Football Daily - Champions League Debrief: Liverpool book their place in the last 16

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

Liverpool qualify for the Champions League's last 16 but Aston Villa have work to do.Kelly Cates is joined by senior football reporter Ian Dennis, former Liverpool left-back Stephen Warnock and former Tottenham forward Andros Townsend to reflect on Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Lille and Mo Salah scoring his 50th European goal for the club. Aston Villa remain in the top eight, on goal difference, despite their 1-0 defeat at Monaco and Barcelona have booked their place in the knockout stages after a 5-4 victory at Benfica. Correspondent John Murray and the former Arsenal defender Matt Upson join the pod from a restaurant in Paris ahead of Manchester City’s crucial league-phase match against PSG.TOPICS: 00:48 – Liverpool guaranteed top-eight spot after 2-1 win over Lille. 04:19 – Another milestone for Mo Salah07:20 – Arne Slot on his Liverpool side's performance 10:33 – How the Champions League league phase system works 12:26 – Barcelona win nine-goal thriller and a round-up of the rest of the Champions League action 16:45 – Unai Emery on his Aston Villa side’s defeat to Monaco21:00 – John Murray and Matt Upson preview PSG v Manchester City from Paris 25:33 – Erling Haaland on his new contract and how he measures his sleep this season 29:06 – Pep Guardiola on how he’s managed Phil Foden and helped him regain his form5 Live and BBC Sounds commentaries this week: Wednesday 22nd January: PSG v Manchester City – Champions League – 8pm KO – 5 Live Celtic v Young Boys - Champions League – 8pm KO – 5 Sports Extra Thursday 23rd January: Manchester United v Rangers – Europa League – 8pm KO – 5 LiveSaturday 25th January: Aston Villa v Manchester City – WSL – 12pm KO – 5 Sports Extra Wolves v Arsenal – Premier League – 3pm KO – 5 LiveManchester City v Chelsea – Premier League - 5.30pm KO – 5 Live Sunday 26th January: Tottenham v Leicester – Premier League – 2pm KO – 5 Live Crystal Palace v Brentford – Premier League – 2pm KO – 5 Sports ExtraAston Villa v West Ham – Premier League - 4.30pm KO – 5 Live

BBC Sounds Music, Radio, Podcasts On the Football Daily Podcast The Champions League Debrief With Kelly Keats Listen on BBC Sounds Liverpool earned a 2-1 victory over 10-man Lille

and they've guaranteed their place in the top eight of the Champions League league phase table with one game to spare and it means they'll progress through to the knockout stages without having to go through

the playoffs. Aston Villa are still in the top eight despite a 1-0 defeat at Monaco and there was a nine goal thriller. Barcelona 5-4

winners at Benfica. We'll reflect on all of that. First though we'll start at Anfield. Ian Dennis and Stephen Warnock are there and Russ Townsend

has also been watching this one. And Denno, tell us how they did it. Well, Liverpool, the only side with a 100% winning record, are now guaranteed to finish among the top seeds. And the significance of finishing first and second is that those two clubs can't face each other until the final. This was Liverpool's seventh straight win. It was deserved. Mo Salah's 50th goal in Europe for the club set them on their way. It was Jones who pierced the Lille defence and he hit a flighted curling ball in 11 minutes before half-time. And then Mandy, the defender, was sent off for a second bookable defence.

That was after 59 minutes, but within three minutes of that, Lille were level, totally against the run of players. Jonathan David pounced on a rebound. However, Harvey Elliott's his effort after 67 minutes deflected albeit put Liverpool back in front Chiesa had an effort pushed away by Chevalier and then Nunez late on had a goal ruled out for offside through VAR but Liverpool undoubtedly deserved to win and it is seven wins from seven and also tonight they've also set a new club record in Europe because that

