Friendly Foes FC
Friendly Foes FC
Episode 41 - Champions League Review
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The Friendly Foes break down the quarter finals of the Champions League after both Real Madrid and Barcelona lose in the first leg. Plus, Madrid basically hand La Liga title to Barcelona, no treble for Arsenal, and is Mbappe the problem at Madrid? Tune in!
Ladies and gentlemen, we are back with another episode of the Friendly Foes here. And unfortunately, we're both in a bit of a downfall as both of our teams struggled in the Champions League this past week, and we couldn't get the job done. We can't decide if we want to make fun of each other, if we want to cry together, or what to do. But we still got one more game to go. And I don't know about you, man, but I'm a little bit down in the dumps. Uh my game recently happened a little bit more, but I'm a little bit down in the dumps after that performance today.
SPEAKER_02You should definitely be down in the dumps because you guys were favorites. You guys were favorites coming into this game. You guys just beat them in La Liga. You guys had some high hopes. But I told you, you got to respect the history. I told you in the quarterfinals against Atletico Madrid, you guys don't do good against our little brother. You guys just can't. Can't beat him in the Champions League for some reason. Tell me about it.
SPEAKER_04The annoying thing is that that is the first time Atletico Madrid has beaten us at the Camp No in 20 years. The last time they're gonna be. That's crazy. I saw that.
SPEAKER_02I had to double check that. Because somebody said that was the first time Simeone has won at the Camp New. I'm like, what, dude? Simeone has been there forever, bro. He's been there for over a decade, and that's the first time he won at the Camp New. Isn't that crazy? That is true.
SPEAKER_04That is a really crazy stat. I think the craziest part to me is that Barcelona completely outplayed Atletico Madrid today, even with 10 men. Even when we went down to 10 men, we still outplayed them. We still created more chances. We still could have gone ahead. But we did what we shouldn't have done and what we, for whatever reason, I don't know what it is, every year it's the same freaking thing. We make the same silly mistake the past two, three seasons, where our defenders, for whatever reason, don't want to let our goalkeeper have a one-on-one chance. So we decide to bring down the attacker that's going on 1v1 situation. And it happened again. And it's the second time that it's happened to Kouarci in the last two seasons. He did it against Benfica last year, and now he just did it again against Atletico Madrid. We did against the last season. I forgot about that one. I was hype watching this game. We were creating chances. That happens. And the worst part about it is that Kuarci was actually playing an amazing game. He was playing his head off. Absolutely remarkable the way he was playing. The way he was anticipating every single ball, the way he was winning aerial duels, the way he was distributing the ball out at the back. It was impeccable. And he made a silly mistake. We're down to 10 men. And not only do we get a red card, Julian Alvarez scores a freaking monster of a goal.
SPEAKER_02That was similar to Messi's when he scored it against Liverpool in the Camp New like six years ago, six, seven years ago. That was a beauty. That was a beauty.
SPEAKER_04You know what the worst part about it is? As soon as I saw Julian Alvarez taking in it, I was taking the free kick. I was like, it's going in.
SPEAKER_02There was nothing Joan Garcia could have done about that. Nothing. That definitely blew you guys' confidence down for sure. Was it a red card? Completely. Because it's been pretty controversial. Okay, good. Good, good, good.
SPEAKER_04It's uh it's been pretty controversial. I it's funny because as soon as it had happened, and even when he got the yellow card, I was like, he's gonna look at it and he's gonna see it again, and he's gonna give it a give him a red.
SPEAKER_02But I mean it wasn't intentional, but it lasts man, and there's contact. He clipped him.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. What I will say is I've seen I've seen it time and time again. I've seen this thing after the game, I've seen the clip over and over again, and it is very clear to me that Simeone sticks his leg out so that Kubarcy can clip him. He does the unintentionally.
SPEAKER_02So, dude, in the slow mo, it might I've looked at it, but in the slow-mo, it might look like that, but I don't think so, dude. Simeone literally had his eyes on the ball the whole time. And uh the other Yes, and he was looking behind him, trying to reach for the ball. And Kubarcy was coming the other way. Kubarcy just completely just knocked him out.
SPEAKER_04To me, to me, it looked like he stuck his leg out so that Kubarcy could clip him. Do you remember? It reminded me a lot of Arsenal versus Bayern Munich a couple of years ago. I think it was the quarterfinal or the semifinal, where Bucayo Saka was in on goal, was through on goal, and went to go around Manuel Neuer and then clipped Manuel Noyer's leg. Do you remember this at all?
SPEAKER_02No, I just no, no, no. I don't. I'm trying to. It kind of rings a bell, but I don't remember the play.
SPEAKER_04Anyway, it's very clear contact. Saka hits Manuel Noyer. Manuel Noir hits Saka. It's a clear pen to me, but they don't give it as a pen because Bukayo Saka is the one that intentionally sticks his leg out to intentionally hit Manuel Noyer. So they don't give it as a pen. I'm not saying that it's not a red because it is a red. The more I look at it, the more it's like, is it a cleared goal scoring opportunity? I don't know. Simeona doesn't have control of the ball. However, I do wish that Kuarcy was not as careless. I think he should have he should have been more on top of it. He should have just kind of let him go a little bit more. Because as soon as and these players know these things. He's not dumb. He's he knows that he's gonna go towards Kwarce. If he gets any sort of contact, he's gonna go down. And that's exactly what happened. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then on top of that, they score a phenomenal free kick. I really don't think Simeone did it intentionally, just because I I see his eyes just tracking the ball the whole time. Maybe he felt him coming. And if he did do it intentionally, I think it's pretty smart of him. He accomplished everything he needed to accomplish. Got him sent off. And Alvarez scored that that goal from the free kick. So kudos to him if it was on purpose. I mean, I wouldn't let it slide him because that's Simeone's son. Simeone is the master of the.
SPEAKER_04That's the Simeone blood. I wouldn't put it past him. If anybody is if anybody's got that type of mischievous intent, it's gonna be the Simeone's, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No problem.
SPEAKER_02Maybe that's me being a little bit uh It's not just you because I see a lot of people, a lot of your Barcelona fans that are saying the same exact thing that Simeone did that on purpose. He's left his leg out so that Kubarsi could clip him. But to be honest with you, I don't see it like that. His eyes were on the ball the whole time. But yeah, maybe he felt him and he decided to do that. But to me, it really doesn't look like that. But like I said, I wouldn't put it past him. Yeah. I don't know.
SPEAKER_04The more I look at it, the more I'm like, man, he's why does he stick his leg out behind him like that? Because he stuck his leg out before he even.
SPEAKER_02And the slow-mo looks worse. But if you if you look at the like in real life, it does not look like that whatsoever. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Either way, I mean, we we we we did it again, right? We're playing, we were out playing them, and we get a red card, and that completely changed the game because not only do we go down 10 men, but then they score they score a phenomenal free kick on us. And that's it. We go down one nil. And getting into the game, I was thinking to myself, we can't let them score. We cannot let them score. We gotta, we gotta try to score as many goals as possible, two, three, four goals, however many it is, but we cannot let them score.
SPEAKER_02And they shut you guys out too. So it'll be it'll be tough for you guys at the Wanda Metropolitan, if I'm being honest. Because you know, Simeon is gonna sit back, and you guys got no Rafinha, no QRC. And Lamin was disciplined. Lamin was disciplined because he he was on a yellow, and I know Atletico players were looking for him to get another yellow, but he was disciplined. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Well, before I get into Lamin, I do want to say too, we so we got that red, we were down to 10 men, but in my opinion, Kolkis should have been sent off in the first half because that dude was not playing football. He looked like he was a Muay Thai instructor out there. He was just kicking the hell out of every single one of our players, and the referee allowed it. Every single time he gave him one yellow card, he had probably five fouls in the first half himself. There was one on Danny Olmo in the first like 10 minutes of the game where he completely didn't even go for the ball, completely laid him out. That should have been a yellow card. He let it go. Then he gets a yellow card against, I think it was Danny Olmo again. Then he clips, he clips uh Lamin Yamal from the back. Very similar to how Valverde clipped Alex Baena in La Liga, in the La Liga against the in the Madrid Derby. Very similar. Valverde gets a red card. Koke doesn't even get a yellow. That's my biggest complaint, is that Koke should have been sent off as well.
