Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / UWCL Post-match LIVE! Juventus v Wolfsburg | Manchester United v Atletico Madrid | Recap Reactions Analysis

Transcript

UWCL Post-match LIVE! Juventus v Wolfsburg | Manchester United v Atletico Madrid | Recap Reactions Analysis · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:01
Oh hey, welcome to into the channel podcast primarily about
0:07
women's super. I'm your host dealer de suspres
0:09
and as always, I am joined by my Co host, Mr. Grant Engel.
0:14
What is up man? I'm feeling fantastic, buddy.
0:16
Now we know we have all the information available to us, we
0:20
know who's going to play in the quarterfinals of the way for
0:22
Women's Champions League, and that's a good feeling.
0:25
It's a great feeling, man. I think we got we got eight
0:28
really good teams. I mean, I feel like I can say
0:30
that I think I'm not sure that we that anybody, any big team is
0:33
missing. I really like these matchups,
0:36
you know, some familiarity, some rematches.
0:38
But before we get there and you know we're going to get there, I
0:42
want to talk about the football today because we had a lot of
0:46
fun football, especially in the mornings tilt.
0:50
Yeah, for sure. Let's do this, you know,
0:52
chronological order. But first, if we're gonna even
0:54
start chronological order, what always starts chronologically?
0:58
That's a beer, my good man. Let's enjoy the football.
1:01
Yeah, B comes pretty early in the proceedings.
1:05
Cheers to you. Cheers to you, cheers to the
1:08
football. It is.
1:09
It is early in the proceedings, especially this time of day.
1:14
Beautiful Pacific Time zone. But you know what?
1:15
That's why you have PTO. That is why you have PTO.
1:20
Got a couple, a couple of friends in the building.
1:22
Oh, Reapers got his popcorn. Enjoy the sit back, get comfy,
1:27
enjoy the show. Should be a fun one.
1:28
I think we're going to do a lot of celebrating of your squad.
1:31
But before we get there, we said we're going to go chronological.
1:34
We had a big one this morning, a fun one.
1:37
A lot of high stakes, nip and tuck, close football, Juventus
1:41
and Wolfsburg. Where do I get started with that
1:44
one? Wolfsburg 2.
1:47
Juventus Nil. They advanced 4/2 on aggregate.
1:53
It's not going to feel great if you're a UVA supporter or a UVA
1:56
fan. I think.
1:57
I feel like they probably left their home pitch feeling like
2:02
they missed an opportunity here. They missed a bunch of
2:06
opportunities, unfortunately, you know, so you look at the
2:08
shots, 26 to 10, the second-half, they were just
2:13
peppering, you know, the, the Wolfsburg gold is doing
2:15
everything they could. They had that one stretch in the
2:18
55th where it felt like they had three or four or five chances.
2:22
I'm not sure if Anna Capetta did a backflip.
2:23
There was some crazy stuff happening on that one sequence.
2:26
And and then when that didn't, you know, pan out, it just felt
2:30
like, man, it's going to be really, really tough.
2:33
The the Juventus chances that were good just started to mount
2:37
up and then you really wonder, you know, like, are they going
2:41
to be able to breakthrough 26 shots on the day 9 on target and
2:45
unable to find the back of the net.
2:47
Wolfsburg was, I think, sharp from the start and they were
2:51
able to, you know, just find it, find a couple moments in the
2:54
match to kind of get it done. Yeah, I mean who they came out
3:00
of the after the opening whistle, it felt like they were
3:03
controlling the ball, kind of controlling the game, looking
3:07
pretty good on the ball. And then that that Svenyuhuth
3:10
pass to Vivianette Endeman seeing eye pass.
3:14
I believe the the term is we like to use in sports.
3:17
I mean perfect curl on it, perfect, perfect touch, perfect
3:21
pace, and then Endeman does the rest.
3:24
And it it it was that weird situation.
3:27
We've been talking about who they all tournament,
3:28
specifically you, because again, I I do want to start to say from
3:31
the jump, you've been right about who they this entire time.
3:34
I underestimated them. You were right on them as a as a
3:37
very good team who would challenge for a good result in
3:40
this entire tournament. But the the roles kind of
3:45
flipped a little bit where who they was controlling it and then
3:48
boom, Wolfsburg is super efficient on that opening
3:52
chance. That is so so true.
3:54
I wrote my notes. Wolfsburg looks sharper, but UVA
3:58
may be more likely to score just because like they were like
4:00
really like on the front foot and we're used to seeing like
4:03
UVA counter. But that that switch and and
4:06
game plan was super interesting. I love that you called out this
4:09
menu who with ball. I mean she looked like, you know
4:13
when I want a golfer to try to whack 1, you know, out of the
4:16
rough and they can't quite see and then they just take take the
4:18
whack and they're like OK, can I got to see it?
4:20
I got to track it does exactly what who did she just hits it.
4:23
She's like, I think I think I hit it right.
4:25
I think I did exactly what I was trying to do.
4:27
But let me just make sure she watches it.
4:29
Cool fist bump. Cool, you know, kind of reverse
4:31
camera shot, you know, to get to get both of them in the frame.
4:35
And yeah, 35 year old Sven youth, you know, I I talk a lot
4:38
about Wolfsburg's no show versus Lyon in the group stage where
4:42
they get out shot 21 to one. They lose 3 to one put up, you
4:45
know, zero fight. No Sven you Huth in that 135
4:49
years old, but she's been really, really good lately.
