Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / UWCL Matchday 2 Preview | Barcelona v Roma | Chelsea v Paris FC | Lyon, Wolfsburg in MD2 action 🏆
Transcript
- 0:06Hello, OK, welcome to Into the Channel podcast primarily about
- 0:12women's football. I'm your host Dean of
- 0:13Desuspitas, and as always I'm joined by my Co host Mr. Grant
- 0:18Angle. What is up man?
- 0:21I'm feeling fantastic, buddy. I'm feeling more than fantastic.
- 0:24the Champions League is back. The UEFA Women's Champions
- 0:26League specifically is back. I don't even I don't even want
- 0:29to waste any time. Can we just get to a beverage
- 0:31and start getting into this episode?
- 0:33I'm. I'm ready.
- 0:34Oh my God. Cheers to the Champions League.
- 0:39Cheers to the football, to the Champions League, to everybody
- 0:43who enjoys the Champions League with us.
- 0:45You know, I've said it once, I've said it a million times,
- 0:49the UEFA Women's Champions League is a celebration of life.
- 0:52Absolutely. I'm just so happy that it's
- 0:53back. I, I can't believe it's back and
- 0:56we're all the way back. You know, I'm fighting off some,
- 0:59maybe some germs around here. So I'm hoping that that this
- 1:02beer does a little extra work for your boy on this Sunday eve.
- 1:06But yeah, man, match day one in the books came and went.
- 1:09I mean 9 big time matchups and match day 2 right around the
- 1:13corner. Cannot wait to start breaking
- 1:15those down. Previewing, we got a nice mixed
- 1:19bag of of some pretty fun match ups.
- 1:22I don't know if it's as good as match day one, but some I mean
- 1:25still some juicy ones. Match day 2.
- 1:27Where do you want to get started?
- 1:29Well, let me just say it's a great question by you because we
- 1:32had some heavyweight matchups, you know, big names in on match
- 1:36day one, but match day 2, we get so many more of the this country
- 1:42versus this country. I don't even know if it's more
- 1:44actually. I just like, it's just a, all we
- 1:46did is just shake the snow globe.
- 1:48I mean, that's the best part about the Champions League is
- 1:50that now we get to see the other teams play each other.
- 1:52So let's focus on that. You asked me where I want to get
- 1:56started. I mean, let's start with Roma
- 1:59versus Barcelona match Day 2. I think there's a lot of
- 2:03intrigue in this one, while kind of not being a ton of intrigue
- 2:06in this one, if that makes sense.
- 2:09Yeah, there's definitely, there's, there are definitely
- 2:11storylines here, obviously. So I mean, you know, Barcelona,
- 2:15where, where do we start with them?
- 2:17I think the revenge tour, we joked about Vlad Code this, I
- 2:20mean, this is making Vlad Code's revenge tour look like, you
- 2:23know, I don't know, a second grade dance recital like
- 2:27Barcelona is not messing around 8 matches a season.
- 2:30How how's 44 goals for, two against for this side and
- 2:35they're just whipping everybody. I mean, they, they took on the
- 2:39Champions of Germany. And just, I mean, what do we do
- 2:43with that result? Like just the disparity, the
- 2:46scoreline and then what we saw in the field, because what we
- 2:50saw in the field wasn't particularly close either.
- 2:53Well, that's the crazy part. And you and I were texting about
- 2:55it a little bit. Obviously, you know, we had this
- 2:57one circled 2 pretty good, pretty big clubs between
- 3:02Barcelona and Bayern Munich if you pay attention to
- 3:04international football. And I thought you said it, you
- 3:07said it really well over text. I don't even think Bayern Munich
- 3:11played that poorly. And Barcelona was a mile ahead
- 3:16of them. They looked terrifying out
- 3:20there. I mean only two point OXG for
- 3:24Barcelona but 281 touches in Byron's half, 53 touches in the
- 3:30box for Barcelona. Imagine playing Barcelona and
- 3:32they get 53 touches in the box. They connect on 90% of their
- 3:36passes. So Barcelona day Big chances 4,
- 3:40Big chances missed 0. That's pretty much something.
- 3:44There you go. And I, I, I also loved like you
- 3:48get a brace from Claudia Pina, you get a, a brace for Eva
- 3:52Pajor. They're they've got 12 goals
- 3:55combined in Liga F, There's just three Liga F teams better than
- 3:59just those two players if you're not counting Barcelona.
- 4:01So they would rank 4th in terms of like top scorers.
- 4:04But in this one, two players with a brace and then you have
- 4:07Alexia with a goal and two assists, and then you have Esme
- 4:10Brooks with a goal and two assists.
- 4:12Like like the numbers were just astronomical.
- 4:17I mean the counting stats, you know, through the roof.
- 4:20I, I'm glad you talk about Emma Payor and that brace, that goal,
- 4:24she scores the, the second goal of the match.
- 4:26I think it was in the 12th minute where the the rebound
- 4:29kind of bounces up and she's able to just kind of do that
- 4:33spinning aerial sidekick to just blast it perfectly.
- 4:37She has to time it perfectly. She doesn't want to wait for the
- 4:40ball to come all the way down to her foot.
- 4:42She wants to hit it kind of like waist level.
- 4:45We call and we'll talk about Elba Redondo for Real Madrid
- 4:48later. We love to call Elba Redondo a
- 4:51professional goal scorer. There are tears of professional
- 4:55goal scores and I think I would argue that Eva Pyor is the top
- 5:00tier of that kind of professional goalscorer where
- 5:04it's I'm in the danger area and I just figure out a way to
- 5:08score. I think she might be best in the
- 5:10world at it. Yeah, I mean, I got to think I
- 5:15got to give Astaire a little nod just because.
- 5:17I mean. Way up I'm.
- 5:18Just as scared if Astaire's got the ball, you know, and
- 5:22necessary doing with a little bit less less service there.
- 5:25But payor obviously unbelievable Claudia Pina unbelievable.
- 5:29I I I cackled at that moment when Vicki Lopez takes the ball
- 5:34up the pitch just dazzling dancing and they're going two on
- 5:38four. She gets the ball to Pina, whose
- 5:40penis I just penis smashes it in and I wrote down the four that
- 5:44they're going against Magdalena Erickson, Glottis Figas Doltier,
- 5:48Francesca KET and the goalkeeper and Mutovich.
- 5:52And it's like they made us for just look like the JV like no
- 5:56shot. Whatever we want, we're going to
- 5:58take it. And then the goal was just an
- 6:02embarrassment of britches usually see the dazzling play
- 6:04and then you know, it doesn't get capped off.
- 6:05This one capped off with with some icing on it.
- 6:09Yeah, I mean they Barcelona found a way and you know, you
- 6:13watch them play in League F2, like you said, they're mashing
- 6:15everybody they and then especially this last weekend
- 6:19against Atleti, we'll talk about them later as well.
- 6:22Just the their execution in the final third is bonkers at times.
- 6:27Like it's just like the ball is going in the net and they are
- 6:31just getting themselves in these positions where they are
- 6:34sprinting at the back line defenders and the defenders just
- 6:38have no chance. So I mean, all of this spells
- 6:43bad news for AS Roma. I have, I have to be honest with
- 6:47you. And so, you know, it's like,
- 6:51what kind of measuring stick can it be?
