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Champions League round up in the

1:01

final tranche of rather. Sixteen games

1:03

we have to penalty shootouts

1:06

to run away. League leaders

1:08

eliminated of forty one year.

1:10

Old defend the doing good things and on.

1:12

Loan money ninety player doing great

1:14

things. And Marcus Dram. really putting

1:16

the squeeze on Atletico Madrid. Well, on

1:18

at least one of Atletico Madrid. My

1:21

name's right, Bailey. Join and be today

1:23

Your friend of mine. Taylor Rockwell. Hello

1:25

hello my friend Harry, You. I.

1:27

Am wonderful! Thank you! It's been a.

1:30

Is. Paid another week of Champions League. It

1:34

has indeed been a week of Champions League vs

1:36

their. It has a D joining us to discuss

1:38

this week of Champions League is Joseph Lowery of

1:40

Arizona. Hello Joe! These games are fun. I don't

1:42

know what you guys are on about every time

1:45

you come in and were complaining about stuff. Know

1:47

these games are fun. I enjoyed them extra times

1:49

a stupid role which get rid of that but

1:51

the rest of the communist genuinely were good and

1:53

entertaining. I'm excited to talk about them. I go

1:56

to a week or whatever way goes. That's one

1:58

good step program. resurrect progress right? Yeah,

2:00

I'm with I see do we all agree with

2:02

that because I know our final co-host doesn't agree.

2:04

There we go Sometimes yes, sometimes

2:06

though. I think it helped with the enter

2:08

athletic game last night, but other games not

2:11

so much I'll introduce you

2:13

shortly Graham, but why do I feel that way? and

2:16

drama Going

2:23

forward should we have it be like the Graham Ruffin

2:26

switch where they just have to come to you and

2:28

and you can decide If away goals will count or

2:30

not. Yeah Good. Yeah, yeah Yes,

2:35

it was what he'd be like to invented that yes Great

2:39

mother with us here as well ladies and gentlemen

2:42

Before we get to the Champions League

2:44

action patreon.com/total soccer show is where you'll

2:46

find our bonus content It is the

2:48

best way to support our endeavors here

2:50

at total soccer show as well bonus

2:52

episodes bonus videos Access to our

2:54

discord lots of good stuff on there Joe

2:56

Lowry with a Little video

2:58

behind the scenes of his first commentary

3:01

gig love that love the subtitles Well,

3:04

so here was the problem to feel back the curtain

3:07

I started out so I was getting ready and

3:09

I sort of recorded a little pre clip at

3:11

home And then I got to the stadium I

3:13

recorded something and then I just completely forgot to

3:15

record anything until after the game was over and

3:18

I realized this video sucks Like this is really

3:20

not entertaining So I had to add

3:22

in some some high production quality elements on the back

3:24

end But I'm hoping to do more because I'll be out

3:26

at a bunch of games And I want to try to

3:28

show some of the behind the scenes of how the

3:30

different on-site broadcast elements work But

3:32

but game one for me was a little bit more about don't

3:34

screw up on TV Don't screw up on TV. Don't screw up

3:37

on TV next time. I will try to take some more

3:39

video liberties I caught some clips Joe you

3:41

did you did very well I've said thank you for you've

3:43

got the natural rhythm for a cool commentary And

3:45

the fact that you didn't include any of the match

3:47

footage or anything during the game nothing to do the

3:49

fact that Phoenix Lost no nothing. I confessed it after

3:52

the game. I said the last one nil. I thought

3:54

they were the better team I referenced expected goals and

3:56

Ryan hasn't messaged me angrily about it. So I know

3:58

that he didn't watch the whole video So

4:01

all in all I thought it was pretty forthcoming,

4:03

but PopmarBoy, player to watch, freshman out of Clemson

4:05

from last year, now professional soccer player was excellent

4:07

in the middle of the back line and has

4:10

a great name, go watch him play soccer. I

4:12

have thought about creatively editing

4:14

my Starland Albion videos, like on the Patreon, Starland

4:17

Albion have made it to the Champions League. We

4:19

haven't lost a game in two years. It's just

4:21

a football manager save is what it is at

4:23

that point. Yeah,

4:25

it's an excellent video. The subtitles do

4:28

make it Joe. And yes, I did

4:30

listen and I heard my shout out.

4:32

Thank you very much. Much appreciated. Also

4:34

on there, going on the feed very

4:36

shortly indeed, as we record our top

4:38

five USMNT moments of all time. Find

4:41

out what they are. patreon.com/Total

4:43

Soccer Show. In the

4:46

meantime, let's get to the Champions League action

4:48

of this week. We'll start with Tuesday's games.

4:50

Why don't we go to the Emirates first

4:52

with Arsenal getting a one-nil win over Porto.

4:55

1-1 on aggregate there,

4:57

Arsenal going through 4-2 on

4:59

penalties. This was Graham, the first Champions

5:02

League penalty shootout since the 2015-16 final.

5:04

That one blew my mind. Didn't know

5:06

that. And

5:08

then Wednesday nights, shootout was the first

5:11

penalty shootout that we had in the Champions League

5:13

since the night before. Yeah, two at once in

5:15

one week. Yeah, I, in terms of this

5:18

match, this was the most engrossing match and

5:20

tie of the round. Not because it was

5:22

a good match. It was a terrible match

5:24

by all the usual measures. Very few opportunities.

5:27

Not much rhythm. Porto did an excellent job of

5:29

disrupting Arsenal, preventing them playing through just as they

5:31

did in the first leg. But I

5:34

thought it was fantastic to watch. I really

5:36

enjoyed it because there is a joy to

5:38

watching a team executing a game plan so

5:40

well as Porto did. And you got

5:42

a sense from early on that this was going to be on

5:44

a knife edge when we previewed these games early on the week

5:46

on the Patreon. We kind

5:48

of predicted this, right? That Arsenal would eventually

5:50

break them down, but they would have a

5:52

tough time doing so, given what we'd seen

5:54

from Porto already in this tie.

5:57

This was the optimum outcome for me because it's why I

5:59

did it. did enjoy Porto in this tie. It's

6:01

a little bit like Morocco at the last

6:03

World Cup where you can enjoy the underdog

6:05

story, you can appreciate what they're doing but

6:07

once you get into the latter stages you

6:09

just kind of want the best teams playing

6:12

good soccer. So I enjoyed Porto,

6:14

they did very well here, they executed their

6:16

game plan very well but Arsenal moving into

6:18

the quarterfinals is probably the best outcome for

6:20

the tournament as well. You've

6:22

said at least twice that you enjoyed

6:24

Porto in this game. Can you expand

6:27

on that? I'm not sure

6:29

that was the consensus. I

6:31

don't know, I enjoy some Poop Houseery and

6:33

there was a lot of Poop Houseery from

6:35

Porto in this game. Much like the first

6:37

leg it was a game that was played

6:39

on their terms so they kind of dictated

6:41

the manner of the match even though Arsenal

6:43

have obviously more of the ball and they're certainly

6:45

the more proactive team. This match

6:47

was like this because Porto made it that way.

6:49

They broke things up, they took every opportunity to

6:52

go down and take their time on goal kicks.

6:54

If it was an Arsenal fan I'd be absolutely

6:56

raging. This is one of those things that you

6:58

can only really enjoy if you're a neutral. I

7:00

am a neutral so I did enjoy it but

7:02

yeah they stayed compact, kept their concentration. It also

7:06

didn't totally feel like a team that

7:08

was just kind of sitting deep and

7:10

praying to get through to penalties. Porto

7:13

knew what they were doing, their game plan worked, they did a

7:15

good job of taking the air out of the Emirates in

7:17

the first half. They were happy to have the

7:19

ball at Dougal Costa's feet for as long as

7:21

possible. They had some threat down the flanks with

7:23

Konsu Sow and Cuvee Orr I thought had a

7:26

difficult time against him. There was a

7:28

couple moments where they were good in transition and

7:30

on the break which you don't often see against

7:32

Arsenal so yeah. I was so impressed with the

7:34

way that they played over the two legs. I

7:36

think they played better in the second leg than

7:38

they did in the first leg when they won

7:41

that game. They have an identity, they

7:43

stuck with it but yes I am

7:45

pleased they're out if that makes any sense. And

7:48

I'll drill down a little bit more on the

7:50

language there Graham. I think I agree with literally

7:52

every word you just said. The way I would

7:54

shift it to make it Ryan approved is to

7:56

say I didn't necessarily enjoy watching Porto in this

7:58

game but I appreciated what they did. And that's

8:00

been the thing for Porto, under Sergio Kinseto, for

8:03

years now. They know exactly who they

8:05

are. And these big games against larger European teams

8:07

with higher wage bills, with more top-end talent, they

8:09

know exactly who they are. They're able to sit

8:12

and defend. And it wasn't as if Porto were

8:14

just sitting deep in a super low 4-4-2 block

8:17

or a 5-4-1 block. They did

8:20

some sitting deep. But like you, Graham, I was...