SPEAKER_02He was playing for free. I think that's just karma from this past weekend when Girard Martin got that red card, and then the ref is like, nah, that's not a red card when it was a clear red card. I think that's just karma. I mean, you guys got the refs in your pocket in La Liga and now in the Champions League. Maybe not, but you know, it's just karma, dude. It is what it is.
SPEAKER_04I don't know, you can say all you want, because then on top of that, then let's let's talk about what Musso and uh Puril did. Okay. Musso gives them. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That was crazy. Something happened like that too with Arsenal two years ago, I believe.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that happened. Yeah. It happened a couple of years ago as well. And then that's been the biggest talk, I think, more so than the record. More so that more so than anything, because that to me, I I heard them talking about it on the CBS sports. Jamie Carragher was saying, like, you can't let that decide a game. Christina Uncle came on and was like, oh, you gotta apply common sense. Like as a referee, you gotta use common sense.
SPEAKER_02You gotta, yeah, you gotta apply context, I think is what she was saying.
SPEAKER_04Something like that. Here's the thing is like there is a rule in play, right? That if if there's a handball in the box, it's a penalty. The ball was already in play. So I I understand where they're coming from of like you gotta use common sense and like you would hate to see a game being decided by a silly mistake like that. But at the end of the day, these are professional football players, these are grown men, they know the laws of the game, they know what's right and wrong, and what they're trying to do is they're trying to tow the line with that gray area of common sense to try to mis mislead the referee. Because that to me is Christine Uncle was saying it's not as black and white. It should to me, it should be black and white. That to me should be pretty black and white. This is right, this is wrong. If they were saying, like he was just giving it to him so he can kick it off. Well, give it to him with your hands. Don't pass it, don't make it look like a pass. Because then you're just misleading everybody. So that to me, there there should be a rule in play. Like with the IFAB and FIFA and UEFA should come out and rewrite that law. Because if we're just gonna have a law, but then we're gonna have the referees apply common sense. What's the point of that if we're just gonna apply common sense?
SPEAKER_02I don't even know if the ref knew what was going on at that time. No, I don't know if he even like actually saw what happened. I don't know. The whole thing is pretty weird. Um, it's a clear handball inside the box. And the player should be more alert too. I don't know why. Who who did Musso pass it to? Was that Lenormand? It was I think it was it was I thought it was Puel, I think. Oh, well, they gotta be more alert to what's going on because another referee could have easily called that a penalty. I mean, yeah, that's uh horrible mistake by the referee, horrible mistake by the player. But I I also get that with the context around it, there was no danger. Like nobody was pressuring Atletico there, and yeah, it's just like a silly mistake. At the end of the day, yeah, like you said, rules are rules, you gotta follow the law of the game. And that's a clear handball. The the ref blew the whistle, Muso passed it over, he touched it with his hands. That's a handball. Right. That's a handball, dude. I mean, if he would have passed it back to Musso and Muso would have picked it up with his hands, not realizing like it was the play was still alive, well, the ref is gonna call an indirect free kick inside the box. That's just the rules of the game. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04I actually agree with that. Yes, I actually agree with that. Yeah, that's the way it should be. I think it's I think the way it's set up right now with this whole common sense thing, it's just confusing people. It's not it's not adding anything to the game. I think the players are smart enough to know what they're doing. They're smart enough to tow the line, they're smart enough to mislead the referee and the opposing players, and they know what they're doing, man. They know what they're doing.
SPEAKER_02So I think I think there has to be he knew what he was doing there, like when he grabbed it with his hand, or do you think he was just Stalcom Wesby style? He was just he wasn't thinking about it.
SPEAKER_04I think I think it's a little bit of both. I think it's a little bit of both. I think like they were maybe they they were trying to kick it off that way, and they were trying to show the ref like here, this is the actual kickoff, but either way, like Yeah. It it it there should be a standard and it's this this is something that should be pretty black and white. And to me, it shouldn't be left up for interpretation. It shouldn't be left up to common sense, it should be this is it. If you make that silly mistake, that's on you. If you make that childish mistake, that's on you. That's not on me, the referee calling the right thing and and applying the law of the game, right? There are certain instances where you where you do use common sense, and a lot of referees do use that. But I think there are other instances where it's like, all right, that's a pretty clear hand ball. Do you just play the you just played the ball? It's a pretty clear hand ball. Why would you touch the ball with your hand? Right.
SPEAKER_02No, the whole thing is pretty weird.
SPEAKER_04It's silly. It's silly. I don't want to spend too much time on it because it's it's it's dumb.
SPEAKER_02At the end of the day, um, well, it's not that FIFA and WEFA, they they all have to get together and talk about that because if it happens again in the future, what how are they gonna handle it? Because it will happen again in the future. It already happened two years ago with Arsenal, so it's gonna happen. And I feel like that's more popular nowadays, too. Players or defenders are starting to take goal kicks more than the keepers. Like, I don't know why. That's just more of a modern game thing now. So it's it's gonna keep happening.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it is, but um, yeah, continuing to move on, man. I mean, like I I I said, Kolke, in my opinion, should have definitely been sent off. Atletico Marin made 17 fouls the entire game. They got three yellow cards. We made six fouls, got two yellows and a red. Gavi comes on, the first foul he makes gets a yellow. Kolke is allowed to kick every single one of our players seven times. Lenormand should have had a yellow card on that as well, should have missed the next game, shouldn't be missing the next game. So these are small things that kind of frustrated me about the officiating because he was letting it go a little bit too much. He was letting fouls go a little bit too much, he was calling the fouls, but there were certain fouls where it's like, all right, man, that's a yellow card. Yeah, yeah. You're letting them play a little bit too much. But anyway.
SPEAKER_02That's just a cimeo in a way, man. He just plays tough when he needs to, especially in games like this.
SPEAKER_04100%. But the what I'm saying is the referee should be should have control of the match. Yeah, 100%. He should he should have control and he lost control of it. And 100%. Luckily, like you said, luckily Lamin was very disciplined, and our other players that were on yellows were disciplined because we could have lost our heads and could have started going after these players as well. And uh speaking of Lamin, man, I mean, this guy, what a player this kid is. What a player. Because he was one of the few that was creating something out of nothing. They would come at him and they would defend him three, four, five players at a time, and he would get past every single one of them. Like they were just cones that he was just dribbling around in the training ground. Like they weren't even there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04He was making these Bambi and skates. Yeah. I like the way Rashford played as well. I thought Rashford played pretty well, but he should have had at least one goal. He just had at least put it through. My God, bro. I mean, this guy played his head off. I'm gonna say something controversial. Is he better than Jan Oblak? I feel like this guy, the past few games I've seen him play, has been unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's been pretty good. Unbelievable. They have a good backup for Oblack, that's for sure. But I mean, dude, Jan Olach is Jan Olach, bro. He that dude is a freaking, he's the wall of China back there, bro. Nothing gets past him sometimes. I don't think he is as good as he was like in the beginning with Lotheto. That's why they got this Musso guy to compete with him, but I mean, it's still All Black, bro. All Black might be one of the best keepers in La Liga history.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, no, that is true. But I'm talking about like I'm just looking at recently the way that All Black has played specifically against Barcelona versus the way Musso has played. And it's to it's to me like Musso is trying to show himself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's put himself as a number one. He had seven, seven saves today. In six he was he was probably their best player. Without a doubt, without a shadow of doubt. He was the best player. Julian Alvarez got man of the match, but to me, Musso should have gotten man of the match. But yeah, the red card changed the game completely. Uh we're down one nail after that. Then we come on to the second half, we make some changes, Pederi comes off, Lewandowski comes off, Fermin comes on, Gabi comes on, we're continuing to attack, we're continuing to create changes. I don't know what we're doing.
SPEAKER_02Those changes, yeah, those changes kind of confuse me. Why did Pederi come on? And Lewandowski too, especially for Fermin. I mean, Fermin's a good player, but you you guys kind of were left without a striker there.
SPEAKER_04Well, because we were a man down. So I think he wanted to have more players in the midfield rather than attacking. That's that's what he wanted to do. He put Eric back, Eric Garcia back at center back, and he just wanted to crowd the midfield a little bit more to create more opportunities and have Rashford and Lamin yunning behind, run in behind. That's what it was. And have Fermin and Danny Olmo kind of play as a false nine, false ten type of role. Danny Olmo is another one that I thought played really, really well. I really like the way Danny Almo has played the last two games against Atletico. He he played phenomenal.