4:52
And no Vivian Endeman now on either.
4:54
No Alex Pop today. So you kind of, you know, you
4:58
know, make what you will of it. But I'm not, I'm not sure that
5:01
the I'm a little bit more hopeful about Wolfsburg versus
5:04
Leo in the second time around, I'll say.
5:06
Are we going to get the take? Is Wolfsburg better without Alex
5:09
Pop? Are we going to try to get that
5:10
take off the ground? Not.
5:13
Not here. No, not today.
5:15
No, can't get it off the ground. Doesn't have legs, wings,
5:18
anything, but I, I hear I hear what you say.
5:21
I mean, Huth is just, you know, crafty veteran, tough, you know,
5:27
you want her in these big spots. I thought the crowd was good at
5:31
Juventus. You know, I thought they were
5:33
they were pretty lively and just they they were able to fend off
5:41
Juventus like I, I, I'm going to go back to it a little bit.
5:43
I don't mean to over overdo it, but like it just felt like a
5:47
little bit of a role reversal where Wolfsburg, they get the
5:50
opener and they're like, OK, we score 18 minutes in.
5:53
Can we see it out? Can we see out the final 72
5:57
minutes of this match? And you know, what's funny about
6:00
it, too, is, you know, Wolfsburg for the rest of the first half
6:04
was like pretty aggressive offensively where they're like,
6:06
you know, right, we're still in the front foot.
6:07
We're not going to, you know, rest on this one nil.
6:08
Like we're going to, you know, still a lot of football we
6:10
played. I think they were expecting
6:11
Juventus to come roaring back, but then like the 1st 10 minutes
6:15
of the second-half, you kind of watch them and you're like, wait
6:18
a minute, they're not actually doing anything.
6:20
Even though they got the ball, they're connecting passes, they
6:22
they look kind of engaged. They're really not trying to
6:25
threaten. They're kind of kind of faking
6:27
it at that point. I think you've a picks up on
6:30
that and really kind of turns up the volume on the rest of the
6:33
match. And yet credits of Wolfsburg.
6:35
I thought defensively, I thought Coover in the middle was huge,
6:39
literally and figuratively. You know, she skied on one and
6:42
you know, like cleared out a really dangerous set piece and
6:45
you know, that's what you really wants to do Me all day on the
6:47
outside. Dykstra, like I thought
6:49
defensively they were really, really, really solid.
6:52
You know, when you vent, it's really put pressure on them.
6:55
I haven't seen that many Italian slamming shots in Season 1 of
6:58
Jersey Shore, but credit to Wolfsburg.
7:01
Like they, they slammed the door, they they did what they
7:03
needed to do and and they were advancing.
7:05
Gym tan laundry, of course, I mean, like it felt like who
7:10
Wolfsburg was pinned back in a lot of those in a lot of those
7:14
situations where like from my notes, Wolfsburg can't seem to
7:17
do anything but hit desperation clearances and then just give
7:21
the ball right back to Uvey like and it gave it continued to
7:26
increase my respect for Juventus and this iteration of their
7:31
squad because they can do a little bit of both.
7:35
They can sit in the low block. They can play a defensive style.
7:38
They can, you know, be efficient with those counters.
7:40
But then when they needed to in this match versus Wolfsburg and
7:43
I realized they didn't exactly they didn't get a goal.
7:45
So maybe people would say, yeah, maybe they're not so good at it,
7:48
but they looked good in a lot of that build up.
7:51
And what you were what you were mentioning about that, I think
7:56
you mentioned it earlier that that chance around like the 55th
7:58
minute there, you know, there's a Capeta tries the the bike from
8:05
short range off the crossbar like they were right there.
8:10
And if they score and it's one one in that in that moment, I
8:17
think maybe we probably have a different match.
8:18
But you know, sometimes the crossbar has a say in things
8:21
too. And sometimes steaming honest
8:25
has a say in things a lot. I mean, I thought she was
8:29
really, really good, really decisive.
8:32
And it was, you know, not to like it.
8:35
It was, you know, kind of like they were battling down there,
8:38
you know, in the 18. And I wrote in my notes, like
8:40
right around the 60s, I'm like, if Wolf works, I'm just going to
8:44
let you know, Juventus knock the ball around in the final third
8:47
and and really, you know, try to hold the Fort for this long.
8:50
That's a long time, you know, and it ends up, you know, the
8:53
shots really, really start to rack up.
8:56
But credit to them. It was the right, you know, it
8:59
was, I don't want to say it was the right game plan, but the
9:01
game plan, you know, worked at the end of the day.
9:04
And then Korsaki, a player that we've been, you know, kind of
9:06
excited about. How about that for a punctual
9:11
you should mark. Yeah, that worked out well.
9:14
Good sub, Coach. I mean, it was Cassia Busi, the
9:18
other the other substitute who plays the ball into her.
9:23
And yeah, I mean, Zakai just hits the absolute dagger in in
9:29
more ways than one. It's like it's one thing to get
9:31
the goal to basically seal the tie.
9:34
If it's just like one of those tappins, you kind of see it and
9:36
you're like, OK, that's that. But to do it in that fashion
9:39
from that distance, you know, graze the crossbar, you know,
9:44
just a, just a blazer. Up and down ping is just like
9:47
that. Of course, you know, it takes it
9:49
to another level, but I get I'm I'm very I was very impressed by
9:54
by Willisburg showing today professional.