8:23

Maybe you didn't say this, but I was actually

8:25

a little surprised with how much early possession Porto

8:27

had. Arsenal, I thought, were slow out of

8:29

the gates. And they needed to push for a goal in this

8:31

game. And they didn't seem to have the intensity early on. And

8:33

it was fortunate for them that they found it. And Troisard gets

8:35

the ball in the back of the net after

8:37

a beautiful Martin Odegard assist. One of the

8:40

best balls that I've seen in a really,

8:42

really long time. But Porto in

8:44

general, I thought, were excellent

8:46

across both legs that executed their game plan.

8:48

If you gave Kinseto and this Porto team

8:51

the choice before this two-legged tie started of

8:55

having to go out there and play for

8:57

a win across the two legs or getting

8:59

it tied into penalties at the end of

9:01

the second leg, they would pick the second

9:03

one every single time. Getting to a penalty-kick

9:05

shootout against Arsenal was a fantastic result for

9:07

Porto. And honestly, just a shame and an

9:09

excellent performance from David Ria in net for

9:11

Arsenal that prevented them from moving into the

9:13

quarterfinals. Taylor, I don't

9:15

think this would be mentioned in any other media, but Pepe's

9:17

41 years old. He is. I

9:21

did. I enjoyed the juxtaposition

9:23

of his first game against Arsenal versus this

9:25

game, so you could take the time lapse. And he

9:27

looks pretty much the same, maybe a little bit less

9:29

hair. But it is cool to see him starting

9:32

and playing for Porto. And I

9:34

thought he did mostly okay in this game. He gets

9:36

himself a yellow, but stays on

9:39

the pitch. So no Pepe Tomfoolery. I feel like

9:41

VAR has done away with that for him. But

9:45

I think I agree with everything else that Joe and

9:47

Graham have said. I found this one, a type

9:50

of game where it was really difficult to track

9:52

everything that was happening. I felt a strong desire

9:54

to look at my phone multiple times. So maybe

9:56

I'm not the best person to analyze this one

9:58

other than to say that. David Ryle once again

10:00

reminded us that he's better than Aaron Raimedale. Can

10:03

we do another quick beat on Martin Odegard? I

10:05

thought this was one of the best matches that

10:08

I've seen him play. While Porto

10:10

did a good job of limiting Arsenal,

10:12

I thought Odegard was the exception. His

10:14

play for the goal is just tremendous.

10:17

It's an incredible skill in a tight area and

10:19

then the little pass-through to Trozard for the finish

10:21

is absolutely incredible. And he was feeling himself throughout

10:23

the match. There was a moment in the second

10:25

half where he nutmegged a player on the edge

10:28

of the box which doesn't quite do justice to

10:30

what that piece of skill was because the player

10:32

is right on top of him and he kind

10:34

of rolls it through the legs. Just

10:37

fantastic stuff. He's such a good player and he's

10:39

become so important to Arsenal, not just in terms

10:41

of his footballing, playing creativity

10:43

and goal threat, but also his

10:45

leadership quality which is not something

10:48

that I really associated with him earlier in

10:50

his career. But you see

10:52

the way that he takes the first penalty in

10:54

the shootout and then gives it the big roar

10:56

to the stadium. Maybe that's the natural thing to

10:59

do, maybe most players would do that. But nonetheless in that

11:01

moment I think it was clear. And throughout the

11:03

match as well, just how much of a driving force he is

11:05

for this team. Most players might do

11:07

that, but the way he takes the penalty, how

11:09

emphatic that finish is and then he picks it

11:11

up, it just elevates the energy. And yes, Pepe

11:14

steps up and gets his. But

11:16

I feel like you get Odegard sort

11:18

of establishing that energy and

11:20

establishing that ruthlessness in terms of

11:22

taking the penalties and then

11:24

Arsenal go on to make all of theirs or all the ones

11:26

that they took. So it feels like he was a good one

11:29

to get out in front and I agree with you Graham. The

11:32

leadership, the kind of putting the team on his back at

11:34

times that we've seen from him has

11:36

been so critical in their run this season

11:38

and in this champion league for sure. If

11:41

we're switching the discussion to the shootout, which

11:43

I know tends to be your niche tailor,

11:45

but if it wasn't for... So there's a

11:48

couple of things I noticed in the shootout.

11:51

First of all of course you have David

11:53

Ria. If it wasn't for Ron Wynn-Williams, I

11:55

would have said this performance was the best

11:57

shootout performance I've seen from a goalkeeper this

11:59

year. Yeah, I've flashed in the past

12:01

Joe from like literally

12:03

a month ago which feels like a year

12:05

ago Afghan. But yeah, exceptional

12:08

from David Raya but before

12:10

on the TNT broadcast, before the

12:12

start of the shootout, they highlighted

12:14

that Wild Eagle Costa had a

12:16

good record from penalties. He's never

12:18

saved a penalty from a left

12:20

footer before which was an

12:22

interesting thing to highlight and

12:24

then I don't think it was a coincidence

12:27

that Arsenal's first three penalty takers in the

12:29

shootout are all left footers. They knew that

12:31

as well. But yeah,

12:33

Raya's performance was fantastic. What

12:36

did you think of the show? Taylor, did you have

12:38

your diagram drawn out? I did. It

12:41

wasn't wholly remarkable. I

12:43

thought David Raya clearly

12:45

got a good briefing and I think gets

12:47

really good launch. I'm always amazed at how

12:49

well goalkeepers have been

12:51

able to start timing that sort of launch that they always

12:54

have the foot behind the line but then still sort of

12:56

spring out at the exact right moment. The

12:58

one thing I would like to see more of is

13:00

the commentators saying ahead of time that the player looked

13:03

nervous. They did it with both of the misses for

13:05

Porto after it was missed. It's like, he never looked

13:07

confident. It's like, I didn't need to say that before

13:09

he took the penalty which it does feel like would

13:11

be a nice little thing to have ahead of time

13:13

so they could then discuss afterwards. But

13:15

other than that, I just thought it was Arsenal

13:18

just being really clinical

13:20

and efficient and kind of ruthless in the way they

13:22

took theirs. I think you could see the nerves in

13:24

Porto as it went on and then having David Raya

13:26

in the form he's in really

13:28

is the difference maker. So I'm I

13:32

guess happy to see Arsenal. I'm not an Arsenal supporter but I

13:34

think I am of the two happier to see Arsenal go through.

13:36

It feels like we are in a position to have more

13:39

exciting football with some of the teams that advanced. To

13:42

come back to the penalty Taylor, they were really

13:44

high quality ones. Arsenal took them weren't they? They

13:46

were all great I thought. I wonder if maybe

13:48

they practiced knowing the way Porto were going to

13:50

play and knowing the possibility that we were going

13:52

to a shootout. Yes.

13:55

And it felt to me like all of them were

13:57

very much I know where I'm going. I'm

13:59

not playing. any games. I'm not trying to be silly with

14:01

this. I'm going to do maybe a little bit of an

14:03

elaborate run up, but in the end I'm going to put

14:05

it exactly where I want to with the speed or with

14:07

the power and the placement. And I

14:10

think by contrast with Porto and then in the shootout that

14:12

we're still yet to talk about, every

14:14

single penalty just felt like they were maybe in

14:16

the quite not quite the right spot.