- 6:54If you're up against the absolute, you know, arguably the
- 6:57best club in the world? I, you know, I Roma will, will
- 7:02learn some things about themselves, but also have to
- 7:04kind of look in the mirror and say, OK, well, we weren't going
- 7:07to really compete that well against this team.
- 7:10They weren't, but I mean, you know, if you're Roma, obviously
- 7:13Roma gets worked by Real Madrid. 62 loss there in a in a game
- 7:18where they were pretty competitive.
- 7:20You know, it went back and forth.
- 7:21That first half was was fireworks and a ton of fun.
- 7:24But you know, you look at this team that's lost defensively,
- 7:29Elena Lenari to London City, Lionesses, Moyka Minami to
- 7:32Brighton. They've also lost Saki Kumagai,
- 7:36Valentino Giacinti to Galatasaray.
- 7:38So some of those like staple Roma players that kind of had
- 7:41logged a ton of Champions League minutes for this side out the
- 7:44door and defensively, you just kind of saw that it was just a
- 7:48little bit tricky. So they gave up 88% pass
- 7:51completion to Real Madrid, 25 shots, 14 on target, 20 shots
- 7:55from inside the box. You give up and that's to Real
- 7:58Madrid. I mean, what are we looking at?
- 8:0040 shots from inside the box? But if it's bar.
- 8:02So I mean, I think we're almost going to have to figure out how
- 8:04to change things up and and really just try to kind of stop
- 8:06the bleeding because this is a club that could find their way,
- 8:10you know, into that top 12. You know, I don't think they
- 8:12they're hanging it up in any way, shape or form.
- 8:15These are two rough matches to start and they still have to go.
- 8:18I think they have to go at Chelsea, But I mean, this team
- 8:22not out of it by any stretch, but they can't they can't really
- 8:26kind of like get another bad goal differential number hung on
- 8:30them this week and and hope to kind of stay, stay alive.
- 8:33Just going to be a little bit behind the 8 ball at that point.
- 8:36Well, I don't know if they're going to have a say in that
- 8:38matter. I think this might be another
- 8:39bad goal differential match. And that's why I think the, the,
- 8:43you know, losing 6 to 2 to Real Madrid was so soul crushing for
- 8:46them. I I do want to ask the question,
- 8:49can you have a good match as a goalkeeper and still give up six
- 8:53goals? I think depends.
- 8:58Yeah, I think usually not though, right?
- 9:01Yeah, usually no, usually no. But that's what's crazy is that
- 9:06I didn't hate Baldy's effort in goal for for Roma.
- 9:09And that's why I think that it just makes it doubly
- 9:11heartbreaking to lose by 4 because you just don't stand
- 9:15much of a chance against against Barcelona.
- 9:18I mean, I, I think they have a they made it about as difficult
- 9:23as they could make it on themselves for the rest of this
- 9:26league phase. And so they're just going to
- 9:28have to claw them back and, you know, can Roma keep it within
- 9:32four in this match? I think is the magic, is the
- 9:36magic number. Yeah, so looking at Roma after
- 9:39this, they've they're going to host Velaranga, they go to
- 9:42Louvin, Belgium and then they've also got a date with St.
- 9:46Zen Bolton match these six. So, you know, it's not not all
- 9:51doom and gloom, but they really got to turn it around here, try
- 9:53to make something happen. I thought a live Pilgrim who we
- 9:57got to know this summer playing for Switzerland, really good
- 10:00showing. I think she got I thought she
- 10:02got I think she had an assist. And then there was a really fun
- 10:06Evan Navarro versus Emily Bosshardt, Javi Battle that
- 10:10resulted in a couple goals each way and some some real some real
- 10:13iciness, you know which, which we love.
- 10:15And you know, just no group of life, obviously no group stage,
- 10:18but good to see a lot of life pumping through the league
- 10:21phase. But with that said, I think we
- 10:24both expect big score line, big number from Barcelona, less big
- 10:28number from Roma. But let's move ahead to another
- 10:32possibly lopsided matchup, Lyon against aforementioned Zang
- 10:37Poulton. What are you going to be looking
- 10:38for in this? One, you know, I think Lyon at
- 10:42every phase of the game and every part of the pitch is a
- 10:47dominant team. Obviously I'm not breaking any
- 10:49news there, but you know, Arsenal, I I, I'm going to try
- 10:54not to look at this too much through an Arsenal lens because
- 10:56we'll talk about them later, obviously.
- 10:59But like Leon didn't even for the two goals.
- 11:02They didn't even have to really super force Arsenal into those
- 11:06like the first, the the first giveaway that du Mornay just
- 11:09kind of hops on and scores. You know, it was it was an
- 11:14unforced error. But that's the thing with with
- 11:17Leona is that you you just have a tiny margin for error.
- 11:21And then you have Endler back there who's able to make massive
- 11:24saves at important time. She had a great save versus Cal
- 11:29Dente shot, I want to say near the end of the first half maybe,
- 11:33or maybe it was near the beginning of the second-half.
- 11:35Yeah. I think it was early 2nd because
- 11:37they were going back that same way.
- 11:39Word military scored. And so, like, you know, Leon has
- 11:43everything that you need. They want to be on a bit of a
- 11:46revenge tour themselves. And while, you know, Barcelona
- 11:49drubbing Bayern Munich sends a message, I think Leon stepping
- 11:54onto the pitch and beating the holders sends its own kind of
- 11:57message. I definitely agree with that.
- 12:01It was really fun seeing, you know, this, you know, Geraldo's
- 12:04team, you know, kind of like how they were trying to attack, you
- 12:08know, really interesting to see Ingrid Ingen obviously in the
- 12:11starting lineup. You know, you should she's
- 12:12definitely going to be pushing for starting, but starting at
- 12:14center back, you know, and and I think that's where Hidal does
- 12:17kind of like found, you know, found a great place for
- 12:20Barcelona. So you've got Ingen alongside
- 12:24Randy Renar and then on the outside you got Silva Bosch on
- 12:26one side and Tarziani on the other.
- 12:28And, you know, they're flying up and down and, you know, Tarziani
- 12:31wants to get near the goal, right?
- 12:33And she wants to use her height and her length and what better
- 12:36player to kind of like get the ball there on the other from the
- 12:40other side than than Selma Basha, who had a really, really
- 12:43good game. She won 12 of 14 duels in this
- 12:46one. She drew 2 fouls, 11 defensive
- 12:49recoveries. Melchi Dumornet also 11
- 12:51defensive recoveries. Dumornet a real, you know, the
- 12:55tip of this. I really love that Hidalgo said,
- 12:59all right, Melchi Dumornet, you are a #10 with, I mean, this
- 13:02should have been like locked in. Well, well, you know, like like
- 13:06going back a good ways. Lindsay Heaps sit a little
- 13:09deeper, get a little bit more defensive.
- 13:11Heaps was awesome. I think in this game, you know,
- 13:13I think really, really made herself felt against Arsenal.
