Football Daily - Euro Leagues: Defeat for Bayern & who next at Dortmund?

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Following an exciting penultimate round of Champions League group stage action, the panel discuss Bayern Munich and whether their defeat to Benfica was just a bump in the road? Could Xabi Alonso be the next manager in the dugout at Real Madrid? And after Luis Enrique described his PSG side as a “complete team”, what’s next for them? Plus, who next for Borussia Dortmund after the club sacked Nuri Sahin? And the panel discuss who might be the next Belgium manager. And hear all the latest from the transfer window – what will Omar Marmoush bring to Manchester City, and could Marcus Rashford to Barcelona really happen?John Bennet is joined by Guillem Balague, Kristof Terreur and Archie Rhind-Tutt to discuss all of the week’s biggest European football headlines.TIME CODES:05:00 – Bayern Munich 11:20 – Bayer Leverkusen and Xabi Alonso 18:20 – PSG 25:20 – Barcelona 28:20 – Sahin out at Borussia Dortmund 35:40 – Tedesco leaves Belgium 39:10 – Omar Marmoush to Manchester City 42:35 – Marcus Rashford to Barcelona? 44:20 – Kyle Walker to AC Milan5 Live and BBC Sounds commentaries this week: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 Live Manchester City v Chelsea – Premier League - 5.30pm KO – 5 LiveSunday 26th January: Tottenham v Leicester – Premier League – 2pm KO – 5 Live Crystal Palace v Brentford – Premier League – 2pm KO – 5 Sports Extra Aston Villa v West Ham – Premier League - 4.30pm KO – 5 Live

BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. On the Football Daily Podcast, the Euroleagues with John Bennett. Listen on BBC Sounds. Hello, welcome to Euroleagues, another dramatic and exciting week of European football to reflect on. And this week we're joined by Guillaume Balaguet, Archie Rintut and Christophe Theroux. Hello to all of you. Great to speak to you again. We should, Christophe, really have made this a fashion special because both Guillaume and Archie

becoming very famous on social media for their colourful clothing. Archie, we know this regularly. Bundesliga managers comment on his jackets, on his fashion sense when he does the pitch side interviews. But this week, Guillaume as well, Micah Richards was giving you some stick about your colourful top when you were at the sidelines at Atletico Madrid against Bayer Leverkusen. I thought you hit back at him really well. You said you should never aim to be invisible.

But what I want to know, what did Diego Simeone make of your colorful jacket did he make any comment about it no not of the jacket uh I'm trying to think Chubby made a made a comment Chubby Alonso did really yeah just uh oh I like it but I think we we flare with each other every time we see each other so I couldn't say much about his fashion sense because he was all wearing black. And also he'd lost badly when he didn't expect it. So I didn't touch on his fashion sense.

But yeah, it's, you know, I don't know if Archie feels the same, but it is more and more common for what we will consider generally alpha male players, managers, to actually talk about fashion. They just want to be colourful and appreciate those that are a little bit different. I do think it's genius because it gets rid of that little awkward small talk

before the interview. I mean, Archie, Vincent Kompany's been interesting in your jackets, hasn't he, lately? I'd say that he didn't want to be interested, but was forced to be interested in them and has said, as of their 5-0 win against Hoffenheim last week, his words were, do better. So I can't do much about that.

But, you know, I think when he made a comment to me a couple of days before, I just thought, well, I can't back down now. Like, if he'd said nothing, I would have just kind of maybe come with something slightly more neutral. But I was like, well, you forced my hand here now. I've got to come back with something. But, you know, washing also dictates things as Guillaume I'm sure

will know himself and also warmth it is difficult to find things at this time of the year which provide the warmth that you need

and particularly in Brugge as I found out but also can match up but yeah as Guillaume says you know

footballers aren't aren't robots they have feelings and opinions too. And also some interesting taste in fashion. Are you doing company's next Champions League game against Slovakia and Bratislava? That's where you can say before the game,

you should do better. We'll get to that. We'll get to that in a moment. But Christoph, just in a word, who do you think, we're going to give you the casting moment but Christophe just in a word who do you think we're going to give you the casting vote who's got the better

fashion sense do you think Archie or Guillaume that's a difficult one then I'd go for still for Guillaume's colourful shirts there you go

they're classics they're classics do better do better Archie it's not all fashion today I promise coming up on Euroleagues all the Champions League

talking points including that crazy Barcelona game what next for Borussia Dortmund after sacking Nuri Shahin and of course it's January so that means some transfer talk at the end of the pod Marmush and Rashford will get a mention and before we get into dissecting the Champions League talking points a question to pose to you guys which you can answer at the end of the show. It's from our friends at the excellent The Commentator's View podcast. They've received this question from Kelvin the Trucker in Canada. They've passed it on to us.