SPEAKER_02I think that's a headache for Hansi Flick picking between Fermin and Daniel. I like Fermin a lot better, but you can tell Hansi Flick that that's a headache for him. Because like one day Fermin starts the next day, Almo starts, and he he just he can't decide who is actually the starting. Right, right.
SPEAKER_04It's like they keep playing ping pong back and forth as to who's playing better, which is a good problem to have.
SPEAKER_02It is a good problem.
SPEAKER_04What we were saying. Oh, yeah, I think Pedity came off. I don't think I haven't checked. I don't think he got injured. I think he just came off because he was on a yellow. And Houncy Flick was just like, hey, we're already down a man. You're on a yellow. Let's get you off the field just in case. That's what I think. I'm not again. I hope he doesn't he didn't have any issues, no, no injuries or nothing, but that's the way I saw it. And we're attacking, attacking, attacking the entire freaking game. I mean, looking at the stats right here, man, we had 18 total shots to their five. We had seven shots on target. Musso had seven saves. They had three shots on target.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And two goals. I mean, yeah, you guys' attack is really, you know, it suffocates other teams, but it does make you guys risk with your defending. It's it's risky defending because you guys play such a high line, and that's why you guys got a red card too, because you guys play such a high line.
SPEAKER_04So and it it keeps happening time and time again, man. I don't know why. I don't know why we do this to ourselves in the Champions League. I don't know why we decide to make it so complicated for ourselves. It's it's year after year after year the same thing over and over again, whether it's going down by a significant margin in the first leg and having to come back, or uh thinking that we already have a foot in the semifinals or the finals, and lo and behold, they end up beating us, coming back, making a big comeback themselves, or we get a red card because our defenders lack judgment towards the end. And it keeps happening over and over again.
SPEAKER_02I think I saw a stat somewhere. You guys are the team that has gotten the most red cards in the past, I don't know how many years, maybe like the last seven or eight years in the Champions League.
SPEAKER_04That's crazy. I didn't even see that, but yeah, I would probably believe it at this point because it just just in recent memory, like the past couple of seasons, uh, Eddie Garcia got one against Monaco, Paul Cubarcia got one against Benfica, Araujo got one against um uh PSG, Cuarci just got one again, and Araujo had another one, had a double yellow against Chelsea.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's a lot of reds, dude.
SPEAKER_04That's a lot of red cards. I saw a stat that Paul Course I didn't check this, but we're just gonna put it out anyway. I'm just gonna say Paul Cortes has the same amount of red cards in the Champions League as Pepe. Jesus.
SPEAKER_02And he's only 19? 18, 19? Yeah. Dude, Pepe was an animal, bro. That's not a stat you want. No, it's not that. That is not a stat that you want. Man, imagine how he's gonna be when he's 30. How many red cards? That's crazy.
SPEAKER_04At this rate, he's gonna have he's gonna be beating Sergio Ramos, bro.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Sergio Ramos.
SPEAKER_04That's a fun fact. Wait, that's a who is the player with the most red cards in the history of the game? Do you know that? Ramos. I think I know that.
SPEAKER_02I think it's Ramos, no? Ramos is fucking up there for sure. No, I I I don't know that's in my head.
SPEAKER_04You want to take a guess? Random. And you're not gonna guess, but just take a guess. Now give me a clue then. Give me a hint.
SPEAKER_02He's Colombian. He's Colombian? You want Ramiro Córdoba? No. No. He's Colombian? Sergio Ramos is second, by the way. Is he? Okay, see? He's right. Colombian is first, really? Yeah, dude. This guy was a he was tough. I don't know. What Colombian could it be? Hit out of the widow, Ja. Hit out of the Reddit.
SPEAKER_04That's the record for the most red cards in football history having been sent to 46 times.
SPEAKER_0146?
SPEAKER_04Six red cards hit out of the widow, Ja.
SPEAKER_02Nah, bro. That dude was a freaking fiend for those red cards.
SPEAKER_04That dude was talking about an animal. Sitting here was.
SPEAKER_0230. 30. Okay. Damn, bro. This guy had like 15, 16 more. Wow.
SPEAKER_04Isn't that crazy?
SPEAKER_01That is really crazy.
SPEAKER_04That's a that's a fun trivia question. But yeah, I know Kuart C is gonna get up there. He's gonna get up. Yeah, but anyway, so now we're down, now we're down 2-0. We played at home. Now we have to go into the Metropolitano and win. We have to win. We have no other choice but to. How do you feel about it? You think you can make the comeback? Dude, honestly, whenever the the game first ended, I was like, that's it. It's over. Like it's it's over. We're down our best defender. We're down Rafinha. We're down De Jong. We're down Marc Bernal. Ferran Torres. I'd rather I'd rather see a paraplegic raccoon play than Ferran Torres, if I'm being honest. My God, bro. It's tough. We're down to zero, and you want you we're down to zero. And our changes to change the game and to try to just make something happen were Ferran Torres and Ronaldo Araújo.
SPEAKER_02Dude, it but it's funny though, because Ferran Torres is one of your top scorers still. Even with all of his misses, he's still one of your top scorers.
SPEAKER_04He hasn't scored a goal since January. I think his last goal was against Racing and Santander in Copa Ray.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's been it's been a long time. His confidence is way down. And every time I see him come on, I'm like, I just don't I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_02He's on social media too much. He sees all the jokes. He's got to see all the jokes.
SPEAKER_04I think that could be it. He's got to get back into his shark mentality, his shark mindset. And wait till he plays Madrid.
SPEAKER_02When he plays Real Madrid, he always freaking scores.
SPEAKER_04Maybe he'll score a hat-trick. Who knows? Maybe he'll score a hat-trick next next uh game against the Tetico Maria. I don't know. But to answer your question, right after the game, I was like, I don't know. It's it's it's over. It's really difficult. It's the same story over time and time again. Last year with Intor Milan, we we let them tie it up at home. Then we had to go to Sancito, and we had the game in the bag at the last minute. And then Acerbi scores to take us to overtime, and then they ended up putting us in overtime. Like silly little mistakes like this that keep happening over and over and over again. And we had the opportunity to completely demolish them at home because we outplayed them and now we're down 2-0 going away. I didn't feel as confident three hours ago. Now I'm starting to feel a little bit more confident just because I believe in this team and I believe that we have the ability to beat them because we've shown that we can. We've come back. The past year, every time we play Atletico María, it's an all-out war. It's an all-out war. It's becoming battles. It's becoming one of my favorite games to watch, but at the same time, one of the worst games to watch because I get so stressed out. My blood pressure rises, my cholesterol goes through the roof for some reason. And I start, I start losing hair. I start everything. But it's it's an all-out war. We're obviously going to take it to them. We're not going to make it easy on them. I think it's going to be a phenomenal game. And I think that's a good early. You guys got to score early, early, early. We have no choice but to score early and not let them score. We can't let them score.
SPEAKER_02What's not one anymore, actually?
SPEAKER_04It's not the one that Metropolitan anymore. No, it's the Rijat Air Metropolitan. That's besides the point. But whatever. What was I going to say? You know who you know what player scares me the most in the history of the game, probably? Who? Sorloth. Sorloth. I don't think he's saying that Sorloth.
SPEAKER_02He always scores against you guys. Always. He never misses.
SPEAKER_04That dude always. Barcelona. If I'm Deco and if I'm John Laporta, I just go just go buy him. Go get him this summer. Just so he can stop scoring. Exactly. Stop scoring against the game. What do you think? Stop score. Start scoring for us. Go go get Sorloth. I don't know. How much is he worth? I don't care. Like we're talking about Julian Alvarez. No, go get Sorloth. Go get Sorloth. So he can stop scoring against you.
SPEAKER_02And he's always so cold when he celebrates against you guys. He's always like, yep. Just another day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just another day. You're right. Oh.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, just me, Alexander Sorloth. That's crazy, man. God, I mean, I think we got some good strikers with Julian and Sorloth. I don't know if they'll be able to keep both of them this summer. I think Julian is really gonna end up being at at Barca after this summer. Yeah. I think so.