- 13:16But Duvernay was incredible. You know, couple, you know,
- 13:20couple barely looks the finishes off the charts.
- 13:24Like what do you nothing really you can do with that.
- 13:27And that's a player that can do everything from that spot on the
- 13:29field, you know, can like really drive, can shoot, can
- 13:32distribute. And was the absolute difference
- 13:36in this one on the road in a tough spot revenge match, you
- 13:41know, to kind of set the tone, like you said, against the
- 13:43holders. I mean, it was a bloodbath when
- 13:47they got knocked out of last year's tournament by Arsenal.
- 13:49It was a just a disastrous performance at home for Lyon
- 13:54last year when they when they ended up, you know, just getting
- 13:57smashed in that second leg of the semi final.
- 14:01Yeah, I thought I thought Heaps bounced back nicely.
- 14:03She got cooked a little bit by Beth Mead on on Russo's opener.
- 14:08But I think you're right. I think overall Heaps had a had
- 14:10a good game to kind of bounce back from that.
- 14:12But just having the be the combination of Du Mornay kind of
- 14:17setting things up, like you said, and then DNA, Katoto
- 14:21Chewinga all running at your defense.
- 14:24It's a tall order for anybody to stop and it will be throughout
- 14:27this tournament. So, I mean, you know, there's
- 14:30there's not a lot to dislike about Leon and their chances in
- 14:34this tournament, but what else is new?
- 14:37I think they will need, you know, to go to kind of go
- 14:39deeper. I think they will need a little
- 14:41bit more production. You know, I thought DNA was
- 14:43super active, like more active using like I think her legs a
- 14:46little bit more than we're used to.
- 14:49Just kind of like trying to stretch the Arsenal defense.
- 14:51But I definitely want to see, you know, more from Kototo in
- 14:54terms of finishing DNE as well and kind of Chewinga.
- 14:57They brought you LeBron in this one.
- 14:59And like, I think Bron is still working to kind of way into that
- 15:01that attack. They're obviously loaded.
- 15:03The talent's there. But you know, this was a Melchi
- 15:06Duany game, you know, and they they they there were some
- 15:09chances the other way. Good competition, good defense
- 15:12on the other side. And you probably want to see
- 15:14just a little bit more from that Leon attack.
- 15:16But again, competition was tough.
- 15:17And then this is just match day one.
- 15:19Zeng Poulton on the other side, anything we need to do anything
- 15:22we need to know. I got a couple.
- 15:23Let me hit you with a couple key, key stats here.
- 15:26Obviously very poor showing versus Atleti.
- 15:30They were out box touched 52 to 6 outshot 31 to four shots from
- 15:36inside the box, a 21 to 1 disparity there.
- 15:40A very, I'll say a very poor showing from a team that I think
- 15:45we had a we were expecting a little bit more from considering
- 15:48their recent experience in this in this tournament.
- 15:51To quote our old pal and UEFA Women's Champions League winner
- 15:56Leanne Sanderson. Got to do better there, to be
- 15:59fair, I think. Yeah, we absolutely expected
- 16:03more from STP in this one. It was a disastrous showing.
- 16:07They looked slow compared to that Letty in their match up.
- 16:10I mean, and we know like we've talked about it, that Letty will
- 16:13run at you on the wings and create great opportunities for
- 16:17themselves. And St.
- 16:19St. Bolton just didn't have an
- 16:20answer for it. And I will say my one thing that
- 16:23kind of struck a memory in in the old banks here when I saw
- 16:29Leon playing STPI was like, I have seen this before.
- 16:33And in the into the Channel's maiden voyage into the UEFA
- 16:36Women's Champions League in the 2324 season.
- 16:40We, you know, we don't exactly have a deep catalog of
- 16:43experience, but that was our first tournament covering, that
- 16:45was our first time covering this tournament.
- 16:47SDP. They only lost two nil at Lyon
- 16:51in the first on match day 2 of that group stage.
- 16:54Unfortunately for them, they had to play Lyon a second time, even
- 16:58though it was in Austria. They lost that match 7 to
- 17:01nothing. And I remember talking about it,
- 17:03well they just got their doors blown off even more.
- 17:07It 7 to nothing maybe was not an accurate review of how
- 17:13comprehensive that victory was. So I don't like St.
- 17:17PS chances. You lose 6 nil to Athletico, you
- 17:21might be on pace for another 7 to nil loss to Lyon.
- 17:25And it will be getting late, real early for our Austrian pals
- 17:29if that happens. Yeah, I think so.
- 17:31I think we might we might get a busy Karina Schluter game in
- 17:35this one. So we'll keep an eye out for
- 17:37that. But you know, Zane Bolton, I
- 17:39think we could see some kind of a little bit, a little bit
- 17:44better, more energy. I I guess we'll say that's
- 17:46probably would be my hope this this going to Leon's going to be
- 17:49a tough, tough task for sure. But you know, we'll see maybe
- 17:54maybe it's a conditioning thing and maybe we'll see some some
- 17:57sort of bounce back. But I want to shift gears here
- 18:01to a couple teams that looked a little bit flat match day one.
- 18:05Chelsea Football Club Perry FCI think both underwhelmed match
- 18:10day one for different reasons. Each team leaves match day one
- 18:15with a with a single point, but I think a disappointing point.
- 18:19What do you what do you think for me?
- 18:20Where do you want to start with these suicides?
- 18:24No doubt a disappointing, a disappointing point for Chelsea.
- 18:27I mean, there's just no two ways around it.
- 18:29Like they are in this tournament to win it.
- 18:32I believe the announcer very smartly it said like maybe the
- 18:3510th time is a charm for Chelsea, You know, coming into
- 18:39this. They had to probably not,
- 18:42though. I mean, yeah, Yeah, he did.
- 18:44He stopped short of saying that, but I think both you and I are
- 18:47on the same page here. Yeah, I, you know, against
- 18:51Twente, you know, they had some like pretty good opportunities,
- 18:57but it just felt like it was a lot of we have the ball, we'll
- 19:01get some shots on target. I just never felt like that many
- 19:05of them were ever going in. Like there were a couple that I
- 19:08was like, OK, that that that could have worked.
- 19:10They just couldn't land the haymaker.
- 19:12I know you'll have some some boxing parlance.
- 19:14So there. I'm in a weird space with
- 19:17Chelsea where I do not expect, I expect them to finish top four.
- 19:22I'll say that I do not expect them to win the tournament, but
- 19:27I do think there's a world where they could win the tournament.
- 19:30Can I? Can I have all three of those
- 19:32thoughts at the same time? I think so.
- 19:35I think the the the one that I find probably like the most
- 19:38egregious is they have a chance to win the tournament because I
- 19:40think to me this team does not really have a chance to win the
- 19:44tournament. I have no.
- 19:45Chance. You know, if I mean, if, if
- 19:50we're, if we're simulating it tomorrow, like if you know, if
- 19:53this is what Chelsea is going to look like, let me rephrase.
- 19:55If this is what Chelsea is going to look like down the stretch
- 19:57and this is who's playing, they can't win.