He says, I love my BBC podcast while I'm driving my truck along 500 mile stretches of boring US interstates. What I really like is the World Football phone-in with Dotton and Tim. One of my favourite terms, which Tim refers to in Brazilian football, is when a goal is scored in the top corner, it's referred to as up where the owl sleeps.

So why don't you ask the EuroLeague's team for their favourite phrase, which is only used in their countries and nowhere else. Have a think about that, Archie, Christoph and Guillaume, and we'll talk about that a bit later on. But let's start this week's look back at the Champions League drama with Bayern Munich beating 3-0 by Feyenoord on Wednesday night. So they're 15th in the table, 12 points.

Top eight hopes basically over. Archie, what's the reaction been like in Germany to this defeat? Because they had over 30 attempts on goal. So is it seen as a one-off unlucky or is it something a bit more concerning? There has been this trend of Bayern in bigger games this season, not getting the results and not turning up. I think of the Barcelona away game in the Champions League, Aston Villa as well, but Feyenoord wouldn't have probably been classed by the media, at least, as being one of those

bigger games because this is a place where Bayer Leverkusen won 4-0 earlier this season. And so it would have been assumed that Bayern could get a similar result. And yet the quote that stands out for me after the game is Joshua Kimmich saying, we're not a top team because of this result. He says that things are still pushing in the right direction and the mood in the dressing room is still better than it would have been after a similar kind of result in the last few years. There is this pressure at Bayern, especially this season, when the Champions League final is in Munich. And that heightens all the emotions even more at a place where emotions are likely to escalate very quickly, is the most diplomatic way I can find of saying it. So, yeah, given the way they've been going in the Bundesliga, where they are still top by four points over Bayer Leverkusen, out of the DFB Cup though, which is really looked down upon, albeit that was to Leverkusen as well. The biggest issue I find

coming out of this game is that it now looks like Bayern will not be able to make it into those precious top eight spots which you would have expected them to be in and the biggest problem that presents to Bayern is that the big game that everybody is talking about coming up in Germany 15th of February Leverkusen against Bayern this means that either side of that Bayern will now likely have to play a very important playoff in the Champions League which is exactly what they won't have wanted and what Leverkusen might not have to do if they beat Sparta Prague by enough goals next week so this result has ramifications and also it saw them exposed in the same way that we've seen them exposed throughout the season, which is on the counter. And that presents more ammunition to the Munich media.

Yeah, two Champions League games in the middle of such a massive fixture could work both ways, couldn't it? Because if you're a team that create the chances but don't convert them, but all of a sudden you start converting them in the first of those three, then you could just run with three wins three wins that change the the the the shape of the season but in any case this was a buy-in that created a lot of chances and it's sometimes difficult to explain a game in which they should have won but they didn't uh expected goals would do that i haven't checked but uh they should perhaps be superior to Feyenoord. In any case, this is the kind of Champions League we're having. And unless one of those sides that don't seem to be hitting all cylinders

that you expect with the players they've got to be candidates, if it doesn't happen, if we just continue having their up and downs, this could be anybody's years because you look around. Real Madrid, they were they were very good yesterday but it was I'll be like Salzburg you have a Barcelona that could sit four goals still win you know in Italy Inter not scoring a lot that is going well for them but could go the other way Juventus the same in England, this Liverpool allows you to have chances against them. So it is not one clear candidate to win it so far,

even though, you know, at the moment you have to say that, yeah, perhaps Liverpool are a little bit ahead. But fascinating season because of that. One that I'd like to know of you, Archie, I was just checking tables last week just to check if Vincent Kompany was doing much better in the Bundesliga than Thomas Tuchel, for instance, and I was surprised that they only have one point more

