Chapter 1: What were the highlights of the Champions League draw?
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We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. Welcome in to the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Dan Thomas, joined by Craig Burley. Later on in the show, we'll be looking ahead to De Klassiker, of course, this weekend. And we'll be looking back at Aston Villa are 100% now out of the title race. We will kick things off, though, with the Champions League draw that was made earlier today.
It's a really good draw in the sense that there are no teams from the same country who face off against each other. That's always good in the Champions League. It's excellent if you're an Arsenal fan. They are very much on the easier side of the bracket. They're drawn against Bayer Leverkusen. Bodo Grint, meanwhile, of course, very much the fairytale side, take on Sporting.
They'll play the winners of Arsenal against Bayer Leverkusen. The other side of that, Newcastle, Barca, Atletico Madrid, Spurs. But the other side of the bracket, Really competitive, very interested indeed. PSG against Chelsea. A repeat, of course, of the World Cup final. Galatasaray against Liverpool. Real Madrid and Manchester City face each other once again.
And it's Atalanta against Bayern Munich. For more, let's welcome in... Oh no, let's just remind you, sorry, of the odds. No surprise. Arsenal, huge favourites now to go all the way and win their first ever Champions League. They're, I suppose, looking at the other side of the bracket and feel that Bayern Munich are the favourites there.
Liverpool 17-2, I suppose that's Galatasaray.
Well, yeah, you've got a lot of work to do as well from there as well. Ahead of PSG. Yeah, let's welcome in, shall we then, Jan-Arge Fjortoff, Julien Laurent, Craig here. Craig, if you're an Arsenal fan right now, you couldn't have asked for a better draw, really, could you?
Not really, no. And... You know, barring a disaster, they should make relatively comfortable work over 180 minutes of Leverkusen and then it doesn't get that much tougher until potentially the semi-finals. So a really good draw from their perspective. I think if you said to Mikel Arteta, what do you want? Pretty much that's what he would have taken.
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Chapter 2: Why are Arsenal considered favorites in their bracket?
You're thinking Bodo Glint?
Yeah, I know. You're thinking Bayer Leverkusen? No, I know, but sometimes as a player and a manager, you just... All right, God, this is like manager talk. One game at a time, tough opponents, no easy games for the Champions League.
Come on, Burley, it's a gift, it's a lay-up.
Well... Yeah, it's about as easy as it's going to get for them, but they've still got to go out and get the job done. I think they will. I think Arsenal are pretty much nailed on at the moment, I would say, to be at least in the semi-finals. And bearing in mind they're the favourites to win the Premier League, and if they go on a run in that competition, they could put that to bed.
a little bit earlier as well. They should have been a way further ahead than they are in that. So, yeah, I mean, they've got a Carabao Cup final coming up, still in the FA Cup. When are we talking about the quadruple, which we did with Liverpool last year, and it fell flat on its face.
This, I think, Arsenal fans will be happy is a slightly different situation. Jules, with your Arsenal allegiance, you can beat anyone on that side of the bracket comfortably at the moment.
Yeah, I think this is very good. Obviously, we knew one half of the draw would be easier than the other. And when you look at them both right now, there's one side where you have one former winner of the Champions League out of eight. That's the Arsenal side. The other side, you've got six out of those eight who are previous winners, including the reigning champions, obviously, in PSG.
So for Arsenal, that's exactly where you want it to be. The pathway certainly to the semi-final and potentially Barcelona, which won't be easy, obviously, with the second leg at the MRS, because let's not forget, because Arsenal top the league phase, they're guaranteed to be at home for as long as they are in the competition until the semi-final, obviously.
So it's true, semi-final is where they were last season as well. So they have to do at least the same, if not better, obviously.
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Chapter 3: What are the standout matchups in the Round of 16?
Of course, this is unbelievable. City against Real Madrid, is it the fifth time or something? Sometimes we think they're doing something with a draw to make it easier, but they try just to do it more difficult than anyone. And for Bayern, this is also a big challenge for them. They're also one of the favourites going in there.
But having said that, as Burley, as you called him, Burley starts to be like five clichƩs in one thing, I would say. that we have to win against everybody to get into the final.
Chapter 4: How do Man City and Real Madrid compare in their matchup?
Meanwhile, we once again see Real Madrid against Manchester City. These teams, of course, NoƩ Ixada, extremely well. Thibaut Courtois said it was going to happen, didn't he, after their win against Benfica.
Chapter 5: What challenges do Chelsea face against PSG?
Just a reminder, they already played each other back earlier on this season. And you go back to last year, Real Madrid had the bragging rights over the two legs. And then the quarterfinal, of course, that dramatic win On penalties, Manchester City with that 5-1 win back in 2023 and then really where it all started in 2022 with that incredible win for Real Madrid.
Jules, did I see you on the Gavin Jules podcast saying you wish this didn't take place? You're bored of these two?
Yeah, we did a reaction of the draw with Oggy and Gab for YouTube. But I am. I'm sorry. No, you're not. Come on. I'm all for the big games. I wanted the big games. No, I want the big games. But not a game that we've had like a few months ago and last year and the year before and the year before and the year before as well. This is the only thing. I will be very excited like all of us.
And it's Haaland against MbappƩ, Guardiola going back to Spain. There's a lot of great narratives, great stories, great matchups, everything you want. But yeah, I'm tired of it because every year we have the same. And by the way, Ogim had a good point on the YouTube video that we did earlier. Whoever loses that, it would be a disaster for them. I mean, I don't care if Arbeloa is there next year.
