous êtes des m****es. You are s***, plural, which probably doesn't even require translation.

58:49Tom Williams: But they get a win. And then because Lyon dropped points, they're now back in third, albeit only on goal difference. So, I mean, yeah, ridiculous ups and downs at Marseille as ever. Lyon, extremely fortunate not to lose at home to Paris FC last night. Antoine Comboare, who had won his first game as Paris FC coach, sees his side go 1-0 up. Martial Manetzi, Wolverhampton Wanderers, low knee. And then Lyon get the most generous penalty deep into stoppage time for a real kind of Ligue 1 handball. The kind of thing that isn't punished by a penalty in the Premier League, but always, always is in Ligue 1.

59:30Tom Williams: Lyon had started with Hendrik, whose form has dipped a little bit of late, and Corentin Tolisso on the bench. Hendrik came on and did next to nothing. Tolisso came on, was very good. He scores the penalty, so Lyon rescued the draw. But yeah, find themselves down in fourth. And the fact that Monaco have turned a corner, that Rennes have turned a corner, means that that battle for Champions League qualification is getting more and more interesting by the week. Excellent.

59:57Pol Ballus: A word on Lille. Tom who face Aston Villa in the Europa League

1:00:02Tom Williams: Yeah their form has been better of late, they're really struggling to score goals, they had no Olivier Giroud at the weekend because he was poorly but I think he's probably going to be alright for that game on Thursday, they scored a beautiful goal, Mathias Fernandes Pardo young Belgian slash Spanish centre forward who hasn't actually chosen which country he's going to play for yet much to the consternation of both Belgian and Spanish football federations, chests down a long ball from Nabil Bentaleb, lobs it over the goalkeeper. But then Lorient equalise with one of the goals of the season, young Cameroonian midfielder, Arthur Avon Ibon.

1:00:46Tom Williams: Lorient have a late free kick, goes into the box, is headed clear. Ibon runs up to the ball and is almost so hasty to get a shot off that he gets too close to it, realises that. And as the ball bounces, it then has to back off like three or four paces. Hits a first-time shot outside the right foot into the top left-hand corner. So Lohan rescue a draw. Lille a pegged back. So, yeah, they have been looking better, but they are really struggling in front of goal.

1:01:15Pol Ballus: OK. We'll see how they get on on Thursday night. Seb, you're up next with what's going on in the Bundesliga and also by Leverkusen.

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1:03:37Seb Stafford-Bloor: You're listening to The Totally Football Show with James Richardson, now 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.

1:03:49Pol Ballus: Seb, you told us all about Bayern's 4-1 victory over Gladbach back on Friday. That keeps them 11 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. Dortmund and third place Hoffenheim also winning this weekend. Stuttgart's 2-2 draw with Mainz, though, means that RB Leipzig have drawn level on points with them in the hunt for the top four. Down the bottom, meanwhile, things looking very spicy indeed. Wolfsburg and Heidenheim, the bottom two, both lost this weekend. Wolfsburg then sacking their manager, Daniel Bauer. That pair are now four points from even making a relegation playoff. But the next group above them, you've got five teams separated by only one point.

1:04:32Pol Ballus: Only one point. St. Pauli, Kuhn, Mainz, Bremen and Gladbach with St. Pauli currently in that relegation place. Is that where the big interest is, do you think, Seb?