14:18

They were in that sort of zone where it's always going

14:20

to be easier for a goalkeeper to make a save than

14:22

down low or a pie. And so it

14:24

felt to me like Arsenal were just sort of knew what

14:26

they were doing and executed and Porto I think had a

14:28

little bit of a wobble with some of their takes. Maybe

14:31

this is just me as the dictator of Porto and

14:34

I'm still a little salty about this whole situation and

14:36

Porto going out. I am not

14:38

as convinced as everybody that Arsenal going through

14:40

is a win for the neutral. It

14:42

is a win for the neutral, but I don't think

14:44

it's as big of a win as maybe the rest

14:47

of the folks that I'm joined with today do. Arsenal

14:49

still in this game didn't

14:52

create very many chances. Like they weren't especially

14:54

dangerous in possession. That was true in the

14:56

first leg against Porto. That was the big

14:58

problem in Porto

15:01

getting a banger in that game. But Arsenal just straight

15:03

up couldn't create, they couldn't take the game by the

15:05

scruff of the neck and really create chances on their

15:07

own in the final third. And they

15:09

have been good in the league obviously to still

15:11

be in the title race at this stage in

15:13

the season means you've done a lot of things well. But

15:16

still I'll keep banging the drum. They have not

15:18

been this super dynamic free flowing chance creating team.

15:20

They have been for a lot of this year

15:22

at least and certainly in these two legs a

15:25

defensive possession team. Meaning that you keep the

15:27

ball with the express purpose of trying to

15:29

deny your opponent's chances and less

15:31

so because you're great at creating chances for yourself.

15:33

So I'm ultimately I agree and I'm kind of

15:35

splitting hairs but I just wanted to say this

15:37

because I think as we go forward in

15:39

this tournament and maybe for the listeners as well this is

15:42

something to watch for. Like the thing to watch for

15:44

for Arsenal is not how they control games defensively. It's

15:46

not how they strike on set pieces because they are

15:48

elite at both of those things. It

15:50

is how do they get notegard on the ball because

15:52

grandma do disagree with you on that. They limited his

15:54

touches Porto in this game. According to

15:57

FBRF he had just 48 touches across 120 minutes.

16:00

minutes of play, he had 65 touches against

16:02

Brentford over the weekend in 89 minutes. So

16:05

and you can go back through and look at more and

16:07

more and see that this was a quiet game for Odegard

16:09

when he was on the ball. Obviously

16:11

that wasn't applying because he was fantastic. But when he

16:13

was off the ball, he wasn't getting on the ball

16:15

nearly enough. So as just one thing

16:17

I'm watching for this Arsenal team moving forward, and

16:20

if there's anything that's going to prevent them from

16:22

winning one or two major trophies, it's going to

16:24

be their inefficiency in possession. You

16:26

forget one thing though Joel, and Nutmeg touched

16:29

his count triple. There it is. You're

16:31

right. That's the caveat. I know that's

16:33

not a real thing, I desperately want it to be. That would be lovely. Okay,

16:36

we'll make that a real thing, we'll get rid

16:38

of extra time and the dictator reporter will have

16:40

his way. I'm not even kidding, that would make me

16:42

ecstatic. Less than Nutmeg thing and more of the extra

16:45

time thing, but that's fine. Very

16:47

good, very good indeed. Arsenal in the quarterfinals for the first

16:49

time since 2010. When

16:51

we come back after this break, we're going to

16:53

look at Barcelona's passage into the final eight, packed

16:55

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TSS. Total

20:49

Soccer Show, welcome back to our

20:51

Champions League review. Let's go to

20:53

Catalunya where Barcelona had a 3-1

20:55

win over Napoli, a 4-2 win

20:57

on aggregate, Fermil Lopez, J. Wael

21:00

Cancillo and Robert Lewandowski with the

21:02

goals for Barcelona. Graham,

21:04

a decent game here, Napoli got back into

21:07

it around a half hour mark, but ultimately

21:09

to no avail here. Yeah,

21:11

I said in our Patreon preview on Monday

21:13

that I really wasn't sure how this match

21:15

would pan out. And basically my reasoning was

21:17

that Barca have been poor in most matches

21:20

that I've seen them play recently. I think

21:22

I underestimated just how much the competitive tension

21:24

has gone from their performances in La Liga.

21:26

I know Joe has mentioned this. They don't

21:28

really have much to play for in La

21:31

Liga right now. And some

21:33

of that tension was back in their

21:35

performance for this game because this was

21:37

more comprehensive than I was expecting from

21:39

Barcelona. They did a number of things well

21:41

in this match. They started well, they started with

21:43

intensity, they were willing to be a bit more

21:45

direct to get in behind and there was a

21:47

couple of warnings signs for Napoli early on with

21:50

a decent opening for Fermil Lopez 12 minutes in.

21:52

And then of course he

21:54

scores in this game. I thought this

21:56

was Rafinha's best performance of the season.

22:00

one that splits open the Napoli defence for

22:02

the first goal and then it's a nice

22:04

pick out for Firmina in the middle. For

22:06

the second goal it's an excellent counter attack

22:08

by Barcelona from deep and it's good movement

22:10

by Rafinha again. So we haven't seen this

22:13

sort of performance from him very often this

22:15

season but this was good. I thought the

22:17

defending from Napoli at times was absolutely abysmal,

22:19

particularly for the first goal where there was

22:21

just a giant hole in that defensive line,

22:24

nobody tracking back from midfield to cover it.