than last season, and the vibe seems completely different. Is that the difference? Like, yeah, the atmosphere at Tuchel was at this point of the season, I think, complaining. But if you look purely at results and points, it's not a huge difference. The funny thing has been observing through the season how comments which we would describe

as being between the lines have got less and less between the lines and have started to just spill over those lines about how much people did not like Thomas Tuchel at Bayern. From Max Eberl, their chairman of sport, or senior sporting director, I would say, to what Joshua Kimmich was saying last night, saying how in previous times

these conversations in the dressing room would have been a bit different. And that harmony that you're alluding to is a big point, but also because of how Bayern are seen to be entertaining again. The way that they play, which I think may also have its pitfalls with the way that they finish

in that because they turn the ball over so quickly, they feel this pressure that they need to finish it as quickly as well in the same rhythm. And they rush themselves a bit with their chances. And there is another, I think, way of thinking that you can also say that, for example, Leroy Sane, who is in the final year or months now of his contract, that these players have shown that they struggle with finishing in big moments in the past. And maybe this is time for Bayern to make upgrades in the summer and move on. But as you say, there is a much better mood around Bayern right now because they are at least entertaining.

They are on course to win the Bundesliga for now at least. And that's a big thing because let's not forget, Leverkusen were just so much better than them last season. And that would be at least one thing that Vincent Kompany could get back. Let's talk about Bayer Leverkusen and Xabi Alonso and the Real Madrid speculation as well. So Bayer Leverkusen, 1-0 up, cruising against 10 men and they lose 2-1 to Atletico Madrid.

Both teams in the end had a player sent off. I really enjoyed this game, Guillaume. I was half watching it because I had other games on as well. You were there. It seemed, just half watching it. This was a typical Diego Simeone against all odds. How on earth did they win it? Winner's DNA performance.

What was it like watching it from the sidelines? You can write a book about this game. It was absolutely fascinating because obviously Atletico Madrid came out with the intention of using what Xabi Alonso had described before the game, the noise of the Metropolitano, the fact that that adds an extra pressure.

And Atletico Madrid, instead of actually going at it, they felt that they couldn't adapt to what Xavi Alonso had put on the pitch, which was a centre-back in Kapier as a left-back, Grimaldo, a left-winger, coming inside. There was superiority in the middle, and Atletico Madrid just could not do anything. With Florian Wirtz moving around freely, Atletico Madrid were just defending their own box. And that was it. The frustration came out in the way that Pablo Barrios was sent off, basically. And Bayer Leverkusen had a lot of chances, played really, really well against XI and against X. And, of course, they scored just before halftime. And then, having spoken to Simeone, to Julian Alvarez, to Giuliano Simeone,

I gathered that in the changing room, it was very quiet, it was a frustrated team, perhaps unable to see a way out. And what Simeone came out with wasn't very loud speech about let's give everything for the fans kind of thing. It was very calm. And he said, right, Reynildo is going to come on because Javi Galan, the left back, was really struggling.

And what we have to do is come out, add a little bit more. Forget that we're 10. We have trained. He said, we have trained with 10 versus 11, and you know what you have to do. That mixed with the fact that fans hadn't given up on the possibility of at least getting something out of it, and then scoring early with Julian Alvarez, who was absolutely outstanding, you got Atletico Madrid that believed in the possibility of turning it around. I asked Simeone, did you players know who had a yellow card? Because you kept going at them, at the ones with yellow card, dribbling and trying things with them and provoking them to get a second yellow card. He said, no, no.

I said, well, somebody's lying here, I said to him, because actually, Giuliano Simeone, your son told me that they did know. So, yeah, they went at it. I love this. This is Diego Simeone's genius, isn't it? I mean, I don't think he gets talked about enough in terms of his managerial genius.

We talk about the genius of Guardiola, Klopp, but this is really getting into what makes Diego Simeone so special, because all the talk before the game Archie had been about Xabi Alonso and the fact that it seems to be nailed on that he will be Real Madrid manager next season and Carlo Ancelotti denied that he's decided to to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season he says he wants to stay joke that he could be there until 2029. But what did you make of all that noise around Xabi Alonso?

