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- [00:01]
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- [01:15]
Jack Pitt
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Tom Williams
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- [01:33]
Podcast Host/Announcer
The FIFA World Cup 26 is coming to North America next summer. It'll be the ultimate celebration of sports and culture. So get closer to the beautiful game with a hospitality package closer to the action in the best seats and suites closer to matchday elevated with world class food and entertainment closer to the experience of a lifetime. Book a hospitality package@fifaworldcup.com Hospitality that's fifaworldcup.com Hospitality.
- [02:04]
Ayo Akimwaleere
The Athletic FC welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Ayo Akimwaleere. The Champions League is back. Last season we saw a switch up with the former and PSG finally got their hands on the trophy. So what should we be expecting this time around? All right, with us today on the podcast, we've got Jack Pitt, Brooke, Tom Williams, and also Thomas Hill, Lopez Manero as well. Jack, let's go back a little bit. Last season we saw the introduction of the new 36 team league phase. From where you were sitting, did you enjoy it? Give us just a little brief overview as to what that phase also entailed.
- [02:45]
Jack Pitt
So the way it works is You've got the 36 teams and they play eight games each over the course of the league phase, running from September through to January. It takes 144 matches to go from 36 teams down to 24. I didn't enjoy it because I think lots of the games, the games just don't matter as much. Like PSG had four points from five games last season and they still went through and they still won the whole competition. So it obviously dilutes the sense of jeopardy that you get. I can't believe I'm defending the old system because it felt like the old format had gone stale. But you know where you stand with a six team. Sorry, with a four team group, with a round robin where each team plays six games each. Like, the jeopardy is clear in this new system. The jeopardy is really unclear. And I think a lot of the matches, the individual matches do end up just feeling like exhibitions.
- [03:37]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Okay, do you buy that, Tom? Because, I mean, genuinely, I didn't see PSG winning this tournament based on the way they started. So I guess UEFA might be thinking, well, actually maybe we had people on tenterhooks for a little bit, but inevitably a wealthy team and a team well stocked with great players ends up winning the Champions League.
- [03:55]
Tom Williams
Yeah, I mean, to pick up on Jack's point, I think one of the issues last season was not knowing how much jeopardy there was. That was one of the things we were all looking out for with this new format. There was a suggestion that there would be more jeopardy. And you're watching the games play out and you're seeing some of the big clubs struggling. We mentioned psg, Manchester City, Real Madrid as well. Bayern Munich had to go through the, the playoff round. And you're thinking this feel it looks like jeopardy like at this point, but is it really? And then by the time we got through to the knockout phase, all the big clubs were there. And so you thought, well, okay, actually, maybe there wasn't that much jeopardy. But you go back to some of those games, I mean, the PSG Man City game at the End of January. That was a fantastic game. And that felt like there was jeopardy, as it turned out. You know, both teams were, you know, were fine in terms of getting through to the knockout phase, but it felt like there was a game that had a lot riding on it. And even when you look at what happened in the playoff round, you know, there were some surprises. You know, Bruges knocking out Atalanta, who'd been brilliant in the league phase. PSV knocking out Juventus, Feyenoord knocking out Milan. Bayern Munich, you know, being given a real scare by Celtic. So there was, you know, there was a bit of jeopardy, just perhaps not as much as we thought there was going to be when we were kind of, you know, two games out from the end of the league phase.
- [05:16]
Ayo Akimwaleere
What do you think, Thomas? What impact do you think the, the structural change of the competition had?
- [05:20]
Thomas Hill
No, I can only really agree with them with the points Jack and Tom made. I think there were some great games in there. I mean, we probably all remember Villa beating Bayern and, and Madrid against live, that kind of Bradley tackle. But ultimately it's true. It's hard to say that there was more jeopardy than, than previous years in the group phase format. I think there was still that sense that the, the knockout rounds are just totally different to, to the group stage or to the league phase. Right. I mean, PSG finishing, finishing 15th and still winning the competition probably proves that. And you know, Liverpool finished top and we're knocked out by them. So ultimately everything kind of flies out the window once, once you get to the knockout rounds. And you know, the positive perhaps is that a few smaller teams get involved. But with all due respect to teams like Young Boys and Sloan and Bratislava, who I think finished in the bottom two, you know, they're hardly going to be remembered for years to come. And I can't say that the format has really improved things that much. I think it was a great season as a whole, but I don't think anything was really added too much by the new league face format.