SPEAKER_04Well, we'll see. Anyway, we go again next uh next week at the Metropolitano. There's still 90 minutes left to play. It's not looking good for us. I will say if we play the way we played today with 11 men, because we outplayed them with 10 men. With 11 men, we're gonna definitely outplay them, and we have a great opportunity to beat them and to go through to the semifinals. It's on us. We're our biggest worst enemy. We're our own worst enemy. It's been 11 long years. Yeah, I'm wearing the jersey of the last time we won the Champions League. It's been a long time, bro.
SPEAKER_02Back when we were jits. We were little kids. Yeah. Insane. It's been way too long. I don't know what it feels like to be a European champion as an adult. Yeah. Anyway.
SPEAKER_04Moving on. We've talked about Barcelona for a little bit too long, but let's go. Let's get over to um to the Madrid Bayern game because yeah, you may be making fun of me, but you guys also had a big defeat, and you're coming off of back-to-back defeats against Tosasuna and St.
SPEAKER_02You were making fun of me yesterday. You sent me a text message with your stupid little Bayern Munich jersey. How does that fit? I did have the bar.
SPEAKER_04You got cocky there, you little fuck. That's what happens. That's what happens when I start talking a little bit of shit. You gotta eat it now. That was a good game. I enjoyed watching that game. There was a lot of buffets. It was a phenomenal game. It was a great game. Bayern Munich ended up taking a 2-1. Lucho Diaz with the goal. Harry Kane with an amazing goal as well. I knew at least Diaz was gonna score. Bopit pulled it back for you guys that barely got over the line, but it counts. How are you feeling after this? How what are your I know obviously, probably at first, right after the game, you felt some way. You've had about 12 or 24 hours to process everything.
SPEAKER_02How are you feeling after that loss? Honestly, I mean, obviously, I didn't like the result, but I felt good. Munich is a really, really good team. Probably the best team we faced all season. The way they play, the way they attack, my goodness. That that is a serious team, bro. But we were able to go toe-to-toe with them. They gotta go to practice this week, and all they have to do is practice shooting drills. That's it. Nothing else. Just shooting drills, shoot, shoot, shoot. Gotta score every single one. Because they didn't capitalize on their chances, and that game should have been a tie. I think it should have been a tie. That would have been the fair result. Byron was a really, really good team, but we went toe-to-toe with them. We had more shots on target than they did. Manuel Noyer played like vintage Manuel Noyer. Like that dude 2014.
SPEAKER_04Phenomenal game. He has.
SPEAKER_02Yes. We cannot get anything past him. We barely got that one across the line. He kind of saved it, but it still went across the line. Thank God. But we're alive. We're alive. Great saves. Yeah. Yeah. We're alive, though. I mean, we we have the players that are just as good as Bayern's, if not better. And this is our competition. If there's anybody that knows about Re Montales, it's Real Madrid. Is it going to be easy? Hell no. Can Bayern score another two, three goals? Yeah, maybe. But hey, we got to go in with intensity. Because Bayern Munich, the first 10, 15 minutes, they came in hot, bro. That high pressure was insane. And they were executing just about every single pass. It was insane to watch, honestly. That's a really, really good team. But we got to come in with that same energy, that same intensity, high pressure, and we have to finish our chances. That's the only way we're going to win. And try to be perfect on defense. We have to try to be absolutely perfect on defense. Alvaro Carreras against Michael Orisa. Oof, my God, bro. He was That was tough. He was dancing around Carrera.
SPEAKER_04What a baller that was.
SPEAKER_02He really put his name on the stage yesterday. Yeah. In that game. That's when everybody knew about Michael Olise. We all knew what a player he was, but against Real Madrid at the Bernabelle in a Champions League quarterfinal, you really put your name on the world stage right there. What a player. I think he's almost as good as Lamin Yamal. They're both really, really good. They're probably the two best right wingers. Yeah, they're two the two best right wingers right now. But he was dancing all over Carreras, making the Burnabell his playground. He was doing some some really nasty stuff. But honestly, it was a joy to watch him, even though I'm on the other side. But what he was doing, I I couldn't help myself but be an aw, honestly, because wow, what a player. I mean, I don't really sit around and watch a lot of Bundesliga. So this is really like my first game that I've seen him play the way he did. And I was just like, wow.
SPEAKER_04It was amazing. It was amazing. It was a great, great performance. He really, he really cemented his name, like you said, out in the in the in the biggest stage possible Champions League, Bernaro, quarterfinal. And this guy was just toy with Alvaro Carreras. I think Alvaro Carrer, he he might have sent Alvaro Carreras back to La Faurica. They're gonna send him back and be like, hey, you gotta work on your defending guy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I mean, there's no way Albalo can do some good season.
SPEAKER_02Not against Byron, no. I mean, if if Mendy's available, Mendy has to play, but if he's not, then you you gotta put Carreras in there again. Because the other option would be Kamavinga, because you're not gonna put Fran Garcia in there. I've seen what LaMinama does to Fran Garcia. This guy's gonna freaking have a feast with Fran Garcia. And I like Fran Garcia, but when it comes to playing against the best right winger in the world, I would rather you sit this one out, brother. Please just sit this one out. Hopefully Mendy plays because Mendy can lock people down. He looks like he's back in training and he's they're they're slowly trying to get him ready to play against Bayern Munich. And then the other option would be Kamavinga, who is not hot right now either. His stock is pretty low, especially after his game against Majorca. That was one of the worst games I've seen him play. But he's also a pretty good left back. But if not, Carrera's he's still gonna have to stay in there. But yeah, dude, those three are trouble. Kane, Olise, Luis Diaz. Even Nabri had a good game too. And then from Nabry, you got Jamal Muciala coming in as well, even though he's coming on from an injury. But still, dude, that depth is insane. So those three up front, KOD. KOD, yeah, man. That's that's tough. But those three are for the crazy. I have faith. I think we can go into the Alliance arena and and put on a a big performance. This is our competition, and now that we're out of La Liga, we got nothing else. We have nothing else, and all of our energy has to go to this game. And I believe we can do it. I believe we can do it. I feel like if we score early, Byron could start shitting themselves. Because they're gonna have just previous memories of Real Madrid destroying them in the Champions League in the recent history, and they're gonna be like, fuck, not again. Not again. That's those those ghosts are gonna start creeping up in their head again. So I think we have to score early. I think those first 50 minutes are gonna be crucial. Like we just have to just all gas, baby. All gas. We really have to pressure them as much as we can. If not, it's gonna be very, very tough. We have to go in there the same way they came on to us. So it's gonna be a good one. I think that's probably the best game I've seen all season, honestly. It was a very bad fourth. It was a really good game. Very good game. That was a lot of back and forth. Not saying Lunin did bad, but we had the best goalkeeper in the world. Oh my goodness. That would that would be such a relief.
SPEAKER_04That was the first game Bayern won against you guys since 2012, right? That was the first twin in the Champions League since 2012. Crazy to think about, and at the right of the rail. It's funny you say that you guys should have tied them when I th I I think they almost gave you guys an opportunity to still be in this tie because there should there were two instances where I thought Bayern Munich should have scored, and that was with Upamekano, where he was like underneath the goal.
SPEAKER_02All he had to do was just Harry Kane could have the ball and shot that himself too instead of passing it to him.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Well, he gave it to him. He had the opportunity to finish it, and he hit it with the studs of his uh cleat. What an idiot. And then Tiago Pitaric gave that ball directly to Serge Nabry, and Serge Nabry should have finished that and then somehow Ludican. He wasn't saved. I don't know how.
SPEAKER_02But honestly, we had our chances too. There was one that Opa Mikano messed up, gave it right to Vinicius on the counterattack, and Vinicius completely whiffed it. And Mbappe had so many opportunities with Manuel Noyer, he couldn't finish his chances. So I think Manuel Noyer also kept them in this tie. Do I think Byron played better football? I do think Byron played better football, but we had we had our chances. We had our breakaways. We have a lot of players that are very fast and can kill you on that counterattack. And thank God they have Manuel Noir, because if not, it really could have been a tie. And Vinicius and Mbappe didn't have their best day. They just couldn't finish. I think it the fair result should have been a tie. Interesting.