And do you think that had an impact maybe on their preparations? No, I don't think so. I think there is, it's widely accepted in Leverkusen that if Real Madrid come knocking, I think that Leverkusen might go to Xabi. Please, please can you stay but

but at the same time they will they I think there are plans in place should should Xabi Alonso go and and and they understand the the hierarchy of European football no I think that on a night like this you just have to credit Atletico Madrid and say that they do what they do very well. And Xabi Alonso said, look, it needs to be a lesson for us. It's something that he's talked about before. And actually, this game threw up a similar scenario to the one they faced in December against Bayern in the Cup, where Manuel Neuer got sent off in the first half

and Leverkusen were headless for the rest of the first half until Xabi Alonso was able to get into them at half-time and say the plan remains the same let's let's calm down here and he was talking about the emotional part of the game was bigger than the football part against Atletico and that's what they struggle to handle and I think that that is still something that Leverkusen have to learn there's also a point here of Leverkusen maybe reaching the boundaries because they have overachieved massively with Xabi Alonso and we sometimes just expect that that can exponentially keep on going I think there are times maybe where you have to go this is the

limit of it but at the same time is the limit of it. But at the same time, if the limit of it is only losing in the Champions League this season to Liverpool and away at Atletico Madrid, no shame, but still lessons to be learned. And yeah, he is still a tremendous coach and there are reasons why he's being linked with Real Madrid. Not bad for a limit when you win 11 games in a row and you should have won this one. But certainly an experience that, by the sounds of it, they will all learn from.

I spoke to Xhaka, I spoke to Xavi Alonso, and as Sargi said, Xavi, I didn't ask either of them about the tactics. It was all about the head. And Xavi said, I could not control what happened from the minute 60. In the second half,

Xavi admitted that Simeone took the game to where he wanted it to take it, which was like a lot of interruptions, a lot of battles, the fans supporting the team and taking them to another level. All that, Bayer Leverkusen couldn't correct.

But he said, at that point, minute 60, when things are going that direction, as a manager, and this is a lesson to himself, I could not do anything. And Xhaka said, I saw that there were things that had to be done, and I couldn't communicate with my teammates. I asked for calmness, but calmness couldn't appear because the head was going in a different direction. So all that I found fascinating and suggests a team that emotionally is not stable enough

to actually come and win these kind of games when they're required to. But they've won the league, so perhaps they will see it as a hiccup and learn from it and still think they've got... If the squad was a little bit deeper, they've got new levels and they're still candidates to win the league. Elsewhere, how relieved are we that Julien Leronde is not with us this week?

We love Julien Leronde. What do you mean? Can you imagine? I want to hear him on... No, imagine? I want to hear him on. No, no, I want to hear him on days like today. Can you imagine how smug he would be? No, we'd love to get him on after Paris Saint-Germain have been beaten.

Humiliating Champions League exit. No, I'm only joking, Julien. We'll hear him on Five Live Sports soon, I'm sure, showing off about what a spectacular comeback it was. So Paris Saint-Germain, of course, beating Manchester City 4-2 after being 2-0 down.

Christophe, where have this PSG side been? That was an amazing second-half performance. That was just stunning. That was everything that the Paris Saint-Germain fans have been waiting for. This new philosophy, the Galactico's gone, this young team performing so, so well. When you knew when City went 2-0 up,

they've been given away advantages so much this season that you kind of prepared for a team to make the comeback. And when they made it to one quite early on, you felt that it was coming. You saw them growing into the game and I thought they were

quicker, faster. They just yeah, their midfield had the energy that City was lacking, basically. And that's when you have young players. I think I really liked Barcola. I really liked João Neves. That was full of energy, what you expect from a young team and what you saw from City a few years ago. And maybe we don't have to exaggerate how good PSG were and we don't have to overestimate them right now.