22:26

But nonetheless I thought this was a good

22:28

performance by Barcelona. The caveat is there

22:30

were some opportunities for Napoli in transition

22:32

and on the counter attack but their

22:34

decision making in those moments. At least

22:36

twice Barca got a bit carried away

22:38

and had six players breaking forward before

22:40

then losing the ball. But

22:43

time and time again Napoli ignored

22:45

the sort of vertical passing channels

22:47

if I can call them them and failed to exploit

22:49

the space that was in front of them. Their attacks

22:51

would get bogged down with players taking too many touches

22:53

or they would delay the pass. So I think while

22:56

this was certainly a good performance by Barcelona they deserved

22:58

to go through there with a stronger team, a

23:01

sharper opponent might have made Barcelona pay

23:03

more for those moments. Graham,

23:05

I like how you sort of lost

23:07

steam in between saying good

23:10

and performance. It was a good

23:12

performance from Barcelona which is

23:14

similar to what Viktor Osimin did for the

23:17

opportunity he had on the fourth minute. That was a

23:19

strange moment for me of like, uh oh, that doesn't

23:22

seem like the Viktor Osimin we've all watched before where

23:24

he's kind of has the opportunity to like take that

23:26

big touch and get out in front and then be

23:28

one on one with the goalkeeper. It's sort of a

23:30

couple different, not quite good touches,

23:32

not quite bad touches but it doesn't put him in the

23:35

best position to get a shot away. And in

23:37

that moment it kind of felt like a little

23:39

he's not fully up to speed, if

23:41

he's not going to be the difference maker this might

23:43

not be Napoli's day and that is pretty much how

23:45

it played out. Well that's kind of what

23:47

I mean right? There are a number of opportunities or situations

23:50

in this game where you think, and look maybe

23:52

this is my fault because Napoli haven't

23:54

really been the team to capitalise on those opportunities

23:56

this season but my mind still goes back to how

23:58

they played last season. those moments I'm

24:00

thinking right here we go Napoli are gonna

24:03

they're gonna do something exciting here and they're

24:05

gonna get a decent look at goal and

24:07

it never really materialized so that's where I

24:09

think a better team certainly a sharper team

24:12

might have made this more of a contest. Yeah Joe

24:14

what did you make of Barcelona's performance in this

24:16

one with the kids and whatnot? I thought

24:19

it was fun I thought their attacking play was

24:21

really sharp from very early on in this game

24:23

and I thought the defensive play was sloppy and

24:25

some of the rest defense stuff for both teams

24:28

wasn't particularly sharp. One thing

24:30

I loved about this match and it was a really

24:32

entertaining game. Main City's fingerprints

24:34

were all over this thing and let me

24:36

explain what I mean by that. City in

24:38

a lot of ways have continued to push

24:40

forward some of the tactical trends that we're

24:42

seeing at the elite levels. I even think

24:44

about this in the Arsenal game where it's

24:46

ostensibly four center backs across the back line

24:48

for Arsenal in that match and that's that's

24:50

like a main city thing. Pep kind of

24:52

stumbled upon that midway through last season and

24:54

now Arsenal have sort of trailed behind them

24:56

and copied a lot of that stuff. The

24:58

first goal not just for

25:00

Barcelona but Napoli's first goal as well

25:03

is off of like an identical pattern and it's

25:05

something that we've seen Main City with Kevin de

25:07

Bruyne to do a hundred times. So in possession

25:09

Barcelona are in this 3-2-5 shape. Andres Christenson is

25:11

a full-time midfielder now not sure when that happened

25:14

or why but here we are. He was next

25:16

to Gundogan in possession and then as Barcelona would

25:18

push forward they would form this flat five across

25:20

the front line and JY would be high and

25:23

wide on the left side, Lamal would be high

25:25

and wide on the right side, Fermi

25:27

Lopez and Rafinha in the half spaces. In

25:30

the pattern of play that we saw the first

25:32

goal for both teams come from even with Napoli

25:35

using a slightly different possession shape is this and

25:37

this is straight out of Main City's playbook. You

25:39

move the ball wide all the way to whoever

25:41

is occupying the wing who's like feet are on

25:44

the sideline. You move the ball wide that stretches

25:46

the opposing back line out right that really extends

25:48

them further and further towards the wing which creates

25:50

little pockets of space to then send a runner

25:52

into the half space towards the end line to

25:55

go reach and that has been Kevin Derboina time

25:57

and time again from Manchester City. a

26:00

bit different now City, but that was the early thing

26:02

under Pep was you move the ball wide, you send

26:04

De Bruyne through to the half spaces and then De

26:07

Bruyne will then cut the ball back. Well

26:09

for both of these goals, Barcelona

26:11

and Napoli sent runners into the half spaces,

26:13

they cut the ball back and the first

26:15

goal for Barcelona is for mean Lopez who

26:17

finishes just crashing on the weak side of

26:19

the box and that sequence often ends with

26:21

a box crashing midfielder and the exact

26:23

same thing happens with Napoli. They get a goal off

26:25

of the same pattern. It was like

26:27

I was watching a game on replay but everybody had switched colors or

26:30

sides or it was going to meet, I don't know, I couldn't figure

26:32

out what it was. It was just wild

26:34

to me that we saw both of these teams

26:36

go and score basically an identical goal and one

26:38

that I'd seen Men City score a bunch of

26:41

times. It was a fun, not entirely well played

26:43

game but entertaining and lots of attacking quality in

26:45

this one, I enjoyed it. So Joe,

26:47

when you buy a flat screen TV, like

26:49

a Samsung top of the range TV has the best

26:51

technology in it and then like two years later... Just

26:53

have a vibrato by Samsung, yeah. Two

26:56

years later, that technology appears in like the Vizio

26:59

one, right? It's Barcelona, the Vizio versus Men City,

27:01

like two years later they've learned that goal. I

27:03

didn't know if you were leading up to make

27:05

fun of me or where we were going with

27:07

that, right? I was down

27:09

for whatever. That analogy is perfect. That is

27:12

a spotless analogy. Barcelona are that team,

27:14

right? They do so much fun stuff and

27:16

Shabi obviously has pet influences. That's

27:18

to the surprise of zero people out there. It

27:21

makes tons of sense but this Barcelona team just can't

27:23

do it at the same level. And the same goes

27:26

with Napoli. One thing that really shocked

27:28

me with Napoli was how

27:30

rough their rest defense was. They really

27:32

struggled after they turned the ball over

27:34

to deal with Barcelona's transition attacks. And

27:37

so Barcelona get the first goal from Lopez and

27:39

they get the second one from Jay Lao two minutes

27:41

later and it comes off this counter attack that was

27:44

very preventable. Napoli were slow to step to

27:46

the ball. There was a huge gap between La Botka as

27:48

their number six who had gone up to press and the

27:50

center backs and I think the weak side fullback in that

27:52

moment as well. And so Lamo

27:54

just has so much green grass to run into

27:56

and 10 seconds later the ball is in the

27:58

back and Napoli is next. I would

28:00

I would say Barcelona and Napoli all these sort of

28:02

main city impersonators and certainly both of them in this

28:04

tie They are the Vizio Ryan. I love

28:07

it. These are your man city. There

28:09

you go. We're getting we're getting arsenal Barcelona Aren't

28:11

we that's gonna be the draw, isn't it? Yeah,

28:14

that's fine. I'm good with like that sure I

28:17

just really don't 12 is cold at once its champions

28:19

with less waiting tight luck You feel like the way

28:22

we're talking about baby And see there you go a

28:24

bunch of history But also it feels like in the

28:26

same way that we're like like our like Joe's point

28:28

about arsenal like maybe not going to Be the more

28:30

expansive the most expansive team or the most fully

28:32

entertaining team. I feel like Barcelona have similar issues So

28:35

put them together. That'll be fun I feel like we

28:37

could get it a very interesting draw if we got

28:39

arsenal Barcelona I'm gonna spoil the rest of the results

28:41

if we got Dortmund Bayern You could get that as

28:43

a knockout round game. You could get at let the

28:45

go around Madrid as one and you can get city

28:47

PSG there we go Cool

28:49

all the big garbage including the oil state

28:52

Darby exactly I believe

28:54

the draw is on Friday March 15th by the way list. I

28:56

already did it. It's fine Did

28:58

just one final point and I worry about it. Don't worry, buddy. Wait, so

29:00

we're done Just one

29:02

final point on this match. Did anyone

29:04

catch Aurelio de Laurentiis interview before this

29:06

game on CBS? So speaking to game

29:08

Ballet and he said that the players were gonna get

29:10

10 million Euros if they got

29:13

if they if they made it through this

29:15

this tie which obviously didn't so he kept

29:17

that money in his pocket But he also

29:19

mentioned and this was interesting he also mentioned

29:21

how important it was to win this game

29:23

because if you make the quarter finals if

29:25

Napoli made the quarter finals they would have

29:27

been into the 2025 Club World Cup That

29:31

was the first time I'd ever heard a

29:33

manager or a president or whoever Mentioned

29:35

that as an incentive. I hadn't even considered that

29:38

so that got me thinking is the club world

29:40

cup gonna be a thing Like are we gonna

29:42

be caught by surprise here? Well,

29:45

Graham, this has been a narrative for a few

29:47

teeth Barcelona have got this in their minds as

29:49

well because I heard elsewhere that it's worth 50

29:51

million To a team to get into

29:53

this new expanded Club World Cup. So a lot of

29:55

these teams are right now trying to Firm

29:58

up their place in it, which is great Isn't

30:00

that awesome? I love it. So you actually wasn't

30:02

really being that generous, De Laurentiis, with his 10

30:04

million euro bung. He

30:07

was gonna increase that revenue by

30:09

five times. By five, oh. I

30:14

thought you were gonna talk about De Laurentiis. There was a

30:16

seri- Maybe I'm conflating it with a serial game at the

30:18

weekend. There was a player where he pulled away from an

30:20

interview and said he's not giving in- Oh no, that was

30:22

this game. That was this game. That was this one. Because

30:24

he's gonna get sanctioned by UEFA for it. Yeah, that's it.

30:26

Yeah, I knew there was some crazy

30:28

De Laurentiis action as there usually is. But

30:31

Grand Napoli, they're out. The 7th in

30:33

Serie A are 28 points off the

30:35

lead. They're on their third manager of

30:37

the season in Francesco Calzona. Mm. Co-co-co-co-co.

30:41

Could this have gone worse? Like genuinely, Graham, could this

30:43

season have gone any worse than any reality for Napoli?

30:45

I think the answer is no. Um,

30:49

not really. I guess Awesomen could have left in January.

30:51

Or could have skiddo. Or skiddo. Or

30:53

something like that. But yeah. Literally,

30:55

it's a complete car crash.

30:58

Just give the job to Spoletti's duck. Honestly.

31:00

Just get it done. Oh, Snow White. Snow

31:03

White the duck. We miss you so. Let's

31:05

take another quick break. When we come back,

31:07

we're gonna look at all the Wednesday action

31:10

including another shootout and Dortmund going through back

31:12

shortly. This

31:16

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32:52

Total Soccer Show we are reviewing the Champions League

32:55

and we go now to the Wandanara Stadium in

32:57

Madrid. I think that's what it's called Graham. Atletico

32:59

Madrid 2 in tier 1, a 2-2 draw after.

33:05

Lots of minutes including extra time Joe.