- [06:23]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah, for sure, but just a quick one, Jack. I mean, inevitably, PSG won it for the first time in their history. Surely that's a reward of this new format. Surely.
- [06:31]
Jack Pitt
It's hard to say, isn't it? But I don't know if they won it because of the new format like arguably. Arguably in the old days they would have, because they started the league phase so badly, that would have stopped them from qualifying. Like if they, if they'd start their European campaign that badly, you know, two years ago they would have wound up in the Europa League and they probably would have won the Europa League, but they wouldn't have won the Champions League. So I guess, I guess the PSG example is the ultimate proof of how the new format creates a kind of, you know, like a sort of buffer zone, like a soft landing for big teams who start very badly. Whether you think that's a good or a bad thing, I mean, people, people have to make their own mind up on that. That all said, I did think PSG were brilliant to watch in the second half of the season. I really enjoyed watching watching them against Villa, against Liverpool, against Arsenal, against Inter. I thought they played some amazing football and they definitely, you know, they kind of elevated the competition by being that good. And I have to say, I did, I did really relish watching their games.
- [07:31]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Tom. Psg, they've definitely had players in their ranks over the years that have been in those situations before. Really experienced, but never quite doing it. What in your eyes, shifted last time around to help them lift the cup because they didn't start the campaign that well?
- [07:46]
Tom Williams
Yeah, I think it was having a game plan. I mean, you know, having a game plan that worked. I mean, you know, we all remember from the Mbappe Messi Neymar years how much expectation there was around that team, that sense that a group of players so talented surely couldn't fail to win the Champions League. And yet fail they did, season after season, often in circumstances so humiliating that they beggared belief. And what Luis Enrique did was he, you know, he came up with, with a blueprint and turned PSG from a gaggle of overpaid individuals into a proper team, you know, in which all the players ran around, all the players pressed, all the players harried and tackled. And, you know, I think, you know, as Jack was saying, there are so many different elements that come into play. There are so many things that are out of your control. Injuries, you know, freak results, var refereeing decisions, etc. Etc. You need a very talented group of players who know what they're doing and you need, you need a kind of direction of travel. You know, you need to know what you're doing so that when those moments of turbulence occur, you know, things don't, things don't go wrong. You know, the players know what's expected of them. They can weather those storms. And, you know, we saw that with PSG last season. I mean, they were so close to going out against Aston Villa in the quarterfinals. You know, were it not for two or three world class saves by Jean Luigi Donnarumma. They might well have done. You know, it was only really in the final that they, I mean, you know, they, they had produced some very impressive performances in the knockout phase, but it took penalties to get them past Liverpool. You know, they had that big wobble against Villa in the return leg. The Arsenal tie in the semi final was very close. It was only once they got to the final that they were able to really, you know, show their top level and take a team to the cleaners. So yeah, I think having that, having that identity and having a group of players who know what's expected of them, you know, and who won't falter when, you know, when things get tricky out on the pitch, I think that's a big factor too.
- [09:45]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Well, enough about last year. Let's move forward. Let's see who's going to win this year's competition.
- [09:53]
Podcast Host/Announcer
This is the Athletic FC podcast with IO Akimolere.
- [09:57]
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- [11:19]
Podcast Host/Announcer
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- [13:00]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Well the moments arrived and Marquinho takes the trophy from Alexander Se the whole.
- [13:05]
Jack Pitt
Of Paris has dreamed about this and.
- [13:07]
Tom Williams
Now that dream becomes a reality and Marquinios with a smile as wide as the river save and he raises the trophy high.
- [13:17]
Thomas Hill
Paris St Germain have won the Champions League in 2020.
- [13:21]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Well last season PSG became the second first time winners of the competition in three seasons after Manchester City won their first Champions League in 2023. Tom Real Madrid have won five of the previous nine Champions Leagues prior to last season. How refreshing was it from your standpoint to see PSG lift the title considering how they started the competition?