But yeah, maybe that was a perfect picture of where two teams are now. The one is being built, still being built. And the other one is, yeah, over the top, I think. And yeah, that's what you saw clearly in that game. being built and the other one is over the top, I think. That's what you saw clearly in that game, it's just that they were physically better and much faster and that's when you have old legs in your team like City have. I remember talking to Unai Emery about that massive defeat against Barcelona, if you remember the 6-1, and he said, you know, that could have been the turning point

in the history of PSG, because PSG needs one of those days that people can hang on to, to say, we did it then, we can do it again. A turning point, a remontada, a turnaround of a game. This could be it. This could be history for PSG. And it is done, it is the culmination of a plan that has to do with, yes, having a young squad,

I think 24 years, 156 days is what it was yesterday. And that is one of the youngest of the competition this season. They've never come back in any competition since 2012 from a 2-0 down to win it. And they did it in such a wonderful way that Pep Guardiola could only praise them. By the way, read between the lines, but when he talks about Chelsea and when he talks about PSG,

Pep Guardiola keeps saying, I envy them. They are fantastic. What a side, what he means is they're youthful, hungry dynamic, moldable who listen and who do what they're supposed to do just saying that The thing is Guillaume, I take the point about this potentially being a turning point for PSG

however, history has taught me that this is the most creative side at the top of European football in finding new ways to break Julien Laurent's heart. And you have to look at the possible combination

next week where Man City win. They are away to Stuttgart who are in 24th and Stuttgart, as they've proven at Real Madrid are very capable in in big in big games at least of showing up if not of getting a result they went away to Juventus and won and there's something in me which looks at this and goes are they about to hurt their fans once again

by giving them hope? You're talking from reading history, you know very well of PSG. That's what history says. What I'm defending is that there may be a turning point. And what I'm saying is that this season is not Champions League or disaster. That's what it feels. Having

spoken to the coaching staff of Luis Enrique, it doesn't feel like in the past that unless they get the Champions League, it's a complete feels. Having spoken to the coaching staff of Luis Enrique, it doesn't feel like in the past that unless they get the Champions League, it's a complete disaster. There was a banner at the stadium. We'll check in in a week. Well, it seems like they're patiently waiting for this team to become a winning side

with younger players. And yes, they need a strike and whatever, but they can correct that in the market. But this banner said, beaten by waves, but Paris has never sunk. This is not like we are the best and we're going to beat everybody and we're just going to scare you to death.

This is the admission that, okay, we may not be at our best, but we will never sunk. It seems to be a different atmosphere around PSG and Luis Enrique, who is a stone falling down a mountain, he will just go his way. And if they continue with him as a leader, I think they could go far, even if it's not this season.

I want to ask you, Christophe, about Manchester City then taking on Club Bruges. So City need to win. We know that if Manchester City win that game, they will be into the play-off round the last 32. What about Club Bruges then? Could they cause an upset? They've performed well, haven't they, in this Champions

League? Well, they've always had a good game plan, only not against Dortmund, when they lost at the end, 0-3, I think. But they have a game plan, they have some experienced players, they have young game plan they have some experienced players they have young players, they have a good mixture

but it's going to be a tough one for them because they've also been very lucky like an own goal or like against Aston Villa I don't know if you remember that crazy handball of Tyrone Mings how could we forget

how could we forget Carter Vickers, the game against Celtic, that crazy own goal. So they've only scored six goals and two or three of them were, yeah, absolutely, yeah. Goals for history, basically.

And they didn't make them themselves. So they don't score that easily, but still they are are difficult side to beat and they're they're still in an unbeaten run so uh they go there we have nothing to lose they have still a bit of pressure on there because they want to qualify for for the next round so a lot depends of the other results too but yeah they hope to go through so So let's see. But we've seen so far in the Champions League that City are not at their best against those teams either. So they might find a way.

Right, we have to mention Barcelona just quickly because, Guillaume, we've done a lot of Barcelona over the last few weeks. But I just want to quickly talk about this amazing game. Benfica 4, Barcelona 5. Guillaume Balaguer, great win for Barcelona, but they can't win the Champions League defending like that, surely? Really?

Surely not. That line was so high. I mean, that is going to get exploited. I love to watch it. They're the entertainers, but they're not going to win the Champions League, are they? Yeah, it wasn't even the high line. It was just that they defend really badly in their own box.