9:57
I think they executed the game plan.
9:58
They wanted to get the goal. They kind of, you know, a little
10:02
some smoke and mirrors to kind of hold the lead and then
10:05
ultimately, you know, able to keep you event.
10:07
Yeah, you meant us out and I think we'll see.
10:10
You know, if they if they can put forth a better showing
10:13
versus Leon, I think they're in better form.
10:16
You know, I feel like. Well, let me ask you about
10:18
Berenstain because chances today.
10:22
I thought she was calibrating. I thought she was getting
10:24
closer. You know, I'm, I'm kind of very
10:27
interested to see if they roll out Berenstein and Sakai on
10:30
opposite sides to see if they can stretch things out a little
10:34
bit and give each other more space and, and make Leon have to
10:37
try to run with them. But I thought Berenstein had
10:40
kind of like an effective game. But again, to beat Leon, to
10:44
compete with Leon, it's a lot like what we said with Real
10:46
Madrid and and Barcelona. You need almost everybody to
10:48
have like an A game. Yes, I totally agree with that.
10:52
They got to figure out something.
10:53
I, I think. I think Bernstein was fine in
10:57
this one. I think this is 2 two matches in
10:59
a row. I think you were a little higher
11:01
on Bernstein's performance versus Juventus last match too.
11:03
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I, I, I wonder if it is just, I, my
11:09
caveman brain of like, you're #9 if you're not going to score, at
11:15
least make like a mess of things for the defense down there.
11:19
Like where's the shot that hits the, that hits the post?
11:22
You know, where's the shot that the keeper can't quite hold that
11:25
creates A rebound? Like, I want to see like some
11:28
real dangerous situations. And I, I just didn't feel like I
11:31
got enough of that out of her, these last two.
11:34
It's a. It's a great call by you because
11:37
to beat Leon, you know, and it's it's compete with Leo.
11:40
And even in that in that first one at home, they're going to
11:43
need Bernstein to do something. They'll probably have to don't
11:45
need pop, but I don't need kind of like all the guns, you know,
11:48
ready to go. I'm excited for that time.
11:51
But let's talk about the second match up of today a little bit,
11:55
you know, a little bit a little less drama, but got off to a fun
11:58
start. You know, I think I'd let the,
12:01
you know, came out trying to try to make make it a little bit
12:04
interesting at least. But you know, Manchester United
12:07
gets it done. We've got some of our friends in
12:09
the building ready to talk about it, ready to hear about it.
12:11
Where do you want to get started with this match up?
12:14
Manchester United 2 Atletico Madrid nil Manchester United
12:18
advances to the quarterfinals 5 nil on aggregate.
12:22
Real quick, our you know, future friend of the show.
12:25
He hasn't been on the show yet, but Jonathan Pierce, the
12:27
commentator, made it. Made a reference to SK Brown in
12:30
the 4th minute. Always got to know that I talked
12:33
about Manchester United's matches versus them, but.
12:38
Real quick on Pierce before before we move off Pierce.
12:41
Please. I thought I was bold and you
12:43
kind of shouted me out for saying that, you know, 3 Nils,
12:45
you know, it's still not over yet.
12:47
Our guy Pierce 5 NIL at halftime kind of slid in a.
12:52
But anything can happen. I love it.
12:54
It would be one of the greatest comebacks ever.
12:56
Yeah. He did, he did, he did.
12:58
He couched it on each hat, you know, to his to his granted, but
13:01
you know, he he kind of came over the top.
13:03
I got, you know, game, game recognized game a little bit.
13:06
Yeah, he's obviously a legend. I, you know, I liked, I liked
13:12
that Lenny's grit coming in into this.
13:14
I thought they they did what they they held the ball with a
13:20
little more confidence. I think in the in the opening
13:22
like 20, I thought that they were able to kind of pass the
13:25
ball around. They weren't panicking.
13:27
You know, United was going to press them.
13:28
They were they were going to, you know, make their passes the
13:31
way they needed it. But I mean, this was just yet
13:34
another stamp by Manchester United that their their stock
13:43
going way in the right direction for them and their fan base.
13:47
Like this team is really fucking good and they have a lot of ways
13:52
to hurt you. A lot of ways to hurt you.
13:55
They have a great mix of veterans and young players and
13:59
kind of mid career players. And I really like I really, you
14:03
know, and I talked about this a little bit yesterday with with
14:05
Arsenal, I don't really care if they can hang another two goals
14:10
in the last 10 or 10 or 15 minutes of the match or three
14:12
goals. And I'm going to feel better if
14:13
it's three instead of two or two or instead of 1.
14:16
I think the same thing with United in this one, because I
14:20
thought defensively they really made a point to say we're not
14:24
going to let you score, you know, or we're we're really
14:27
going to make you earn even just one goal even with this lead.
14:31
And they really kind of hung their hat on that.
14:33
And you just look at the players that they've got on defense
14:36
male, it's ACA, Dominique Hansen, Gabby George, Hannah
14:39
Lunquist, Millie Turner's back, Jade Rivier will be back from
14:43
injury and a Sandberg. I think Jeff's report yesterday
14:45
that might be 5-6 weeks. That's a killer defense.
14:49
Roleful could play back there in a pinch if you need it.