- [13:44]
Tom Williams
Yeah, I think it was helpful for UEFA that it was a new winner. And I think when you think about the wider context, the reason that we have this expanded Champions League is because UEFA is trying to convince the big clubs not to break away and form a super league. So it's turned the Champions League into a kind of super league. So the fact we got a new Winner was helpful in terms of creating this impression of a new start for Europe's top competition. If it had been one of the legacy clubs, you know, one of the, one of the clubs that had pioneered, you know, the failed attempt to set up the Super League, maybe that would have, you know, would have been a little bit annoying for UEFA, I think, in terms of PSG winning it. I mean, clearly, you know, they can never be described as sort of like plucky underdogs, but this was, I think, without doubt the most likable PSG team of the Qatari era. I mean, you know, let's imagine that the Kylian Mbappe Leo Messi Neymar team had won the first version of the new Champions League. In terms of, you know, kind of star power and glamour, that would have been perfect in many ways, but people never warmed to that team and people quite liked seeing that team fail. Whereas I think because PSG had this, you know, this young team without the superstars and this, you know, this very kind of, you know, energetic, you know, high octane way of playing, people found themselves kind of rooting for PSG almost, almost in spite of themselves. So I think, yeah, for them to have been the first champions of the new format, you know, work well, I guess from like a marketing perspective, if you like. And also in terms of historical omens, we shouldn't forget that the last time the European cup rebranded as the Champions League, a French team with the first team to win it, you know, on Ampita Marseille, there again, unfortunate asterisks next to that success. But, you know, a French winner for the first time. The first edition of the new tournament proved a decent sign of things to come.
- [15:45]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah, actually there have only been five first time winners since the rebranding of the Champions League. Marseille, as you just mentioned, 1993, Dortmund, 1997, Chelsea, 2012, Manchester City, and of course PSG last time around.
- [15:58]
Jack Pitt
I think that's really true about psg and I think that what I basically think the biggest weakness of the Champions League in the last five or ten years is not. It wasn't actually the format, it was the predictability by which, I mean, everybody knew that Real Madrid were probably going to end up in the final and Manchester City were probably going to be there or thereabouts as well, because they were so much better than everyone else. And there's no the good old days of the outsider winner like the team that you'd never really heard of, who's won their. Who won their domestic championship and were then able to Put on a really good run and surprise Europe. Those days are so far behind us now. And it's. Unless Tom says, like, it's obviously kind of absurd that we're talking about PSG as being the dark horse for this competition, but it actually was good to get a team who was not City or Real Madrid or Barcelo, Bayern or other teams who won it recently, or even Liverpool who won it, won it recently. To get a different team who could kind of wipe the floor with all the competition this season did give it a sense of newness, but I think that, I think that newness was needed because of the stratification of the competition rather than necessarily because of the format of the competition.
- [17:05]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah, I mean, according to Opta Thomas, Liverpool former winners up, one of the favorites, including Arsenal, who've never won it in this iteration for sure. And also psg, then City, Barcelona, Chelsea, also ahead of Real Madrid. You try telling Florentino Perez that Real Madrid aren't favorites to lift the the Champions League this season. Should the Spanish teams feel a little hard done by from that listing?
- [17:31]
Thomas Hill
I think maybe, maybe Barcelona could feel hard done by because I think they're really on a roll now under Underhanti Flick, such a strong attacking unit. I mean, there's been this, this row about Yamal's fitness with Spain, but obviously when, when they have him back fit and firing, he's brilliant. Raphinha as well, Lewandowski, who's actually, you know, been out the starting lineup for a lot at the start this season, but, you know, still comes on yesterday and scores twice. So I think they're the only ones who can really feel a grief because they were also, you know, that crazy semi final tie against Inter away from making the final. And perhaps then we'd have seen that Barca PSG final that I think a lot of us, a lot of us wanted to see. As it happens though, they'll be facing each other in the league phase in October, I think. So that will be really interesting to see how they match up. But no, I mean, in terms of the other Spanish sides, I think Madrid really are in this kind of transitional rebuilding phase. A lot of young players, a lot of new signings come in. Alonso's project still taking shape. I think they might find the league phase quite tricky. Again, if you look at the teams they've been drawn against, Liverpool, City, Juventus, even, you know, a supposedly easy team in Kara Almaty, that's a massive trip to, to get Kazakhstan. And then I think Atletico have, have spent big again. This summer, but look actually weaker than, than this time last season. Then you're talking about Villarreal and Athletic Club, who, you know, with all due respect, probably, probably don't have a chance really of, of going that far in, in the Champions League. I think it's probably a bit of a consequence again of, of the Premier League outspending all the other top five European leagues in, in the transfer window. Again, I just think that's a, that's a reality for some of the kind of mid ranking, mid to high ranking Spanish clubs and then we'll see. I mean, you'd never bet against Barcelona Madrid, would you?