- 20:00No way. Like, you know, if you look at
- 20:02they, they start the season 4 wins the WSL season, their last
- 20:06three matches combined WSL and Champions League 2 draws and A1
- 20:10no win over Tottenham. Today I looked at some of the
- 20:14numbers for those 3 matchups. The shot disparity.
- 20:18You know, very Chelsea like 27 to 10 over Tottenham, 20 to 9 /
- 20:222019 to 15 against United, but the shots on target 4-6 and six
- 20:30from so that's what, 1216 out of 4716 out of 66.
- 20:35You know, that's that's not very good.
- 20:38Probably not going to get it done in each of these matchups.
- 20:41I don't think they scored more than a single goal in the XG
- 20:432.462.92.86. So they're way underperforming.
- 20:48You know, you look at those, you know those those you know that
- 20:51that front, that attacking unit and they're just not cashing in
- 20:55as much as they need to be considering the positions
- 20:57they're getting into, the talent.
- 20:59You know, they have the talent disparity playing at home.
- 21:03You know, like this team's going to need a lot more.
- 21:05And I think the other key issues defensively, you know, I think,
- 21:09you know, we saw Berman in this one.
- 21:11I think prior to that we saw Millie Bright.
- 21:12Now that Natalie Bjorn pairing, this team needs a Naomi Garma.
- 21:16Like I I've talked about it, that that center, that central
- 21:19channel where Millie Bright's there, Kyra Walsh is in, is in
- 21:22front of her. I think it's very kind of
- 21:23problematic defensively. Like a lot of teams in this
- 21:26tournament are going to be able to take advantage of that and
- 21:28not just the Barcelonas and Leones.
- 21:30I think there's mid mid table teams.
- 21:32I think it could hurt them if that's who's starting.
- 21:36So I think it it starts there for Chelsea.
- 21:38I think they've got a kind of like locked down a little bit
- 21:40more defensively. They got to cash in, you know,
- 21:42with with these chances which they are earning to their
- 21:44credit. Yeah, I think that's totally
- 21:47fair. I mean, you know, they pay the
- 21:49goal scores to get it done. It's just those numbers you
- 21:53talked about in terms of shots on target, absolutely abysmal.
- 21:57You have to do you have to be way more efficient than that.
- 22:00So and again, like you said, like if they play like this,
- 22:04obviously they're drawing dead, but I don't think they will.
- 22:07I think they'll I think they'll continue to mesh.
- 22:10The players are too good. Let me ask you this.
- 22:13Go ahead. So where, what could they do?
- 22:16Like what, what's out there that you think could work?
- 22:20What is there a pairing? Is there a move or a a unit
- 22:24that's probably like, what do you think could be the recipe
- 22:27for, you know, some kind of leap?
- 22:30You know, I'm a Micah Homano believer.
- 22:34I think, you know, a step up from her, you know, with kind of
- 22:39Thompson, right? And ABJ, where are we on where
- 22:46we, where are we on Myra Ramirez's injury status?
- 22:49Do we know if she's coming back? I can.
- 22:52I can. I can.
- 22:54Do a little digging. I know we got some Sam Sam Kerr
- 22:57minutes. I was going to say, we got here,
- 23:01right? And so we got some Sam Kerr
- 23:03minutes. Obviously she's going to come
- 23:04back. That's why I'm just like so
- 23:06hesitant to judge. And there's probably some
- 23:09emotional hedging here too, is that I don't want to just come
- 23:13on this podcast and be like, Chelsea's done, get him out of
- 23:16here because I don't want to have to hear about it from
- 23:18Chelsea supporters. With me being a big old
- 23:21Manchester City supporter and a big Chelsea hater, I can imagine
- 23:26you're in a similar boat as an Arsenal supporter.
- 23:28But like, yeah, I, I think they're absolute ceiling, to be
- 23:32honest with you, is they could make the final.
- 23:35I, I like, I don't, I don't doubt that like with the with
- 23:37the, the players they have, it's just it has to progress over the
- 23:41long, over the long season, if you will.
- 23:45Yeah, I think, you know, that's one thing that I've learned kind
- 23:48of like covering the sport, you know, for for the years that
- 23:51we've been doing it is that the teams look so different at the
- 23:55end. Like, you know, Arsenal last
- 23:57year getting a Nile, you know, the Jonas ID of all LED Arsenal
- 24:03opening the championing season at Bayern and just getting their
- 24:06ass kicked, you know, going from that to then beating Barcelona
- 24:09in the final 6-7 months later. I mean, it's impossible to
- 24:12predict. So, you know, I think my caveat
- 24:15this team, you know, is, is it's a little bit of a cheat to say
- 24:18this team looking as it does cannot do it because no team
- 24:22that's going to win is going to look like they do now, you know,
- 24:26at the final, they're going to look, there's going to be a lot
- 24:28of evolution, a lot of growth. Even Barcelona, you know, if
- 24:31they if they win, it's going to be a different look.
- 24:33It'll be a more, which is scary. It'll be a more evolved
- 24:36Barcelona if they if they're the ones actually kind of lift the
- 24:39trophy at the end. But I want to talk a little
- 24:40Perry FC, another disappointing showing.
- 24:44I mean, I think we got the Clara Mateo show in the first half.
- 24:48You know, we got busy, but was maybe their only offensive
- 24:53option. I think, you know, once once
- 24:55Luvin figured that out, you know, got a little trickier and,
- 24:58you know, they were able to kind of like erase that two goal, you
- 25:01know, deficit and take home a huge point.
- 25:04But I want I want to talk Perry FC here and maybe, you know, a
- 25:08little bit of a disappoint, A disappointing start for sure.
- 25:11You're looking at like that opponent and kind of being like,
- 25:14oh wait, you know, we're playing that team at home that that's
- 25:16that's the way to kick this off and didn't didn't kind of go
- 25:19that way. Buddy, if you are a Perry FC
- 25:25supporter, then I think that should have set off some alarm
- 25:29bells because, you know, we've talked about some of the talent
- 25:33that they have lost. We've talked about some of the
- 25:35talent that Perry's enchement has lost.
- 25:37We'll talk about them later. They're not good enough to only
- 25:43have one thing that works to your earlier Clara Mateo point
- 25:47and they're not good enough to let their foot off the gas
- 25:50against, OH Louvin from Belgium. So you know, when you when the
- 25:56rubber meets the road against some of the larger Champions
- 25:59League opponents that they're going to have to play.
- 26:02I don't know how they might be able to keep pace in some of
- 26:05those matches. I there is one thing I just want
- 26:07to say real quick. My El Garbino almost had though
- 26:12the front runner for goal of the tournament.
- 26:14I think it was like right around the 80th minute the cross comes
- 26:17in and she just hits that like little flick back heel with her
- 26:22right foot and it almost chips in.
- 26:26Dude, I, you know, I'm I'm I'm relatively neutral in a lot of
- 26:30these matches. I wish that went in.
- 26:32No, you know, no hate to any of our Belgian pals.
- 26:36I'm not rooting against Lubin, but if that goes in, it's an
- 26:39unreal goal. I mean, that's that's kind of
- 26:42why we're watching though, to kind of like catch these moments
- 26:45and we, you know, they're coming because they're so close.