For Real Madrid to be knocked out in any season in the last 16 of the Champions League is a disaster. For the City team and the Guardiola, potentially the last Guardiola campaign for City in Europe to be knocked out so early would be a disaster as well.
If you remember the game earlier this season at the Bernabeu, sorry, Jan, it was one of Real Madrid's under Alonso's better performances in terms of excitement, but only because it was the most bonkers of open games that I can remember Manchester City playing.
And they really allowed, although Real Madrid lost, they really allowed Real Madrid, if memory serves me right, a bit of a foothold in the game because... defensively, City were just all over the place. I mean, I know Real Madrid have got their own issues defensively, but it's the one thing that's going to bite this man's City side in the backside.
Because, yeah, they've got Kylian Mbappe, yeah, they've got Vinicius, I know Mbappe's got a little injury at the moment, and yes, they've got Vinicius, but let's be honest, City have more in their armoury going forward. They're playing better going forward. They have... a better group of players in the forward areas to pick from, certainly in better form.
But it's their gung-ho attitude at the back that if they approach the games in that manner, then Mbappe and Vinicius can punish them. And as Joe said, they could go spiralling out. And he's unlikely to win the Premier League this year. I mean, he may. He may win the Premier League, but certainly Arsenal are favourites.
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Chapter 6: What factors could influence Arsenal's success in the UCL?
Yeah, they went briefly to the top of the league. But they are not playing well. They are so heavily reliant on Kylian Mbappe. And since he's been out, Vinicius, who looks a little happier now Alonso's gone. But they're just not a well-oiled side. They struggle in the middle of the park, they struggle at the back, they've struggled in the full-back areas.
Carvajal's been in, got done by Victor Munoz in the Osa soon again for pace, time and time again. Trent Alexander comes in in the midweek and gets roasted by the Norwegian winger every time he gets the ball. So they have their issues, and we obviously have well-documented Man City's problems in certain areas as well, particularly at the back.
And even though, as Jan said, Bayern have dropped a few more clangers of late and a few more goals, from back to front, they are a better outfit at the moment than both of those sides, I think.
Let me ask you this. What was the score when PSG and Chelsea met in the Club World Cup final?
I have absolutely no idea.
Anyone on the outside? Any guesses? 3-1.
I can't hear you. What was the score? I'll remind you. Was it 3-0? 1-0. 3-0.
There you go. But I'll tell you what.
Chelsea lives in the memory. Chelsea, I mean, again, shall we go to this one game at a time? Because PSG are not playing as well as they were last year. Last year...
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Chapter 7: How does the upcoming Der Klassiker impact the title race?
They were just, they were hitting third gear, fourth gear, then they got to five and six. They were absolutely brilliant. That is not the case at the moment. That being said, they're still a better team than Chelsea. If I was a Chelsea player, I would take some comfort from the fact that the job they did in Barcelona earlier in the season. I wouldn't try and kid myself.
I wouldn't try and say, oh, Barcelona had an off night and all that. The Chelsea players are not thinking that. They just thought they were brilliant that night. We know Barca were terrible. We know that's not the real Barca. But if Chelsea have a couple of big nights like that, they have a chance. A chance. But if PSG get themselves together and...
They have a very good manager in Luis Enrique that you would imagine he will fix some of the issues that they've been having. They are the favourites over the two legs. There's absolutely no doubt about that. But they did get a scare last time out against Monaco. There is absolutely no doubt about that.
Chapter 8: What are the predictions for the quarter-finals of the UCL?
Let's take a look at how the bookie's having set. PSG, of course, looking to defend their title, the first thing to do that since Real Madrid. Chelsea are outside as PSG favourites to advance. Jules, I suppose the narrative around PSG is, don't worry. Look what they did last year. They found that extra gear when they needed it. We haven't seen signs of that so far.
Obviously, against Monaco, they were far from their best. Is it a case of when you play against bigger boys, as PSG proved last season, they can up their game?
I wish it was as simple as that, Dan, but even last season they already had played better from January, that game against Manchester City that we quite often take as reference for the turning point in the season. That was early January, I think it was January 9th or 10th, so... Now we end of February and they haven't showed any of that kind of form. They've got still big injuries.
Dembele not being there is a massive blow. The biggest one maybe is Fabian Ruiz. Not because Ruiz is like world class or anything. It's just that midfield three of Vitinha, Joao Neves and Ruiz. It's just what makes this team very special. Yeah, of course, you've got Dembele who won the Ballon d'Or. You've got the two wingers and the two fullbacks, obviously.
But that midfield three, when they are so dominant, when they press so well, when they are so press resistant themselves, I think it's very hard to get a PhD. You can't get the ball. You can't play out of their press. It's very difficult. The problem is, so far this season, is Vitinha right now is far from his best.
Neves is just coming back from an injury and Ruiz has been out now for more than a month.
with an injury that we thought was not too serious and actually is dragging on a bit and he's not even sure to be there for the first leg let alone maybe even the second leg of that Chelsea clash so without Ruiz you've got Zairem Ribe that means moving Neves to the left hand side that means Hakimi is not as covered probably than when Neves is there so it makes the PSG midfield
more vulnerable than when Ruiz is there with the other two Portuguese players. And that for me has been the biggest problem this season. Yes, they're a bit tired probably. They finished very late with the Club World Cup and they've had injuries too. But it's how dominant they were in midfield that they're not anymore. And that was a big reason why they were so good collectively as well.
And if you take that away from them, The rest is a little bit more difficult. So I agree with you, they can still raise the level, of course. And I think Luis Enriquez said that after the win against Monaco, the qualification against Monaco. But the Ruiz absence is a big, big one.
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