- [19:14]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah, not at all. But you also never bet against psg. Tom, look, we saw them slightly struggle against Tottenham at the Super Cup. Inevitably they, they won it. But how have they started the season? How poised are they and how ready are they for this new campaign for the Champions League?
- [19:30]
Tom Williams
Yeah, I mean, domestic form has been, has been pretty good. 4 wins out of 4. Couple of scratchy wins to start the season, 1 nil wins against Nant and Angers, then had this fantastic 63 win away at Toulouse just before the international break and then won again, 2:0 at home to Lens at the weekend. But the big issue with PSG at the moment is injuries. Lewis Enrique managed the squad very skillfully last season in terms of resting players, and it meant that towards the end of the season in the Champions League when this first Choice XI had emerged, he was basically able to pick it for every single knockout game. And that continued pretty much all the way through the Club World Cup. And it was a real, you know, a really key factor to PSG success. We saw them, you know, lose to Chelsea in the final of the Club World Cup. I mean, I think Chelsea were brilliant and exploited weaknesses that the other teams hadn't been able to. But PSG did look quite leggy. It felt like, you know, it was, it was one game too many for them. For them, at the end of this, you know, marathon season, they all, I mean, they looked very undercooked, consequently against Tottenham, as you say, in the Super Cup. And there was this hope in France at least, that the fact that they were so undercooked might potentially open the door for some of their domestic rivals. That looks like it might not necessarily be the case in Ligand, but it is, I think, going to be an issue for them in the Champions League. Ousmane, Dembele, Desiree do both absent for the next few weeks, injured on international duty, which sparked, you know, a bit of beef between didier Deschamps and Louis Enrique about the management of those two players. And then this game at launch at the weekend they lost three players to injury. Kvisha Scalia, Lee Kang in, Lucas Berraldo. Scalia took a kick early on, so I think he's probably going to be okay. They took the decision not to significantly strengthen the squad in the transfer window. Obviously brought in Luca Chevalier in goal to replace Gianluigi Donnarumma, brought in Ilia Zabanyi from Bournemouth to provide backup for Marquinhos as the right sided centre back, but that was it. And they already had quite a small squad last season. They got away with it partly because Lewis Enrique managed things so carefully and they generally weren't affected by injuries too much. But all of a sudden this season there are injuries everywhere and they've got a really tricky start to the Champions League, you know, Atalanta for the first game and then Barcelona, you know, come game week two. And sandwiched in between those two games a game against Marseille in Ligue 1, which is always one of the biggest seasons for them. So you know, if PSG can get their strongest 11 out. Saw how strong they were last season, you know, I think they were probably, they're probably still the favorites for the competition. But all of those injuries, the cumulation of matches, the fact they had no real summer break at all and no pre season, I think that's a real concern for psg.
- [22:18]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah, I wonder if it's the smallest violin or the French fans are playing for psg, watching their injuries, I think Marseille fans in particular. Anyway, Jack, let's move on to the, to the English clubs in this competition. Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle. Good to see them back. And also spurs as well. Out of those guys, who do you think's got the best chance of trying to lift this trophy?
- [22:39]
Jack Pitt
Well, I mean Arsenal be getting closer and closer, haven't they? Like they've got in the last two years they've had what quarterfinal exit to Bayern I think and then semi final exit to PSG so they, and they could eat. I mean that PSG semi final last season was so tight. Like it's one of, that's one of those big Champions League knockout games which really does turn on a small number of. A small number of contingent details. Like it could have gone the other way was incredible.