- 26:48It's like the it's like the tournament itself is
- 26:50calibrating, which is always super fun.
- 26:53But you know, I we'll we'll talk, we'll talk about Lou when
- 26:57we get there, But this that's a super fun team.
- 26:59But to your point, pre FC, you know, you know, lackluster, you
- 27:04know, opener to the tournament doesn't mean that they're going
- 27:07to go to Chelsea. And you know, I'm not sure the
- 27:10transitive property, you know, essentially applies here.
- 27:14I, I could see Perry FC putting up a good performance,
- 27:17especially, I guess Chelsea looked a little bit flat.
- 27:20But this is 1 where I can see it going every way except for a big
- 27:25Perry FC win. I can see Chelsea winning big.
- 27:27I can see Chelsea winning close. I can see a draw.
- 27:29I can see Perry FC scratching out, you know, the kind of a
- 27:32miracle kind of three points. But I don't know, I kind of want
- 27:36to see how these teams bounce back because I think they're
- 27:38both looking at this match sort of the same.
- 27:41It's like, all right, let's shake it off match day one and
- 27:43let's make sure that we're here for for a little bit of the long
- 27:46haul, especially Chelsea. I know we joke sometimes about
- 27:50you know that you can you can swing wildly.
- 27:52I think that's mostly about the teams that you really root for.
- 27:56I think I'm going to swing a little wildly on this one.
- 27:59I think this man Perry FC didn't give me a lot of confidence.
- 28:03I think this is a four nil Chelsea win.
- 28:05I think they like, I think they absolutely dominate.
- 28:11I could see it, I could see it probably got a good number on
- 28:14that. Let's go ahead though.
- 28:16Valarenga Wolfsburg, another Wolfsburg, another team that I'm
- 28:21not sure what we do. They get the huge win over PSG
- 28:24match day one and then they get beat at home this weekend in a
- 28:28big in a a massive, massive matchup versus Bayern Munich, 3
- 28:33to one that one scoreline a little bit deceiving.
- 28:35Byron scores I think at 90 + 5 Alaris Hitler, you know, makes
- 28:41it three. One was close most of the match,
- 28:44but you know, you still lose to your big rival in in a year
- 28:48that's kind of supposed to be your year.
- 28:49And you're also coming off a massive 4 nil win over PSG,
- 28:53which was also somewhat of a deceptive scoreline.
- 28:56PSG was kind of hung in a lot of those key stats shots, shots on
- 29:00target, you know, possession, a lot of it was still very much in
- 29:03the same ballpark. PSG, it had the advantage
- 29:05actually in a couple of those as well.
- 29:06But a weird game, a weird score line, which what?
- 29:09What'd you see from that PSG Wolfsburg match up?
- 29:14I will start with I think you're right that it was a little
- 29:19closer than the score line would indicate.
- 29:23I also didn't get a lot. I got more confidence from
- 29:26Wolfsburg than I did from PSG. Kind of keeping it close.
- 29:31Like I like, I don't know, I'm, and maybe it's just 'cause, you
- 29:36know, these recent results, I'm really down on every Flint
- 29:40French club not named Leon right now.
- 29:43Like I, I don't, I think it might get kind of ugly for those
- 29:46two teams. And so for Wolfsburg to, you
- 29:49know, they forced the own goal. It's it's pretty unlucky by for
- 29:52Jackie Gronen, a player that I think both of us like, you know,
- 29:57but Wolfsburg kind of forces him into it.
- 30:00I will say, you know, Alex, Alex Pop still has a nose for the
- 30:04goal. Retired internationally, not
- 30:07retired for her club side, still playing pretty well, still knows
- 30:11how to score, you know, plays the full 90 at least I yeah, I
- 30:15don't think she came off the pitch.
- 30:16Plays the full 90. Nods in the header near there
- 30:20near the end for the dagger or pretty much at the death.
- 30:25I will. I will also say, sorry I get a
- 30:27little jumbled here. Steena, Johannes in goal.
- 30:31Did make some important set, did make some important saves I
- 30:34thought. And I, I will go out on a limb
- 30:37here. Absolutely my second favorite
- 30:39Johannes in this tournament. Love that.
- 30:42Yeah. Cosign Steena, Johannes, another
- 30:452023 Champions League throwback, the old Eintracht Frankfurt
- 30:49goalkeeper. So you know, Stina and the ITC
- 30:52go way back. Yep, 6 up, 6 down, six shots on
- 30:55target, 6 big saves for Johannes.
- 30:58I really liked what Wolfsburg did, you know, kind of like on
- 31:01the attack. And then also, you know,
- 31:03defensively there were some there were some lanes there, you
- 31:06know, I think PSG got some shots off Kanjinda that definitely had
- 31:09some chances, some some definitely gimmies.
- 31:12I mean ends up being 4 Nils. So I don't think it would have
- 31:14mattered either way, but I was really encouraged.
- 31:18Lynette Berenstain, you already know what time it is.
- 31:20That's like just money in the bank.
- 31:22You know, she's going to be put pressure on defenses.
- 31:24Alex Pop, I thought her energy, you know, and her, you know,
- 31:28kind of like intensity, her her drive to kind of like get to
- 31:31those balls and earn chances that other players just don't
- 31:35earn, you know, even if she's not able to finish them off, I
- 31:37think it really kind of sets the tone for the rest of that team.
- 31:40And just one of my favorite players are like what what an
- 31:43amazing player to kind of play alongside.
- 31:45You know, you, you would just imagine that you'd be fearless
- 31:48if you look up and you see pop up there just kind of making
- 31:51trouble. And then the last kind of player
- 31:53I want to mention, Ella Pettimores, the 23 year old
- 31:56Dutch midfielder for Wolfsburg is a play.
- 31:59This is her second season of Wolfberg.
- 32:00She spent seven seasons at 20 prior to that broke through
- 32:04there at the age of 16. She had a golden assists last
- 32:07year for Wolfsburg already two goals this season, big jump in
- 32:10shot on target percentage going from 20% to 56% and shots on
- 32:15target per 90 going from 0.3 to 1.14.
- 32:19So Pettimore is very much involved in the attack there.
- 32:22I really like that switch and I think Wolfsburg Speaking of
- 32:26teams that are going to grow in, you know, to to who they're
- 32:28going to be, I think Willsburg definitely fits that bill.
- 32:32This team's going to continue to evolve, continue to improve, and
- 32:35I think it's going to get a little bit scarier as we head
- 32:37down the. Stretch, love it.
- 32:39I mean, obviously A-Team, a club with great pedigree, A2 time
- 32:43champions of the tournament, I believe, you know, and maybe
- 32:47this is just one of those situations.
- 32:48I know what's happened to you and I several times I talked
- 32:51about the Wolfsburg Revenge Tour a lot last tournament.
- 32:54Could I have been right? But just a year early.
- 32:58So we'll have to see about that. But yeah, I I'm with you.
- 33:01They're deep. They have a lot of talent.
- 33:04Beer and Stein and pop are just an absolute nightmare up there.