1:04:42Seb Stafford-Bloor: certainly is interesting and let's start at Vultzburg because on Sunday morning you mentioned the the coaching sacking Peter Christiansen the sporting director was also dismissed Sunday morning that had been long speculated because Christiansen had taken a lot of a lot of criticism for squad building some people saying there were too many Danish players at Vultzburg there were too many cliques there wasn't enough team spirit tricky old place because it's a small town really volsburg the club doesn't attract a lot of scrutiny therefore you know players that go there tend to be on their way somewhere else it's a little bit of a way station and so you know when things go wrong they can go wrong pretty quickly ahead of the game against hamburg on saturday there was there was a big push like there was an open training session a lot of fans turned up to show their support um some of the the video from that made its way onto social media when the game actually started though there was a banner hanging in the home end which said basically this is your last chance to show some fight it's quite menacing um and false book did they were they were they were they were pretty physical and pretty intense but almost to the point of it being too much a little bit frenzied um they took the lead scored a penalty christine ericsson converting it but then they conceded two two basically identical penalties to luka kovuskovic was fouled twice in the penalty box um he scored one jean-lip de paix scored the other two one half foul full time and at full time the locals having none of it um there were flares tracked onto the pitch from behind the goal basically every relegation day cliche you can think of was there there were there was black smoke coming from the home end stewards had kind of formed a line between the players and the fans to protect them um and then the next day uh the two sackings dita hecking coached a team between 2012 and 2016 took them previously to the champions league and to a dfb pokal also coached a young kevin de bruyne um to his move to manchester city basically he's come back a good appointment hecking's very no-nonsense he'll restore a little bit of a whatever feel-good factor is available to volsburg in this situation but jimbo um this is a team from the upper middle class who have the backing the volkswagen the financial backing Volkswagen they have their patronage and as a result a um an exemption from the 50 plus one rule for them to be where they are with that group of players and that amount of resources is little short of a disgrace they play Heidenheim on Saturday Heidenheim who are kind of doomed but who come from completely on their end of the food chain very few resources not a surprise that they are where they are but that is an awkward place to play uh and if they lose it's kind of getting close to Zweidebundsliga time for Wolfsburg which would be dramatic underperformance so that's that's Wolfsburg everybody else is kind of moving in the right direction save Cologne um who we've covered with their Stadion Sprecher controversy St Pauli got a pretty decent draw against Eintracht Frankfurt Mainz got a draw too mentioned that Gladbach let's see they Gladbach have got a really interesting situation brewing because you mentioned their defeat to Bayern um but it also involved a red card for their club captain rocco wright was a last man clear denial of a goal scorer opportunity foul so it was a red card wright's in the background there's been this story going on that wright's who grew up a gladback fan was actually i've interviewed him and he told me that he was registered as a club member the day he was born by one of his father's friends so he'd been alive for about four hours by the time that um he was uh he'd been a registered club member anyway there's been a story about Reitz being of interest to Ebi Leipzig who if you're a British mentioned Gladbach fan traditional Vereen big club Ebi Leipzig are kind of everything that you stand against and there's stories all the way over the German media this weekend that Reitz has agreed to move to Leipzig in the summer pending an agreement between the two clubs I have not verified that yet that's just a report that's going out there but needless to say it kind of doesn't matter because Gladbach, who are not quite circling the drain, but could potentially be so in a couple of weeks' time should results go against them, and their captain and their homegrown icon, that's one of their great hopes, really, potentially Leipzig-bound.

1:09:05Seb Stafford-Bloor: It's pretty provocative as a story. They are going to face St. Pauli at home on Friday night in a game that they can ill afford to lose, of course. Wright's naturally suspended for that, but we'll see what kind of reception he gets in two weeks' time.

1:09:18Pol Ballus: Indeed. Let's talk about Bayer Leverkusen, who are up in sixth place. Only three points off the Champions League positions. A 3-3 draw for them at Freiburg this weekend after a midweek win over Hamburg themselves. With Alexander Grimaldo scoring an absolute willy of a free kick. That's now five direct free kicks that he's scored this season. Grimaldo!

1:09:47Seb Stafford-Bloor: Now it's five. Five free-stoch-tores from Bayern and we're Leverkusen in this season.

1:09:53Pol Ballus: Bayern Leverkusen this week taking on a team who appreciate a set piece themselves, Arsenal. You were pretty down on their chances when we spoke about this last week, Seb. Are you still feeling that it's just a question of getting a bit of experience and then move on to next season?