- [23:04]
Ayo Akimwaleere
That match I remember.
- [23:05]
Jack Pitt
Yeah, yeah. And you know, if Arsenal had been in the final, I'm pretty sure they would have been Inter Milan. So I, I think Arsenal are definitely good enough. I guess my issue with Arsenal is Like, yeah, sure, they really want to win the Champions League, but they really want to win the Premier League as well. And if they're going all in for both competitions at the same time, like, that can be difficult. That said, they do have a really stacked squad and it seems to me like Michael Arteta's realized that the days of, you know, competing, competing on all fronts with a 16 man squad like Guardiola City used to do those days over, like, you need, you need far more depth nowadays than you used to. And again, like Liverpool, I think are definitely good enough. Like they're clearly good enough to win it. I just, I think again with them it will probably come down to a combination of priorities. I mean, they'll be in the mix and it comes down to what are your priorities, when do you get your injuries, who do you get in the draw, those kind of things. Because there's obviously, as much as we like to pretend otherwise, like so much of this is dependent on luck.
- [23:59]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah. What about Thomas, Frank? First time in the Champions League with this outfit in particular. They've made some good signings, but definitely a lot of learning still for spurs and that manager together.
- [24:11]
Jack Pitt
Yeah, huge amount of learning to do. Like, they haven't, they haven't been in the Champions League for two and a half years. It was a very different spurs team when they were last in it under Antonio Conte, where they had a pretty forgettable performance, then got knocked out by AC Milan 1 nil in the last 16. I remember being at the second leg of that game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium where they base. I don't think they barely had an attack, even though they needed to win to go through to the quarterfinals. I'm hoping to see a bit more energy from this time. And yeah, they've got a lot. So they've got a lot of players who are new to this as well. I think they'll do pretty well. Like they've got a fairly gentle fixture list. They should easily be good enough to go through to the next phase. I think that. I think ultimately they will probably run into a problem about lack of experience, lack of depth, but I think they'll make a decent fist of it before then.
- [24:56]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah, for sure. I'm sort of wondering, Tom and Thomas, actually, which English sides probably strike the most fear into PSG or Real Madrid heart? I mean, I can't wait to see Liverpool, Real Madrid. Personally, the, the, the, the Trent Derby, I like to call it Thomas, but it could be a really fascinating one, isn't it?
- [25:13]
Thomas Hill
Yeah, I think so, and I do think Liverpool are the team that Madrid really will fear facing given what happened last year. Obviously that was a, a different time and the kind of Carlo Ancelotti era I suppose in retrospect was definitely coming to an end. But this time, you know, fully remodeled defense almost with Dean Howson at the back, Carrera is at left back. Alexander Arnold's come in and kind of been alternating with, with Carvajal who's just come back from injury. So I think that Liverpool frontline is one that will definitely scare them. Other than that obviously Arsenal, you know, thrash them in the, in the quarterfinals. I think they're a physical team that they're always going to hate coming up against in City. There's the Guardiola link, which I think on the one hand means that Madrid fans probably don't want to face them because they know how, how good those teams can be with the, with the exception of last season. But at the same time I think those are also the, the games that they relish the most, at least beating, you know, Pep Guardiola given his, given his Barcelona past.
- [26:09]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah, with the injuries, Tom, I mean PSG facing Arsenal a full strength Arsenal could be a tricky one. I mean you said they were undercooked against spurs understandably, but spurs gave them problems.