33:07

Atletico winning 3-2 on penalties in this

33:09

one. Plenty of drama here as

33:12

well. Graham what did we

33:14

make of the flow of this one? I mean the Arsenal

33:16

game was quite tense. This one had attention to it

33:18

too, did it not? So

33:20

did you find this one more enjoyable than the

33:22

Portal game? I'm just trying to gauge here your enjoyment

33:24

level. Or did you spend most of the

33:26

match stressing out about how all the people were going to get

33:28

home and whether there'd be enough trends for the video? On

33:31

our private chat I was worried that

33:33

this game was going late local time

33:35

and I wondered how public transportation would

33:37

handle it. But apparently that worry was

33:39

allayed by Graham's experience of the metropolitan

33:41

transport system. I'm

33:44

loath to say I enjoyed an Athletic game more

33:46

than an Arsenal game. But I think I did

33:48

Graham. This is your A&E semione

33:50

agenda though. You just can't give him any. He's

33:53

a lovable scamp. What is it that you don't like

33:55

about him Ryan Bailey? 98

33:58

World Cup is the end. We've

34:00

only got about 30 minutes left. It's because he had

34:02

the audacity to put his leg in the way of

34:04

David Beckham's violent outburst at him, wasn't it? That's the

34:07

reason. We

34:09

don't let these things go. We're going over

34:11

all grand. Simioni, another stat for you. Never

34:13

lost a home match in the Champions League

34:15

knockout stage. Wow, mind blown. It's astonishing. Here's

34:17

another one. Athletic Madrid in their entire history

34:19

have had 23 knockout matches

34:21

in the, or ties in the Champions

34:23

League. He has been manager for 21

34:25

of them, which is incredible.

34:27

He's basically just that club at that

34:29

point. Even down to the way that

34:31

the fans react to them. So one of my

34:33

favourite things, we will actually talk about the football

34:36

soon, I promise. But one of my favourite things

34:38

from this game was, so when Inter Milan scored,

34:40

all their fans held up their phones with the lights

34:42

on. You know how you see that at concerts. That

34:44

must be a thing that they do. And

34:47

obviously Athletic Madrid respond immediately.

34:51

Respond immediately. So out

34:54

of pettiness, all the Athletic Madrid fans

34:57

now celebrate with their phones. And

34:59

at full time they all

35:01

had their phones held up, which apparently, Derek

35:03

Corgan on Twitter was saying, that is not

35:06

a thing that Athletic Madrid fans do. That

35:08

was purely to wind up their legend with

35:10

the Milan fans. He has permeated an entire

35:12

fan base, Diego Simioni. And I'm totally here

35:14

for it. There is that kind of pettiness

35:18

elsewhere in soccer game. The

35:20

2013 Champions League final at

35:22

Wembley between Dortmund and Bayern, the

35:25

celebrating Bayern fans singing Three

35:27

Lions at full

35:29

volume at Wembley Stadium in

35:33

an old German final, that was banter on a

35:35

Simioni level, I would say. Sensational scenes. Surely you

35:37

appreciate that on some level. But anyway, let's talk

35:39

about this match a little bit. This is what

35:41

I wanted from this tie when it first came

35:44

out, the hat. The first leg felt a bit

35:46

like both teams were waiting for the second leg.

35:48

I certainly felt that in terms of how Athletic

35:50

played that match. I don't think they played a

35:53

very good game at Sensiro. This was much more

35:55

like it in my eyes. Two teams

35:58

who are at their best when they... can attack

36:00

quickly with intent and physicality, two teams to do

36:02

a lot of hard running and runs in behind

36:04

and you had the crowds and

36:07

two very animated managers on the touchline. So

36:09

between this and the Arsenal Portal match, my

36:11

faith has been restored in this season's Champions

36:13

League because I very much enjoyed this. This

36:16

was definitely a game where I was happy we got rid of away goals

36:18

because when Inter scored it did feel for that moment

36:20

like, okay, this might be it. I'm not sure I'd

36:22

let people be able to get three goals

36:24

or two goals and then realize one minute away test, not

36:26

what they need. But then,

36:29

yes, two minutes later, I think. And

36:32

is it Pavar who fails to make

36:34

actual good contact and then it goes

36:36

to Gradesman? I for sure thought this

36:38

was going to be offside. Then it stands

36:40

and then suddenly it starts to feel like, oh, okay,

36:42

so we're back to level pegging but

36:44

it's still a long way to go for Ad Lettie. And then maybe

36:47

five minutes into the second half it just fully felt like, oh, they're

36:49

going to do this. They're definitely going to force

36:51

extra time at some point. And at certain points it felt like

36:53

maybe they're going to do even more than that. So I think

36:57

the way I'd like to just kept grinding

36:59

and grinding and grinding and the belief was

37:02

there and it didn't boil over into frustration.

37:04

It stayed at just sort of the

37:06

backing of the home crowd. And

37:09

I think Simeone, to your point, Graham, like

37:11

they definitely feed off of his energy and

37:14

the way he sort of becomes a theatrical

37:16

player in animating that stadium and animating the

37:18

team and collapsing onto the ground when shots

37:20

aren't taken the way he thought they should

37:22

have been. I don't know. They

37:25

mirror each other really well and it creates this

37:27

great environment to watch soccer. And so

37:29

it gave us everything we wanted, including a

37:31

well-taken penalty shootout. It was. We'll

37:34

get to that. We'll get to that. Yeah,

37:36

definitely just wanted. Joe, can you

37:38

tell me on Ad Lettie and why I

37:40

should enjoy watching them, please? So

37:43

if folks have watched that Let It Go Madrid

37:45

in big games recently, they'll realize that they're absolutely

37:47

not just a bunker encounter team. Like if Ryan,

37:49

if you watch this game in any level of

37:52

detail, we saw them pressing Intermalon from the jump,

37:54

pressing through midfield, Hermoso at the left side at

37:56

center back spot in possession to shift towards that

37:58

phase of play steps. Griezmann at

38:00

this point is sort of like a pure number

38:02

10 drifting around the field and we some are

38:04

at the start in this game to pie comes

38:06

on later in the match he's pulling the strings

38:08

there is so much quality in this team you

38:11

get Koke playing those through balls in midfield and

38:13

let it get a bad rap because they have

38:15

the reputation and a lot of it is well

38:17

earned of being this Diego

38:19

Simeone team like they sort of do embody

38:21

his personality on the field in that they're

38:23

gritty they're animated they're hard to play against

38:25

all those things are true but you

38:27

can't be an elite team I believe this pretty strongly

38:29

you can't be an elite team competing

38:32

for Champions League trophies without being able to do

38:34

something else and that's let me very much can

38:36

do something else they progress the ball well they

38:38

take chances in possession they take chances out of

38:40

possession but the one thing that that still holds

38:43

me back about feeling great about this team is

38:45

that they're really not great in the final third

38:47

they have the individual brilliance to get them there

38:49

and Griezmann and the run he makes on that

38:51

first goal is just stupid it's so good he's

38:54

hoping that the ball is going to get to

38:56

him and it does it is fantastic off-ball movement

38:58

they have players who can do damage in the

39:00

final third but especially early

39:02

on in this match it was cross cross

39:04

cross like that that is still their thing

39:06

they don't have those detailed patterns and and

39:08

like sort of like reads in

39:10

the final third like you almost would imagine an

39:13

NFL quarterback having they don't have that check down

39:15

list of going through and figuring out okay the

39:17

ball's going here then I'm moving here it's it's

39:19

much less structured and more improvised which is not

39:21

unique to athletic but to the extent of which

39:23

they are improvised it is a little unique but

39:25

man like some of the passes that this team

39:27

plays will play with the ball on the ground

39:29

the build from the back like there's

39:31

there's just a lot to like about this team

39:33

and I really really enjoyed this game because I

39:35

love Inter I love watching them and selfishly I

39:37

wish they'd advanced we did jinx them with the

39:39

big thing sorry folks that's that's on us uh

39:41

but like I bloody can play a little bit

39:43

as well they don't always play but but they

39:45

did in this game yeah we

39:47

got a quick answer on that big thing episode

39:50

right can't let say and enter when the Champions

39:52

League answer no a week later um but yeah

39:54

totally agree with what you were saying Jo about

39:57

Adliette and their attacking sequences. They're a bit of a

39:59

weird team. Like that because they are no

40:01

I mean if they are a defensive minded

40:03

team know and of Simeoni they're not very

40:05

good. One they've conceded fifty one goals and

40:07

all competitions. the season they've conceded more goals

40:09

than they play games and the liga. The

40:11

season a lot of those com away from

40:13

home where the record as as is atrocious

40:15

but there has been a shift in the

40:17

way that they are playing under Simeoni in

40:19

the last couple seasons. What what I do

40:22

think was an important moment for lacy with

40:24

regards to what you're saying they're joke about

40:26

their thought was then to ducks Introduction Memphis

40:28

so thought maybe state the obvious he source.

40:30

Of all that sends that say the same.

40:32

Even beyond that I thought until he came

40:34

on it was it was just too slow.