- 33:09You know, they they can play tough in spots.
- 33:11It's just I think, you know, especially thinking about match
- 33:15day 2 of this tournament. And and I know like me and you
- 33:18are just absolutely drunk off excitement for this tournament,
- 33:23just as I mean, it's such a great everything about it is so
- 33:27great. Mm Hmm.
- 33:28But I have I have really been thinking about the the tears of
- 33:33who these teams are and who these clubs maybe should in some
- 33:38cases think they are, maybe who some of these clubs want to be
- 33:43or where they think they are currently, but not quite be.
- 33:46There's just going to be a lot of jockeying for position.
- 33:48And I think the league phase going into the knockout phase is
- 33:52going to really kind of show us like what these like what the
- 33:55tiers really are in the European, you know, side of the
- 34:00of this wonderful sport. I'm I'm really glad you brought
- 34:04this up because in my notes, big disparity between League F and
- 34:10WSL. If you're just looking at the
- 34:12vacuum that is match day one, you know, you obviously get
- 34:15Barcelona 7 to one over the Champions of Germany, Bayern
- 34:19Munich, Real Madrid six to two over Roma, not the chambers of
- 34:23Italy and then Atleti 6 nil over Zing Bolton.
- 34:28And then what do you do when Bayern loses 7 to 1 and then
- 34:33beats Wolfsburg 3 to one who beat PSG 4 nil, You know, so
- 34:37it's like, so was this buyer does Barcelona beat PSG 30 to,
- 34:42you know, like, what are we what are we talking about?
- 34:44So it's like, you know, we're going to continue to learn a
- 34:47lot, but might be fair to say then obviously Barcelona beats
- 34:51at 36 nil, you know, to just jumble things even further.
- 34:55Six different goal scores in that one, not including the ball
- 34:58and door winner. So go figure.
- 35:01But we're going to just learn a lot about, I think I, I, we
- 35:05might learn that League F is not really, you know, sort of like
- 35:09the jokey joke league that we kind of like have been making it
- 35:13out to be. And you know, it, it, it, it
- 35:16does follow that a team like Barcelona is so good and sets
- 35:22the, the pace in such a intense way that chasing them could,
- 35:28could really kind of like lift the water level.
- 35:30Because for some of these other teams, because, you know, the
- 35:33WSL teams kind of showed up in this tournament.
- 35:36You know, Chelsea won one, Arsenal loses 2 to one and
- 35:39United, you know, kind of like claws out A1 nil victory over
- 35:42the other side of the, the, the squad that we're talking about
- 35:44now. Valarenga, What, what was your
- 35:47take real quick? Like, you know, did?
- 35:49Is that is that a quick snap overreaction that maybe Lee F
- 35:51might be a little bit more serious or, you know, is it, is
- 35:55it too early to tell? I got it.
- 35:58I mean, that's that's why you're the best in the game, buddy,
- 36:00because I think that's I think this might be we're talking
- 36:03about the revenge tours, possibly for Wolfsburg.
- 36:06What if this is Liga F saying, you know what, you ain't played
- 36:11nobody. Like I maybe maybe the Liga F
- 36:13teams are like, hey, put some respect on our names.
- 36:16Like it's not our fault that we have to play against Barcelona
- 36:20twice a year and then get smashed by them in Copa de la
- 36:23Arena and all, you know, whatever other domestic
- 36:25tournaments we have to play in, you know, hey, you, you play
- 36:28Barcelona. Let us know how that goes for
- 36:30you in a lot of different situations.
- 36:32So I, I mean, I am extremely psyched because I just, it's the
- 36:36best part about this tournament is that now we get to just do
- 36:41all the jockeying. And you know, I've, I've, I've
- 36:45done it several times. When we compare it to college
- 36:48football, it's all just a means to an end for one group of
- 36:52people to say, hey, actually, This is why you suck.
- 36:56You're not as good as us. Your league, your league is crap
- 36:59compared to our league. And we're just going to draw
- 37:02huge sweeping conclusions from week to week.
- 37:05And that's what's is so much fun.
- 37:08Yeah, man, no arguments there. Very exciting stuff.
- 37:11I mean, I don't know, I kind of want to Fast forward, but I'm
- 37:15just enjoying so much of this and I love that like the league
- 37:19phase is so truncated. We mentioned it's only 10 weeks
- 37:22where we're going to get these 54 league phase matchups, A ton
- 37:26of football. I'm just, I cannot wait.
- 37:28So, so exciting Valeranga, a team that I feel like we kind of
- 37:33like, right. Like, you know, I, I had high
- 37:36hopes for them. I wasn't sure if this was a good
- 37:39performance. Imagine it didn't look like a
- 37:41good performance for Manchester United.
- 37:42Look, it looked more like an underwhelming kind of poor kind
- 37:46of, you know, risk averse, you know, performance from from a
- 37:52side that I think we had we had higher hopes for.
- 37:56I think that's fair. I think that they knew they had
- 37:58to be a little bit on guard versus Valeriega.
- 38:01I think that's that's probably not fair to say.
- 38:05Well, Oh well. Oh, sorry, I thought you were
- 38:07talking about United's performance against Valarenga
- 38:10was underwhelming. Sorry.
- 38:11I. Think we're talking, We're
- 38:12talking you there. My bad.
- 38:13We're talking Valarenga, Wolfsburg.
- 38:14So, Valarenga, what do you think of Valarenga?
- 38:17OK, so yeah, I thought Manchester United felt like they
- 38:20had to guard against potential danger from Valarenga.
- 38:22That's what I was trying to spit out there.
- 38:24And that's why I think, you know, all of Tibetan could have
- 38:28scored in the first half. Now, the only unfortunate part
- 38:33of that was that was their only shot on target in the entire
- 38:36match. So divestit needed to be
- 38:38extremely efficient and score that one to really have a chance
- 38:42and and unite. They kind of they kind of got
- 38:44pushed out of any other real chances by united for the rest
- 38:49of that match. So when you go from that, and
- 38:54yes, Valeranga will be playing in Norway at home versus
- 38:58Wolfsburg, that kind of, you know, we're going to take only a
- 39:03little bit of the ball and we're going to try to play defense and
- 39:07then try to maximize their chances.
- 39:10That's not going to work against United and it's not going to
- 39:12work against Wolfsburg. So they're just going to have to
- 39:14figure out some kind of way to look a little more dangerous on
- 39:17the counter, I have to think. I think it's got to be on the
- 39:21counter. You look at, you know, like
- 39:24against United, 6 box, 6 box touches in the whole match,
- 39:27Elizabeth Turley had 10 like and you know, you mentioned along
- 39:31TWED 10. Karina Shevic too.
- 39:33Like I think is the other player that you're looking for.
- 39:36You know, these are players that are at the very top of top
- 39:40serial and both the the gold category and assists category.
- 39:44You're absolutely cooking and you just need, you know, not a
- 39:47constant attack, but they need to be some kind of threat.
- 39:50And neither player was a threat. Savic couldn't not just shot in
- 39:55this one. So we'll see.