SPEAKER_04But anyway, so 2-1 down, heading into the Alliance Arena next week. You're still feeling confident about it. It was a great game, especially from uh from a neutral standpoint, even though yeah, I was rooting for Bayern. Lucho Diaz didn't really have the best game, but he did get a goal in. Which is what great finish by Lucho there. Just a typical Lucha performance.
SPEAKER_02Sometimes he just doesn't have the best games, but as long as he scores, that's that's all you need from him. It was a pretty good goal, too, running in behind Trent like that. Good ball from Nabri, and then just slide it, slid it into the right corner perfectly. Lower right corner, nothing Looney could do about that.
SPEAKER_04No, nothing he could do. And then Harry Kane's goal also was amazing. First, what, 30 seconds of the second half? That's the biggest. Came on super strong.
SPEAKER_02That's what I'm saying. Byron just really, in the beginning of both halves, they just really brought that pressure, man. Insane. But you and Carrera so you're seizing the ball.
SPEAKER_04You guys did uh you guys did do the right thing by getting at least one goal because that does keep you in the game. It it is a big difference being down two one versus being down two now, especially going into the second leg. It's a huge difference. That's why like us being down two nil, that's why that's what hurts. Like if we would have just gotten one, like one of those opportunities where Rashford could have finished or something. Like if we would have just gotten one, it would it would have been nice. Rashford hit the friggin' crossbar off the free kick. Anyway, I'm going back to the Barcel game. But it's it's good that um it's good for you guys that you guys got the one goal back because it keeps you in it keeps you in the in the in the game or in the in this leg. Now it's 90 more minutes at Aliens. 90 more minutes at Allen's Alice Arena.
SPEAKER_02It's gonna be tough, like I said, but the first 15 minutes are gonna be crucial. Our Beloa has to really instill that into the team, and I need them to match their intensity because we can do it. Like there's no way that Byron has better players than we do. We have players at the same level that can match that intensity. They have to look at what they did at the Bernabeo, what Byron did, and be like, hey, that's what we have to do. Because they really suffocated us there for a while.
SPEAKER_04Oh, for sure. For sure. Like I said, they could have capitalized on certain chances and it could have easily been up. They could have been up 4-0. Easily. Maybe at one point, yeah. But like I said, we also had our chances too. No, you did, you did have your chances. Mbappe, I don't know what's been going on with him. He had nine saves. And I don't know what's going on with Mbappe because uh even at the weekend, he had trouble scoring. Against Bayern Munich, he had trouble scoring.
SPEAKER_02Dude, that guy Leo Roman, too, bro, he had a frickin' day. For Mallorca, the goalkeeper for Majorca, he had a frickin' day. Three clear shots on target from Mbappe, three saves, bro. But I mean, what can he do? He just wasn't on it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, he wasn't on it this weekend. He wasn't on it against Bayern Munich. And we'll see. I mean, people are saying, people are saying, is Mbappe the problem? Because Mbappe was gone for a little bit, and you guys were all you guys starting to get a little bit hot.
SPEAKER_01I mean, maybe he is. Maybe he is the problem. I don't know. Maybe you should try and bench him again and see what happens, dude.
SPEAKER_02Honestly, I don't mind having bringing him up there with Vinicius because dude, when Vinicius doesn't have Mbappe there, he I feel like he just plays more freely like himself. Not that he sucks when Mbappe is there. It's just he feels like he has to play the Robin role instead of the Batman role. I like Vinny more as the Batman for sure.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, and Vinny likes himself more as the Batman as well. I mean, let me look at your your fixture. How long was Mbappe out? Because Mbappe was out for was he, let's see. Celta de Vigo, did he play that game? He did not play that game.
SPEAKER_02So you guys came back against Atletico, I think.
SPEAKER_04No, he came back, I think, off the bench. Off the bench, yes, off the bench. I'm looking at starting lineup. He wasn't in an either man city game, and you guys won both of those. He wasn't against LJ.
SPEAKER_02He wasn't against Either Man's City game. I think. No, against the city. He might have come off.
SPEAKER_04I think he came off the starting line. He came off the bench, but I was I was looking at I'm talking about starting lineup. Like he wasn't he wasn't in the starting lineup for like a month. Yeah. He wasn't in the starting lineup for a while. And you guys had one, two, three, four. We won all of them. Five, five wins in a row without without Mbappe in the starting lineup. He gets back into the starting lineup the last two games, two defeats. I know.
SPEAKER_02I know. I don't know. You look at it that way, and yeah, I mean I've been thinking about it as well. Like, is Mbappe the problem? Like, what's going on? It's so weird because attacking-wise, he's the best player in the game.
SPEAKER_0440-50 goals a game. Yeah, he's got 14 goals in the Champions League.
SPEAKER_02He's got 14 goals in the Champions League this season. Granted, 12 of those are off a penalty, but I mean I just feel like I don't know, bro. It's it's it's like rocket science. It's like really trying to figure rocket science right here because how can the best player in the world make your team worse? Isn't that funny? So I think sometimes it just maybe the team tries to force it too much to him, and they want him to finish everything.
SPEAKER_04I think there's there's a I think there's a couple of things. What you said. They try to force it to him a little bit too much, too, and Bapet feels like he believes that he is the greatest thing to walk this earth. He believes that he sits at the same table as Messi, Ronaldo, Pele, Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Zenedine Zidane. He believes that he is as good if not better than them. He believes it.
SPEAKER_02He may not say it, but he walks around. He was on in the same table as Messi and Ronaldo in that Lego ad. That was fire. That was a sick Lego ad. That was fire, bro. That was a fire Lego ad. Which I wonder if just changing the topic here, I wonder if they really all got together. Do you think that? I don't think so. I don't think so. It was probably even like I think it was.
SPEAKER_04Do you remember that chess picture before that last World Cup? Yeah. Apparently they weren't together. They edited that out for them to look like they were together. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_02So I don't I don't think they got them all together. I'm just trying to imagine them all together in the table. That that would be so cool if they were able to actually do that. Nah, yeah, because we would have got some behind the scenes.
SPEAKER_04That was 100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They just Missed the opportunity to put Neymar in there instead of Vinny.
SPEAKER_02But hey, that's right. Hey, bro, you gotta go with the best player in the world that's uh currently playing. Well, Lamin wasn't there. What's going on? I don't know why not. He doesn't deserve a spot at that table. Of course he does. He hasn't won a Champions League or World Cup. And Vinny hasn't won anything with Brazil. He's got a Champions League.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Mbappe doesn't have Champions League, but he's got a World Cup.
SPEAKER_04Lamine has a Euro.
SPEAKER_02Lamin has a Euro. Yeah, we're not talking about the East. We're not talking about the Euros. We're not talking about that. Anyways.
SPEAKER_04Well we said how Mbappe making the team worse. It is a huge mystery because he is one of the best players in the world currently. He comes off of PSG. He goes to the Champions League winning team in Real Madrid. He leaves PSG. PSG then becomes Champions League Champions. Yeah. Mbappe doesn't win anything with Real Madrid. Real Madrid go trophyless. And Real Madrid are now on the same path to potentially go trophyless again this season, showcasing that every time Mbappe, not every time, this is a lie, but the last couple games that Mbappe has started, there's been trouble in paradise on the field versus the last five games where he didn't start and you guys won. I think there is like I said, one, he's very, very arrogant. Two, I think I think he just doesn't fit every system. And he thinks that the system revolves around him. Where he does he just plays for himself and he doesn't play for the team. You can tell. And he just he just relies on on moments of brilliance and single moments of brilliance, which he does create and it does happen. But man, I don't know. It's such a it is a head scratcher.
SPEAKER_02And to be honest with you, yeah, it's nice having Mbappe, but we don't need him. We really don't. Like we would have been perfectly fine with Endrick. We would have been perfectly fine with Gonzalo Garcia. I'm sure maybe we would have bought Julian Álvarez if we didn't have Mbappe, and we would be doing just fine. We would be doing perfect. Vinny would still have his Batman role. Rodrigo would be still starting, maybe, rotating with the striker. Gonzalo Garcia would be getting more opportunities.
SPEAKER_04That's another one, man. I feel like Gonzalo Garcia should be getting a lot more opportunities. And here's the other thing, right? Because there's there's a lot of talk of Vinny said that he's about to renew his contract, right? And he's about to renew for what four or five years?
