Real win the derby and can Italy finally qualify for a World Cup again?

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1:41James Horncastle: The Athletic FC.

1:49Pol Ballus: Totally Football Show, European edition. If you wanted a quiet weekend, you picked the wrong continent. We've got Spain, the Madrid derby and the incredible Alaves comeback. Italy, Cesc and Como on their way to Champions League and hitting Cinque. Germany, Benny Hendricks and Dortmund hitting the kill switch and much, much more. Plus, as we look ahead to Thursday's do-or-die international playoffs, we talk Italy. From the Lippi era to the apocalyptic era, can Gattuso get them back to this World Cup?

2:23Pol Ballus: It's the 23rd of March. It's the Totally Football Show European Edition. On this big screen we have Sib Staffanblor and Publis. Hello boys. Hello James. How are you? And here in the studio, James and Tom. James Horncastle and Tom Williams. Hello James. Italy and Wales. Italy and Wales. Oh, the tension's simmering. Simmering. Oh yes. If it comes to that. If. Yeah, I'm so convinced that it is going to culminate in Wales v Italy that when it invariably culminates in Bosnia versus Italy or some other company. Bosnia and Northern Ireland. I wouldn't know what to do myself. So Thursday, the first step, as Italy in Bergamo, which is a great choice of venue, hosts Northern Ireland, who cost them a World Cup before now, didn't make it to the 58 one because of Northern Ireland, while simultaneously Wales take on Bosnia-Herzegovina.

3:22Pol Ballus: And if those two teams get through, they'll meet in Cardiff next Tuesday. And, Tom, you were revealing exclusively before today's show started that even if they don't get through, they will still meet in Cardiff. Well, there is definitely going to be a friendly in Cardiff on the Tuesday if Wales don't win on Thursday. Well, it's got to be. There's no way they can arrange a team that quickly. Yeah, I think the idea is that it will be for whoever doesn't win the other semifinals. So it could be the saddest and most pointless international friendly ever. But if Wales go through and Italy don't, I mean, God forbid, but, then clearly they won't be playing.

3:56Pol Ballus: I mean, probably not, but if they did, that would be incredible.

3:59James Horncastle: The losers will play each other. Somewhere else. Somewhere else, right. Yeah, kind of unofficial. Here's what you could have won, playoff final. Tom, you got tickets to that, haven't you? Yes.

4:11Pol Ballus: If they're both, if they are essentially playing the world's bleakest friendly, will you go? No. Why not? No. Aren't you curious to know just how bleak that will be? No. I mean, as a Welshman, I've had my fill of bleak international football experiences. So I'll be quite happy to, you know, stick on Masterchef the Professionals or whatever the Tuesday night options are at this time of the year. Seb and Paul you guys got proper teams already through and let's see Spain are going to be taking on Serbia in a friendly Germany away to Switzerland away to Switzerland they're going to Ghana right but you're going to be you're going to be watching the proper games the playoffs aren't you I imagine no yeah I like my international football yeah who do you want to go through Wales or Italy Wales why Seb thanks Seb I just think you deserve a little bit of a I don't know, there's Welsh fans who have had to endure an awful lot of misery and one of my earliest memories of international football was Paul Bowden missing that penalty against Romania to not go to USA 1994 so it'd be kind of nice and symmetrical if they could get there this time, that'd be fun I'm just all Italy, all the way Why do you hit Wales so much, Paul?

5:34Pol Ballus: Eight times finalists, four times winners it's not a World Cup without these guys I mean, it's unfortunate as a Welshman and a fan of, you know, world football and consequently Italian football to be anticipating this potential confrontation between the country of my heart and the great football nation of Italy. But, you know, if Italy really wanted to get there, maybe they should have qualified automatically, you know. Yeah, there is that. My fandom has changed recently. I'm a Tottenham fan, of course. And now I... You're not anymore? I no longer really like football, but also I'm going to start to sort of long for bad things to happen to big, powerful clubs slash nations, just so that there can be a kind of...

6:16Is 2018 and 2022 not enough for you? Never, never. Fair.

6:25Pol Ballus: That's an opinion that, you know, Seb is welcome to. It's a game of opinions. I often say there are 16 teams from Europe chasing four places at the World Cup. The other paths, as they're dubbed, are the Republic of Ireland's one, which sees them in with the Czech Republic. Oh, yeah. And Denmark also taking on North Macedonia in that path. And whoever gets through will get into Group A of the World Cup with Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. Whoever makes it through from the Wales and Italy group will be in with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland. So, I mean, I know Switzerland lost Euros, etc. But still, that's a welcoming-looking group, I would suggest.

7:05James Horncastle: It's almost as good a reward as qualifying automatically, I would say, to get into that group. Yeah. The other part... In Canada are better than... Instead of you see Canada and you think, ah, they weren't very good. They are actually quite good these days, Canada. And if Italy make it... I mean, on paper. Jesse Marshall lives in Italy now, so... Oh, does he? He will know Italian football intimately. Where does he live in Italy, James? I believe he lives in Tuscany.

7:30Pol Ballus: Why is that? Because why not?

7:32James Horncastle: Because he can. I'm not going to put words in Mr. Marsh's mouth, but I think his wife got citizenship or something like that, so they thought, why not? I think there's something like that.

7:43Pol Ballus: This is quite the coincidence, because just before we began today's show, you sprang the news on us that Tom York, out of Radiohead, now lives in Rome.

7:54James Horncastle: He did live in Rome. Okay. I think he was also sort of collaborating with the filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. Oh, yeah, nice. And I think he worked on the score for what, Suspiria, the remake of Dario Argento film. Okay, well, that would make sense. I believe he was in Rome for quite some time, whether he's still there or not. Right. But it's where people are going. Harry Styles has recently spoke about just how Rome changed him.

8:20Pol Ballus: It's a rite of passage for any young man. Morrissey, for example. Particularly us. Morrissey went out. And look what it's done for him. He lived there for a while. He's not going to be living in Valencia, though. Why is that, Paul? Well, I don't know if you heard that. Well, he actually heard that because last week he had a gig in Valencia, but basically he had to cancel because he heard a bit too much of the fireworks, of the fallas, which are the national parties. Well, not the national, like the local festivities in Valencia, which are based basically in a lot of fireworks and things burning and he was a bit disturbed by the noise and basically he cancelled his gig causing a bit of trouble and stir with all the fans

9:03James Horncastle: You're in Valencia now Paul, you were supposed to be going to a Morrissey gig With John Terry No, no That wasn't my plan That wasn't on my to-do list I'm actually going to Castellondo to watch a Spain play against Serbia. Okay. We just go off to Valencia, if that makes sense.

9:26Pol Ballus: All right. It does. Hey, you know what? I never finished telling everyone about the paths. The paths to glory. Path B is Ukraine, Sweden and Poland, Albania to get a place at the World Cup alongside Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia. And then the other group is path C. That's Slovakia, Kosovo and Turkey, Romania. And whoever makes it out of that quartet will be in with USA, Paraguay and Australia. Then you've got the Inter-Confederation playoffs, which were going to be in Mexico, but there was some doubt about that. I assume that they are now taking place in Mexico. But anyway, on Friday, our regular Thursday show is going to be one day late this week.

