Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Blackouts and other terms apply. I'm Gab, he's Jules, grey skies over West London, but it doesn't matter because we're here to brighten things up. I thought this was an incredible two days of Champions League ties that we've seen so much going on. Drama with Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich looking impressive, Liverpool losing it.
I don't want to point out crisis or anything, but as I will mention several times in the show, Bodo glimped on their own, getting more points than all six Premier League teams put together. But let's start in the never-ending battle. Pep Guardiola against Real Madrid. Valverde hat-trick, a whitewash Jules.
Yeah, completely. I mean, to be honest, I didn't see this one coming at all.
Nobody did.
Nobody did, really. I'm not even sure if Arbeloa or Pep Guardiola. And we know Real Madrid, this is their competition. They're capable of doing great things. They've done it year after year. I get that. Still, I didn't think City could be one that bad. That Valverde could...
put up such an incredible performance, even if I think there was massive help from how bad defensively City were from Donnarumma to Gehi, to Diaz, to Kusanov, to O'Reilly, all of that. But I guess, you know, you exploited those mistakes. So good for you if you're Real Madrid and Valverde. But it was just a no-show from City, a no-show from Haaland.
And really, maybe the best we've seen Real Madrid under Arbelo.
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Chapter 2: What were the highlights of Real Madrid's 3-0 victory over Manchester City?
So this idea that they're tired of intensity in the Premier League doesn't really wash through this game. I thought Real Madrid outpaced them for intensity and Okay, in terms of praising Arbelov for this game, I can praise Real Madrid because it's not just riding Valverde. Remember, they also missed a penalty through Vinicius. Donnarumma made at least two very good saves.
They hit the woodwork as well. But we need to remind ourselves No Bellingham, no Kylian Mbappe, no Carreras. I mean, Camavinga, Hefe coming off the bench. Like a lot of guys out. And no Rodrigo, obviously. And I think this really, and I think to go out there and show this sort of response, I think speaks volumes.
Yeah, I agree. I mean, to be fair to Arbeloa, all the choices that he made, all the decisions that he took with Brahim Diaz, for example, who I thought was outstanding. And leaving out Gonzalo. Yeah, leaving out Gonzalo. But even just to take away a number nine, proper number nine like Gonzalo, to play another of those... kind of wide player, number 10, if you want, like Brahim.
So arguably playing with no number nines at all against a team like City, I think was a big call and it paid off. I thought Brahim was amazing, not just in the way he assisted the Valverde third goal, but in everything, especially without the ball, because that's where they had to be good. You could hit people in transition, but it's how well organized you'll be when you don't have the ball.
And they also knew they would not have the ball for much of the time, and they didn't. But they made the most of it when they had it, and to be fair, they defended well when they didn't have it. I will say this about Real Madrid.
I think this is a platform, maybe psychologically, to turn things around and whatever. I don't think it's a platform tactically or technically, because... This setup, which Fabio Capella on Italian television said like, oh, look, it's basically a 5-4-1 or 5-3-2 with Valverde sometimes acting as the other winger, but then also acting as the right back. You're not going to do this again.
You can't play like this. You can't have this setup. No, no, not against anybody. One Zimbabwe and Bellingham and all these other guys are fit. So it's a question now of how Valverde channels it.
Arbeloa, you mean? Yeah, completely. Usually as a massive boost, because it is, and there's only six days between the first leg and the second leg on Tuesday at the Etihad. But certainly for the game next week, do the same. I'm not sure Bellingham won't be back. Mbappe, they're still hoping for him to be back.
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Chapter 3: How did Fede Valverde's hat trick impact the match?
But don't risk him either. You're in a strong position. Just play... Same team or if not a very similar team this the same game plan and that would take you through right talking about game plan We're gonna have to discuss peps game plan because we can talk about the players who still could let him down and whatever on the night and
But I was just struck. You're playing Simeone through the middle. There's no, again, there's no Schurke or Foden, which means you don't have the creativity against a team that's going to, that will sit and play in transition. I thought the whole thing made very little sense. I don't need to see so much of Simeone so quickly. I think a lot of this is on him.
You're playing around Madrid side who are wounded, who have a lot of absentees. And then you reshuffle things again. And so... Not reshuffle, not too much. Okay. Well, I think it is because... Not really.
Semenyo... No, there's a 4-2-2-2. Semenyo has been playing in that position pretty much since he joined.
I would dispute that.
And I would also... Definitely not.
When he's played Marmouch and Haaland, for example, Semenyo's not hanging out in the middle, right?
