Bellingham + Gordon on song in Spain amid Alvarez drama

**James Richardson** (0:00)
It's a brand new season of The Totally Football Show European Edition.
Today, we're breaking down the opening rounds of Action Spain. We get the SP on how the S special one got past Espanyol thanks to SP. France, we hear about a shaky start for Champions PSG, and what happened when Le Mans get to grips with Brest. And boom, for British players in Serie A, we count the incredible number of our lads currently flying their trade in the Peninsula. Monday the 24th of August, it's a brand new Euros season. Thank you so much for being with us. Tom Williams here with me.

**Tom Williams** (0:43)
Hello, James.

**James Richardson** (0:43)
A place to ourselves.

**Tom Williams** (0:45)
Very nice.

**James Richardson** (0:46)
Sit where you like.

**Tom Williams** (0:47)
Yeah. Yeah. Embarrassment of riches on the chair front.

**James Richardson** (0:52)
Very much so. Very much so. This because it's the first week of the season, and already James Horncastle is off on his holidays somewhere. James, where are you?

**James Horncastle** (1:03)
I'm in Milan, James.

**James Richardson** (1:05)
You were there watching Inter perhaps at San Siro.

**James Horncastle** (1:08)
I did. I watched Inter Monza, the champions against newly promoted local non-rivals. Then I was in Turin on Sunday night to watch the Amorim Seamilan.

**James Richardson** (1:24)
What stories there were in both those games. Looking forward to hearing about those performances. Ruben Amorim off to a winning start with Milan. Also joining us, Pol Ballus. Hey, Pol.

**Pol Ballús** (1:35)
Hello. Hello. How are you?

**James Richardson** (1:37)
World champion, Pol Ballus.
Or maybe not. Maybe that's another country, is it? Pol, where do you stand on that?

**Pol Ballús** (1:45)
Well, I'm standing, depending on how you want to see it. I'm standing in Barcelona, which is the main city of Catalonia, which at the minute is a part of Spain.

**James Richardson** (1:55)
I'm pretty much on the Spanish national team playing for Barcelona this season.

**Pol Ballús** (2:00)
Exactly. Actually, on Thursday, there's going to be a tribute at the Camp Nou to all the World Cup champions with the World Cup trophy in the stadium and everything.
I think that the fans will-

**James Richardson** (2:12)
What kind of reception do you think they'll get? Because didn't they try something similar in Bilbao and were met with a rather less than warm response?

**Pol Ballús** (2:21)
Yeah, there wasn't a super warm response. But I think that at the Camp Nou or the thinking that the board had, it was that it's such a powerful image to have to the world, to have eight world champions, because you can put Rodri into that mix now too, that they cannot pass on to that. I think that at the current moment, politics-wise and how Barcelona is, I think that everyone will appreciate having that many players lifting the World Cup trophy at the Camp Nou.

**James Richardson** (2:50)
How many of them, Paul, will be wearing tattoos of their manager, their Spain manager?

**Pol Ballús** (2:57)
Yeah, so, unfortunately, not a single one, because the only one who promised that was Marco Corella. Borja Iglesias also said who would do that. And Alex Baena too, but none of them, as of now, is a Barca player. So yeah, a shame for the tattoo artist in Catalonia.

**James Richardson** (3:13)
Do they have any of them actually got ink?

**Pol Ballús** (3:15)
Cucurella has it. Cucurella has done it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He has it on his triceps, I think.
Yeah, he has a picture of the face of De La Fuente, just, yeah.

**Tom Williams** (3:26)
Ironic for such a hussute man as Cucurella to have a tattoo of a baldy.
Nice show of solidarity across the hair divide. Yeah.

**James Richardson** (3:35)
I mean, interesting angle on that. James.

**James Horncastle** (3:38)
Paul, what does Mrs. Cucurella think about this?

**Pol Ballús** (3:42)
I don't think that she's had much of an opinion about that, although Mrs. Cucurella cannot complain in the spectrum of the part of the body that he occupies in Cucurella's body, because Cucurella has a tattoo in his whole left arm of the eyes, just like the eyes of his Mrs. So she's basically there in his whole arm, which is quite an uncommon tattoo.

**James Horncastle** (4:08)
Is it the same arm on which Luis de la Fuente is?

**Pol Ballús** (4:13)
I don't think so. I don't think so. I think the tattoo of his woman is on his left arm. I don't know what's the use of this arm, but like de la Fuente is on the other arm.

**Tom Williams** (4:25)
A cold play between the arms. What have you got to say to the police then? Yeah, that's.