Lille goal was the first that they conceded in something like nine hours and 59 minutes of European football so a new club record set Stephen seven wins in the Champions League in a row this season and that sounds spectacular from Liverpool in terms of tonight's performance did you think it was it was comfortable rather than spectacular yeah I think it was just what they needed to do and they didn't really get out of gear to achieve that. I think Lille were organised, difficult to break down at times, especially in the first 30 minutes or so, but then Liverpool worked out how to beat that press,

go a little bit more direct and it caused Lille problems, but they never really had to... I think there was times when Salah was going through and had it been a bigger game and a tougher game, I think he'd have passed a couple of opportunities that maybe he was being a bit greedy with, because I think he always felt another opportunity

will come to me, we'll get one, and Lille aren't really causing as many problems. Andras, in terms of that Liverpool performance, there's been a few question marks over whether they're either going through or about to go through some kind of dip in their season

was that enough to put that to bed? Yeah, I think like the guys mentioned they weren't at their free-flowing best but they did enough to win the match I think we spoke about at times this season how patient Liverpool are now they still had elements of that in this match but the thing that

impressed me most in this game and I'd like to get the guys opinion who were at the stadium but the thing that impressed me most was on the turnovers

how direct they were just to find Salah in the space to find Nunes in the space and not only did they pick them out perfectly but it was the perfect

moments as Lille were getting momentum as Lille were committing players forward it was like win the ball back bang straight away can we put Salah in that's where they got the first goal from Salah could have got one or two more from counter-attacks as well so yeah it's really impressive that we have this almost perfect Liverpool team at the moment who are adding more strings to their bow as the season goes on I think that's a really interesting point Kelly because when when we are at the stadium,

we get a bigger view of what's going on, and Andras makes a great point there, because what you would see, or what you might not see on the telly, but what you'd see here is that the Lille players were trying to squeeze the line-up and condense the pitch and make it as tight as possible. So on the turnover of possession, they're trying to go tight.

Salah had come short, suddenly spinning behind or Nunez or Diaz. And effectively, that's what led to the first goal. It's what led to Diaz getting the player sent off, Mandy the right back. So it was a really good point by Andros. And in terms of that style of play, it always suits Mohamed Salah. And he opened the scoring yet again. That's his 50th European goal for Liverpool tonight Steve and I know that we we've talked a lot about him and it's difficult

to kind of find new ways to to describe it but just that that setup and that style of play seems to suit him perfectly yeah it does but he's a he's a moment player and there's moments in a game where I watch him and think is he gonna turn up is he he's not quite at the races I think I said it just before his goal that he's not quite found his his touch at the moment then he gets that one moment and he scores and you go oh wow there he is and as a defender playing against him you think he's not he's not causing me any problems that moment you switch off or you get the wrong side of him he can be so so dangerous and I actually thought when I was watching the game

Gudmundsson did relatively well against him but there's just two occasions where he gets caught the wrong side one he gets punished the second one he nearly gets punished and Salah just pushes it past the post but that is Mohamed Salah in a nutshell he's not this player who's going to be in the game for 90 minutes and be a constant threat,

but he'll be the threat for 10 seconds or five seconds, but that can be so vital in a game like that. I think, Stephen, I agree with your point. I think five, six years ago, Salah was the main man. Liverpool tried to find him all opportunity, but you're right. I think the players that sort of have top careers late into their 30s, they sort of transition well into,

all right, I can't do it for 90 minutes anymore. I'm going to be this moment player. I'm going to be clinical when the ball comes to me. Salah, certainly this season, he's been that moment player for Liverpool in almost every game they've played this season. They've got such variety in terms of the type of forwards that they can play Liverpool, as well as the number of forwards that they have in the squad.