14:52
And then and then up ahead of them you got Miyazawa and just
14:55
park were both just absolute Wizards.
14:58
And it's like that's a scary that's a scary 4 + 2 to kind of
15:01
like be like, right, how do we breakthrough there?
15:03
How do we get the ball? How do we what do we do against,
15:06
you know, like that, that absolute back line and then PTJ,
15:09
you know, as the as the final backstop.
15:11
It's like, I don't know, this is going to be tough.
15:13
It's going to be tough to beat this team.
15:15
There was a shot early, Sariegi gets it to Jensen, Jensen hits a
15:21
shot to PT JS left and she makes a diving stop.
15:26
It was a good save man. She makes those saves look way
15:30
easier than they are. Like especially for a tall
15:33
goalkeeper to get all the way down to the ground like that and
15:36
push it away that she is a beast out there.
15:41
Yeah, and I mean, she can get a pie.
15:43
Yeah, sure. Positioning is great.
15:45
She's super smart and she has a pridefulness to her, you know,
15:51
like to her game. Like she's like she really kind
15:53
of gets engaged when when it's time and that trickles out, you
15:57
know, and then you look at, you know, the score line that they
15:59
put forth, you know, in aggregate 5 nil, you know, and I
16:03
don't want to say this wasn't a toss up matchup going into it.
16:06
You know, I think we were interested to watch to see, OK,
16:09
what would these teams look like against each other?
16:12
But I I think 5 no, was a lot, a lot healthier than than I was
16:16
expecting. And I don't know that going into
16:19
this, you know, United fans would have expected more than
16:23
that. And then it's hard not to look
16:24
at Skinner and be like that dude's figuring some stuff out.
16:27
Even with new players added to the mix of movement.
16:30
You look at 4 play, you know, 4, four players in an in out of the
16:33
lineup between last week's matchup and this week.
16:36
Terlin Vanderheim, she gets to comes on a sub Samberg Riviera
16:40
where in the first in the first leg, Schuler Nelson, who was
16:43
great today, Lindquist and Millie Turner, you know what I
16:46
mean? And didn't miss a beat.
16:49
Yeah, Nelson was great. I'm glad.
16:51
I'm glad you shouted her out. Yeah, they they've built on
16:55
their depth. The acquisitions of Lundquist
16:58
and Schuler, you know, over in the January window are going to
17:03
be massive. And that's, we always talk about
17:05
that. Like that's going to be that's
17:06
the next step for Real Madrid kind of on that ascending.
17:11
It's funny to to say that about Real Madrid, but in and the
17:14
women's side, you know, you're, you're ascending, you have some,
17:17
you get your great players and you get those kind of
17:20
cornerstone pieces. And then you have to fill in
17:22
depth around them to make sure that you can compete against the
17:26
Barcelona's, the Chelsea's, the Lyons, the 2024 Orlando Prides,
17:31
you know, etcetera. And like Manchester United, you
17:35
know, is, is doing that. So I, I, I think, you know,
17:40
they're, they're super dangerous.
17:42
You see what Jess Park is it is able to do in those moments.
17:46
We had a, a mention in the comments, somebody was shouting
17:51
out our pal Leanne. Let me just make sure I find it
17:53
real quick. It was our pal Owen referencing
17:56
Leanne Sanderson's take on Jess Park, saying that essentially
17:59
she needs to like be a little more cocky, play with more
18:01
confidence. And I think that's totally true.
18:04
Like Jess Park and you know, here we go.
18:08
I'm going to make a city comparison.
18:09
Owen and and Reaper yell at me if you want.
18:12
Jess Park reminds me so much of Phil Foden.
18:15
It's ridiculous. Like when she takes those those,
18:18
some of those long range shots and her movement and the way she
18:20
looks on the ball like she she can do things that make any
18:26
pundit, any former player, any announcer, any fan look up and
18:29
go, well, if she can do that consistently, then what?
18:32
What's the ceiling like? The ceiling is way, way high.
18:36
It you know, it's you just wonder if it's a confidence
18:41
thing. Like, you know, I think I
18:42
wouldn't I'm not sure what mentioned in the chat, but I
18:45
know the end mentioned it on her show.
18:48
I think Pierce on the telecast was a he he was saying, oh, Park
18:51
needs to play with her head up a little bit more.
18:53
I wasn't sure about all that. But you know, again, it could
18:58
just be a function of a young player and a lot of flux and you
19:00
know, kind of like chemistry. You know, chemistry takes a
19:03
little bit of time, especially for younger players.
19:05
And you know, just park isn't a man, just United veteran.
19:08
She came over to, you know, not so long ago.
19:12
So it's not it's not a play that came up to that system.
19:14
So I think, you know, if Park, I mean, if they can unlock, if
19:19
they can unlock park, what she was able to do today with that
19:21
absolute rocket off the short corner, you know, just they put
19:25
they put that defender. I'm blanking on kind of who it
19:27
was, but Miyazawa, you have, you have Miyazawan Park in A2V1 on a
19:33
short corner, but Miyazawa wired and Park moving into the center
19:36
of the park and nobody within 7 or 8 yards when the action
19:40
starts. And it's like that's almost a
19:41
free throw for her. And to her credit, she buries it
19:44
with style. A super moment and like
19:48
hopefully a springboard moment for just Parkers.
