Bayern v Arsenal & PSG v Barca headline Champions League week

James Richardson (0:00)

Totally Football Show, European edition.

Today, Champions League last week saw goals in record numbers. Could match day three beat that tally? What will happen when Paris Saint-Germain host Barcelona? And might an Italian side beat someone? We took midweek action and ran out the weekend, Bayern another spanking of Leipzig ahead of another date with Arsenal. France, the menage a sonk on top of the table. Spain, why the league are comparing Real Madrid to Nazis. And Italy, where you, Ben Napoli, are racing for the title, the title of who will sack their manager quicker. It's all coming up in this Totally Football Show.

Hey, thanks for joining us for this Totally Football Show European edition. Of course, here in the studio, we're joined by James Horncastle.

James Horncastle (0:50)

Hello, Jimbo.

James Richardson (0:51)

And Tom Williams.

Tom Williams (0:52)

Hello, James.

James Richardson (0:53)

Hello to you both on the big screen from Catalonia, Pol Ballus. Hello, hello, hello. And from Hamburg, Seb Stafford-Bloor.

Seb Stafford-Bloor (1:02)

Hi, Jimbo.

James Richardson (1:03)

Woo.

All right. Hey, who's excited about this incredible weekend of, oh, midweek rather, of Champions League in prospect? Tom Williams.

Tom Williams (1:13)

Oh, yeah.

James Richardson (1:14)

Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona. That sounds fun.

Tom Williams (1:17)

Yeah. I mean, particularly in the context of the performances they produced last week.

James Richardson (1:22)

It's fun, but utterly meaningless as well.

Pol Ballus (1:24)

Yeah.

James Richardson (1:25)

You've got that game and you've got Bayern Arsenal. All four of those teams are going to be in the top eight come the end of the league phase.

They'll be great games, but they are utterly meaningless.

Tom Williams (1:35)

I mean, I guess, I mean, I suppose that is why the league phase is-

Pol Ballus (1:39)

Pointless.

Tom Williams (1:39)

is enjoyable, is because the big teams can go at it, knowing that it actually doesn't matter. Although we shouldn't forget.

James Richardson (1:46)

Yes.

Tom Williams (1:46)

You know, PSG have failed to qualify automatically for the knockout rounds in each of the last two seasons.

James Richardson (1:52)

Yeah, that's true.

Tom Williams (1:53)

Wind the clock back 12 months ago, they were putting seven goals past by 11 queues and they still limped through the playoff round. So there's perhaps more jeopardy than we think. But yeah, it's hard to approach these matches with a feeling that they matter an awful amount.

James Richardson (2:06)

Throw away a little bit.

James Horncastle (2:07)

Is this podcast meaningless?

James Richardson (2:09)

Everything's meaningless, really. I mean, we assign meaning in what we choose to do. And that's very much the battle of life, being able to select what you choose to give importance to.

I'm glad you've chosen to give importance to this today, James.

James Horncastle (2:24)

That's right. I'm not a nihilist.

James Richardson (2:26)

No, indeed not.

James Horncastle (2:28)

So.

James Richardson (2:28)

Indeed not. Annihilating is what Bayern Munich did to RB Leipzig at the weekend. Seb mentioned PSG Barca, but Bayern Munich against Arsenal sounds pretty special.

Seb Stafford-Bloor (2:42)

Sure does. Special and meaningless at the same time. Both can coexist. Obviously, Bayern will be without Michael Olise, unfortunately, for the red card that he picked up against Viking last week. So that's a little bit of a shame, but Lenny Carl coming in to take his place.

He's always fun to watch. And a little bit of a question mark about who plays in goal. Still don't know that Manuel Neuer will be fit, so probably Jonas Urbeck will start against Arsenal.

James Richardson (3:05)

Crikey, crikey. And as for Spain, Paul, all five Spanish teams won last weekend. That's never happened before, I don't think.

Pol Ballus (3:13)

No, that's never happened. And if I have to be honest, I think that they all barric Barcelona, which possibly were the main favourites against Galatasaray. I think the other ones had tough fixtures.

But yeah, really good week for them. What's coming up is going to be even bigger, because now we mentioned Barca, PSG. The week and after, there's the Clásico. So a massive week in Spanish football for what's coming up.

James Richardson (3:38)

Against the footballing wing of the Nazi Party.

Pol Ballus (3:43)

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You've said that. Not my words, the words of Javier Tebas. Exactly. The mighty Javier Tebas.

James Richardson (3:51)

Yeah. All right. Well, that's one of the many stories from this week that we can get into. But hey, how about a moment of the week? Who wants to start? James.

James Horncastle (4:01)

I'm going to go with one of the goals of the season. There are a few actually candidates this weekend, not least in the Premier League.