- [26:19]
Tom Williams
Yeah, they did. And you know, as the defending champions they are, they are now the team to beat. And I think particularly the way that Chelsea approached the club World cup final would have given teams ideas because it suggested that you, you can get about PSG if you're bold enough to, to press them high up the pitch. Chelsea created overloads on the right hand side very successfully. Got Cole Palmer in lots of dangerous areas. So yeah, you know, I think teams will go about playing PSG this season with a more developed idea of, of how best to, you know, go about shutting them down. You know, because they, they had the element of surprise to an extent last season that, you know, they weren't seen as one of the favorites. And it was only over the course of the competition and particularly the performances in the knockout phase that we, you know, we realized what a, what a good team they were. And ye, I think, you know, in terms of which, which English clubs will strike the most fear into the hearts of the French teams in the competition? Yeah, it will be Liverpool, it will be Arsenal. I think Newcastle as well. Last time Newcastle were in the Champions league they gave PSG an absolute shoeing at St. James's Park. I mean that is probably still the, the low point of The Luis Enrique era. And you know, it's kind of cliched, but it's exactly the kind of stadium that French clubs, you know, tend to find quite intimidating.
- [27:37]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah. If you could all look into your crystal ball. I'll start with you, Jack, on this one. What do you think it takes to, to win the Champions League? I guess the days of underdogs kind of coming through not well. Stocks is probably far behind us, but I mean, what is it? Full strength squad? Because I think about Inter Milan making a couple of finals and just never quite getting it over the line. I mean, they're aged team, but so much experience. You would have liked to back them to at least win one of the two finals they got into.
- [28:05]
Jack Pitt
Yeah, it's difficult, isn't it? I mean, you, and you do get examples of teams who are really well organized and good teams are good players who can't really take that final step like before it was into. It was Juventus obviously lost the 2015, 2017 finals. Obviously they had lots of, you know, lots of success in this competition before then. But I'm just talking about the modern era in terms of what it takes to win. Well, you obviously need a really deep squad. You probably need to be able to play in different ways. I don't think, I don't think you can, you can go into this competition playing the same way you do in the league. I think that's. I think that explains a lot of what we've seen in recent years in terms of who wins. I think you probably need a manager who is able to, who is able to adapt and trust his players and be a bit more intuitive rather than being kind of ideologically committed to a particular style. You need a lot of luck. You need, you need players not to get injured. You need luck with decisions and var and bounce of the ball and all that stuff. So it's difficult to tell, but there's definitely random and uncontrollable factors that go into it.
- [29:06]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah. Thomas Real Madrid superstar manager, superstar players. Throw them on the field, see what they could do. Is that, is that how it works?
- [29:12]
Thomas Hill
Yeah, I think so. But also the mentality, you know, in some of those, like, final minutes of. I'm thinking about, you know, that semi final against Bayern Munich a couple of seasons ago. I mean, it's, it's hard not to fall into cliches, isn't it, with, with all of these things once we're, once we're talking about what it takes to, to win it. But I do think kind of having a never say die attitude is important. I do also think the right blend of, of experience and youth. If you look at those Madrid teams that won it often it was having modric or crow. So these plays that kind of guided the rest of them. I remember Jude Bellingham talking about that. I think after, after winning the Champions League with Madrid in 2024, how that helped so much being able to look around the pitch and realize these are players who have, who have done it before. Maybe who knows Barcelona last season, given it was the start arguably of a journey with so many young players, maybe they didn't quite have that right mixture of experience and youth. And perhaps Inter had too much the other way of, you know, a bit, a bit too much experience arguably. Whereas PSG had kind of Dembele Marquinhos players who have been to those stages a lot in that competition. So yeah, I think it's all, it's all those nebulous things as Jack says. But I would say mentality is definitely a big one.
- [30:21]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Okay, for sure. Well, let's move on because we'll discuss now some of the newer sides to join the Champions League in this season's.
- [30:27]
Tom Williams
Draw world.
- [30:35]
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- [32:36]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Foreign.
- [32:41]
Podcast Host/Announcer
You'Re listening to the Athletic FC podcast with Ayo Akiwalere.
- [32:45]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yes, Genta, not just the teams you are often covering or looking at. Who else might you have your eyes on in this season's competition? Tom, I want to start with you. Except for psg, who else do you think could be really strong this year?