19:50
I think we want to see her kind of like keep ascending because I
19:53
think that we everybody, you know, to could say use of Leanne
19:56
ISM. I think we all think that
19:57
there's more in her locker for sure.
19:59
There we go. I knew I knew we were getting
20:01
that interlocker. Yeah, a ton interlocker.
20:03
That's I think that's part of what we might.
20:05
What you know, makes me think of Foden so much.
20:07
Is that like it's just like the little touch here or there like,
20:10
oh, I'll get the ball away from you and I'm creating space and
20:13
I'm creating space in the right direction to where I see where
20:15
my team mates are. And it's just like 5 things have
20:18
been somehow calculated and computed within one touch to to
20:22
help the offense move. I'm glad you shout out me as.
20:25
That way she's just such a quiet world beater at times where
20:29
she's just demoralizing the opponent in several different
20:32
ways. And then I, I think you've
20:35
mentioned her already. I have not yet said the name
20:38
Ziggyati and that that midfield, if Ziggyati is going to cook
20:43
like this, then they're live. I I think they they'd be live
20:47
versus. Anybody.
20:49
Absolutely, and apologies to anybody rocking with us in the
20:54
on the live. It does look like the the
20:56
cameras are blacked out. If you do want to kind of go
20:58
back and re watch, see the video, that'll definitely be
21:01
available after the fact. But, you know, we're we're still
21:04
trying to figure out how to how technology works.
21:06
It's just our faces. I mean, I don't know, like do do
21:09
you got to look like, do you got to do you got to look at us?
21:12
You're not missing anything. Yeah, I promise you're not
21:14
missing just. Two dudes talking.
21:15
Yeah, we're we're given the heat audio in audio capacity and
21:18
again if you want to go back and watch that ought to be available
21:20
to you. True, I'm not discouraging
21:25
people from watching on YouTube. No, I would never do that.
21:28
Then definitely keep hanging out with this.
21:29
But Ziggyati, I'm glad you brought up Ziggyati because that
21:33
is absolutely a big game player, a huge game player, like, you
21:38
know, all the way back to the, to, to the EUR and then, you
21:41
know, coming over from from Byron, I believe, and just you
21:45
could always expect like an outperform from her, you know,
21:48
which is like super duper exciting.
21:51
And I think she's somebody that has settled in really nicely and
21:53
really quickly. And I don't know, Skinner just
21:56
has a lot of a lot of pieces to kind of move around, you know,
21:59
and I think to to to the Real Madrid point that you were
22:01
making earlier, the depth is important, but also the
22:04
versatility in play. You're going to face different
22:07
teams, different game situations.
22:10
You might need this, you might need that.
22:12
And to have to be able to like move stuff around and play
22:14
different styles. I mean it, it makes a huge
22:16
difference in a tournament like this.
22:19
I mean, that's kind of what I was talking about with Juventus.
22:21
And I understand they're on the losing side here.
22:23
But just having the ability, like when you are in this stage
22:28
of your club's development and you're and you're working your
22:31
way up to play against one of, you know, the apex teams.
22:35
And you know, we talk about women's football, your apex
22:38
teams right now as it stands in Europe, Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea
22:43
and Chelsea, you know, maybe wobbling a bit, but we'll
22:46
they're still they're still in the mix, right?
22:49
Is that you have to, even if you are very used to in all other
22:54
circumstances, being a favorite and having a talent advantage,
22:58
when you go up against one of those clubs, maybe you don't
23:02
have a talent advantage. And when it comes to Barcelona
23:04
and Lyon, you don't have a talent advantage.
23:07
There's not much of A discussion for for some of those teams.
23:10
So you got to figure out like, OK, we maybe have to play in the
23:13
low block here. We have to play more of a
23:15
defensive style. We have to be confident with our
23:18
passing when we're getting pressed.
23:20
I think, I think United looks like they have the ability to do
23:23
that. And then you mentioned as an X
23:25
Factor or a potential X Factor, you got a great shot stopping
23:29
goalkeeper back there. Yeah, no, I, I, I kind of
23:33
secretly love them. Let's talk about that Byron
23:35
matchup because not only is United kind of figuring a lot of
23:39
stuff out kind of as we go here, but United also kind of casually
23:44
took lifted one of Byron's, you know, most deadly weapons and
23:49
Leia Schuler. And it's kind of slowly working
23:51
her into the mix. So now you have a Byron that I
23:53
don't want to say they're they're shorthanded.
23:55
They're still super duper talented.
23:58
But I don't know, you stack up those rosters, you know, side by
24:01
side. I'm not sure.
24:03
I'm not sure how much of an advantage, you know, if you're
24:06
going top to bottom. I feel like Byron's got over
24:09
United. Yeah.
24:12
I think I think that's fair and I and I think, yeah, all of our
24:17
United pals should probably point out, well, good thing
24:20
we're not playing Leon or Barcelona in the next round.
24:23
We're playing Bayern Munich. And yeah, Bayern Munich has
24:25
history. They have funding, they have
24:27
great players themselves. But I think you're probably
24:31
about right on the on the on the talent level.
24:36
So what? I mean, you you think you got
24:38
harder? Yeah.
24:43
Dom Yanovitch, Stanway, Sammy's. Back, yeah.
24:49
So I mean, it's, it's at least not a runaway.
24:54
It's definitely not a runaway. I think, I think you're right.