10:04Pol Ballus: Just in case you were standing by for it, because those games on Thursday night are quite a big deal. So we'll hang around for that. Of course, England will be playing on Friday night at home to Uruguay. That's about a moment of the week. And then we'll get into the league stuff. Tom Williams, what's your moment of the week? We're going to go for Marseille against Lille on Sunday afternoon. Clash of Champions League qualification hopefuls in Ligue 1. Marseille went ahead. Lille equalised and with four minutes remaining, Thomas Meunier, Lille right back, copiously booed by the Marseille fans for his PSG connections and he had already scored the equaliser.

10:42Motors down the right, puts across to the back post and there is Olivier Giroud at the grand old age of 69 or whatever he is these days, rising like a salmon and planting a header in the bottom corner to give Lille victory and to make 69-year-old salmon. And as a consequence, the Champions League qualification picture in Ligue 1 all of a sudden is extremely, extremely tight and consequently interesting.

11:10Pol Ballus: A game that was kind of bookended by Arsenal-related goals now, because Nguyen Neri also scored in that match after coming on for Mason Greenwood, who got a concussion. Not sure how exactly did he get a concussion? So basically, he was trying to lead a Marseille counterattack with less than 15 minutes on the clock, knocks the ball into space down the right wing, and then just gets completely taken out by the Lille fullback, Calvin Verduncq. lands very heavily. I'm not sure whether it was concussion or whether it was some kind of impact injury. But his reaction to being bundled to the floor in this fashion was to get up and shove Calvin Verdunck.

11:53Hakon Haraldsson, Lille's Icelandic playmaker, then appeared from nowhere and shoved Greenwood in the back. All three players got booked, which rules Greenwood out of Marseille's next game. And Marseille's next game is against who? Monaco, the team who are charging up the rails in that said same Champions League qualification race.

12:15Pol Ballus: Love the names in that. You've got Haken, you've got Verdunc. It's very onomatopoeic. It is so tight. Marseille are in third spot. Lyon and Lille are both two points behind. Monaco are themselves within a win of Marseille. So, oh my goodness. It's going to be quite the run-in. Oh, yeah. Woo! Hey, Paul. What's been your moment of the week? So my moment of the week, I wanted to dedicate it to one of the friends of this podcast, which is Celta de Vigo striker Ferran Jugla. Oh, yeah. He joined us one time. Back in November. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So basically, he had the best week of the season because midweek, he scored in the biggest game of the season for Celta de Vigo, which was in Lyon.

12:58They knocked out Olympique Lyonnais. And he scored the second goal of the night. The weekend before, he scored against Real Betis, again in a draw that Celta de Vigo had, a really good result. And in this weekend, he started again for Celta de Vigo. And 30 minutes into the game, Celta de Vigo were three goals up with just two goals from Ferran Jogla and just one assist. So the perfect week, just like for him, if it wasn't, because Alaves, somehow, I don't know how they pulled it off, but it was one of the most outrageous games of the weekend in La Liga. they just turned it around from a 3-0 to a 3-4 and they won at Balaidos at the Celta de Vigo Stadium and in a way ruined a bit the best week of the season for Ferran Jugla here who on midweek I spoke with him about the game at Lyon and he told me you better tell your mate from the European Football Podcast that I did that so I mentioned it Ferran Jugla Ferran Jugla one of us yeah

14:01Pol Ballus: one of our own He got Alaves by the juggler. Except they then got him. They got him. So that remontada, as I believe it's known, Paul, that's only the second time in this century that a Liga side has been 3-0 down and come back to win the game. It's absolutely mad. Even more, if you take into account that Alaves changed of manager two weeks ago, they are fighting to escape the relegation battle and Celta de Vigo are having an outstanding season. They might end up in the sixth place in La Liga. They are fighting for this sort of positions here in Spain. So, yeah, one of the most unexpected games that you could witness here in Spain, for sure.

14:46Magnificent.

14:47Pol Ballus: Magnificent. James, what stood out for you in the last seven days?

14:53James Horncastle: I always like it when a centre-back scores a banger, James. Do you remember when Vincent Kompany scored that screamer for City? in a kind of late title decider. Strahinia Pavlovich for Milan against Torino this weekend.

15:23A very sweet strike.

15:25James Horncastle: just the ball bouncing on the half volley maybe 30 35 yards out and he just latches onto it and the loop of this ball magnificent sort of goes high then comes low kisses the bottom of the bar and goes in and Luka Modric who is in front of his teammate when he is about to attempt so he's pulling back the trigger on this shot modric see him duck he knows what's coming and one of the goals of the season um partly because for it to come from a center half and it was very funny the kind of post-match flash interview uh pavlovich was saying i was just very lucky here and uh his teammate uh yusuf fafano was like no you do this in training all the time it's not lucky but yeah beautiful strike.

16:17Pol Ballus: City our title race may be back on again this week with that result and other ones from the weekend we'll get into what's happening at the top of La Clasifica soon enough but Seb what you got for us from the crazy world of the Bundesliga? Jimbo last Friday night Ebi Leipzig gave Hoffenheim absolutely pasting won 5-0 fifth goal was scored by Benny Hendricks, who back in December... Was it in kind of fast motion with him running around with a bit of music in the background?

16:50James Horncastle: I thought you were going to go with a Jimi Hendrix rather than a Benny Hill. Benny Hendrix. That's the high culture. That is the fusion that the culture is dying out of. Him running around, learning his guitar, playing the Benny Hill theme tune in the style of Jimi Hendrix. Why hasn't someone thought of this already? over to you sir

17:13anyway uh december 2024 every live singham benny henriks are playing against by munich at the allen's arena and he ruptured his achilles and i remember speaking to him about four months later when he was still in plaster and uh still having all kinds of difficulty getting around still on crutches and he said uh even despite 75 000 people being there he could hear the sound of his achilles rupturing over the crowd and it was clearly in agony all the players both sides were around him consoling him german teammates and took him 14 months to play again and he scored his first goal back on friday night if you go to his instagram you'll see a video that he took on the 20th of march 2025 which is showing him limping around his living room still unable to walk properly and then 20th of March 2026 which is him scoring the fifth goal in the 5-0 win in front of his home fans celebrating like you'd expect him to really nice moment really nice goal super

18:11Pol Ballus: excellent we look forward to hearing more from what was a pretty big week in the Bundesliga Champions League position race but we're going to begin today with Spain and the Madrid derby This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson part of the Athletic FC podcast network Paul,

18:45Pol Ballus: yet more evidence this weekend that our below's Real Madrid are for real 3-2 winners over their neighbours Atleti They are, they are, and they are looking increasingly good and fine, especially after the Man City tie. I think that when that Champions League tie came, we had a lot of doubts about them. They had just lost against Getafe and got a sneaky, cheeky win against Alta de Vigo. But now they look really way more comfortable. I think that they were deserved winners in the Madrid derby. And yeah, a game that had a bit of everything. It was a great game to watch. I think that Atletico were quite good in the first half but then Simeone got it a bit wrong with the substitutions and Real Madrid, I think that with this system without the clear striker and a lot of midfielders playing in this sort of free-flowing way it's helping a lot of Real Madrid to find a stability that they had not had a decision and the title race between them and Barcelona is well on Magnificent, Vinny Junior with the winner he scored a brace in this game first time remarkably that he had ever scored a goal against Atletico despite the fact that he played against them 12 times.