SPEAKER_02Something like that. So I don't I think it wouldn't be more than like because right now his contract goes till next season, so 2027. I don't think he would do more than 2030 or 31. So yeah, I guess like another five years.
SPEAKER_04Okay. So let's think about that for a second. They're about to renew Vinny. They still, they still have Mbappe. So that if they renew Vinny, that means that they see Mbappe as their number nine for the foreseeable future.
SPEAKER_02Which I think Mbappe has become kind of okay with it. If you see with France, too, he's playing as a number nine as well. He's trying to learn that central role. And I think he's trying to learn that from what Cristiano Ronaldo did as well. Because he saw what Cristiano Ronaldo did going from the left wing to the striker. And I know he talks to Ronaldo a lot, just like how Kobe was always hitting up Jordan, like, yo, how can I do this better? How can I do this? Right. I think Mbappe is the same exact way with Ronaldo. Because they they both said that they talk, they text all the time. So I think he's trying to transition himself, also for the better of the team, because he knows that's been Vinny's side this whole time. I mean, he's won two Champions League being a left winger. It's kind of hard to take Vinny away from there. And Mbappe can just score goals for fun. So why not just transition yourself to a central striker? And I think he's been more open about that, to be honest with you. Even though sometimes he does still want to play out on the left, but you can see I can see a change from him from like last season to this season that he's starting to be more open to the idea of just being a full-on striker.
SPEAKER_04Okay. So then that that would be the thing, then. So then if if they're okay and if Mbap is okay with being their number nine, then that would make more sense as to why they're renewing Vinnie for such a long-term contract. So but yeah, it'll be interesting. I mean, it's a it's a it's an interesting mystery as to why one of the best players in the world, somebody who's played in back-to-back World Cup finals, somebody who's potentially going to break the goal scoring record at World Cups, is having so much trouble fitting into Real Madrid and fitting into certain club teams. Because even Luis Enriquez said, we play better without Mbappe.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's tough. I mean, I think it's just the relief of not having that personality, that type of profile in the squad, and now you can just focus on the team. What's better for the team, not what's better for Mbappe.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02I think that's why Luis Enrique probably doesn't mind not having him anymore, and they did win a Champions League without him. Yeah, it's it's a head scratcher for sure. He'll win a Champions League. So ironic. He'll win a Champions League. I don't know if it'll be this easy.
SPEAKER_04I wouldn't. Who knows if he will definitely? Ronaldo Nasario never won one. Slata never won one. It's not as easy to win one as a lot of people may think. It's not that easy. It's very difficult to win a Champions League. Yeah. I mean, from a Barça fan.
SPEAKER_02Do you think that eventually?
SPEAKER_04That's definitely I knew you were gonna say some shit. I was as I was saying it, as I was saying it, I was like, this fucking asshole's gonna say something stupid.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, you gave me a layup right there, bro. You laid it up for me.
SPEAKER_04I did. I was sometimes I feel like I'm having like an honest conversation. And then nope, this here it comes. I can't let it slide, bro. I can't let it slide. Anyway. I don't even remember what I was. I don't even remember what it was. Well, not mine. You guys don't beat us. You guys beat other teams. You guys don't beat us. Our little brother beats you guys. You're right. Little brother. Get the fuck out.
SPEAKER_02No, no, but you were saying that it was very hard to win the Champions League. That's what you were saying.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's what I was saying. Yeah, it's difficult to win the Champions League. Who knows if Mbappe is gonna ever get to lift that trophy? You would think that being at Real Madrid, that's the main reason that he went to Real Madrid is to lift the Champions League and to win a Ballon d'Or. He leaves PSG, they won the Champions League, and Usman Dembele wins the Balondor. I mean, the jokes just write themselves, man. That is the irony is so real. It's hilarious to me. It's hilarious to me. So I think eventually he'll, again, he's he's found his way. He scores 40, 50 plus goals a season. It's just so it is very intriguing as to why Madrid, with him in the starting lineup, struggle so much. It's so it's so funny. I think we should Arbelo should run a test. He should just go, let me go five games with Mbappé starting, and let me go five games without him starting, and let me see what happens, and then I'll make my decision. But we all know five games.
SPEAKER_02No. The pressure from the media, from Mbappe, from everyone from Florentino. No, that would suffocate our beloved.
SPEAKER_04I was gonna say, we know we know Arbelo is not, he doesn't have the balls to do any of that. We know he's not actually running that dressing room. Whatever. I hope he stays for a very, very long time.
SPEAKER_02I think I think now players are starting to respect him a little bit more. I think in the beginning he was really just a yes man, just you know, just kissing anybody's feet that he could, but now that he's getting results, I think the players are starting to respect him some more. And I think Florentino and Jose and His Sánchez are letting him.
SPEAKER_04You just lost two games in a row. You just gave Ladiga.
SPEAKER_02Okay, but before the international break, you you just said we were winning, we won five games in a row. We were winning. And we beat Man City, nobody expected us to beat Man City. We went toe-to-toe just now against Biden. Mallorca game, don't even get me started with that.
SPEAKER_04Actually, let me get you started with that really quick. Because this is a great segue into La Liga this past week, and we'll touch on it really quick. Because Mallorca, who's battling relegation with one of the best left backs in the world in Johan Mohica. Yes, that's true. You guys go to Mallorca and lose two to one, and now you're seven points behind Barcelona in La Liga. This is another great mystery. You want to talk about mysteries? I was thinking about this. Why does Real Madrid in the past like 20 years struggle so much in La Liga, but they do so well in the Champions League? And why is Barcelona vice versa? Why does Barcelona do so well in La Liga, but they struggle so much in Barcelona in the Champions League?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I mean, I think for us, I think the Champions League just has a different feel. I feel like sometimes the players just don't really take La Liga so seriously. You even heard it from Bale, too. Like all they care about, all they talk about is the Champions League, Champions League, Champions League. Because at the end of the day, the Champions League is the biggest tournament in the world. Nobody really cares who won La Liga other than the teams in La Liga. Everyone's tuning into the Champions League. You know? And that's when the stars come out to play, baby, is in the Champions League. Everybody remembers the Champions League nights, the magic, magical Champions League nights at the Burnabale. That's what everybody always talks about. I don't know if they really talk about La Liga nights like that in the dressing room. You know, and it's not like they don't care about it, but their importance is definitely with the Champions League. I don't know what Barcelona's excuses. I think you guys are just haunted, or you guys just suck, or I don't know. You you might have a better explanation than I do.
SPEAKER_04Well, we definitely we definitely don't suck, right? I think in the Champions League, like I was talking about, we for whatever reason were our own worst enemy. And we let I think we've had so many instances, especially over the last decade, where we just getting our own head and we have those fears coming back up, like we did against against Roma, against Liverpool, against Bayern Munich, against uh Juventus in 2017, against the dude, you're gonna need a whole list to write these things. Exactly. I got I got a whole list, bro. Don't worry about it. Leave me alone with my list. Every year you forgot Inter from last year. Yeah, Inter from last year sucked too. That was a tough one. But it's it's interesting because I was looking at it, man. In the past 20 years, or let's look, let's do this. Yeah, the past 20 years since 2004, 2005. Barcelona has won 12 La Liga titles. Yeah, that's crazy. Real Madrid has won one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. You guys have won seven La Liga titles in the past 20 years, we've won 12, you guys have won seven. So we've almost doubled the amount of titles in La Liga. Here's the one that I was looking at. So since uh eight-09, which is when Guardiola came on the scene in 2008-2009, you guys have won five La Liga titles, we've won ten. You guys have won one, two, three, four, five, six Supercopa. Guardiola took over. We've won since Guardiola took over. You guys have won six Supercopas, we've won nine. You guys have won three Copa del Reyes, we've won eight. But you guys have won six Champions League titles, and we've won three. So domestically, it's crazy to me how domestically, since like the past almost 20 years, the last two decades, we've been so dominant over Real Madrid. But in the Champions League, we struggle. It's that is a huge mystery to me. And it's a huge mystery to me why how you guys in the Champions League do so well, but but domestically you struggle. And it could be like you said, like you maybe you don't put as much importance to it, but I think there's more to it than that. There there is more to it because I remember when Zidane was in as a coach at Madrid and uh he won three in a row, and it got to a point where like we gotta win La Liga, guys.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, he only won one league in those three years.