24:56
I think it's pretty close and. It'll be the closest of the
25:01
four, right? Like of the four matchups, I
25:04
mean, Arsenal, Chelsea's close. What about your Gunners there,
25:07
buddy? Yeah, well, I mean, it depends.
25:09
You think Chelsea's going to be able to compete there or we
25:11
don't want to forms still full wobble.
25:15
There we go. No, but it'll be it'll
25:18
definitely be exciting. Do you expect Now let me put it
25:20
this way. Who do you expect to advance of
25:22
those two? And you know, it's not your
25:23
official pick, you know, but if you if you were a betting man
25:28
and you know, you saw, you saw those at those odds sitting
25:30
right at 5050, you know, where would you land on that?
25:35
If I were a betting man, I think, I think we both know I am
25:39
in fact a betting man. I know you are as well, man.
25:45
I, I got to try to fight against the recency bias.
25:49
I think if you were to make me choose right now, I don't feel
25:58
great about it. I don't feel great about saying
26:00
it. I think I think I might,
26:07
especially if there's value on it.
26:08
We're talking about betting. If there's a little value on it,
26:11
I think I would take United. It's close, man.
26:14
It's close. Oh.
26:17
My God. This is where some of us like I
26:20
don't. Think you would actually do it?
26:23
This is all right. Well, I mean, this is where
26:25
maybe some of the historical stuff works against me and Dino
26:28
is that, you know, we've been, you know, I, I really picked up
26:31
trying to watch women's football in 2015 after the World Cup and
26:34
it got even more into it after 2019.
26:37
Like maybe I'm missing something like historically of why I
26:42
should think Bayern should be a bigger favorite.
26:44
I don't think they're going to be much of A favorite.
26:47
And in that scenario, if I had to put my very hard earned money
26:51
on it, I, I mean, United looks really strong and we haven't
26:55
even said, have we even said the name Melvin Millar yet?
26:59
You know, you don't even, it's like you don't even really have
27:01
to say I don't even do you don't.
27:03
I mean, she's just so good. She's so good.
27:05
She's such a weapon. You know, it's like to have a
27:08
player that like when I don't want to say when nothing's
27:10
working because stuff is working, but like even in a 3
27:13
minute stretch, when nothing's working, you can just give her
27:15
the ball and she's like, oh wow, all of a sudden things are
27:17
working. Like she's a great, great
27:20
player. So creative, tough, physical.
27:24
I mean, yeah, an absolute weapon and it's absolutely found at
27:26
home. I kind of, you know, we we joke
27:28
about the revenge matches. You know, we're going to get Leo
27:30
Schulman, revenge judge. Maybe down the line, maybe we
27:33
get a little united Leo. And I'm not sure where they sit
27:35
in the bracket, but maybe a little Melvin Millar revenge
27:38
match would be exciting because I feel like that's a player that
27:40
would maybe get up for it in an exciting way.
27:42
But if I had to make a pick, I I am afraid of the prisoner of the
27:48
moment situation for sure. I do like Bayern's experience in
27:53
this tournament, sure. But with that said, two years
27:56
ago we saw all that this Bayern team not get out of the group
27:59
stage. That's like, you know, like, so
28:04
it does give me a little bit of pause And and I think where
28:06
United lacks experience as an organization in the tournament,
28:10
they make up for it with experienced players that have
28:12
kind of won at multiple stops. So I think I'm with you.
28:16
Even odds even, you know, trying to tamp down, OK, what I just
28:21
saw, what we just saw this past week.
28:22
I think I would take United over Byron.
28:25
All right there we go we park our cars in the same garage.
28:28
I always I always appreciate that and the legend himself
28:32
Carlo are our great pal great friend of the show mentions that
28:38
Clara Bull will be integral for for Bayern. 100% right, 25 years
28:43
old here, here me here are me and Dino saying you know what I
28:47
think I would pick United. But if it does happen, you know,
28:53
and Bayern runs away with with a you know two wins over the tie.
28:57
It probably looks a lot like Clara bull being like hey, you
29:00
remember how awesome I am. Am I one of the 15 best players
29:03
in the world? Yep, I might be.
29:06
I agree with that. It it's it's the kind of like
29:09
the player X corollary. It's like if we get it, if we
29:12
get a Clara Bull game, which we can, they're going to win.
29:15
And that just is going to be what it is just because her
29:18
ceiling again, I think it reaches higher than than other
29:20
players. A lot of good football, a lot of
29:24
fun football. You know, this this knockout
29:27
stage match. I was talking to you about this
29:28
yesterday. I kind of like the new I like
29:30
the new setup. I like the extra football, like
29:32
the the extra breaths in between.
29:34
I feel like we learn a little bit more.
29:36
We talk about how big experiences in this tournament
29:39
and for clubs like a Louvin, like a Juventus, you know, just
29:44
kind of get to this stage, you know, and really be pitted
29:47
against, you know, the upper upper crust.
29:49
It's got to be great for their confidence and kind of like a
29:51
great, great, great building block.
29:53
So I, I think it's been a huge addition and I think what we're
29:57
just four weeks, 4 + 4 or five weeks away from, from the final
30:03
eight kicking off, that's incredibly exciting.
30:06
That is excellent stuff. Yeah, about 4 1/2 weeks.
30:09
I think the matches are going to happen either on the 24th or
30:12
25th of March. I do think it's fun that we have
30:17
the second leg fixtures already sorted in terms of the UEFA
30:23
Women's Champions League website, so Chelsea and Arsenal
30:25
will in fact shout out to our pal Jess yesterday.