19:56Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was one of his worst opponents, basically. I think that he was far from having his best game because he had in front of him Marcos Llorente, who's a player who has known how to stop Benicio for a lot of games. He's been a really good decision for Atletico Madrid, possibly one of their best players. He's going to go to the World Cup, I think, as a right-back. And yeah, I think that the game was quite even until Simeone decided to change Marcos Llorente from the right-back role and put him in midfield. And then Benicio was a bit more liberated. But yeah, good game for Benicio.

20:31It's a good thing to have a player that when he's not at his best, he can still produce a couple of goals. Somebody who is at their best is Valverde, who scored again, although unfortunately then got a straight red card. Yeah, a bit of a harsh red card. I don't know if you've seen that. But I think that there was a lot of background playing into it because he did that tackle to Alex Baena. I don't know if you remember the story between Fede Valverde and Baena. But basically, Valverde punched Alex Baena in the Santiago Bernabeu's dressing room tunnel. I think it was three years ago. They had a bit of a clash in-game.

21:08And Fede Valverde was waiting for Alex Baena after the game. He punched him. He was banned for it. I don't remember right now how many games he had for it, but he had to serve a big suspension. And yeah, this tackle for the one that he was sent off on this last game, it was to Alex Vainer. So I think that the referee had this in mind and saw a bit more of violence than it actually was. But yeah, he was sent off and he's not going to be able to play in the next Liga game.

21:38Pol Ballus: Outrageous equaliser from Molina in this game, which had his teammates with their heads in their hands. Absolutely. Even like Diego Simone was on the touchline, just couldn't believe in basically what Noel Molina had done. An absolute cracker from the outside of the box. I don't know if you saw last week, he scored like another cracker of a goal, Noel Molina, from the outside of the box. And yeah, in a way, it put Atletico back into the game in a moment that they seemed to be lost in the second half. But again, it wasn't enough. I think that Atletico were not able to impose their game in the second half.

22:13And yeah, a good moment to celebrate, but it ended up meaning nothing for Atletico. OK.

22:17Pol Ballus: Players coming back for Abelho's Real Madrid included Jupe Bellingham, who made a second half appearance, as did Trent Alexander-Arnold, because he'd been benched for turning up late to training. How are things going for Trent under the new manager? I would say, like, before this week, I would say they're quite good. He's seen as a starting right-back. Carvajal is way below his form. I highly doubt that Carvajal is going to go to the World Cup. So basically, Alexander-Arnold is ahead of him. But these issues of being late to training are not going to help his course, especially when still he has some flaws in his game.

22:52He's not as solid as Carvajal is at the top of his game. And when you play for Real Madrid, sometimes you're more in a low block. You have to be solid in defence. He's been helped, I think, in this last month because he has Valverde next to him. So when he has to defend, Valverde does a pretty good job in there. But yeah, I would say that Alexander-Anon for now is like the starter right back for Real Madrid. And he shouldn't worry about that unless he keeps going late to training. I see.

23:23Pol Ballus: Real Madrid picking up their first Liga derby win since 2022, putting a whopping 12 points between themselves and their neighbours Atletico in the Liga standings. They remain four points behind the lead as though Barcelona, because Barcelona also won this weekend a measured 1-0 victory over Raya Vallecano. Their 15th home win out of 15 this season, Barca. Yeah, but really they have won every single game at home. Their only defeat at home came in the Champions League against PSG, and it was in Montjuic. Since they moved to the Camp Nou, they've won every single game in there. It's one of those games that, I mean, we've had a lot of debate these days about the Premier League, if it's the best league in the world, or how the Premier League clubs have performed in the Champions League.

24:07I don't think that any Premier League club can afford, like Barcelona did, to play in a lower velocity, if you want to put it that way, at a lower pace against Rayo Vallecano, and still win a game, which is what Barca did. Flick didn't rotate much because he wanted to secure a result before the international break, but you could tell that the players were at a different level after the effort that they put against Newcastle midweek. And even with that, yeah, that they managed to win, it was a bit of an uncommon goal for Barcelona because it was a corner. A corner, an old-school corner, put Ronaldo Araujo in there, the tall guy, just headed home.

24:45And I would say that Barcelona were lucky just not to concede a couple of points, just not to concede a draw, because the man of the match was Joan Garcia, their goalkeeper, who has been one of the names of the week here in Spain, because he was included for the first time in the Spain national team list. Luis de la Fuente, the national manager, has called up four goalkeepers, which is quite mad. But yeah, there's a bit of politics, chemistry situation with the goalkeepers that the manager is trying to adjust here, which is basically the three goalkeepers that he has for the national team, which are Unai Simon from Athletic Club, David Raya from Arsenal and Alec Ramiro from Real Sociedad.

25:24They are three goalkeepers who, they understand their roles and they are really good in terms of chemistry with the rest of the players. Alan Ramiro, who is the third goalkeeper, is really good with youngsters. So he doesn't really want to take him away of the team. But then you have Joan Garcia, who is one of the best goalkeepers in the world this season. And you want to bring him in. So what he's done is bring a fourth goalkeeper, see how they do all together. And then in the World Cup, he's going to make a decision. Who's the starter right now, do you think, Paul? So the starter is going to be Unai Simon, despite his being potentially the one who's got the worst season.

26:00but what Luis de la Fuente says is that Unai Simon has given him no reasons to be dropped so as he's performed really well with the national team he's not going to bring him to the bench so Unai Simon is going to be the number one David Ray is going to be the number two and the number three is going to be between Alec Ramiro from Real Sociedad or Joan Garcia from FC Barcelona

26:21James Horncastle: Paul, you mentioned this remarkable record that Barcelona have at the Spotify Camp Nou Is this because of the away dressing room and it being based in Girona or wherever because it is that far away? That's a really good point. And I have something to add in here, which is the away dressing room and the home dressing room, actually, where Barcelona players change themselves. They are not the final dressing rooms. Barca are still in works, in just the inside of the stadium. And both teams are just changing in temporary dressing rooms that are going to be part of the stadium. but not the places where the teams are supposed to be changing and stuff.

27:01But yeah, we could see in that video that the Newcastle social media accounts posted that was really, really good, that there's a bit of a hike from the away dressing room to the actual football team.

27:11James Horncastle: So you're saying that the actual away dressing room, once it is complete, could be even further away? I mean, my hope is that it's not going to be further, but I'm not daring to, as we say here in Spain, put my hand into fire for something relating to the Camp Nou works. Yes. The Ryanair approach to changing room locations. I like it.

27:33Pol Ballus: I like it. Sure it's in Barcelona. Close enough. Paul, on the subject of what Barcelona did to Newcastle in the second half, and indeed what Real Madrid did to Man City across two lakes, what's been the reaction to talk about La Liga and Premier League there in Spain? There's been a bit of bragging, I would say, I think that Spain are proud to see that there are three giants, I mean, two giants in Atletico Madrid, catalog Atletico Madrid as you want them to, but the fact that they've managed to win or to beat Premier League clubs has been sort of, yeah, national proud inside the country. But when you ask in the clubs and to executives of the clubs, they insist that anyone who denies that the Premier League is the best league in the world and they have the best club in the world, just denying reality.