- [32:58]
Tom Williams
Yeah, I mean I've inevitably, you know, got a close eye on the French clubs. Not necessarily expecting Marseille to go all that deep in the competition, but I'm so excited to see how, how they're going to get on, you know, a fantastic club, brilliant history. They're back in the the Champions League group slash league phase for the first time since 2022. Roberto De Zerbi is is starting his second season and as ever they have had the most turbulent summer. All the talk at the end of last season was great, bit of stability at long last. Head coach is staying. You know, this, this project is, is really taking shape. Not going to make too many changes to to the squadron. And the next thing, Adriana Habio has punched Jonathan Rowe in the changing room. Both of them get thrown out. They're signing players hand over fists and like you know, they played lay on their most recent league game on Friday night. I think maybe two or three of the starting 11 had been regulars at the start of last season. So complete turmoil, complete upheaval as ever. But yeah, I mean the Velodrome is one of the best places to watch football in the world. And they've got some fantastic games to look forward to. So they start off away at Real Madrid. They're then at home to Ajax, and they've got both Newcastle and Liverpool at home later on in the league phase. And I mean, I'm kind of hoping, you know, for them, but also just for the competition, that those games have got a little bit of jeopardy, you know, around them. Even if, as we were saying earlier, it's hard to know what is jeopardy and what isn't in this, this new phase of the tournament. But, yeah, I think Marseille will be worth keeping an eye on. And I think those, anyone lucky enough to go to any of those games at the Bellador will be in for an absolute treat.
- [34:36]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Mate, I was there in the summer to watch Thierry Henry coach the French national team for the Olympics and it was absolutely stunning. Unbelievable. Not last year, the year before, but brilliant. Brilliant stadium, I must say. What a city as well. Jack, are you. Who are you looking forward to seeing?
- [34:51]
Jack Pitt
I'm quite intrigued to see how Antonio Conte's Napoli get on this year. Conte's obviously quite weird in the sense that. That he's got an unbelievable record in league competition. Right. Like, he's won, I think, six league titles across four different teams, none of them with massive resource advantages, and yet he's never done anything really in the Champions League. He's got to the quarter final ones and that was with Juventus in, I think about 13 or 13 years ago, 12 years ago, perhaps. I've always been kind of waiting to see him make a big impression on this competition. It's a slightly different looking Napoli team this year, obviously. They've signed Rasmus, Hoyland, they've got Kevin de Bruyne from Manchester City, Scott McTominay still there. So I'm really curious to see how it comes together and I'd love them to go on a good run.
- [35:30]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah. Thomas, can you look beyond Spain?
- [35:33]
Thomas Hill
No, sorry, I. I'm gonna say I'm gonna go to the Basque country rather than, you know.
- [35:39]
Ayo Akimwaleere
All right, fair.
- [35:40]
Thomas Hill
So it's a bit. It's a bit different. It's a bit different, but yeah, really excited to see. To see Athletic Club back there. I think that's a real achievement given their, you know, unique philosophy of using only. Only Bass players, particularly in this kind of current era of Spanish football, where it's so dominated by Barcelona and Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid as well, to an extent. I think it is super impressive of them to have even got to the Champions League, I think for the first time in 10 years. It'd be tricky because I think Nico Williams is out at the moment, or at least a doubt for the Arsenal game. And, yeah, looking forward to seeing that Sam Hermes atmosphere. And again, another great place to watch football. Looking forward to seeing that in the champions league. League.
- [36:19]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Okay. Well, this expanded format has allowed more clubs to enter at the league phase. And there's some nice new faces. Actually, Jack, I want to talk about Bodo Glimpsed. Look, this is a team. I remember watching them a few years ago when I was covering the Europa league and Europa conference league for CBS. Beating Jose Mourinho's Roma 6 1. There's been a lot going on in the background and they're finally in the Champions league. Tell us a little bit more about the them.
- [36:47]
Jack Pitt
Yeah, it's an amazing story, really, because it's such a, you know, with all due respect, it's a very. It's a very small club from a small town, like a small little port town the very north of Norway, right up in the arctic circle. And yet they've. In the last few years, they've been an amazing run. Like they're not just a kind of one season wonder. They've won repeated Norwegian league titles. They've got a really enterprising style of play. They've got a really good manager in Kil Knutson and everything kind of of revolves around him and his ideas. Got a lot of local lads in the team and they're just a really, really a really good story. And they've made that place a very difficult. A very difficult place to go for visiting teams recently.