What did you make of the way, Stephen, that the squad was utilised in this game, in terms of the starting line-up and also in terms of the changes that Arnaz Lot made? Yeah, I think it's been evident throughout the season that Arnaz Lot's made changes and he does try and keep people fresh. He's rotated the full-backs quite a lot. He's tried to rotate at centre-back. The midfield he's tried to be quite consistent with. Salah plays pretty much every game

because of his record of assists and goals, and rightly so. But even in the other two positions, it can be either Diaz or Gatpo on the left-hand side, or in the middle it can be either Jiotto, Nunez or Diaz. So there is rotation within this squad, which is great to see, but he's not afraid to leave big players on the bench. And I think that speaks volumes. I think that's testament to the way that he's managed this squad

and also why it still looks relatively fresh, even in a period now where you've just come out of arguably the busiest period over Christmas, which is very difficult, and then you're going into a busy January and February period, and that isn't really where you want your players at their best and the freshest. Let's hear from the Liverpool manager, Arne Slot. For the rest, it doesn't tell me anything, because if in tennis you are number one seeded you know it's always better to face the number 24 than to face the number 8 or the number

12 because this is a ranking that is done by for years but now we are in a new format where some teams are high in the league table because they had a lucky draw or some teams are low because they had a very difficult draw. So it's it's far off to say that that it's an advantage to be one or two. We still don't know yet if that's an advantage or not. You might be lucky, you might be very unlucky and ending up eight can mean that you are maybe lucky. So for me, it doesn't tell me anything. What for me is the most important thing for tonight is that we've managed to skip a round. And that is definitely worth a bit.

The reason why Lille has done so well, 21 games unbeaten, and the teams they've beaten in the Champions League, is without any disrespect at all, but they don't have the best players in the world. They have very good players, but they don't have the best players in the world. And then to be able to do so well tells you how disciplined they are, how hard they want to work, how well the manager does over there. And we were not starting to force because they are really compact and defended really well, and we didn't force a pass.

We just kept the ball for as long as we could. The only thing I wasn't happy about is that, not for the first time in recent weeks, it was one chance for the other team and a goal. But that's maybe the face and the season we are in at the moment. Having heaped all that praise on Liverpool, Andras, they did concede in this game at a time when it looked like Lille weren't offering anything, as resilient as they'd been throughout the game. Yeah, it was literally, I think the red card just, I don't know, Liverpool took their foot off the gas. The fans after the red card, the fans were just singing,

allez, allez, allez for three or four minutes. And I don't know, maybe Liverpool just got complacent, they switched off. And in the highest level, you get punished and Lille certainly punished them. And that's Jonathan David's fifth goal in the Champions League this season. Stephen, you were waxing lyrical about him before he scored. Yeah, I like him. I really do. I think he holds the ball up extremely well. I think he's got an awareness of the players around him. You look at his runs and you see a lot of it when you're at the stadium.

The runs off the ball, what he's trying to achieve for other players. He's quite unselfish in the way that he does that. But most importantly, he's a goalscorer and he finds himself in the right positions. He reacts to things extremely well. So I know there's been a lot of talk about him potentially moving on. It wouldn't surprise me after just watching this one game and seeing his movement and the way he sort of uh he links

play up very impressive yeah it feels like there's a lot of sides in the premier league who could do with a goal scorer at the moment it certainly feels like that's the way a lot of the conversations are going it won't be cheap i can imagine certainly not with that record from from jonathan david just to go back to to liverpoolno, just sort of explain the circumstances again about the importance of them finishing, whether it's first or second in this Champions League table and what that means for the later stages of competition. Yeah, just in case anybody doesn't know,

the 36 teams, 1-8, you avoid the playoffs, you go straight to the knockout stages. You've got 19-24 then that go into the playoffs and if you're 25 and below, you're altogether so we've had I think at least four teams already eliminated after the results but it means that if you finish in, so Liverpool are guaranteed to finish in the top eight but also with this

result now a seventh straight win in the Champions League they will finish in the top two and the significance of that is that you're going to have halves of the draw imagine what Wimbledon's like when they used to talk about Andy Murray or Tim Henneman being in one half of the draw you know who you're going to have halves of the draw. If you imagine what Wimbledon's like when they used to talk about Andy Murray or Tim Henneman being in one half of the draw, you know who you're going to face as it's mapped out. And so Liverpool will avoid the playoffs.