28:23Well, what about Atleti losing to Spurs, though? Is that kind of a source of national shame? I mean, it hasn't been so far because Atletico Madrid, I mean, they got through, which is what they wanted to do.

28:34Pol Ballus: Right, right. Scraped through. Indeed. All right. Now, you touched on it in your moment of the week, that extraordinary Celta Vigo Alaves story. The other games down the bottom were pretty exciting too. Levante with a 4-2 win against Oviedo in a showdown at the bottom two. rather. And then Elche's victory over Mallorca, which was pretty important too for the relegation picture. No, just the relegation battle is absolutely mad in Spain because with that win that you mentioned from Levante, they are back in the fight just to try to have some hope for the future. Since Luis Castro took over the club, the new manager took over the club, they are the seventh best team in La Liga, which is quite an statement from what Levante has done.

29:22And yeah, Elche, who are possibly the team in worst form in La Liga, they managed to win against Mallorca, who suddenly they see themselves in a bad position. Mallorca, by the way, who have a new manager from a couple of weeks ago, who is Martín de Michelis, who had quite a heated role in the post-match press conference with a journalist that he accused of leaking the line-up before the game and trying to unstabilise one of his players. So yeah, not the best atmosphere probably. in Mallorca. But yeah, a lot going on in the relegation battle in Spain, which in my opinion, alongside the title race, is definitely going to be the most interesting thing to watch in this last part of the season.

30:03Pol Ballus: Wow. Elche's victory, moving them out of the bottom three and dropping Mallorca into it. Anything else we should know, Paul? Perhaps you'd like to comment on Ernesto Valverde announcing that he's leaving Athletic Club at the end of this season. Are there any rumours already about who might be coming in or even returning? in his stead. Yeah, that's where I wanted to go because basically there's a couple of names which stand out. Basically, the number one is Andoni Iraola, which is the most liked within the club. Iraola, you know, he played almost all his career at Athletic Club, a lifelong fan of the club, born in the Basque Country.

30:44And it feels that he's destined to train at Athletic Club at some point. We don't know if it's going to be now. But then the second action that they have is Inigo Pérez. Inigo Pérez, who was Andoni Zirola's number two at Rayo Vallecano, he couldn't join him at Bournemouth because of a work permit thing. And then he stayed at Rayo Vallecano and they promoted him as the first manager. And he's doing a brilliant job at Rayo Vallecano, a brilliant, brilliant job. He was really close to get punched in Barcelona this weekend. And the sort of approach that he has through the game, all the Rayo Vallecano players speak really highly of him.

31:19He's been tipped to a move to the Premier League as well here in Spain. So let's see what they do. But those are two candidates that are really hotly tipped. And there's been reports in Spain that Tevin Terzic, the former Borussia Dortmund manager, is very much appreciated profile in Bilbao's world. Paul, fantastic.

31:39Pol Ballus: Thank you so much for that update. Let's move on. Next up, the wonderful world of City app.

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33:52You'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.

34:06He saw that Kings, if not him, he took it. Barella is not precise here. Fagioli opens. He's got to go behind. Gurmunzola. Rival 1-1. The winning touch has hit. Durr. Under the door. Durr. 1-1. Barella loses a blood ball. La Viola starts again. Sommer touches. But without the security...

34:29Pol Ballus: It's a side race back on for this week anyway. Into dropping points for the third straight game. They really can't do it without Lartaro Martinez. This time it was 1-1 at Fiorentina. Milan simultaneously, or at least this same weekend, winning 3-2 against Torino. Napoli also winning. 1-0 away at Cagliari with a goal that couldn't have been scruffier if it was lying at 6am in a Glasgow doorway. Scored by Scott McTominay. KDB apparently had a great game. I didn't catch the match, but rave reviews certainly in the Gazette for him. But it all adds up to Inter's lead being down to six points over their neighbours and seven over Napoli, who've now got pretty much all their big injured players back.

35:15James Horncastle: Yeah. Antonio Conte distinguishing himself, I would say, from Max Allegri because he said, look, let's look in front of us. Let's try and chase down Inter. And I think Conte has a reasonable case to be coach of the year this season on the basis that the injury crisis Napoli have had has been so bad over particularly the autumn and winter that for them to have hung in there and not gone through the motions in the way that some of the other teams you'd expect to be in contention for the Champions League have. I'm mentioning Juventus, Atalanta, for example. For them to have hung in there, to get to this point now where, as you mentioned, James, their big players are back.

36:07James Horncastle: Kevin De Bruyne has really hit the ground running since returning from Belgium where he'd been rehabbing. They've got Anguissa, one of their really important midfield players, back as well. And Lukaku can come off the bench and do something. and to have those guys for the run-in this final eight games it does make you believe that as much as the last few weeks we've been talking about Milan as being the only team that can kind of take it to Inter Napoli are right there Napoli are only two points worse off than they were at this stage last season when of course they went on to win the league so be very interesting obviously when they come back from the international break their first game is against milan and so if they were to win that and inter have been in this gauntlet of really tough games um to be fair and they've looked tired some of their best players have really faded um particularly nicolo barella you mentioned lautara martinez their captain who has been out since the first leg against bolo a glimpse you know whilst they have been sort of scoring some goals without him I think Lautaro's value aside from being the skipper is he makes the players around him better there hasn't been a strike partner that hasn't had a really good season you know when they've been playing next to Lautaro he kind of makes his strike partners look really really good so they've missed him but yes it does feel like we've got a title race it does feel like top four again is really interesting because Como won for the fifth consecutive game at the weekend and down the bottom it's really interesting too with Cremonese winning their first game under Marco Giampaolo who replaced David Nicola and you know Fiorentina even though they got a point against Inter Fiorentina are very much like the Tottenham if you like of Serie A at the moment as much as I think there is a little bit more momentum and positivity about Fiorentina, they are still at risk.

38:18Pol Ballus: All right, two points above the bottom three, the Viola. In terms of the race four manager of the season, presumably Como's Cesc Fabregas has got to be in there. Yeah. A fifth straight win this weekend. Five different goal scorers indeed in the 5-0 over Pisa. This is the weekend that they mourn the passing of one of their, well, their co-owner, Michael Hartanor.

38:41James Horncastle: Yes, and Cesc Fabregas, after the win, dedicated the victory to his memory and said, look, we would not be where we are today without the investment of the Hartano brothers. They are the wealthiest benefactors in Cydia, rescued the club from bankruptcy in the third tier. and I think you know while Seske is right to acknowledge their role their bankrolling if you like of the club I think the strategy at the top of Como has been as impressive as any project I've seen in European football in a long long time not only the strategy for the vision of the football club and the brand of the football club how they've engaged the kind of local community but also the recruitment you know a lot's been made of how much money that como have spent since they got into city for the first time in 21 years two seasons ago but a lot of that money has been spent on pols friends um you know academy grads from spain who have not really had a full season in professional football they bet on those guys early they've done really well to sort of get players from Real Madrid like Nico Paz like Jacopo Ramon but a lot of the players in the Como team are guys that have been picked up for two and a half million there three million there and Pep not Pep Freudian slip Cesc has reinvented some of these players and I think you're right James to say that he is probably the outstanding candidate for coach of the year because the upswing at Como I think they've got more than 20 points than they did at this stage last year and Seska's given the hierarchy at Como a headache because they now have to contemplate Champions League football now it's a really nice headache to have but are Como going to be Champions League compliant And this is the talk in Italy at the moment in terms of can their stadium get a license?