- 39:58I mean, it's a it's going to be a tough task, but playing at
- 40:01home I think has to matter. And Tavola Ranga's credit, you
- 40:04know, you go to Manchester United, you know, if I don't
- 40:08want to say would they have taken A1 nil loss, you know,
- 40:11like on the front end. But A1 nil loss -1 goal
- 40:15differential, not the worst outcome, right?
- 40:18Nope. Not at all, Not at all when
- 40:20other teams are getting absolutely mashed, especially if
- 40:23you think about some of the teams that they might be
- 40:25competing with for that one of those top 8 spots.
- 40:29You love to see them get blown out by 5456 goals in some of
- 40:33those cases. So yeah, I don't think you're I
- 40:35don't think you're off base at all.
- 40:37And I would be remiss if I did not mention, just real quick
- 40:41before we get out of this Valeringa Wolfsburg preview,
- 40:44Valeringa coming off a loss to let's just call it what it is.
- 40:48Let's just call a spade a spade, a vastly superior club and a
- 40:52vastly superior fan base. No disrespect to anybody from
- 40:55to, you know, Valeringa supporters, but SK Brown did
- 40:58defeat them four to two on the very day that we're recording
- 41:01this podcast. And so, you know, I mean, I have
- 41:03just got to mention that about top Syrian.
- 41:07I I don't know what happened. That kind of clinches top Syrian
- 41:09right? Is that is that now over in
- 41:11Valeria? Could just focus on?
- 41:13Am I crazy for that? I mean, what they're, they're
- 41:17seven points back. This is a wrap.
- 41:22There's there's a there's a little ways to go, I think.
- 41:24But I yeah, Speaking of SK Bron, I don't know what.
- 41:29I don't know what happened in the Europa Cup.
- 41:31Don't tell me I'm not. I'm not familiar with what might
- 41:34have happened in their match versus Hammerbee.
- 41:35It's not important. This is a UEFA Women's Champions
- 41:37League episode. Fair enough.
- 41:39All right, moving on, one more Wednesday match up to hit and
- 41:42then I think we might have to break this up into two parters
- 41:45because we are, you know, no shocker doing poorly on time.
- 41:50But that's all right. What we appreciate, we
- 41:52appreciate everybody rocking with us.
- 41:55Louvin. OH, Newvin, they're going to
- 41:58host FC Twente Wednesday, 12:00 PM Pacific Time.
- 42:02I want to talk a little Twente because this is a team that's
- 42:07stout, poised and got a got a really, really nice result
- 42:13against Chelsea, a team that roughed them up a couple times
- 42:15last year in the group stage. And just, I mean, you know, they
- 42:22didn't blow the doors off the game, but exactly what you would
- 42:25want probably if you're if you're 20 to kind of open up
- 42:28this tournament. What?
- 42:29What'd you see in that one versus Chelsea?
- 42:33I like them. They're tough, man.
- 42:34I mean, we got our first look at them.
- 42:36I mean, again, like I, I'd say we got our first look at them.
- 42:39We've done this and for this is now our third Champions League
- 42:42season. But so they didn't make it in
- 42:44the 2324 tournament. Now they were in the 2425 UEFA
- 42:48Women's Champions League and now we get to see them again.
- 42:51They look better. Like obviously, you know, we
- 42:53talked about Jill Riord coming over there to play Champions
- 42:55League football back with the club.
- 42:57I, I think she started at Tuente, if I remember correctly,
- 43:01the the Dutch legend Jill Riord, who we know is going to get some
- 43:05shots on target. We know she's going to create
- 43:07some chances as well. Well, she might not get some,
- 43:10she'll get some shots. Not all of them will be on
- 43:12target. Sometimes, not many of them will
- 43:14be on target, but she'll hit him 100 mph.
- 43:17Shots in your target? Let's go.
- 43:19Exactly. And I I liked Twente's attitude
- 43:23in that match versus Chelsea and I, I'm curious your opinion on
- 43:27this. I wasn't totally surprised when
- 43:29Van Ginkgo scored. I wasn't I no, I definitely
- 43:33wasn't either because again, like they they hung in the match
- 43:38physically. I I just love how they play
- 43:41like, you know, they weren't usually when you see, I don't
- 43:44want to, you know, and Twente's 20 is a smaller club than
- 43:47Chelsea. There's no, I have no issue
- 43:49saying that. But when when you see teams that
- 43:52go up, like you'll sometimes see like a team like 1020 on the
- 43:55back foot a little bit, a little bit more conservative and maybe
- 43:58not for the whole game, but in spots.
- 44:00And 20 was like, no, we're going to play you straight up.
- 44:03Every chance we get, we're going to go at you when we have
- 44:05chances, we're going to and, and they're just a team of
- 44:08professionals. Like this isn't a team of like
- 44:1220 and 21, you know, and like, oh young upstart, like these are
- 44:16players that are really good at a really good point in their
- 44:18career, used to winning stuff in that league.
- 44:21Gio Royd, who you mentioned, an absolute assist machine, 90
- 44:25minutes, she draws 3 fouls. I think she gets an assist in
- 44:28this. 18 passes into the final third for Roared.
- 44:32And just like a really good player to kind of like settle
- 44:34things down. I really, I just like this
- 44:36Twente side led by Karina Decker, you know, and just I
- 44:41think on on a really good track. So don't be surprised if you see
- 44:44this FC Twente side in the Elite 8.
- 44:48Oh my God, I couldn't love that pick anymore, my good man.
- 44:51I mean, now think about it like, you know, we're talking about
- 44:55goal differential for some of these teams right now.
- 44:57You think about who Twente we we were talking about the tears of
- 45:01who you know is who in this tournament Tuente gets they have
- 45:06to start against Chelsea. You get that notification from
- 45:10UEFA. OK, great.
- 45:11Our first match is against Chelsea Football Club.
- 45:14You come out of that with a draw and then your second match is
- 45:18against the debutantes from Belgium.
- 45:22Now again, I'll say it like no disrespect to Louvin.
- 45:25I think you and I both like the way they played, but that is
- 45:29that is absolutely a dream for Twente.
- 45:32If you would have told them, hey, you're going to get a point
- 45:35off Chelsea and then play Louvin, you say, OK, let let's
- 45:40start booking the flights for the knockout phase because we're
- 45:44going to get we're going to. Find a way to get there.
- 45:47Match day three, they go to Benfica.
- 45:50Match day four they host Adleti. That's winnable.
- 45:55They go to Arsenal, you know, that's going to be tough and
- 45:58then they host Real Madrid. So I mean there's there's tough
- 46:00matchups, but you know, if let's say they do string together
- 46:04three wins at Louvin, at Benfica as a stretch at Lethy, not
- 46:09impossible. That's I mean they're sitting at
- 46:1110 points like that's they're absolutely cooking.
- 46:14They can kind of rest them as the players against, you know, a
- 46:17little bit little pie in the sky.
- 46:18But I wouldn't I wouldn't put it past this team to, you know, put
- 46:22together a string like that. I think they're they're on that
- 46:24level. I think they absolutely could
- 46:27be. And you know, even if you like,
- 46:29even if you get a draw versus Benfica, like think about what
- 46:32it what other teams are are going to be doing in that case.