- [37:23]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Yeah. Thomas. Real Madrid traveled to Kazakhstan to take on Karat Almaty. I hope I got that right. Temperatures in January could reach as low as minus 30 degrees, actually, not too dissimilar from Bodo Glimp, to be honest. But forget about the rainy Tuesday in Stoker. Real Madrid ready for this one? This is proper football.
- [37:42]
Thomas Hill
Yeah, it's a long. It's a long trip, as you say. I think it's like 3,985 miles. So that just goes to show I think it's the one trip that Madrid wouldn't have wanted. Wanted to make among the, you know, the more accessible kind of opponents that they. That they could have had. Our colleague Bojeans, who's always great for these kind of stats, immediately tweeted after the. After the draw that Madrid's closer to both New York City and Bridgetown in Barbados than it is to Almaty, which I think tells you tells you everything. But yeah, it's their second, second season in European competition. I think they were in the inaugural edition of the, of the Conference League. Not sure anyone's really expecting them to, to get that far but, but look, it's a, it's a long trip. Remember I think Chelsea played there last season in the Conference League against Astana who weren't, were playing not in their usual stadium while they, while their ground was being renovated and they had some ridiculous 16 hour round trip because of, you know, trying to avoid zones of conflict as well. So I think it's going to be a really tricky one for, for Alonso's side and probably a big test of, of how they can, how they can cope with the, with the fixtures. I think Athletico Madrid just before then via Real just afterwards. So pretty crucial stretch of their season.
- [39:00]
Ayo Akimwaleere
Well, I think I've just heard Thomas, you've just nominated yourself to cover that match for the athletics, so I really appreciate it. Minus 30. What about Saint Gillouise? Union Saint Gilloise, Boniface's old team and also Pafas FC. Tom, do you know much about Saint Gillouise in this year's competition? Because they've had a nice little journey through Europe as well over the last couple of years.
- [39:21]
Tom Williams
Yeah, a great story. You know, we were talking about, you know, the need for new teams to come into the competition and have some kind of impact, you know, just to kind of lend this new format additional freshness and yeah, Union Saint Geroise are kind of become the poster boys for this model of data led scouting and recruiting players cheaply and then selling them on for huge profits. Obviously Tony Bloom, the Brighton owner, heavily involved, albeit he's now a minority shareholder. Denis Undav is one of the players that they picked up for next to nothing and sold for a significant amount of money. Won the Belgian League last season for the first time in several decades. So yeah, yeah, looking forward to seeing how they get on.
- [40:08]
Ayo Akimwaleere
And Paphos fc, David Luiz is back in the Champions League. Our producer Mike's hometown. Yeah, I mean this team was only founded 11 years ago. I saw them sign David Louise and I thought, you know what? Stroker genius for teams like this, Tom? I mean it's just about the experience, surely.
- [40:25]
Tom Williams
Yeah, completely. I mean, yeah, they've, you know, they have got nothing to lose. I mean, you know, we saw last season that it is, it is possible to, you know, to get embarrassed in this competition, you know, so it's not like these games are without consequence but you know, there will be no expectation around how they get on. There'll be a huge amount of curiosity. I'm sure. You know all the visiting fans who find themselves going there for games will really enjoy themselves. And yeah, if they can spring a surprise then it'll be a. It'll be an incredible story. And you know who doesn't want to see David Luiz playing Champions League football again because that was 20, you know, 2012, 2013 or something. It's amazing.
- [41:06]
Ayo Akimwaleere
I wonder if he's going to be doing sort of free kick routing and just absolutely hoofs it. Sky highs it as per usual. Anyway gents, let's leave it there. If you want more firm on karate do, check out Will Jeans's article on the Athletic thanks so much for joining us gents. Jack, Tom and Thomas. Thank you for listening. We'll be catching you soon.
- [41:26]
Podcast Host/Announcer
You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast. The producers to are going Guy Clark, Mike Stabre and Jay Beal. Executive producers are Abby Patterson and Aid Morehead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows. Search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. You'll also find us on YouTube at the Athletic FC Podcast, so make sure you subscribe the Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company Production.
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