40:50James Horncastle: Do they have enough Italian players in their squad to comply with the homegrown rule? What about financial fair play? Because they have had the largest net spend in Serie A over the last two years. Now, from the conversations I've had, Como are still confident that they can jump through these hurdles that UEFA would put up. But I think the biggest hurdle of all, they're crossing by putting themselves in contention to finish top four. In fact, their destiny is in their hands now. Wow, that's amazing.

41:27Pol Ballus: The stadium they're looking to redevelop in the course of time, but would that have to be brought forward if they do make it into Champions League?

41:36James Horncastle: Well, the Italian press have been speculating about Como having to play Champions League games in Udine, particularly, for example, if Milan and Inter qualify for Champions League, which looks sure. But I think Como hope to get a license in the event that they do qualify for Champions League to play at the Senegalia on the lake. But these are the things that they are having to deal with. They are so far ahead of schedule because of the investment, how well they've spent their money, the decision to appoint and develop Cesc as a coach. his own fulfilment of his own potential. All of these things have aligned for them to be far, far ahead of where they're expected to be at this stage of the project.

42:27James Horncastle: And it is credit to Sesc and Mia Wansuasso and Carlo Alberto Ludi and all the people there at Como because they are doing a magnificent job. And Sesc will be staying? Look, I mean, I think if they have the prospect of Champions League football next year, then it is something that he is quite literally invested in. Remember, you know, he is a part owner of Como as well, which has allowed him to have a say in the running of the club that I don't think any other coaches at the stage of the career that Cesc is at the moment would have. And, you know, there was an interview last week with the chief executive of Como in which they said, look, at a stage when Cesc does leave, you know, he will have a say in who his successor is.

43:13James Horncastle: But look, I mean, Cesc has definitely marked himself out as being one of the brightest up-and-coming coaches in European football. I imagine vacancies, whenever they open up at his old clubs, he will be one of the names very close to the top of the shortlist, if not top of the shortlist. It just depends on what he wants, really. And I think at the moment he is very committed to what he is trying to achieve with the Lakers, James.

43:45Pol Ballus: So nice. Other things from the world of Italian football. Going down to Serie B, Ashley Cole got his first win the weekend. 3-1 at home to Catanzaro. That's Cesena's first victory in eight games. So nice. They're still in the playoff picture for a move up to the top flight, Tom. Sampdoria, meanwhile, battling down the other end. And there was some talk that Atelier Lombardo might lose his job, but they got a victory this weekend. They are now goal difference above the playout position. So still a bit touch and go for Sampdoria. What did I mention as well, a game which took place last Thursday, James, and that was the second leg of the Italo Derby in the Europa League, Roma against Bologna, 1-1 from the opening leg.

44:36Pol Ballus: down in Rome. What a match that was with Bologna going through 4-3 after coming back from... No, sorry, they were 3-1 up. Roma came back and then Bologna made it through an extra time. But what a match that was.

44:50James Horncastle: Yeah, a stunning advert, I would say, for Italian football. And, yeah, two teams that have got a cup-winning pedigree over the last few years, particularly, you know, Roma have been to Conference League final, Europa League final I think they were looking at this competition as another way into the Champions League where they've been absent for the last six or seven years they saw it as a route through to the Champions League primarily because Comar are just relentless at the moment and then of course Bologna won the Coppa Italia last year Vincenzo Italiano their coach has you know regularly got to finals we saw him get to Coppa Italia final with Fiorentina as well Conference League finals as well um so fireworks really happened when um these two teams met um and it was a little bit of a surprise that you know bologna um did it in that atmosphere at the stadio olimpico which was very special you know incredible choreography of the uh the loop of the she-wolf um it really felt like the fans turned up and um yeah some you know even though Roma won at the weekend some sort of discontent, unease within the fan base because Roma started the season so well.

46:06James Horncastle: They believe that they might have been in title contention rather than just looking to qualify for Champions League. And now they're really struggling to hang on in that Champions League race to Como and Juventus. Juventus dropped points against Sassuolo on Saturday night. And then to go out of Europe as well. Yeah, there was a banner that was put out by the Culver Sud before the weekend's game. It's like, we've shown you respect. Now you have to earn ours again. So, yeah, they've got a lot of injuries in attacking positions. Dybala's been out injured, as usual. Dovbic, Evan Ferguson had surgery.

46:48James Horncastle: So when they've tried to change games, they haven't really been able to attack. They really lent on Doniel Marlin. But yeah, Roma have got to find a way to stop this season petering out as Bologna prepare to place Aston Villa. Aston Villa, yeah. And then we've got Fiorentina Palace in the Conference League.

47:10Pol Ballus: Very, very exciting. Bologna celebrated their passage to the quarterfinals by losing to Lazio this weekend with Kenneth Taylor scoring both goals for the Bianco Celesti.

47:22James Horncastle: Kenneth Taylor sounds like a sort of 1950s referee at a World Cup. It does, doesn't he? Yeah. He's Dutch, but yeah. Ken Taylor Ken Taylor there you go Secretary of FIFA 1953 who's that guy who plays for Coventry City Dennis Bassett or something is it Dennis Bassett I think he's Dutch they're always Dutch aren't they excellent

47:50Pol Ballus: anything else from Italy before we head off Norman Bassett even better that's much better and he's belgian he's belgian norman bassett i think it's actually pronounced bassett unfortunately but don't know about you james i'm gonna be pronouncing it norman bassett

48:08James Horncastle: good james no only the state of panic the the country is in ahead of this playoff james right um because you know inter sort of dropping points and being winless in three games and yeah inter being down in the dumps really uh i think has an impact on the national team given how many players that Inter give to the national team and they're all in leadership roles. And then you've got Manuel Locatelli who missed this penalty for Juventus against Astro. Well, that weigh on his mind. Federico Chiesa left camp this morning. A lot of people thought he didn't deserve to be in the camp anyway, but he's been sent home today sort of sweating on the fitness of Gianluca Scamacca, all this kind of stuff.

48:50Pol Ballus: Tonali as well.

48:51James Horncastle: Tonali obviously came off in Barcelona, didn't play. Le Bastoni's been carrying this knock and has to deal with Paul destabilizing him by reporting that Barcelona are interested in him this morning. So, you know, Paul doing his best to stop Italy going to the World Cup. Jim, I had a question for James, just because, I don't know, obviously it's highly unprecedented now, but what's it like and what's the mood going to be like if Italy failed to get there this time? It's very unprecedented, surely.

49:17Pol Ballus: If only it wasn't like it. Highly unprecedented. Remarkably precedented. Yeah. Over-precedented. Yeah.

49:22James Horncastle: Yeah, well, Seb, I remember in 2018 when Italy were preparing for the playoff against Sweden, which is a two-legged affair and they didn't have to do a semi-final and final. It was just one playoff. and the president of the italian football federation at the time the late carlo tabecchio said that if they didn't qualify it would be an apocalypse and italy then did not qualify in 2022 and again risk not qualifying this time so i'm not sure three apocalypses like i mean is that that's just not possible um or is it but i said to your point i think there is there is some uh jadedness about how all of the reforms that are proposed or these kind of uh city are looking itself in the mirror and saying what is wrong with us this has happened so many times now that whatever they prescribe as the cure, they're either ignoring or the cure is not the cure.