- 46:35So I think they're super live. I like the way they look.
- 46:39Like you said, they're going to play a physical style.
- 46:40They're going to do some total football stuff, Dutch style.
- 46:44And I, I mean, I'll pass the ball back to you.
- 46:47I think this matchup versus Louvin, I think it's going to be
- 46:52really interesting. Slightly sneaky candidate for
- 46:57match of the day for me, like I think this this one, you know,
- 47:01if you if you're if you're 1 to enjoy these like one nil 112232
- 47:08you know, like if you if you're into those, which you know I am
- 47:12that that could this could be that kind of match.
- 47:14I think it could kind of be be back and forth.
- 47:17Louvin offensively, they're they're capable of some stuff.
- 47:20I thought Sarah Bushtai, really interesting player.
- 47:23You know, they, they, this is another side that's used, used
- 47:27to winning. I know they, they usually kind
- 47:29of like come second to, to Anderlecht in their home league,
- 47:31But a, a, a side that, you know, they had to grow a little bit,
- 47:36had to kind of evolve a bunch, you know, to kind of get to this
- 47:39point. And now they're kind of like, we
- 47:41don't want to go home. Like I think we, we feel good.
- 47:43We feel sharp. We feel like we are on the level
- 47:46and that performance at pre FC going going into halftime down
- 47:50to nil, you don't usually see a debutant type club come back and
- 47:55do that, you know, like in their first, you know, 90 minutes in
- 48:00the tournament of all time. Like, you know, a really, really
- 48:03incredible kind of monumental accomplishment.
- 48:06And it does feel like we're going to see this team is not
- 48:09going to finish with one point. I'll say that Lumen will not
- 48:12finish the league phase with one point.
- 48:15I I feel pretty confident saying that.
- 48:16I think they're going to get somebody else.
- 48:18It wouldn't be shocked if they grab a win versus somebody just
- 48:22a fun team and A and a team that's not really afraid of of
- 48:25anybody they're lining up against.
- 48:27Totally. I'm totally with you.
- 48:29I think the thing that jumped out to me, I want to make sure I
- 48:31get this right, is that they were fine with having way less
- 48:36possession against Perry FC in the second-half compared to the
- 48:39first half. So they had 49% of the ball in
- 48:41the first half and they only had 34% of the ball in the
- 48:46second-half. But they had more shots, they
- 48:49had more shots on target and they had bigger chances in the
- 48:52second-half. And they just kind of had like
- 48:55this little bit of a chameleon sense to them where they're
- 48:58like, OK, maybe this is the best way for us to attack Perry.
- 49:01FCI think they seized on Perry FC maybe getting a little LAX
- 49:06and kind of like, you know, being like, oh, OK, we're
- 49:09clearly the better team here. And I think they're it's twofold
- 49:13here. And I don't think it's, you
- 49:14know, disrespectful to hold both these thoughts is I don't think
- 49:18Perry FC is as good as they think they are.
- 49:21And I think Louvin is almost as good as they think they are
- 49:26like, like because they they very clearly in the second-half
- 49:30were like, we can win this thing, let alone get it back
- 49:33level. Yeah, no doubt.
- 49:35I mean they're going to be a super, super fun team to watch
- 49:39in this match up where they're hosting, They're hosting, right?
- 49:41Yeah, they're hosting Twente. So this will be their home
- 49:43opener that I. Think he could be a banger?
- 49:45I think you're right. I think Match of the Day
- 49:49potential, no doubt. Yeah, I mean, let's go.
- 49:52Cannot wait. All right, like we said, we're
- 49:55going to break this one up into two parts.
- 49:56There's still four more Thursday matchups Thursday, right?
- 50:00Yeah, Thursday matchups that we're going to preview.
- 50:03But hopefully you had fun rocking with us.
- 50:05We took a look at the at the Wednesday 5 absolutely loaded
- 50:09slate. And yeah, cannot wait, man.
- 50:12Anything else you want to hit before we get out of here?
- 50:14Before we get out of this Part 1 here.
- 50:18I think we've done it. I mean, it's like we could, we
- 50:22just couldn't possibly in any conceivable way be more back.
- 50:27And the Champions League is so great, man.
- 50:31How how do you not love this? And I will say early returns,
- 50:35I'm OK with how CBS and Paramount Plus has handled the
- 50:41broadcasts. I mean, you know, no Chris
- 50:44Sharples, you're on my shit list.
- 50:46Not Chris Sharples, CBS and Paramount Plus, you're on my
- 50:50shit list. It like give Chris a call.
- 50:53He needs to be calling some of these matches, you know,
- 50:57obviously his schedule permitting.
- 50:59But I thought the, you know, the streaming was good.
- 51:02I was watching them after the fact, but you know, the matches
- 51:05were available. I could watch them, which in
- 51:07America it says a lot, you know, compared to some of some other
- 51:11stuff that we're trying to watch.
- 51:12So good job CBS and Paramount. I got some issues with a lot of
- 51:17other things going on over there, but it seems like he did
- 51:20OK this first. Go round.
- 51:22Yeah, yeah, no doubt. I mean, you know, Cam Pope's out
- 51:24there. Jackie Lee's out there.
- 51:26Our guy James Durga, he's out. He's probably out there.
- 51:29Yo, yeah, we need to get James Thurgood, James Thurgood the
- 51:32Destroyer. We need to get him on on more on
- 51:35more matches, no doubt. Go shout out to James.
- 51:39All right, man, I think we did it this one of the episode Part
- 51:421 with Into the Channel match Day 2 preview.
- 51:45Thank you for rocking with us. Thank you for hanging out.
- 51:48If you enjoy the show or love wins football as much as your
- 51:50boys do, make sure you're kicking with us each and every
- 51:52single week. Like subscribe, follow, leave us
- 51:54a review, YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever you like
- 51:57to watch or listen. Want to support the show?
- 51:59patreon.com/into the channel. Great way to do that.
- 52:01Into the channel merch now available just in time for the
- 52:04holidays. Heads up to literally everyone
- 52:06in my in my friend and family group.
- 52:08Go there, grab some stuff designed by your boys.
- 52:11You already know what time it is links all of you above and much,
- 52:13much more in the description of this episode.
- 52:15We've been thinking, Michael says well, Mr. Grant angle for I
- 52:19mean, celebration of life. Nobody I'd be I'd rather be
- 52:22celebrating life with well, maybe some some members of my
- 52:24family, but you're right up there, right, right.
- 52:25You know, right in that second tier of the people I don't want
- 52:27to celebrate life with. I appreciate you bro.
- 52:31Dude, if I'm making it to the knockout phase, that's
- 52:33absolutely fantastic. That's pretty much all I'm
- 52:35looking for. And you know, and to Dino's
- 52:37point, the merch, it's it's unbelievably comfortable.
- 52:41I mean, I'm basically swimming in a sea of soft down feathers
- 52:47wearing this beautiful ITC hooded sweatshirt.
- 52:50So if you guys are into that kind of thing, please check it
- 52:52out on the merch store. Thank you all for rocking with
- 52:54us and we will see you all for Part 2.