30:28
Chelsea and Arsenal will in fact play on April Fool's Day, April
30:32
1st, 2026. And Barcelona, Real Madrid, El
30:36
Clasico, as I've heard it described, they will play on
30:39
Thursday, April 2nd. And so Leon plays Wolfsburg on
30:47
on the 2nd and Bayern plays United.
30:49
Bayern at home plays United on on April Fools to April 1st.
30:53
So yeah, man, I mean, look at these teams that we got here.
30:58
I mean looking pretty good so far.
31:03
I think, I think we did. I think we all did pretty well
31:05
for ourselves. We're going to have a fun
31:07
quarterfinals and beyond. I'm up for some, some more live
31:12
shows for sure. You know the I'm not gonna, you
31:16
know, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna say it, but I had a
31:20
thought. I don't want I don't want to do
31:22
our friends like that. But I had a thought.
31:23
We'll do we'll talk about it offline.
31:25
OK, on the producer note. Suspense.
31:28
All right, Sorry to our pals who are watching this live.
31:30
I don't know. I don't know what it is either.
31:32
This is part of the fun, though. Dino often says things and I'm
31:35
like, oh, OK, yeah, news to me. And we're doing this.
31:38
Yeah, but I said half a thing, but I want to kind of follow.
31:40
But either way, I think we'll be live for for our our our famous
31:44
postgame recaps. We're going to figure out a way
31:47
to turn our cameras on. We'll figure out.
31:48
I can see Grant, he can see me, but somehow nobody else can see
31:51
us. No worries though, Like I said,
31:52
it will be. We'll be back on the replay and
31:55
I think we'll be back soon in a few days.
31:57
Obviously European football big, you know, in the mix.
32:00
We get Byron and Wolfsburg this weekend.
32:03
Wolfsburg traveling to Byron in a big one, you know, So the
32:06
football continues for short, even if Champions League takes a
32:08
little bit of a break. So if the football continues,
32:11
you already know your boys are here to to continue alongside it
32:14
as well. Well, I mean, it's Chelsea,
32:17
Chelsea, United in the FA Cup, right?
32:20
Like a round of 16. I mean it, it was asked earlier,
32:26
what where do you land United coming off this win, coming off
32:30
the good vibes, coming off the good feelings.
32:33
Now they got to play a little plucky underdog named Chelsea
32:35
Football Club in the FA Cup. How do you see that one going?
32:41
I mean, Leanne came on and talked to us about, you know,
32:45
Chelsea's what happens when, you know, if they go kind of trophy
32:48
list. So you just wonder if they kind
32:51
of push in a little. And she's I think she said
32:53
something. Wow.
32:53
I'm not sure if I misheard her, but I think she still said she
32:55
still likes Chelsea to win the Champions League.
32:58
Yeah. I mean, if she's if she did say
32:59
that, that's crazy. And I'm like 95% sure she said
33:02
it, but that's, that's absolutely nuts.
33:05
I think they're way, way, way off off off track there.
33:09
But I can kind of see them pushing chips into the FA Cup,
33:13
you know, you know, pot and saying like, look, let's let's
33:15
kind of like. Let's kind of this.
33:17
One up. Yeah, we need it.
33:20
And who knows if that has an adverse effect, if we're putting
33:22
extra pressure on the players, like, why are we, you know,
33:25
losing sleep over this Rod? But we'll see.
33:28
But I do like Tulsi to kind of, you know, advance and and really
33:31
maybe you know, low key prioritize that competition.
33:35
I think it would make sense. I, I just don't know.
33:37
I mean, it's endlessly fascinating how managers and
33:43
clubs and players look at this. Like I think for us as American
33:48
sports fans, you can correct me if, if you or you know, disagree
33:52
with me. If you look at this differently,
33:53
like as an, as an American kid growing up and watching sports
33:57
through a very American prism, there was always 1 trophy that
34:01
people cared about right in, in every, in every league.
34:06
And then when you see these other trophies, and I started to
34:08
kind of wrap my mind around professional soccer when I was
34:10
like 7 or 8, I had a buddy who kind of put me on game and I was
34:15
like, oh, OK, there are these different tournaments.
34:17
Winning trophies is cool. You should like, and that's why
34:21
I think like people's dismissal of the NBA Cup of the, of the in
34:25
season tournament. And I believe the original
34:27
iteration was called like stop being a bastard about it.
34:31
Like that's cool. Like did the did the players
34:34
play in the game? Were they were there was were
34:37
they playing for a trophy? Like was there money involved?
34:39
Yes, like that's cool. And you've seen like these last
34:42
two years, the NBA Cup has been pretty cool.
34:44
Like it's been fun. And I, and I think now you're
34:50
left with that decision. But you can never say out loud
34:56
if you're Chelsea, but we're going to prioritize the the FA
34:59
Cup like you can't. You can't say those words, but
35:04
maybe you do. Yeah, that's why I say it.
35:08
Maybe the adverse effect is like, wait, what are we doing?
35:11
This is the how do we get here? It's really interesting because
35:14
I think, you know, in competition, you know, these
35:17
pairs are competitive. I've made the mistake of asking
35:19
Penelope Hawking, you know, like how to how do you get, you know,
35:23
like you're a competitor. How do you raise the level of
35:24
competition on your teammates? He's like everybody who's a
35:27
competitor. We're you know, if you're not a
35:28
competitor, you can't be here. And I was like, I got you see
35:31
how competitive you are even in the Q&A.