50:34James Horncastle: And I mean, it's not even them failing to qualify in 2018, which started this debate. This debate began already in 2010, when they went out in the group stages of the World Cup, and they brought back Arrigo Saki as sort of technical director within the Italian Football Federation. It then happened again in 2014 when they went out in the group stages. So this is a process now that has been going on for 15 years of them being in the state of self-loathing and sort of not understanding what it is about their system or pointing to the same problems in their system and those problems not being addressed.

51:21James Horncastle: You know, I was speaking to one of my editors today and we were saying, is it a story anymore? Italy not going to the World Cup. And of course it's a story, it's a big story, but the pieces about them not going to the World Cup have already been written. I've probably done several of them.

51:43Pol Ballus: This, for the third one in a row, would be especially painful Well, additionally, because of what's happened with the clubs, though Italian sides make it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, speaks to a widespread issue.

51:59James Horncastle: Yeah, although I would say that the surprising thing is that in the last five years, the clubs have done well on the rolling average in Europe. There's been that comfort, but that's kind of what I mean.

52:11Pol Ballus: This time around, there's not even the comfort of there being a club side that's performed well.

52:15James Horncastle: But I had a chat with a chief executive at Italian Football Club a couple of weeks ago. And that chief executive said, if you look at the national team, you've got Gigi Donnarumringol, who most people would say is one of the top three goalkeepers in the world, was the player of the tournament when Italy won the Euros in 2021. 21 you've then got a midfield that in his opinion is as good as any midfield in the world on paper sandra tonali nicola barella and manuel locatelli that was him saying that and it is a good midfield it's not a bad midfield that that is you know that he's like you know in terms of like a core for a team and that's before you get to sort of other interplayers who've been to two championship sig files in the last three years there's a core there which should not be in the position that italy have found themselves in you know sort of in in qualifying um so so i mean and again i think anyone who's seen norway play norway who were the team that qualified at their expense uh through the group anyone who's seen this norway team with erling harland who broke the record for goals in qualifying and some of his supporting cast at Norway, they would look at that and say, there's no real disgrace in finishing behind that Norway team as much as what history tells us about the difference between Italy and Norway as footballing nations.

53:50James Horncastle: And then I would say the other thing is timing. The timing of that first qualifier against Norway in Oslo four days after the Inter had lost 5-0 to PSG, and the core of this Italy team are Inter players, was unfortunate.

54:15Pol Ballus: Well, to lose one match against Norway might be seen as unfortunate, as Lady Bracknell would say. To miss one World Cup might be bad timing. Anyway, very nice, James. Thanks for that. Paul, you've got a question as well. Yeah, well, I wanted to mention the name of Alessandro Bastoni. There's interest from Barcelona, is that right? That's his post-story. Yeah, exactly. It's been a story that's why we've been in contact with James earlier this morning. I'm sorry for him about that. But yeah, no, it's basically just a story that Barca are looking for a centre-back, left foot to centre-back, and they really want Barstony.

54:52And that's the understanding that he's keen on the move as well. Then there's the financial element and this sort of thing as well. But as James pointed out in our chat, it's quite unusual as well to see potentially an Italian centre-back aiming to fill that path in his career of leaving a top Italian club and going to another league. But yeah, let's see a bit what happens with Sonny. Let's. All right.

55:18Pol Ballus: Thanks so much, Paul. Next up, Ligue 1.

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57:45for the ones who get it done.

57:55This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC Podcast Network.

58:02Pol Ballus: Piers here back on top. Tom Monaco from Fire and Leon are in free fall. What's going on? Yeah, there's a lot going on. we'll take off top of the table shenanigans to begin with PSG are top spoiler alert I mean they weren't for a long time but they briefly were not top so Lens played first this weekend home to Angers on Friday night a very good, very stubborn generally quite hard to be Angers team and they beat them 5-1 and they looked absolutely fantastic some really nice goals Mamadou Songaré young Marlion midfielder with a beauty from the edge of the box shortly before half time left foot top right corner and then to finish the scoring Mathieu Oudol Lens flying left wing back who I think we've probably mentioned a couple of times who's really one of the symbols of this incredible season that Lens are having and there had been talk of him potentially getting a France call up admittedly almost all of that talk was coming from Pierre Sage the Lens head coach and some of Udall's teammates but there is a bit of a shortage of options for Didier Deschamps at left back so when the squad was announced on Thursday there was a degree of interest as to whether he was going to get the nod inevitably Didier Deschamps didn't give in to any romantic tendencies whatsoever and picked the most predictable 26-man squad that he could have done.

59:39So Udall wasn't called up but he was brilliant in this win over Angers and scored a fantastic goal to make it 5-1, flung himself at a right wing cross at the back post and scored with a spectacular volley. Over to UPSG, they were away at Nice on Saturday. Luis Enrique mixed things up with quite an experimental starting 11, testing things out I think with half an eye on the Champions League quarterfinal against Liverpool, we know that the Bradley Barcola is a doubt for that game because of injury. So PSG played with Nuno Mendes, usually plays left back. And he's probably one of the best left backs in the world, if not the best left back in the world.

1:00:22He started on the left wing and Kvistov-Archegliot played through the middle in the false nine role. PSG ran out 4-0 winners, all very straightforward. Forward, Mendes open the scoring from the penalty spot. Tidep, Desiree, Douai for the second goal. And then Drogh Fernandes, formerly of Barcelona, got his first goal in PSG Colours. Tidep by Ousmane Dembele and Warren Zayemery rounded things out. So yeah, PSG back on top of the table, a point above Lens. They've still got a game in hand. Next weekend, or rather, weekend after the international break, Lens have got the Derby the Derby du Nord against Lille away to Lille who are coming into a bit of form and then the game after that is Lens-PSG Wow So we may still get our big title showdown but Lens just need to get through that game against Lille first

1:01:13Pol Ballus: How do you say title showdown in French, Tom? Confrontation Oui, la Rez Pour le titre La Rez de Conti in Italian but how do you say that? A settling of the Bills is there something along those lines? Yeah, I'm not sure A settling of scores a reckoning a shock PSG who lost a few weeks back to Monaco to reopen the title have since then won three straight matches scored 12 goals only conceded two are they now looking like that PSG again Tom? belatedly yes they are and I made this comparison on last week's pod after the first leg of the last 16 tie against Manchester City but in the same way that they seem to find themselves and find their playing identity during that game against Manchester City at the end of January 2025, the same thing has happened over the course of the two legs against Chelsea in the last 16.

1:02:12That very kind of knockabout first leg at the Parc des Princes where they ended up winning 5-2, but where the game was on a complete knife edge until that complete howler by Philip Jorgensen, the Chelsea goalkeeper at 2-2 that enabled PSG to take the lead. But then the version of PSG that we saw at Stamford Bridge in the return leg looked very similar to the PSG of last season. The ease with which they knocked the ball around. I mean, they got early goals, they put the tie to bed, but the away fans were kind of oleying Chelsea's players with half an hour on the clock. Chelsea couldn't touch them.