1:10:08Seb Stafford-Bloor: Yeah, it's not so much being down. I think it's just more you can afford to be carefree. Go in there, learn something, have a go. I do want to the Grimaldo thing's interesting Grimaldo isn't is inhabiting what we'll call the the Janinho territory at the moment when he takes free kicks in that position um it's uh he's got that knuckleball technique down as well as anybody I've ever seen almost to the point when he has the ball in that position you kind of expect him to score so that's something for Arsenal to to watch out for don't give free kicks away 25 yards from goal the other player who had a really good week not just on the weekend but in that hamburger game you mentioned christian kafane the young forward who uh pole know because he signed from albacete uh in the summer and turned up was pretty raw you wanted to play you could see the talent and you could see hey one day this guy's going to pull it all together and there's going to be a real player there a great technique skillful smart uh quick you know he's pretty big as well he's six foot two he's got a pair of very different but equally classy goals last week goals four and five of his bundesliga season he's growing into a real talent and he's one of those players i think who even against a side of arsenal's caliber so well organized defensively so so strong he's unpredictable in a way that i think could potentially cause them harm the one other issue is that i i think arsenal ernest poku um who we've spoken about before um on um totally europe uh as being a sort of a great hope for dutch football he's going to be playing as a right wing back because of injuries in the side and so also going to have to be a bit careful down their left because poku is as quick as any player in the bundesliga really um a real menace so these young slightly cultish players i think they can can do a bit of damage i think they'll also learn a lot about playing against the caliber of player that arsenal have in in each of those respective positions so so let's see but there's there's interest there even if we don't hold that a great hope for labia kuzin they're they're very much worth watching one other player ibu maza uh the algerian playmaker fabulous footballer in the making he was um he was signed in the summer from her to bsc um in the zweiter bundesliga really classy sort of old-fashioned number 10 with a sort of a little bit of a number eight vibe in there as well because he's quite mobile lovely playmaker um so watch out for him whether whether Arsenal give him the opportunity to really play I don't know but he's someone that certainly when the World Cup comes around people are going to want to know okay they've also got

1:12:38Pol Ballus: Patrick Shipp as a big target man as well can they defend a corner by Leverkusen no this this is this

1:12:46Seb Stafford-Bloor: is the the crux of my fear Jimbo because if there is an issue or if there are issues that Leverkusen have been dogged by all season it is kind of defensive basics picking up runners between full backs and center backs uh dealing with crosses these are not good things to be carrying into a game against arsenal um and they've had problems in defense all year they've had problems that um i mean mark flecken is out injured so they've replaced the goalkeeper there is still it's not it's not an area of strength um i don't want to throw anyone on the bus but it's um i fear for them a little bit of those set pieces so let's see it could be quite a long evening if

1:13:22Pol Ballus: it doesn't go well in that area okay arsenal who did finish top of the champions league league phase. However, only just got past League One Mansfield Town this weekend and are carrying a whole raft of injuries. Calafuri and Trossard going off in the Mansfield Town game. So, by no means a full strength Arsenal team will be taking on Leverkusen. Seb, anything else from the world of the Bundesliga before we wrap up this week?

1:13:49Seb Stafford-Bloor: Yeah, poor Finn Darmann. So, Augsburg went to RB Leipzig at the weekend and lost 2-1. Played pretty well held onto a point until the 91st minute to which point goalkeeper darman conceded an own goal there was just nothing he could have done about it was just terribly terribly unlucky so that was 91st minute by 94th minute he was kind of playing as an emergency forward in pursuit of a point um and he was part of attack that forced a corner corner comes in flicked at the near post there's darman at the back post hurls himself at it with a brilliant old school kind of nile quinnish diving header and you just think for a split second that's in the top corner it's about foot wide about foot wide from from what would have been one of the best finishes i've seen from a goalkeeper kind of um i can't remember his name but um benfica-esque that guy uh trubin yes thank you tom thank you tom williams exactly and so so poor finn darman he hasn't had the easiest season uh he had a good game at the weekend he could have had a spectacular one but for a slight miscue off the forehead.

1:14:52Pol Ballus: All right. Well, it's been a spectacular roundup from you, Seb Stafford-Bloor. Loads to look forward to this midweek with those Bundesliga sides and Paris Saint-Germain and three Spanish sides too. Of course, we'll be back on Wednesday morning and Thursday morning to round up the previous night's action in that competition. And we'll get together next week for another roundup of where things stand in the league as well. For now, it's many, many thanks to James Horncastle, Seb, Tom, Paul, to Lucy and special guest new producer Xavi. And you, listener, look forward to speaking to you again soon.

1:15:31Pol Ballus: For now, from all of us here, it's goodbye.

1:15:34Tom Williams: you've been listening to the totally football show part of the athletic fc podcast network

1:15:38Seb Stafford-Bloor: 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

1:16:00Tom Williams: The Athletic FC.

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