SPEAKER_04He only won one league title. I mean, the fact that Ronaldo in nine seasons only won two league titles says a lot. I mean, he won what, three or four Champions Leagues? He won't win four Champions Leagues with Madrid, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And only two league titles.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That is I don't know. It's it's it's fascinating to me. I mean, La Liga is 38 games. You gotta win almost what? I mean, you gotta win like 30 of those games at least, probably more. 33. You get to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_04The benchmark is like around around like 84 points, you gotta get to. That's where like around 84, 85 points. Because last year, Barcelona won with, let me check really quick, dude. Barcelona won with 88 points last season. So that's uh 28 wins.
SPEAKER_0228 wins. We always struggle, not always, but a lot of times we just struggle against little teams, especially away like Majorca. And then a lot of times too, I see we just we let our foot off the gas. Like we're we seem too relaxed. Not every weekend, but there is a lot of weekends that I do see them just very relaxed. We don't start with much intensity, and and of course, a little team when they play Real Madrid, they're gonna go all in, dude. Because everybody's watching them, everybody's watching Real Madrid play. They got something to prove. Madrid doesn't have much to prove. I don't know. It it is that's another head scratcher as well, because how the hell does Ronaldo only win two La Liga titles? I don't know. But we we just haven't been able to dominate you guys in La Liga, and then there's some La Ligas too that will do good against the smaller teams, and then against you guys, we lose both games or against Atletico Madrid. Atletico Madrid always gives us a hard time, like we always draw points against Atletico Madrid, and when you're neck to neck like that, you have to be your direct rival. If not, done. Yeah, and and it hasn't been like that every season, but there has been some seasons where we're killing it, but we just couldn't beat Barcelona or Atletico Madrid, and that's what knocked us out. Yeah. So I don't know, man. It's it's tough. It's it is tough to explain. It's tough to explain.
SPEAKER_04It it it is it's it's it's in it's incredible to me the the dominance that Barcelona has had the past 20 years domestically in Spain, in La Liga, in the Super Cup, and Copa del Rey, but in the Champions League, we just can't crack it. And like I said, we're our own worst enemy.
SPEAKER_02It's I think also we're just we're better playing two games, a doubleheader. I think we're harder to beat over two games.
SPEAKER_04That was where I was gonna go. That was that's where my head was going. It's I feel like Barcelona is a team that they love to control the game so much, and we love to yeah, just half control the game, half possession, and we don't really thrive off of chaos too much. Whereas Real Madrid does. Real Madrid does look for chaos, they try thrive off of chaos, they they thrive under that type of pressure.
SPEAKER_02Like sometimes we're better when we're down 1-0 or 2-0. We play better that way. Yeah. Like I remember at the Burnout at the Bernabeo two years ago, last time we played Bayern, I remember when Alfonso Davis scored that golazo in the Bernabeo. I was like, I was hyped, bro, when he scored because I was like, oh, these guys have no idea what they just did. They have no idea what they just did after scoring that goal. And sure enough, here comes our hero of the night, Joselu, and just bagged the brace in five minutes. And we ended up going.
SPEAKER_03Incredible.
SPEAKER_04Incredible. And it and it's and it's those those little details where Madrid, if you look at historically, like going back to Zidane, Zidane won three Champions League titles in a row. But I don't think anybody will ever remember those Real Madrid teams as somebody or as a team who played phenomenal football versus compared to like Guardiola's mainstream.
SPEAKER_01I disagree, bro.
SPEAKER_02I I actually disagree. I think that 2016-2017 team, in 2017, when we won the Champions League, and then when we beat you guys in the Super Cup and beat Man You in the Super Cup, everyone was like, holy shit, Madrid is the real deal. Like we were actually getting some respect for how we were playing and all the players that we had. I mean, dude, our B team. That may be that B team was insane. Like we were winning games with our B team. We had Hamas, Isko, Kovic in the midfield, like Mariano, Lucas Vasquez, Asensio. Dude, they were killing it, you know? And I remember like actually getting respect. Maybe not the best team that people have ever seen, but people were putting that team up there as a contender. So I think 2017 was probably the year that we had the most respect for sure.
SPEAKER_04Yes, that may be true in that in that aspect. But my point is if if you go around the street and you ask people what's the best team you've ever seen in the last 20 years, I guarantee the majority of them are gonna say Barcelona 2010, 2011. Probably. Yeah, probably. That's what they're gonna say. Because Real Madrid doesn't they're not known for playing this attractive game of football, but they're just known for thriving under chaos and coming off the counterattack and just feeding the their speedy wingers and forwards that they got. And that's what in the Champions League seems to work versus in La Liga in a long-term league format where there's a little bit more room for error. Barcelona can correct those errors a little bit quicker. Like that red card that we just had today against Atlético Madrid. I think that's something that we could recover from in La Liga. That's not something that we can really recover from in the Champions League, because that mistake can put you out. It's a knockout, it's over. We could potentially be done. Whereas Real Madrid doesn't make those little mistakes, they don't get in their head, they're a little bit more confident when it comes to the Champions League and they just thrive under that pressure. Whereas we we start to crumble under that pressure because we're we're like, oh fuck, like it's happening again. We're in La Liga, we just we're just a lot more dominant because we can control games for 38 in a 38 league game. 38 games throughout the league. That took me a while to say. But yeah, it's uh I don't know. I was thinking about that the other day because I saw this roaming around after this weekend that after you guys lost to Mallorca, and now they're down seven points. It's not officially over, but I mean it's our league to lose at this point. I mean, it's been our league to lose, but now it definitely is our league to it's done, bro. I might not have to do that. And you know what's gonna be great? You know what's gonna be great? If we continue to win every game up until we play you guys on May 10th, we could be crowned champions if we beat Real Madrid that game. That would be a sweet, sweet story.
SPEAKER_02Well, you guys play at the Camp New, right? Yeah, at the Camp New. Yeah. We played the next one. I think we might lose on purpose before that.
SPEAKER_04That's great. You can give us you can give us the Guard of Honor. El Pasillo. You can give us the Guard of Honor.
SPEAKER_02I'm not watching that game. You can tell, you can let me know how I want. There's no there's no point for me to watch that game. But it's I honestly feel like you guys might beat us like 4-0. Just because we're not even gonna, especially if we're like this far away, seven points. Yeah, you guys are gonna have a feast.
SPEAKER_04We are we are gonna have a feast May 10th at the Camp No. We could become champions against Real Madrid. That would be amazing. That would be a sight to see. I would love to see that. Everybody's celebrating around the new Spotify Camp No. Mbappe in Tears, Vinny in Tears, Arbaloa, getting his contract extended, hopefully, for many, many years. Hope he stays for a very long time. You won't be saying that if we left the Champions League.
SPEAKER_01You won't be saying that. Don't don't don't talk too soon, bro. Don't talk too soon. We can clip this. We can clip this in a few months.
SPEAKER_00Let's clip it.
SPEAKER_01Let's clip it. Let's clip it, man. And we'll see who's last.
SPEAKER_04It doesn't matter, man. Roberto Di Mateo won a Champions League with uh Chelsea. Where is he? Oh well Chelsea's a mess, bro. Chelsea has had like 20 different coaches in 15 years. Yeah. But anyway, man, we should probably talk about the other Champions League games that happened really quick. But let's touch on them. Let's touch on those. PSG beat Liverpool 2-0. PSG completely dominated Liverpool. I think they they skated by with just a 2-0 defeat. It could have easily been it could have easily been three, four, five nil. Honestly. Dembeli missed a couple opportunities. Mamar Dashvili had some really good saves. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say his name, but I was like, what the hell the hell do you pronounce his name?
SPEAKER_04It's tough. It's a tough one. Yeah. The trick is to say it really fast.
SPEAKER_02If you say really Mamadash Vili, then you're good. See, I can't even do it, bro. Try saying Albaro Arbeloa five times fast.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, Albarabeloa, Albaraba Albarabaloa.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. That's tough. That's a tough one. That's a tough one too. You wouldn't think so, but yeah, say it five times pretty quick and you're gonna be uh in a little tongue twister there.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. I'd rather say Kibicha Kavarashkelya a couple of times.