1:02:48You're seeing more of that high-octane press that was one of PSG's real trademarks last season. You're seeing the off-the-ball work and the attacking players are coming into form. You know, Dembele, who's been pretty good since the turn of the year. Kraut Schellier, you know, who's fantastic over both legs against Chelsea. Bacola, unfortunately, injured. Hence, you know, some of the experimentation we saw against Nice. But they do look like the PSG of last season. And, you know, as we've said multiple times, that's the one question that's been hovering over PSG since the start of the campaign.

1:03:25Are they still capable of playing that kind of football? The answer to that question would appear to be, yes, they are. It's just taken them until the end of March to remember how to do it.

1:03:35Pol Ballus: All right. They've got Liverpool, of course, in the quarterfinals. In terms of the race for the Champions League positions this time around, as you mentioned earlier on, it's so tight now. Monaco moving up to three points off third with that victory over Lyon, who themselves are just a point ahead of the Monagasks. What's up with Monaco who were in that terrible run of form when Pocignoli came in, have now put six straight victories together and what's happened to Paolo Fonseca's Lyon that they can't get a win now? Yeah, I mean two teams with completely contrasting fortunes in that Lyon had that 13-game winning run in all competitions which was one off the all-time club record.

1:04:19since that came to an end they've gone eight games without a win in all competitions so they've really fallen off a cliff and I think a lot of it comes down to fatigue Quentin Deliso the Lyon skipper was asked after the game against Monaco what went wrong I mean Lyon produced a pretty decent first half performance went ahead through their top scorer Pavel Schultz Czech international forward got his 11th of the season in Ligue 1 he was back from injury Afonso Moreira young Portuguese he's left winger he was back from injury they both started and you felt the kind of impact of these you know these players returning in terms of the quality of Lyon's football Hendrick looked a little bit brighter he teed up the goal for Schultz just before before uh halftime but then Lyon fitness wise just seemed to fall off a cliff um and Monaco came back into it and you know Lyon had no response and I think what's happened for Monaco is that I think Primarily, Sebastian Bogagnoli has found this system that suits everyone.

1:05:21The 3-4-3 with Denis Zakaria, the Swiss international midfielder, as the central centre-back in the back three, brings a lot of assurance to that part of the pitch where Monaco have struggled over the last couple of years. And then players just coming into form, following Balogun has now scored for five games running in Ligue 1. In particular, Magne Zakliouche, one of the most exciting young talents in French football. wonderfully elegant sort of spindly-limbed left-footed right-sided attacking player who was having a really tough season and people were wondering whether that might put the you know put his World Cup chances in real jeopardy and he suddenly you know returned to the boil scored against PSG in the Champions League scored against PSG in the league he got the equaliser at Lyon then won the penalty that allowed Balogun to put Monaco ahead and yeah as a consequence Monaco who were I mean mid-table and being completely written off as recently as late January are now one point off the Champions League places in sixth place and they host Marseille next weekend.

1:06:29Pol Ballus: Wow. Tom to finish off perhaps I hear that Dimitri Payet is calling it a day. Dimitri who's been over at Vasco da Gama in Brazil. Yeah which I thought was a kind of commendable coder to want to stick on the end of his career. He went there because he loves football and the thought of playing in Brazil really appealed to him. And as a number 10, it's the kind of culture that, you know, knows a thing or two about that position. And so I think he felt that he would, you know, he would get the kind of respect that he would, you know, have hoped to get. And I mean, things tailed off quite disappointingly, but initially he made a big impact and was super popular with the Vasco fans.

1:07:12pretty unusual for a player to arrive from one of you know the big clubs in one of Europe's five major leagues and and you know opt to go and play in Brazil but yeah so he was um he was a guest of Ligue 1 plus the uh host broadcaster for Ligue 1 in France this season um for the the Marseille game two of his former clubs and he announced at half time under an umbrella beneath the rain at the velodrome that he is retiring from football shed a tear did he um got quite emotional um and yeah and you know there's there's been a lot of very warm reactions to that um because i think the unfortunate thing for payet was that he was never quite in the right place at the right time he had some fantastic seasons under marseille in particular then under jorge sampaholi you know he played in major finals.

1:08:07He had an incredible Euro 2016 for France, got into the team of the tournament, then gets injured in the Europa League final in 2018 when Marseille got thrashed by Atletico Madrid in Lyon. That then rules him out of the 2018 World Cup and he doesn't ever play for France again. So a bit of a nearly man in that respect. Never won a single major trophy, but played for some really big clubs. Had that fantastic spell at West Ham in the Premier League, which he still remembered very fondly. So, yeah, like a moments guy, a moments player, no trophies, but someone who's left still quite a legacy in terms of big moments and memories.

1:08:46Pol Ballus: Our hearts, Tom, that's the trophy he won. Do you know, here's a remarkable stat. Between 2006 and 2023, Dimitri Pia is the player who created the most chances in the five major European leagues ahead of your Lionel Messi's or whatnot. which is incredible you look at the teams that he was playing for during that period Nantes Saint-Etienne Lille Marseille twice and West Ham he wasn't playing for heavyweights and yet he was you know a veritable chance creating machine certainly was speaking of veteran footballers associated with Ligue 1 Thierry Immobile has got off the mark for Paris FC oh yeah in their what did they do at the weekend just in time for the World Cup playoff which he will not be involved in in time for the World Cup player.

1:09:353-2 win at home to the Havre. Scored the opener for the home side. Diego Coppola knocked down. He is in the Italy squad. There you go. Made in Italy. And a very sharp finish. Ball kind of bounces up and he finishes with his right foot. Could have had a hat-trick. But didn't he? Heads wide. Hits a volley against the bar. On a similar note,

1:09:56Pol Ballus: Jamie Vardy with a lovely assist this weekend.

1:09:59James Horncastle: A massive, massive win for Cremonese. Cremonese. Yeah. Wow.

1:10:04Pol Ballus: All right, lovely stuff, Tom. Seb, let's put this puppy to bed with some lovely Bundesliga talk. This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. Seb, Bayern won, of course, this weekend. They beat Union 4-0, Bayern up to 97 goals in the league now. That's only four off their all-time record set in 1972. Harry Kane's up to 48 goals in all competitions. Madness. Below Bayern, the bun fight continues over the Champions League places. Dortmund, second still after that crazy comeback win they had against Hamburg. Tell us more. Yeah, really strange game.

1:10:48So Hamburg went 2-0 up in the first half. Goals from Phil Ateli and Samuel Okonga. They came from Arsenal over the summer. And were quite a good value from it. Played pretty well. Counter-attack quite nicely. Defended okay. then um conceded a penalty with felix de mecha missed um so you just thought half fouls day right uh not so much uh conceded a further two penalties in the second half uh ben spini converted both in between that uh seri grissi uh scored as well so a comeback and a comeback really that they deserve so i had a look at the xg at the end of the game and it was about 5.9 my full time so well i think i watched the game with my hamburg hat on but um yeah i've fun one but also Jimbo not the main story out of how out of uh out of Dortmund this weekend okay

1:11:37Pol Ballus: but just on the subject of xg I've got it written down here is 6.2 the xg which is the highest in Europe this season anywhere in Europe Dortmund uh no no doubt and also Daniel Jorge Fernandez the Hamburg goalkeeper played extremely well this wasn't glaring misses this is a lot of very very good goalkeeping at the heart of that statistic uh but yeah uh onto the main story that deserved it Main story is that on Sunday morning, Sebastian Kiel, who's been sports director since 2022, he has left the club by mutual agreement, has been replaced by Ola Book, who was previously sports director at Tiny Elfersborg, developed a really good reputation for overachieving with a really a minuscule budget.