But they know that if it is they, and say, for instance, as it currently stands Barcelona, they will not play Barcelona until the final. Equally, the teams that finish third or fourth, they will know that they will avoid the top two until the semi-final stage. But potential you've got with other teams struggling in this format, such as a Manchester City, a Paris Saint-Germain, a Juventus or Real Madrid, Liverpool know that they will face one of the four teams

in the round of 16 that finish either in positions 15, 16, 17 or 18 when that draw is finally made. But at least then it'll be mapped out for them. Deno, do they need to win the game against PSV next week or can they sort of rest their players and focus on the Premier League because they've got that top two sewed up? Yeah, the top two is sewn up and it doesn't make any difference now, Andros, whether they finish first or second,

unless, of course, you want it from a prestige point of view. So in many ways, the hard work is done now. And it could mean potentially if Arnaz Slot wants to do it, he could rest players for PSV away next Wednesday, bearing in mind they've got a very tricky test at Bournemouth the following weekend in the Premier League. And of course, that positional finish for Liverpool was affected by results elsewhere this evening.

John Bennett, most notably, a nine-goal thriller between Benfica and Barcelona. One of the best games I have seen in a long, long time. It was incredible. So Barcelona, 4-2 down in the 78th minute against Benfica. They won it 5-4 and they've booked a place in the last 16. Second in the table right now. They will avoid the've booked a place in the last 16 second in the table right now they will avoid the playoffs they're into the last 16 Barcelona's high line Kelly caused all sorts of problems Wojciech Szczesny made a couple of really bad errors in the first half so Benfica

was 3-1 up then a freak goal for Rafinha where the Benfica keeper just basically kicked the ball out it hit Rafinha on the head he knew nothing about it and it lobbed into the goal then an own goal, Benfica were 4-2 up before the amazing comeback by Barcelona, Lewandowski's penalty a Garcia header and then Rafinha on the break in the 94th minute

and Chesney after making two errors made two brilliant saves incredible game and Barcelona for all their troubles domestically in La Liga, they're through to the last 16. Yeah, incredible game, that one. I tell you what wasn't too bad between Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen either.

This was typical Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid because they had a man sent off in the first half. They went 1-0 down and they end up winning 2-1 because Bayer Leverkusen also had a man sent off as well. Atletico Madrid 2, Bayer Leverkusen 1. So Atletico Madrid are third. And Leverkusen still in a good position in sixth, but they missed a brilliant opportunity here

to almost guarantee their place in the last 16. Both goals for Atletico Madrid scored by Julian Alvarez, formerly of Manchester City, of course, 16 goals this season now. And Bologna got their first win in the Champions League League phase. We're going to need to think of a better phrase for this for next season. The Champions League League phase tonight. They got their first win.

And their first two goals from open play in this season's competition. Bologna 2, Borussia Dortmund 1. They were 1-0 up Borussia Dortmund until the 71st minute. Two goals in two minutes. And this is really significant because I think that Nuri Sahin, the Borussia Dortmund boss, in serious danger now

of losing his job in the next few days because they're down in 10th in the Bundesliga. This defeat means they've dropped to 13th in the Champions League table. And they've lost all their matches in 2025. So the Borussia Dortmund head coach, Nuri Sahin, under big pressure. so as we look ahead to wednesday night's big match between psg and manchester city john do you want to outline this one or should we leave it to denno

oh denno denno's the expert he might be able to pick up on on this i was learning to give us the numbers on on on my on psg manchester city what tonight's results mean for them, how things have changed for them and what they need to do. Well, sure. I can have a look at the... I haven't got the league table to hand. 24th Manchester City on eight points. Paris Saint-Germain, 26th on seven points.

So we knew how big this game was, but it would be really significant if Manchester City were to win. They go above the likes of Benfica, above Stuttgart. They go above the likes of Benfica, above Stuttgart. They go level with Club Bruges as well. So it's really precarious, both teams in serious danger of not making it to the knockouts.