35:34
But I think, you know, like it. These players get really
35:39
competitive about anything, you know, 2K FIFA, whatever,
35:42
whatever you want to say, you know, the Candy Crush, you know,
35:45
so an NBA cup, an FA Cup, like once once the balls out there
35:48
and the other team were in the different kids are playing,
35:51
these players are going to compete.
35:52
You know, like it. It's not really really about
35:55
anything but that. But there is still that
35:58
underlying like, you know, the business, organizational, large
36:02
scale goals that do sit in the back of your head, you know, the
36:05
insecurities. So I think that's what makes
36:07
this season so fascinating because, you know, we've seen
36:12
Barcelona, Leona, Chelsea kind of sit atop the sport for like
36:16
the last, you know, X number of years, like really kind of UN,
36:20
you know, unpushed, let's say. And now we're sort of starting
36:24
to see like the little cracks. And it's not anything that the
36:27
teams at the top are doing or not doing.
36:29
You know, it's just that they cannot continue to get like
36:32
improve it at this crazy pace. And the teams just right below
36:36
them have opportunities, you know, to like replace a player
36:40
that's kind of so sort of average with, you know, a sort
36:43
of excellent player, like as a YOTY, you know, who's an
36:45
excellent player, You know, you, you know, like once that player,
36:48
you know, fills that role, you're like, wow, this, this
36:51
took us up a level, you know, Loonquist for, for, for United,
36:54
kind of the same like wow, this now, now we've now we can feel
36:58
like we can compete and they have the horses to do it.
37:02
They absolutely do, and I think it's obviously better for the
37:05
game and I think it helps give some appreciation for this like
37:09
3 plus year run from Barcelona where it's like that's not
37:13
regular, Like a club can't really, you know, sustain that
37:19
for for too long. And it speaks to the talent pool
37:22
for just how how short it might get cut from time to time.
37:26
Now, you know, I mean, we're looking at Chelsea and they've
37:28
won the the WSL so many times in a row.
37:31
It looks like that's probably over.
37:34
And now you know, here me and you are asking questions like,
37:38
oh boy, are you going to go trophy lists?
37:40
Like what's going to happen? Think of how many clubs every
37:42
year go trophy lists and they don't even have a chance at.
37:47
Yeah, but you know a lot of the them financials, they don't have
37:51
the same, can't really stack them up side by side.
37:55
It's true. Either way, it'll be pretty
37:57
riveting stuff. But I I say, you know, I say all
38:00
of that to say your boy's going to keep covering the football.
38:02
Doesn't matter the competition. You know, we've, we've got our
38:04
leaves, we got our finger on the pulse and it's all right around
38:07
the corner too. A lot of fun international stuff
38:10
coming our way this year as well.
38:12
Is there anything else you want to hit, Mr. Grant Angle before
38:15
we got here for the day? I think that's it.
38:17
I think we've done it. We've made it to the
38:19
quarterfinals third consecutive year.
38:22
Me and you are our quarter Champions League
38:24
quarterfinalist. So Congrats to you buddy.
38:27
And to you as well, I know we, we stuck to the plan and you
38:30
know, we executed, we explored the transfer market, but
38:32
ultimately, you know, we decided, you know, grass was not
38:34
greener. So here we are.
38:36
That's right. I appreciate it bro.
38:39
Likewise, man, thank you for everybody for rocking with us.
38:43
What I mean, in the chat today we have our pals, Reaper, Delta,
38:47
Owen, Carlo, of course, the legend.
38:50
Thank you guys for hanging out with us live.
38:51
We'll put this up on all the streams.
38:53
I mean, if you're watching this later, you're already watching
38:56
it on the stream, so that's cool.
38:57
Apple podcast, all that stuff. I don't know why I'm trying to
39:00
go through all this, but are we doing the dismount now or am I
39:04
lost? You're doing you're doing it
39:05
because I didn't do it and I kind of I kind of set you up in
39:08
a poor way. You weren't looking and I passed
39:10
you the ball and it kind of bounced off your forehead.
39:11
So for that I apologize. That was not cool.
39:14
We are into the channel like follow, subscribe, do all that
39:17
fun stuff, support us all the all the links that you need or
39:21
don't need in the description of this episode.
39:25
And a big think of my close as well, Mr. Grant Engel, our the
39:28
our first knockout stage in the books.
39:30
I appreciate you, bro. And I think, like you said,
39:32
we're just getting warmed up. This is the internet's premier
39:36
changing show. Even if you can't see us, you
39:38
got to trust us on that. With that said, I appreciate
39:42
you. And that's it.
39:45
Very clunky dismount. And I appreciate you for for for
39:48
for give. Show me some grace on that as
39:49
well. This chat is this chat of this
39:51
sidebar chat. Extremely, you know,
39:53
distracting. But let me stop making excuses.
39:56
No, it's all right. You know, there are
39:57
explanations, not excuses. We're, we're, we're doing this.
40:00
We're making it. We're making it through.
40:02
I appreciate you. Likewise, I think is typically
40:05
what I like to say clunky dismount or not.
40:08
Thank you everybody for hanging out with us.
40:10
We will see you all next time. That's how it goes, right?