40:36

from athletic that was no real urgencies to

40:38

their possession play and what Memphis coming on

40:40

dead was. Give them someone who was willing

40:42

to take a rest would be a man

40:44

or take a short to can a break

40:46

things open so I know he scored the

40:48

winner from making a run into Kennelly the

40:50

penalty. Small area but before that he'd frequently

40:52

been the player to front up and or

40:54

first line of defense until he comes on.

40:56

It's largely cookie his do not feel obviously

40:58

as able to pick a Pos. Be totally

41:00

rely on him to do that every single

41:02

time, especially when he's got like six players

41:04

and front of I'm Memphis is much more

41:06

likely to drop a shoulder and be a

41:08

minority for sure are just try something a

41:10

little bit deference. I thought that was that

41:12

was really significant and.and not paid of the

41:15

match was was Memphis coming on and at

41:17

that time I still have to believe that

41:19

encourages fully kicking themselves. Honestly they go out

41:21

in the shootout. Obviously it's not the result

41:23

they wanted but the Jos Point. I'd

41:25

let he can be really aggressive and I

41:27

have that same know that they're just committing

41:29

numbers to the press, but also when they

41:31

when the ball that they had routinely nine

41:34

and sometimes even ten outfield players within like

41:36

thirty five to forty yards of interest Go!

41:38

They were really committee members high and I

41:40

said that sort of explains how inter able

41:42

to to get the go the way they

41:44

do and in that moment I fully felt

41:47

like okay, and let's you're trying

41:49

to do something different which i now realize is

41:51

not that different for them but it was like

41:53

unless you're or be expensive their pressing high and

41:56

that's gonna leave them vulnerable and and i just

41:58

have to believe entire fully kicking themselves for

42:00

letting that door back open essentially. Because if they don't make

42:02

that mistake, if they don't make a couple different mistakes they

42:04

do in the lead up to Adl in

42:18

some ways I think Inter beat Inter and then in

42:21

a lot of ways Adl beat Inter at the same

42:23

time. I can't recall a

42:25

match that's had a moment of such

42:27

like concise whiplash as this one where

42:29

when Inter score I'm like oh they've

42:31

got this. Yeah right. They're

42:33

going through. Then at Letty score and obviously there's a long way of

42:35

the match to go and once you get to the shootout you can't

42:37

really call that. But once Griezmann scores

42:39

the equaliser immediately I'm thinking oh Adl I've

42:41

seen this one before I can't really recall

42:43

a match that's just turned on two moments

42:45

like that. I don't know what Joe thinks

42:47

from a tactical point of view. I wasn't

42:49

impressed at all by the Inter performance from

42:51

the Griezmann goal onwards. It just was not

42:54

proactive enough. I've read some of the Italian

42:56

press this morning. They are scathing

42:58

of Simeone and Zagie's approach to essentially kind

43:00

of see this one out. This

43:02

is a team who have the ability to

43:05

control games and really diffuse situations like this

43:07

one. It just didn't really

43:09

feel maybe obviously football is more difficult than

43:11

just saying you should do this thing. Maybe

43:14

they wanted to do this thing and weren't capable of

43:16

doing it. But Tamaia just didn't feel like they were

43:18

very interested in controlling this game.

43:20

It was just very very passive. You look at the

43:23

Memphis goal. Yes it is a wonderful

43:25

pass by Koke into Memphis and

43:27

the touch is great and the finish isn't bad

43:30

either from Memphis. But there are four players within

43:32

five yards of Koke and then another line of

43:34

defensive players behind that and they allow him the

43:37

time that he needs 25 yards out from

43:39

goal to pick that pass. There's just not

43:41

enough pressure on the ball. So just too

43:43

passive from Enzo when they have the ability

43:45

and we've seen from them this season they

43:47

have the capability to control games. Yeah they

43:49

really did ease off in the second half.

43:52

45% possession for Inter in the second half. They

43:55

were not trying to take the game that was flipped in the first 45

43:57

minutes with 55 for Inter and

43:59

45 for the second half. at buddy. I

44:01

just didn't think this was a good performance from Inter

44:03

in basically any facet of the game. There

44:05

were some tactical decisions from Inzagi that we

44:07

didn't quite understand, or at least that maybe

44:09

didn't have the desired effect. So one

44:12

of the things I noticed early on is

44:14

that Benjamin Pavard, right center back in a 3-5-2

44:17

shape for this Inter team, was pushing really high

44:19

up the field as a right wing back. And

44:21

that was happening when Hakan Chalanoglu was dropping into

44:23

the back line. And at times he'd see Barela

44:26

drop into the back line. And then there was

44:28

almost no midfield through the midfield for

44:30

Inter Milan. And I think some of the idea

44:32

was they were trying to pull Atleti's defensive shape

44:35

around. They were trying to create extra space between

44:37

the lines. Almost like what we talked about, not

44:39

exactly the same, but at a high

44:41

level, maybe a little similar to what we

44:43

talked about PSG doing with Dembele against Sociedad,

44:45

whether you drop a player in with the

44:47

express intent to pull the opposing defensive shape

44:49

with you to then create extra space

44:52

between the lines. Except it just didn't work.