But there was a lot of calmness and quality from Pedri. Lamine was a bit absent. There was cold blood from Lewandowski with two penalties scored. There was hot blood from Rafinha scoring twice, the last one right at the end. But this is a new Barcelona because they never gave up when they went 1-0 down,

never gave up when they went 3-1 down or even when they went 1-0 down, never gave up when they went 3-1 down or even when they went 4-2 down. And in fact, a little bit like Real Madrid do, Hansi Flick, I think he's the biggest responsible of what's happening. Instead of going, right, better just, I don't know, save some legs for another game, he goes and puts three centre-backs and in front of them, this is for the last 20-25 minutes, you have Lamin Yamal and Fermin and you have Rafinha and Lewandowski. Let's go for it.

And let's go for it is a coin in the air, really. But what he's saying is, yeah, two heavyweight boxers. We have a lot of quality up front. Let's see if we can turn this around. And they basically did. The other vague responsible of what's happening is Rafinha. He's absolutely outstanding.

One of the best players in the world right now. 25 goals, 22 with Barcelona, 3 with Brazil, 9 assists all season. And Alida is able to have a go at the board. If he wants to sing, you know, the way that the board behaves, many players won't want to come to Barcelona. And we'll talk about Rashford later. And also on the just give me the ball i'll sort it out and i don't know where he got that tubo speed right at the end to actually beat all the defenders and score the fifth goal

but uh what barcelona are telling you yes they need to improve defensively but they got a love story with this competition with cup competitions uh, they are in the next round of the cup as well. They won the Super Cup in the Champions League, the top three. So why not win it this way? On the Football Daily podcast, the Euroleagues. Listen on BBC Sounds. The commentator's view on the Football Daily. I'm Alistair Bruce Ball.

I'm John Murray. And I'm Ian Dennis. And Friday's on the Football Daily means one thing. It's time for the Commentator's View episode. Join us every Friday as we look ahead to the weekend's football action with a few untold stories along the way. A wasp flew into my mouth while I was talking and I panicked. The commentator's view only on the Football Daily.

Listen on BBC Sounds. On the Football Daily podcast, the Euroleagues. Listen on BBC Sounds. Let's get to the drama this week at Borussia Dortmund. It had been coming for a long time, but they sacked their manager Nuri Sahin after four straight defeats and the club 10th in the Bundesliga,

14th in the Champions League table. So, Archie, six months in charge. He was the assistant before that. A lot was expected of him. What went wrong? I think it's fair to say you think it's not just his fault, this Borussia Dortmund collapse. No, not at all. He's the last part of the chain which has gone wrong. When you look at the way that Dortmund's strategy has been over the last few years and how their identity has become,

we need to qualify for the Champions League, do whatever it takes and how we get there doesn't matter. And that is formed by a larger goal of the money that we make is more important than the sporting success that we have. I remember it on that final day

of the Bundesliga where they had it all in their hands against Mainz and Jude Bellingham had a knock and he was not played that day. I remember seeing him galloping around the pitch and I was thinking how can any serious club allow a player of Jude Bellingham's quality even if he is about to go to Real Madrid, you have to win the league first. And seeing him on the touchline thinking, this club is prioritising the sale of a guy here over winning championships. And that, for me, was symbolic of the issues at Dortmund. They have leaders in the squad that can't lead on the pitch and they pay them wages that won't be paid by other clubs elsewhere because they don't deem them of requisite quality and it means that the club can't be consequential

when the bad performances are there and then there's squad planning issues with signing Jan Cotto from Girona last season excellent in Laiga, third best assister in La Liga. And he signed in the same position as a guy who Dortmund want to make a face at the club in Julian Rierson. And you're thinking, these things don't make sense. On top of always signing Bundesliga players who have done well the previous season. All of these things do not mix together. And so on top of that, you have a young, inexperienced coach in Nuri Sahin who came in and has been just a further identification cog in terms of, oh, he was around at some point in the past when Dortmund were successful.