SPEAKER_02Holy shit. Which they're compatriots and he scored too. Yeah. He scored against the that in the champions look in the Champions League that much, but Kavaresh Kelia was he's he's another proper, proper baller, man.
SPEAKER_04We had some really good performances by wingers.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04This this Champions League.
SPEAKER_02Piaz's attack is insane, dude. They got Gonzalo Ramos on that bench. They got Barcoloa on that bench. Yeah, it's insane. Desire do it. Desire he's a fucking monster, dude. He's a monster, yeah.
SPEAKER_04But they completely dominated Liverpool. Completely dominated Liverpool. I don't think Liverpool really have. I mean, they're playing at Anfield, but I just don't think that Liverpool has the confidence anymore.
SPEAKER_02Which is crazy because they just want Arnest Lot to be gone and Salah to be gone. That's a Salah didn't even play.
SPEAKER_04No, Salah didn't even play today. They just lost in the FA Cup against Man City. They got destroyed there. They just got completely outplayed against PSG. They got completely spanked by both teams. And Jamie Carragher was basically almost on the verge of tears on the CBS sports panel, man. That poor guy was about to start crying. Man.
SPEAKER_02Poor poor.
SPEAKER_04Liverpool's going through it. Liverpool's going through it right now. I think over the summer they got a lot of revamping to do, which is crazy because they spent a ton of money this summer on a lot of different players. Alexander Isak came on for the first time in what, 22 games or something like that? I saw the stat. He was injured for so, so long. I mean, they had Ugateki Kitique. They brought in Jeremy Front Pong, Florian Wirtsz. A ton of other players. Florian Wirts. Oh my God, I forgot about him. They try to replace Lucho Diaz with Florian Wirts.
SPEAKER_02They spend like 500 million, dude.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, 500 million to be, you know, fifth place in the in the Premier League, knocked out of the FA Cup, knocked out of the League Cup, and potentially knocked out of the Champions Leagues.
SPEAKER_02I don't see them coming back. That would be a miracle. That would be an anfield miracle.
SPEAKER_04It generally would be. And it's funny because in 2019 they made a phenomenal comeback against Barcelona, and everybody had that confidence and belief. But I just don't see it this time. I don't see that. They don't have that confidence in them this year.
SPEAKER_02They were actually good though. They just lost that game in the Camp New 3-0. They're terrible, but they had the spirit to actually be like, okay, we can come back from this. Even though I don't think they had Mane or Sala, right? They didn't have Monora. No, they didn't have to play the game. That's what's going on. They didn't have Monet or Sala. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_04That's what made it even worse. Anyway, moving on. Arsenal won. Sporting zero. Arsenal. What a boring game. By the skin of their teeth. Yeah, this was like what every it's every Arsenal game. I feel like I'm watching paint dry for some reason. It's incredibly boring. David Rye was at man of the match. Kai Harvard gets a goal at the last minute. Arsenal going to the Emirates now, one nil up. Sporting had a good opportunity here to at least, at least take a small win on the road. Now they they go to the Emirates being one-nil down. It's going to be really tough to beat Arsenal at the Emirates, especially since they're one-nil up now. I I still think Arsenal go through.
SPEAKER_02People are already upset about the possibility of Atlético Madrid and Arsenal playing each other in the semifinals. They're saying it's going to be a sleep fest.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, man. It's funny to me because Atletico Madrid played typically or known for playing so defensively. But I every time like this weekend, that game against Barcelona, it was an all-out war. Like it was a lot of back and forth. They didn't even have all the stuff that we're talking about. They didn't even have all their starters, no. And it was a it was an all-out war. Just kept and these games are starting to become crazy. But yeah, then they play somebody else and then they sit back and they relax and they whatever. And it's like, oh bro, come on.
SPEAKER_02Telling you, dude, Atletico's only purpose in life is to beat Real Madrid. And now that they're playing you guys so much, they have another purpose right now, you know? But other than that, they suck, dude. Put them up against a Premier League team, Bayern, Munich, whoever, they suck, bro.
SPEAKER_04They're gonna choke, bro. Yeah, they're gonna choke. It's insane. It's so stupid. That's what makes me mad, bro. Is like like in 2014 and 2016, they beat us and then they choked in the freaking final against you guys. I'm like, dog, come on, man. You don't beat us at least, go all the way. Go all the way. Nah, we got our little brother doing our dirty job for us. Anyway, it's not over yet. It's halftime in the quarterfinal stages here in the Champions League. Moving on to next week, man. This weekend we got some exciting games coming up. Barcelona, Espanol, the Catalan Darby. Who do you who are you guys gonna lose to this weekend? We played Girona on Friday. Girona. Let's go, Girona. A bunch of rotations. You better rest everybody. I hope you guys keep winning, man. I really do. I hope you guys keep winning up until May 10th. That way we can we can celebrate that win, that La Liga victory. Whatever, guys.
SPEAKER_02I'm not even watching La Liga anymore. You let me know how it goes. Let me know what I missed. Let me know how Real Madrid is playing. I'll talk Champions League football with you. Coming on here talking about La Liga, I'm gonna be like, I have no idea what happened. Like against Jerome, I'm gonna be like, I have no idea what happened. You're the one that has to explain the game because I'm gonna have no clue. Not even gonna watch the highlights. We went by zero score. I really don't care. I don't care. It's done.
SPEAKER_03Just give me the spark nuts. Oh man.
SPEAKER_04Wait, hold on. I want to back up to Arsenal real quick because we didn't talk about the fact that they lost against Southampton at the FA Cup because for whatever reason Mikel Arteta decides to put Keppo for the FA Cup and the League Cup.
SPEAKER_02No more quadruple or treble for them.
SPEAKER_04Those hopes are gone. Exactly. The treble hopes are now gone. Can they get the double? Can they get the Premier League and the Champions League?
SPEAKER_02They might go to the final, but they're not beating Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, or PSG in the final. They're not beating none of those teams in the final. And Premier League, I think they'll win the Premier League. Yeah, for sure. And I think they'll be happy. I think they'll be super excited with that.
SPEAKER_04Ecstatic. They'll be stoked. And if they don't win anything, I mean bye. Adios. He better start learning basketball or something, because it this ain't for him. This ain't the sport for him.
SPEAKER_01If anything, he's had too many chances, bro. Way too many chances.
SPEAKER_04Like non-cat lives. God bless, dude. Not even, not even Becky G was giving Sebastian Legit that many chances, bro. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_03That's crazy.
SPEAKER_04Nah, they should win the Premier League. Yeah, if they don't. But here's the thing Man City might put a little pressure on them because Man City has a game in hand. They're nine points behind now. And then they play, they play each other in a couple of weeks. So let's say hypothetically Man City wins those two games. If Arsenal drops some points and Man City keeps winning, then yeah. And that's the thing. Arsenal may Arsenal, so there's seven games left. They play four at home, three away. The three away are at Man City, they play Westham away, and they play Burnley away. Westham is trying to stay afloat, battling relegation. Burnley's pretty much down. I don't really see them coming back from this one. But Westham is still in it. So Westham away is going to be really, really difficult for Arsenal, and obviously so is Man City.
SPEAKER_02Just like Majorca away, dude. These Premier League teams, they don't know a hot sunny day in the middle afternoon in Majorca. They just don't know about that life. On a Sunday afternoon, they don't know about it. Playing those relegation teams, it's tough. Tough, tough, tough. Toughest to play out there.
SPEAKER_04It's tough, man. But all right. I think this about wraps it up for this, for this episode, this Wednesday night special, this after Champions League show that we got going on. We'll be back at it again next week. We'll see if we're gonna be down in the dumps, if we're both gonna be crying, or one's gonna be talking shit, the other one's not. We'll see what happens right now. We're both a game down. We'll see what happens a week from now. We're both going away. You're going to the Alliance Arena. We're going to the Metropolitano, and we'll see if we get all those semis.
SPEAKER_02It's tough. Our chances are slim, but we'll see. We'll see. We'll see if they're slim. We'll see if anybody can do it.
SPEAKER_04We'll see, man. All right, guys. We'll appreciate you all tuning in again for another episode here with the Friendly Foes. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok at Friendly Foes FC. Be sure to tell your friends about the episode. Share it, like it, love it, subscribe, rate it. It helps us grow on all platforms. You can find us on every platform that you get your podcast on. And guys, we will see you all next week. A la madrid.