44:54

And not because the space wasn't there, it

44:56

wasn't always there, but it was sometimes. But

44:59

then Inter just weren't sharp with their possession playing. All this

45:01

ties to, I think when we talk about passiveness,

45:04

whatever that word is, we talk about

45:06

a team being passive. There

45:09

it is. Taylor guessed it. When

45:11

we talk about a team being passive, I tend

45:13

to think first about like, oh, they weren't pressing

45:15

enough. And maybe that was true for Inter in

45:18

this game, but they're not really a high pressing

45:20

team. I think they were passive through their poor

45:22

possession play. They were passive, each player really with

45:24

their own individual actions. You had turnovers through midfield,

45:26

you had turnovers in the wingback areas, you had

45:28

trouble breaking the press, the front line couldn't control

45:31

the ball. Not a banner game for Taram or

45:33

for Lataro Martinez, really, when you look at this

45:35

one on the whole. Oh, Lataro. Yeah. So the

45:37

penalty is a brutal moment. It crumbles more than

45:39

Gonzalo Hagerín when the world is watching. Every time

45:42

he's got a record of that. This performance was just

45:44

the worst time for Inter to have one of the

45:46

worst performances I've seen from them this year. There

45:48

was some interesting analysis I saw with

45:50

the shooter obviously Inter didn't cover themselves

45:52

in glory. Klassen and Lataro missing, Sel

45:54

missed as well for athletic to be

45:57

fair, but they looked at the run

45:59

up that all the When when Latara is walking

46:01

to the spot and he tries to pick up the

46:03

ball dribble it he misses He can't even pick up

46:05

the ball. It's like he's that nervous at that point

46:08

And then Captain hindsight once

46:10

again Taylor and analyzing that moment The

46:13

I think it was very a Ferdinand possibly on the on

46:15

the UK broadcast game if I'm not mistaken

46:18

Was saying you could tell tell at that point it

46:20

wasn't gonna go his way which is easy to say

46:23

at that point I mean, yeah, but I think

46:25

also that shootout was just it it was very

46:29

Weird isn't it? I can put it for in there

46:31

just that hot controller lose steps up to start the

46:33

shootout and Just buries it

46:35

like very similar to Odegard just Infactically finishes

46:37

it and then Memphis does the exact same

46:39

thing and does the exact same like picking

46:42

up of the crowd But

46:44

from that moment on for intern none of

46:46

the finishes are are particularly good Obviously they

46:48

missed three of the next four, but even

46:50

at cherubee's it was sort of right down

46:52

the middle It was the exact same

46:55

places that Sanchez and Claussen had put

46:57

theirs previously It's one

46:59

of the only times that oblak goes the wrong way

47:02

but they all just were sort of in step again

47:04

at that height where and Maybe

47:06

this isn't a common thing or maybe

47:08

it is but just to like reiterate Basically in in

47:10

a shootout or if you're taking a penalty if you

47:13

could put the ball on the ground Towards

47:15

the corner. It's gonna be hard for the keeper to

47:17

get like down that low and like stretch all the

47:19

way out to make that Save so that's a hard

47:22

place to put it if you can rifle into the

47:24

top corner That's obviously pretty good as

47:26

well but putting it like three feet off

47:28

the ground so maybe five feet off the ground

47:30

and not fully into the corner is the

47:34

easier of places to save for the goalkeeper because that

47:36

just requires a like lunge to the right a lunge

47:38

to the left and That three

47:41

of the five for in there are in

47:43

that exact spot like slightly to the right

47:45

of the goalkeeper to the goalkeeper's right It

47:48

doesn't require a ton I don't want to take anything away

47:50

from oblak But like even the first save or the second

47:52

save he has he he's like

47:54

he's over dived basically and there's gets

47:57

it with a trailing hand and and

47:59

that That means that in there sort

48:01

of put in the wrong spot and didn't put power

48:03

behind it either that like he if you put power

48:05

Behind that shot if he gets a hand to it

48:07

sort of meekly as he's diving the wrong way It's

48:09

still going in so I just think in there in

48:12

the moment It felt like they had already lost before

48:14

the shootout began whereas that letty So

48:16

we'll does miss his as you said Ryan, but Memphis Rockets

48:19

his Raquel May Buries his emphatically and then Correa

48:21

it's a little help but it's a good finish

48:23

all the same So it felt like I'd let

48:25

he just raised their game heading into the shootout

48:27

and in there I think just did

48:30

the opposite and kind of choked it away at the end Even

48:32

if those are my T. D. O's wants to

48:34

blame the spot the immediate turnaround and point to

48:36

the spot I'm like it wasn't me. It was

48:38

the spot's fault. I'm not sure how much that's

48:41

gonna work. Yeah, we're buying that Yeah, also rough

48:43

for enter because to the players who missed penalties

48:45

were brought off off the bench I'd imagine with

48:47

the purpose of taking a penalty David class and

48:49

then Alexi Sanchez Simeone and Zagya on the sideline

48:51

going we need all the primarily rejects to take

48:53

penalties if when we got to we need more

48:55

We need more One

48:57

final question for me on this game Marcus

49:00

tramp any incident with was it savage death and

49:02

savage when he he was a little intimate with

49:04

him She'll be enjoyed that was that your most

49:06

enjoyable moment the spirit of Vinnie Jones lives on

49:08

100% But um, it was

49:11

we were led to believe there was a VAR

49:13

review on it Why is that not a

49:15

card a red card specifically?

49:17

Is that not mmm? Did he

49:19

endanger an opponent by dude? I mean what line of

49:22

the road in the morning? I put it right class.

49:24

Yes, I would agree with I would agree with Graham I thought

49:27

for sure that was gonna be a red I thought that was

49:29

gonna be the story of the game Marcus drum get sent off

49:31

and then all of the nice stuff We

49:33

said about him all of the positivity around the way

49:35

He's played gets kind of blown out of the water

49:37

in one moment of foolishness. They laughed about it after

49:40

the game I think they laughed about it at full-time

49:43

Which maybe that's it maybe they just knew that it was

49:45

just playful banter instead of unassolved, which

49:47

is what it was But instead

49:49

let's our Martinez was the one to cover

49:51

himself in the opposite of glory Zaggy takes

49:53

them off immediately after that you only get

49:56

one ball squeeze And

49:58

the Champions League and see me soon. I don't Here's

50:00

the thing man. I'm not sure like I

50:02

don't love we're trying to keep this g-rated

50:06

It was so it was so obvious and

50:08

done in slow motion that like I'm

50:11

not sure it was the area that you

50:13

just mentioned Graham But I don't love how

50:15

many times I could clearly see what was

50:17

happening. It was my favorite thing Yeah, and

50:19

in like 4k like Ultra HD. It's

50:22

tough to miss unless you're VAR apparently Very nice

50:24

indeed So

50:31

there were two sides who were running away

50:34

with their respective leagues who had dumped out

50:36

on Wednesday the other big PSV Dortmund with

50:38

a 2-0 win in their match 3-1 on

50:40

aggregate their Sancho and Royce on target

50:42

on the night Blee foul bay in

50:44

the quarterfinals for the first time in

50:46

three years Graham it

50:48

was a jayden santa who was the player of

50:50

the match first chamois league goal since November 21

50:54

Yeah, he was he was really feeling himself in

50:56

the first half and with some of the pieces

50:59

of skill He was pulling off obviously scores the

51:01

the early goal two goals in two games for

51:03

how many scored at the weekend Okay, I'm against

51:05

wolfsburg. I go and I really hope that so

51:07

he goes off with an injury in this game

51:09

I really hope that that injury is not too

51:12

serious because it's starting to feel like he is

51:14

finding his best form again And it's fun to

51:16

watch him when he's playing like this and this

51:18

was a weird match There was there was a

51:20

lot to like about the way that Dortmund started

51:23

this game So you had Sancho on the left

51:25

and malan as a threat down the down the right

51:27

side as I've already mentioned Sancho starts well and

51:29

there was intensity to Dortmund's play. They were they were

51:31

pressing high particularly in the in the first kind of

51:33

five minutes They had a good opportunity before they score

51:36

the goal even though they score after three minutes There's

51:38

there's one that comes from winning the ball high up

51:40

the pitch before that I thought Sabat

51:42

sir was playing well in midfield and giving

51:44

Dortmund good presence Matt's Humos was largely untroubled

51:46

at the back. Matt's and was doing a

51:48

good job of keeping back a yoko quiet

51:50

Also getting forward on a couple of occasions

51:52

as well But then as the match progressed

51:55

PSV started to find a

51:57

foothold. They started to create opportunities lasano hits

51:59

the pole Although that was

52:01

from distance so I wouldn't really class that

52:03

as like a clear opportunity. Backbacchioko has a

52:05

good shot at the near post as well

52:07

but the big sliding doors moment came right

52:10

at the end when Luke De Jong, there's

52:12

a nice one too inside the box he's

52:14

maybe like a couple yards two or three

52:16

yards inside the box he's got clear sight

52:18

of goal and he just skews it high

52:20

over the bar and then seconds later so

52:22

that goal would have taken it to extra

52:25

time, seconds later fourth minute stoppage time Dortmund

52:27

score their second goal after a slip by

52:29

Jordan Tezi and then the tie is

52:31

over so it was it

52:33

was a strange game because I do think

52:35

Dortmund were the more impressive team they're certainly

52:38

the stronger team over the tie and going

52:40

into the quarterfinals but PSV

52:42

will look at some opportunities and it's not like they

52:44

racked up the expected goals in this game it wasn't

52:46

like they were battering down the door but there were

52:48

a couple of opportunities that could have gone their way

52:51

in this game. Joe you

52:53

can curve with that how did you feel about

52:55

PSV's outing here? I thought they were a little

52:57

better than Grimm's giving them credit for but not

52:59

in a blindingly obvious way I don't I don't

53:01

feel super strongly about it I thought they were

53:03

maybe the slightly better team on the day but

53:06

but ultimately in this sport all the tactical stuff that

53:08

I love to nerd out about all of the you

53:11

know stuff you can glean from watching these games it

53:13

comes down to who puts the ball on the back of the net like as basic

53:16

as that is I don't think Dortmund were

53:18

two goals better than PSV in this game I don't

53:20

think you'll find anybody who watched this game that thinks

53:22

that but the reality is Jaden

53:24

Sancho scored a very nice goal three

53:26

minutes into the match PSV

53:28

didn't take their chances that shot from Luft de Jong

53:30

very much not a sitter but very clearly was the

53:33

best chance of their of the game Emory Channet is

53:35

I think he's right on on de Jong's back and

53:37

he doesn't have a lot of time to shoot he's

53:39

just coming off that one too still it was a

53:41

good chance and he doesn't convert it and he has

53:43

converted a lot of those good chances for PSV this

53:46

year as their leading goal scorer and

53:48

then all of a sudden the flip at the other end and

53:50

Marco Royce finishes the deal off like I can go in and

53:52

analyze you know I liked PSV 4 3 3 I thought death

53:54

was really sharp on that side I

53:57

don't like Tillman as a winger but he didn't really have

53:59

to go into a bunch of people on so it was

54:01

kind of fun. Like you can go in and talk about all

54:03

that stuff and a lot of that stuff is relevant but

54:06

the reality is PSV didn't put the

54:08

ball in the back of the net and they lost this

54:10

game and that's probably fine because I think both these teams

54:12

are going to lose in the next round anyway. Yeah

54:16

it's probably true. I think there will be you

54:18

highlighted Tillman as a winger on the left side.