Manchester City, 24th spot. Paris Saint-Germain, out of it as it stands, out of going into the knockout stages, 26th place. But if you look at it very, very quickly, if Manchester City were to win, Dinamo Zagreb and Paris Saint-Germain are the only two teams who can catch them. If they beat Paris Saint-Germain, then Paris Saint-Germain

can't get in, they can't catch Manchester City and Dinamo Zagreb if they lose to Arsenal. So Manchester City will know that a win will guarantee them a playoff place. Thank you, Denner. I knew you'd be across it. And Aston Villa, John, a 1-0 defeat by Monaco this evening. They started the evening

inside the top eight, so they would have been if they finished there, would have been avoiding one of the playoffs. Where does that leave them now at the end of this evening? They're still in a good position. Obviously, it's a missed opportunity, but they're in eighth place. They're level on 13 points with seven other teams. It's really

congested in that area, going into the top eight, dropping into the nine and below. So they could finish on 16 points with a win next week against Celtic. Again, a hugely significant game, and despite their defeat, they're in a good position, Aston Villa, to get into that top eight.

Yeah, they are in a good position to get into the top eight, and here's what manager Unai Emery made of it. I think we played 70 minutes like I want. Of course, if we want to be there in this level, we have to try to score those options, those chances we had. The last 25 minutes, when we were playing with two strikers, we lost a bit our positioning.

And we weren't threatening them like the first 70 minutes. When we were playing with two strikers, we lost a bit our positioning. And we weren't threatening them like the first 70 minutes. That is how I want to build the team, with the mentality I want. And of course, someone is not following the plan we are doing. And this is the objective I have as well now. Try to build the team as strong as possible. With the mentality we are building progressively, getting better with the players.

And of course I am very happy with a lot of players. And today, especially with Emiliano Buendia. Because he was with the option to leave, but today we needed him. And he played fantastic with his qualities, fantastic with his mentality, and fantastic with his commitment with the squad. The move that he's talking about there for Emi Buendia is a move that he's heavily linked with to Leeds. And that's not obviously happened yet.

It was an action for Aston Villa on Tuesday evening. But he did question the mentality, not of him, but of lots of the other players, Andros. Is that what it looked like to you, that the players just weren't switched on for the game? He mentioned the attacking players. I think it was more the players at the back. I think they made a lot of errors in the build-up in possession, a lot of turnovers. Monaco got their first goal from a turnover from Tyrone Mings.

I agree in the last 20 minutes, they had all of the territory, they had all of the possession. The players in between the lines were creating a lot of problems. But when I look back, they didn't really test the goalkeeper in those last 20, 25 minutes. They didn't really have the chances that their possession deserved. So, yeah, I sort of agree with what he's saying, but I think maybe a bit harsh on the attacking side. But with the defensive side, it definitely gave Monaco a lot of chances on the turnovers.

But notable, after Oli Watkins' comments the other night that he thinks that he and John Durant can both play in the same team, that when John Durant came on and they did play with two strikers, Emery actually mentioned the fact that sometimes they lost their positioning. I think Unai Emery was just waiting for that. Managers hate when players talk about team selection,

who can play with who, who should play well. So I think it was sort of like Emery put them together, going like, go on, prove me wrong. And they didn't. So he had his bit to say in the press afterwards. But I don't think it was as bad as he was making out maybe a slight overreaction on his case. So look Aston Villa really well placed for a place in the in the later stages of the Champions League even if it means a playoff but they would surely have taken this before the start of the season Androsros? Yes, they probably would have, but to get themselves in the position they were in at the beginning of the group, to then have an extra two games

potentially to play next month for a side who's not used to playing in Europe, for a side who struggled in the Premier League after a midweek fixture in the Champions League, it's probably not something that the manager would want, but they still have it all to play for. No disrespect to Celtic, but Celtic at home in the last game, you'd expect them to win it. So they still should avoid that dreaded playoff round in February. On the Football Daily Podcast, the Champions League Debrief. With Kelly Cates. Listen on BBC Sounds. Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful British manager of all time.