1:12:22They came very, very close to promotion last season, denied in the playoff game by Heidenheim. um are currently second in the zweiter bundsliga behind schalke now if um if listeners aren't really that familiar with elversburg go and google their ground and compare it to velton's arena and that is the scale of the overachievement there but very very interesting because jimbo as you'll know uh spassian keel succeeded michael zork who again um really a club legend he played he spent his entire playing career at Dortmund. Sebastian Kiel didn't quite spend his entire career at Dortmund, but he capped in the team, made a huge number of appearances from midfield.

1:13:03So this is Dortmund kind of breaking with tradition, very much breaking with the way Hans-Jakim Vazka and previous CEO liked to do business, which was to keep everything in-house, trust the homespun DNA and promote from within. And that hasn't happened. So let's see, either way, for better or worse, this is going to be a kind of a new era, I think. um because one of the one of the criticisms that that followed keeler around um for those four years was that his focus was not necessarily on things that you would associate with dortmund not always buying young players he liked a mid-career player uh marcel sabitzer nicholas sulle of course good examples um uh nicholas full krug so they wanted to buy kind of battle-hardened players who consolidated their place in the top four guaranteed champions league football i think if you asked a lot of fans um the majority position would be that that kind of came at the cost of some club identity like we're Dortmund we're the exciting young gun in european football we're developing players that we can sell huge amounts of money and that was never really Sebastian Kiel's style so i feel a little bit for him because at times over the past few years it's as if he's been scapegoated everything that's wrong with British Dortmund has somehow been his fault and I think that there are some political issues at the club which need unravelling but let's see where they go from here so yeah brave new era I guess okay they look pretty comfortable

1:14:28Pol Ballus: for their Champions League spot they are nine points behind Bayern but a full eight above third place Stuttgart who had a big win at the weekend 5-2 against Augsburg also winning big we mentioned the Leipzig 5-0 victory over Hoffenheim who had been in third place now those Three teams separated by only three points. Stuttgart, Leipzig, then Hoffenheim. Leverkusen lying down in sixth after their 3-3 away at Heidenheim. Loads of goals this weekend, Seb. Loads of goals. Let's rattle through some highlights from that. So Stuttgart mentioned they won 5-2 in Augsburg. They're playing brilliantly. Denis Undav, probably in the form of his career, playing so, so well in front of goal, but also in that kind of assisting number 10 role that he specialises in, that he has in his game.

1:15:13remember also this is a Stuttgart team who lost Nick Valdemarri on either the season and kind of had to redraw the way they were going to play because he was such a big feature of their attack so for them to be now up into third so another great overforms from Sebastian Hines that's them Leverkusen Leverkusen tricky situation really you mentioned the 3-3 draw in Heidenheim which looks like a terrible result given where Heidenheim are in the league facing almost certain relegation well adrift at the bottom they're heading for the side of Bundesliga that is still an awkward place to play it's definitely an awkward place to play if you've played midweek against Arsenal it was sloppy no doubt but it's not you know and it's a it's hard to know really how to judge Leverkusen at the moment because a couple of weeks ago Fernando Caro the CEO said we expect to be challenging again for the title not winning but challenging again for the title by sort of 2028, 2029 with some of the young players we have.

1:16:09A few caveats there. That depends on them not selling anybody, but also buying extremely well. So from that, you think, okay, well, maybe Champions League qualification this season isn't a prerequisite for development. But we'll see what happens next. See whether they can keep hold of players like Grimaldo and Schick, because that's important too. Palacios, another in the midfield, they want to be keeping hold of. Yeah, so interesting. Hoffenheim. um mentioned weird off day really really weird because it's not just that they've been so reliable and so stubborn and physical uh throughout the season but they made it so easy they could have um but for a var intervention they could have been 5-0 down at halftime in leipzig which is i don't want to i don't want to diminish what leipzig did at the weekend but this is not a leipzig team that are in great rhythm um they look like they are now but ahead of kickoff not so much So, yeah, a bit of a strange one.

1:17:07But it's very interesting around that top four, top six area.

1:17:13Pol Ballus: Down the bottom, a huge win for Werder Bremer against Wolfsburg, which sees Werder move four points clear of the relegation playoff spot. Wolfsburg are now five points from safety. It really looks like the jig is up. Yeah, so a couple of weeks ago, you'll remember we mentioned Amir Backhaus, the Werder Bremen goalkeeper who made a terrible, terrible mistake against St. Pauli. He was absolutely brilliant against Wolfsburg at the weekend. He made four or five really good saves. He made one absolutely outstanding one from Jesper Lindstrom at close quarters. Lindstrom caught a quarter shot perfectly on the volley, whistling towards the top corner.

1:17:52Backhouse got a touch to it and deflected it onto the bar. Brilliant, brilliant goalkeeping, which is a great show of his resilience as well. The difficulty for Wolfsburg is obviously they sat the head coach and appointed Dieter Hecking with the aim of getting a bit of a bounce. And were it not for Backhouse, they would have got one because they played pretty well. They created enough good chances to win the game. And yet, as so often the case with teams that are struggling right at the foot of the table, the chance that they gave up, the worst chance that they gave up, they conceded from, deflected in, Justin Jinma.

1:18:24And yeah, they look. I won't say dead and buried yet because some of the other teams in that part of the table are really struggling to pick up points. St. Paulie lost at the weekend. cologne could only do a 3-3 of bus and gladback they've dismissed lukas krasnok today he's been replaced by an interim so they're in reach of safety but i don't know they look so frantic and panicked and terrified some of those players and one of the one of the things you hear about actually the tournament in the premier league is is one of you know one of the theories is some of those players are not really used to being in that position and don't really know how to deal emotionally i would say the same about volsburg because some of those players should not be in that situation and emotionally look completely frazzled by you know what has increasingly become quite a hostile crowd home crowd even though there's volsburg average about 23 000 a game so it's not like playing in front of you know camp now or anything but um yeah it's pretty frayed down there so let's see if they can get themselves out of it um tricky business tricky indeed just

1:19:26Pol Ballus: one point picked up in their last five matches. Wolfsburg. All right, well, it's an international break for everybody, so there's no European football show in the next week. Friday morning, Totally Football Show will be reporting on what's happened in the first of those World Cup playoffs. Drama, drama. And then next week, or the weekend after the league's return, we'll get back together with a few pot plants, have a bit of a chitter and a chatter. Lovely stuff. For now, many, many thanks to Seb. Enjoy your international break. And same to you, Paul Belouse. To you, Tom Williams. And James Horncastle.

1:20:10Pol Ballus: And producer Lucy. And above all, you listener. Thank goodness for you. From all of us here, it's goodbye.

1:20:23You've been listening to The Totally Football Show, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. For more great podcasts just like this one, including the Athletic FC and our dedicated club podcasts, search for The Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. We're also at the Totally Football Show on Insta and at the Totally Show on YouTube. The Totally Football Show is an Athletic Media Company production.

1:20:49James Horncastle: The Athletic FC.

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