54:20

He's not good there. He's not his thing. There

54:22

will be some regret from Peter Bosch after this

54:24

match as highlighted by the fact

54:26

he makes the change at half time and

54:28

Chica Lozano comes on and Tillman has shifted

54:30

more centrally and it's Lozano on

54:32

the left side. I just think PSV's, the way

54:34

that they play, they need that verticality, they need

54:36

a little bit of width and it wasn't until

54:38

Lozano came on that they found

54:40

that. So yeah I think there will be some regret

54:42

there. And you can't, I just don't think you can

54:45

run a left wing of Serginio Dest and Malik

54:47

Tillman because Tillman's not a guy who likes to

54:49

take players on 1v1 like a traditional winger. He

54:51

can progress the ball sure but he's not going

54:53

to be super decisive in beating somebody 1v1 out

54:55

wide and getting to the end line and cutting

54:57

the ball back or cutting inside to get a

54:59

shot of his own. He's much more of a

55:01

connector and at times a playmaker than he is

55:03

a shot getter for himself and

55:05

then Dest on that left side as

55:07

a right footer that changes the dynamic of

55:09

the wing and so you're basically getting nothing

55:11

at least from those individual players. Not that

55:14

Dest was bad. I don't think he was. I thought he

55:16

was sharp in this game. But you're not getting

55:18

a lot in the final third in terms of

55:20

like raw chance of his creation

55:22

and goal threat. And so I think

55:24

that needed to change and Bosch was right to recognize that

55:26

change but I don't, I guess with

55:28

Tillman you're hoping for a bit more control. It just didn't

55:31

seem to fit and PSC maybe put themselves a bit behind

55:33

the eight ball. But I honestly think the

55:35

biggest difference in this game is

55:37

that one team had a Jaden Sancho level player

55:39

in Jaden Sancho and the other team did not.

55:41

Like the game was very very close. I thought

55:43

PSC were marginally better between the boxes and

55:46

Jaden Sancho puts them behind the eight ball early on. Yeah,

55:49

Taylor are you enjoying the reflective glory of

55:51

Jaden Sancho doing it on the big stage? It's

55:54

such fun. It really is. It is interesting to see what will happen

55:56

with him if Dortmund will try to make that permanent again or if

55:59

Man United's flag. plan to have him look good for Dortmund

56:01

and then sell him on will work. Maybe he gets another

56:03

opportunity with the club now that there's new ownership in there

56:05

or 25% new ownership in there. But

56:08

yeah, I thought it was really fun to see him really

56:11

contribute in a meaningful way obviously with the goal, but also

56:13

just look sharp. It's a good finish. It's

56:15

a confident finish. It's a thing that we haven't seen from

56:17

him playing for Manchester United for quite some time.

56:20

And he said plenty of those with Dortmund. I thought

56:22

he was the difference maker

56:24

for them in that opening start, just that he had

56:27

an efficiency that Daniel Malin doesn't really quite seem

56:29

to have. He can get into really good opportunities,

56:32

Malin. He can force saves. He

56:34

can force corners. But he doesn't have

56:36

that next level finishing that I think you

56:38

need to reach that next level. I'm not

56:40

saying Jaden Santo does either on a consistent

56:42

basis, but I think it's not surprising to

56:44

me that Santo just having a whack from

56:46

20 yards out. It's like the

56:48

way he hits it, I think he is shooting like

56:50

doesn't touch the ground after he shoots. It's like that

56:52

smooth of a strike. It's really well

56:55

taken. It's a really nice goal. So

56:57

I want to go back to PSV for a

56:59

moment though, because while I'm praising

57:03

one player with whom I have some affiliation, I

57:06

would like your thoughts on Malik Tillman overall. We've

57:08

talked about him a little bit, Malik Tillman, starting

57:10

on the wing, moving centrally. I

57:12

wasn't as impressed by him in the first

57:14

leg of this one. And I'm not sure

57:16

I was impressed by him in this one.

57:18

There still seems to be just that half

57:20

second delay in speed, in processing, that sometimes

57:22

that leads to a heavy touch. Sometimes that

57:24

leads to him holding the ball too much.

57:27

I can't tell if I've just started to see that

57:29

and that's all I now see. So I'm

57:31

wondering if you have thoughts on his overall performance.

57:33

No, I'm pretty much exactly where you are, Taylor.

57:35

I thought he was better in this leg than

57:37

he was in the first leg, which is weird

57:39

because obviously he draws that penalty in the first

57:42

leg, but it's flooky and I don't think he

57:44

deserves any real credit for that. I'm

57:46

still not all the way there on Tillman. What

57:48

I will say is I think it's fantastic that he

57:50

gets these kinds of games. The fact that he's been

57:52

playing in the Champions League, the fact that he's been playing

57:55

against some of the better opposition in the area to

57:57

visit, although PSV are running away and have already run

57:59

away. much stuff domestically.

58:02

These are good exercises for him because his

58:04

national team role, we're a week away now

58:06

from the US taking on Jamaica, his national

58:08

team role is growing. There's only two traditional

58:10

wingers on Greg Baralther's roster for the nation's

58:12

league final four. It's just Pulisic and Weija.

58:14

Nobody else is a traditional winger and Tillman,

58:16

I believe, gets listed with the forwards in

58:18

that squad. So I don't think he's a

58:20

winger. Even if he's playing as a nominal

58:22

winger, he's still not going to do that

58:24

kind of stuff. But it's good

58:26

that he's getting these games in these minutes against high

58:29

level opposition, even though Dortmund, I don't think are good

58:31

relative to a lot of the rest of the teams

58:33

in this competition. It's great that he's getting

58:35

these opportunities because it will make him sharper in the long

58:37

run, even if he's not there yet. Yeah,

58:39

definitely one of the top two milleagues to

58:41

make Champions League headlines this week, I would

58:43

say. Dortmund progressing through to

58:46

the final eight, of course, our

58:48

Champions League quarter finalists Taylor, Real

58:50

Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich, PSG,

58:53

Barcelona, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, and Atletico

58:55

Madrid. Two English teams, two German

58:57

teams, three Spanish teams,

59:00

and a French team. No Italian teams in the final

59:02

eight this time around. You've already,

59:04

of course, picked the group draw. So you

59:07

will just go through the motions and confirm

59:09

that tomorrow as we record. But yeah, quite

59:11

a nice final eight there. Is

59:13

there one that you all would most like to see?

59:16

If you could get any draw happening? Like what is

59:18

one matchup you would really, really enjoy? I'd

59:21

like to see, I'd like

59:23

to see Bayern and Real Madrid. I think that'd be

59:25

fun. And we can just sort of toss Bayern to

59:27

the side, which is I'm not necessarily like itching for

59:29

that to happen. But I think that's probably what would

59:31

happen. And it gives you it's the right balance of

59:33

a team that in Bayern we don't really think is

59:35

probably going to win this whole thing at this point,

59:37

although it's not impossible. And a team in Real Madrid

59:39

that I think we're all feeling stupid to pick against

59:42

because you just don't do that with Real Madrid. So

59:44

I'm willing to set Bayern aside for the benefit of

59:46

getting a really nice matchup in the next round. PSG

59:49

Real Madrid, not really for any football reasons,

59:51

just for the narrative from Bappi against Real

59:53

Madrid. He'll just come out and I like

59:55

that. That's just what's gonna happen. He's just

59:58

gonna wear Real Madrid. Yeah,

1:00:00

might as well just guess it now. Just

1:00:02

do it now. Half time swap. Like you'll

1:00:04

get with testimonials. He plays one

1:00:07

half for PSG and then he puts another. It's a

1:00:09

pre-round Madrid testimonial for him by the way. Those are

1:00:11

all the good ones. Remind me, at quarter-final stage can

1:00:13

teams play their own, teams from their own leaks? Their

1:00:15

own nation? Yes, I think so. I don't think there's

1:00:17

any restrictions at this point. We've got Classico potential, we've

1:00:19

got Classico potential here. Oh, I love that as well.

1:00:21

Love it, that'd be great. Very

1:00:23

nice indeed. Draw taking place on Friday as

1:00:26

we say, but that is our Champions League

1:00:28

Roundup at this time. Take the rocker, thank

1:00:30

you so much for your analysis and contributions.

1:00:32

Thank you, my friend. Graham

1:00:34

Rothern, pleasure as always my good man. Thank

1:00:37

you, Ryan Billick. And Joe Lowry, thank you very

1:00:39

much, sir. Thank you, Ryan. And

1:00:41

thank you the most list, thank you for joining

1:00:43

us on this one. We'll be back on the

1:00:45

feed very shortly, but for now, bye!