So how did this apprentice toolmaker from Glasgow become one of the most iconic figures in sporting history? His strength of character, his determination, the fight in him. Ferguson was every department. He can be persuasive, he can be charming, he can be frightening. We have commentary of Manchester City's crucial Champions League match at PSG from 8 o'clock on Wednesday night on 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds. Both teams battling to make it into the playoffs to then try and qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. Our correspondent John Murray is in a petit restaurant in Paris. Yes, I'm already in situ in Paris, in the heart of the French capital, not too far away from the Parc de France itself,

where we have been earlier on this evening, listening to Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland as well, just a few days after he signed this massive, mega new contract. And I'm sitting here alongside Matt Hoops and former England defender, and we've got a match on our hands, haven't we, here? It's incredible to say it, isn't it? The champions of France and the champions of England scrambling to get through to the playoff round

in the Champions League this season. It's an interesting situation. There's a little bit at stake, you'd have to say, after both teams' campaigns not being fantastic, shall we say, and they're in a position now where, in the last two games, they really have to turn it on. Yeah, and next week, in the final matches on that busy night that we'll have next Wednesday night, yes, Manchester City have got a home match against Club Bruges, the Belgian champions. I think quite trickily, potentially, PSG have got to go to Germany to play Stuttgart however if there's a loser in this match the pressure will be on enormously won't it?

It will be immense to be honest I mean neither team wants to lose this game a draw is not particularly brilliant either it's literally one of those games where the win is the only option to really try and elevate themselves out of that position and I think that that it very, very interesting. Certainly with PSG at home and Man City going away in the last couple of away fixtures in the Champions League, they haven't done well with the result. Yeah, and they've both made big signings this month.

So Manchester City have now brought in the Uzbek defender Kuzanov, this young Portuguese defender Vitor Reis, there might be other arrivals this week, Omar Mamouch the Egyptian from Frankfurt and also Kyle Walker as well who it would appear might be off on loan to Milan although

Pep Guardiola said there was effectively no news on that today and on the other side of things PSG have signed the excellent Georgian Clarets Kalia but none of them can actually play in the group stage this league phase of the competition they would only be available to play in the knockout stages of the competition however one man who will very much be involved Erling Haaland after uh the uh the news last week which was shock news wasn't it Matt to come out of the blue, this nine-and-a-half-year contract to 2034, which I felt had a great deal in it,

because we know what the background is with Manchester City, with the 115 charges. We know that Pep Guardiola probably won't be here after the end of this current contract, yet Erling Haaland has committed himself into the distant future with Manchester City. It's a deal that, as a player, is very difficult to turn down, isn't it?

The sum of money is huge. The length of the contract is huge. He, right at this moment in time, even though they've had a sticky patch, I'm sure he's still very much enjoying his football at the top level. I think he's got such a great record at that club. It's in the Premier League.

You feel it's going to keep in that role of being competitive to achieve the top accolades in the game. So there's a lot that makes sense, but I just think that the sheer wage packet and the length of contract is a very, very attractive thing, but I'm sure he's enjoying where he is in Manchester. Well, let's have a listen to him. And I must say, when he walked into the room with us this evening,

he looked incredibly relaxed. And why wouldn't you in those circumstances? But all manner of questions. He was asked about his situation and about Manchester City, etc. And if he sees this out, if he sees this out to 2034 that'll be 12 years at manchester city but um his his father the former manchester city player alf inger harland had previously spoken about how he thought that erling would play for several clubs across europe and only spend a maximum of two or three seasons at each of them. So this was what he said about how he feels now about the prospect of staying such a long time

at Manchester City. First of all, that's his words, not mine. But when I signed for City, I think I said it before, I felt like I feel a bit like home and of course I really meant it. I feel so happy, my family is so happy. I think in the end that's what I wanted and the people I spoke with made me convinced that this was the right choice. We came to this and it felt really good in the end. ac roedd yn debyg iawn yn y diwedd. Rwy'n edrych ymlaen i ddarparu llawer mwy o flynyddoedd yn Manchester. Byddai'n wych. Erlin, rydych chi wedi bod yn gadael i bob gwrs y flwyddyn hon.