No, but he plays in the other two, behind the two. So I think this is nothing new for Semenyo, whether he's in the two up front with Marmouch or Haaland, or the two in behind. All right.
I haven't seen the 4-2-2-2 with him playing with two outright wingers as well.
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Chapter 4: What went wrong for Manchester City in their defeat?
is effectively going to be the one guy who's up there all the time because, you know, Brahim Diaz and Valverde and others are going to track back. Why not make the adjustment with Kuzanov? You know? Why not take him out of the team? Either that, well, not take him out, which you can look to do that, but if you want to keep him in, make an adjustment. Push O'Reilly up.
You can go to more of a back three. You're literally, you're playing against one forward, right? Yeah. And you have two center backs plus Kusunov. Once you realize that the game is there... I don't know. I was really disappointed in the adjustments he made during the game, as well as the mistakes he made in the lineup.
Now, in the end, we can break this down and say, well, Courtois doesn't make that tremendous save. Yeah, but that was because of an individual error from Thiago Pitak, right? So where Guardiola gets this idea that, you know, we had as many chances as they did. No, no, you didn't. I didn't think so. Did you?
Yeah, no, no, I didn't think so either. I mean, the XGs... It's really poor, especially compared to the Real Madrid one. The Kusanov, for me, I can understand the pace and maybe defending like that. It's just what, by dropping Mateusz Nunes...
where you've lost out by him not being on the pitch and okay, yes, he's not as quick probably as Kuzanov and he's probably not as good defensively because he's not a defender, he's never been and probably will never be even playing now in that right back position.
You've lost so much of what he does so well in possession, between the lines, in those pockets of space, which Guardiola repeated after the game where he was questioned about the lineup like we do now. He said, yeah, but the idea was to find those pockets. Yeah, great. And that's the fourth 2-2-2 for you. Again, he's worked really well. No problem. I get that.
But he also worked well before because Mateusz Nunes was there. Kuzanov in possession was completely useless. And rightly so. You can't blame him for that. After the first 15 minutes, City actually started well. And if that first goal doesn't go in the way he did as well, because I think it's not just the fact that you go behind.
I think as a player, and same for Guardiola and his staff, conceding a goal like this at this level is unforgivable. It's a terrible goal to concede. From O'Reilly's positioning to Donnarumma, whatever he's doing, and we know Donnarumma doesn't have any space awareness at all. Just have a look back at the Martinelli goal against Arsenal at the Emirates.
But to not even realizing that he's actually in the box and could have saved that touch around him by Valverde is bonkers. For the best goalkeeper in the world, or one of the two with Courtois, to make such a bad mistake is crazy. And I think when you consider a goal like that, Despite starting the game well, I think you're just out of it already.
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Chapter 5: How did Pep Guardiola's tactics influence the game?
Productive in his own way. You don't ask him to go chase people down. And I don't think some people will be like, ah, look, Mbappe's not there, so Vini's better. But you can all turn around and say, Mbappe's not there, so Vini is stepping up. I think he's really felt... Look, after what he went through with the incident at Benfica and Cristiani...
I'm not saying it would have melted or whatever, but it does. It was an energy-sapping incident at a minimum. I think he stepped up with leadership, even when Real Madrid have played poorly. And I think he knows, and I think he kind of likes the fact that it's on him, right? Yeah, maybe.
I mean, he's kind of always been a bit of the leader anyway. And he's a bit lucky on that, the assist for Valverde, because without the deflection, I don't think he leads to the goal like he did. But at least he's there and he's coming at you with the ball. And really, I don't think sometimes we probably don't praise enough
players like him, like Lamine, like Schalke, like, you know, Kvass Kelja last night, or even Barcola and Olise on Tuesday night too. And I know the game right now is a lot about physicality and pace and, you know, having those kind of bodies. But when you see those dribblers who play the game very differently and there are not that many left, to be honest, I think it's beautiful.
And I'm glad that he still has a key role like that to play in a game of this calibre.
Final point, Valverde's shot, Valverde's goal with his weak foot. Should Donnarumma have done better?
I thought so. And then I think he hits it really well too. I don't know. It's just the... The three goals and L'Equipe gave him 10 out of 10, which is only the 20th player in history for L'Equipe. And you know how they take their ratings, their match ratings very seriously. 10 out of 10 for the hat trick. But it's just the difference between the three goals and the way he took it.
And like you mentioned before, his football IQ and intelligence, but also the movement that he has and that right foot, left foot, whether it's a sombrero and then the volley, it's just really incredible.
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