Wrth gwrs, pan wnaethoch chi anfon i'r City, roedd gennych chi rhai anoddau o ddiffyg. Beth sy'n gwneud hynny'n wahanol? What's made that different now? What's made that click? Taking good care of my body, first of all. I try to do everything I can to be available for the club, for the team. But yeah, it's about taking care of the body. It's about preparing in the right way. It's about getting the right and enough amount of sleep, eating the right things. And I started measuring my sleep just to make sure that I slept really well and it was true I slept

really good so so that's a different that's a thing I did differently this season and anything else I don't know I do mostly the same so there we are Erling Haaland on what the future holds for him at Manchester City. He was asked as well about the issue of the 115 charges that are against the club for the alleged breaches of the Premier League financial rules. His response to that was that he said he hadn't thought about it.

And he said, the club know what they are doing and I shouldn't speak about this. And also, Matt, talking about how one of the things that he's done this season in terms of taking good care of his body, he said he's been very careful to make sure he gets the right amount of sleep. He started measuring his sleep very interested and very kind of current with what you know modern understanding of how the body works i think it's absolutely crucial i mean measuring it is quite interesting that's a real attention to detail but recovery you know is huge

when you sleep so if you get that depth of sleep and the right length of sleep at the right time, that's only going to help, which I'm sure a man of your stature knows, John, after all the commentaries you've done over the years and how much better you perform after a good night's kick. I've never had problems sleeping, Matt. No. No. Are you?

No. Lights are straight out. Yeah, absolutely. Never been an issue for me. So that's Erling Haaland. He's obviously being a big part of Manchester City, trying to find their form again, as has been Phil Foden.

And I know I was there at Ipswich on Sunday. I thought they played very well. I thought they looked as though they were back in the groove. Foden scored two goals in that match. He scored two goals against Brentford as well last week. He's got five in his last four appearances and Pep Guardiola was saying to us on Sunday night

how he felt that Foden the quote was that he wasn't the same boy at the start of this season but I asked him today how Guardiola has managed Foden to get him back into this form. Well, I don't know.

We'll talk a little bit. We'll try to let them feel like everyone, how much we love him, how much it doesn't matter the performance. I try to be happy. He's a privileged person, has a lovely family, kids, wife and people, you know, fans and all of us, we are there. It's just the feeling, his mood, his face in the last weeks,

he's always talking more, laughing more and being both in the locker room. But before it was a little bit down for the injuries they had, for the situations, for the last Euro or I don't know. But yeah, this is a career of a football player, when Phil makes the debut, all the time he's better, better, better, better, better, getting better. So he has, I don't know how many, a lot of titles in his early age and sometimes you drop a little bit.

That maybe will help us realise what he needs to be consistent, learn from the best players in history history that was Messi and Cristiano that they consistently had completely every season and maybe Phil will be better in the future So there we are, Pep Guardiola on Phil Foden and where

Manchester City are so John Stones is in the squad here but there's no Jeremy Doku or Nathan Ake. What are you thinking with City, Matt? How close to being back do you think they are? I'm thinking this is going to be a positive performance from them, to be honest.

From what I've seen of them lately, I saw them in the flesh at Brentford. I thought they were a team that were displaying the traits that have made them the best team in the Premier League over consecutive seasons. And I think that is gradually coming back. Phil Foden's form is key to that. Haaland is key to that, but also defensively.

I think that's the one area where they've really lapsed a little bit. They lapsed at Brentford that night, but they appear to be more confident. And I think that they're in that position where they're going to turn up here in the Champions League and put in a really good away performance. I think just in the nick of time as well with the matches that they've got coming up in the Premier League. Chelsea at home, Arsenal away, Newcastle at home, Liverpool at home, Tottenham away, Nottingham Forest away. I think it's Brighton after that as well. But it starts with a real big pressure game here in Paris against PSG. The penultimate match for them in this Champions League league phase.

And you'll be able to hear with us live from the Parc des Princes what happens. Your next episode of the Football Daily is the Champions League debrief. Steve Crossman will bring you all the reaction from that crucial match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. Plus, Arsenal and Celtic are also in action. For now, though, thanks for listening. On the Football Daily podcast, the Champions League debrief with Kelly Cates. Listen on BBC Sounds.