Let's get him in this weird way that Dortmund have tried to emulate what happened under Jurgen Klopp. And whilst I think that, you know, he sees the game in an interesting way and can no doubt go on to become a good coach, it's not right now. And just not with all the other background that I've just been addressing with you there. And when he's had to face injury after injury after injury, this is the result. You are going to be through in the Champions League but they're 10th in the Bundesliga and their budget is the second biggest in the league by a distance

and that they're being outperformed in this way by Bayer Leverkusen is is not a good reflection on the club or the decision makers at the very top of thatki Vatska, who's been the long-time CEO, who I wouldn't say exactly has fronted up for this or has done so. He's just more reminding the fans that I saved you from being bankrupt once, which is fine the first time, but after that, I think it's gaslighting. That is a long list of problems behind the scenes Christoph does that make it less of an attractive proposition then for for the next manager who comes in where do you think they should go next who do you think they should go for next? Well maybe they should

do what what Klub Rigi did like appoint somebody they think they want to get rid of and as Niki Haen for Klub Rley going back there was just basically the manager of the under 21 and they already had signed another manager for the

under 21 so they just we given an interim job till the end of the season and then we find another

manager maybe Dortmund have somebody in their ranks that they say Mike Tolberg we put you there and

then suddenly it works out that's how appointments in football work usually it's it's not yeah it's not uh yeah you can't predict things so maybe they should appoint somebody from their youth uh ranks and see where they go just take the risk that's what they're doing in the interim Archie where do you think they will go I mean Eric Ten Haag has been mentioned a lot. Seems to be a non-starter though, doesn't it? Because it seems as though he wants to take over a job next summer. He wants a pre-season.

Who are the favourites? Who are standing out? Who do the Borussia Dortmund fans want? When you say that, should we translate that from footballese to he's had a look and gone, probably not. Probably not right now the the leading candidate who has who said that there's been no contact yet is nico kovac and

the text messages i got from borussia dortmund fans when when that was the name that that came back at me was um they they swore quite aggressively at me, actually. So I don't think that... I think he fits the Christoph mould of not much will be expected from Dortmund fans, given that he was sacked for underperforming with Wolfsburg last season. You go back far enough. He won the double with Bayern,

but was sacked shortly after that. So his CV is not as impressive as it once was, particularly with the German outlook on it. And yeah, Dortmund find themselves in with quite the conundrum right now. What's interesting with clubs like this is that they seem to have a philosophy that works and works and works and stops working. And at the point it starts working, it's not the manager, as Archie was saying,

that sorts things out, but it's the whole outlook at the club that they need to do, basically. When you have the second budget in the division and you're 10th and it's one winning nine or something like that, it's because something is missing. And it's just sometimes the combination of players, certainly the leadership,

but generally the atmosphere you get around the club. And Dortmund, it sounds like they should start acting upon it sooner rather than later, because there is a point, you only need to go to Manchester to see that, where you cannot stop it when the dynamic gets so difficult to turn that it's just almost impossible to do so. Dortmund have got the opportunity to do that. It's still a very attractive proposition,

even though not to Marcus Rashford, who was, of course, called by them as like, no, but that also is a sign. If Marcus Rashford, who cannot get into the squad of Manchester United, thinks that Borussia Dortmund is not an attractive proposition, something is going on. Domenico de Disco is also available

if they want the chance. Yeah, we're going to get to that now, Christophe. Yes, you's going on. Domenico de Disco is also available if they want the chance. Yeah, we're going to get to that now, Christophe. Yes, you brought us on nicely to that. An ex-Shelker coach at Dortmund. Oh, I don't think so. So we're all enjoying this club football. Club football is fantastic. Club football bonanza.

But Belgium want to get on the scene with some international football news. They go and sack their manager, Domenico de Disco, just under two years in charge. That had been coming for a long time this sacking poor results falling out with Thibaut Courtois but what is interesting is is what's next so we've talked about who could be next to Borussia Dortmund Christoph who could be next then for this Belgium national team job some really interesting names are being put forward by the media they had a dream candidate somewhere at half of December they invited somebody in Brussels but yeah he's now in another job and has already won the trophy so they wanted Sergio Concesao uh the current AC

Milan manager he was uh he's played in Belgium like at the end of his career, played for Standard Liège, made a good impression there, has started as an assistant at Standard Liège and still knows a lot of powerful people in Belgian football. So the sports director of the Belgian federation was in touch with Comcesao. They felt they could get an agreement until AC Milan sacked Paulo Fonseca and suddenly Côme César was gone so since then they have been making phone calls they had chats with agents and like they always do and yeah there's a short list of five people at the moment. Rudy Garcia, the former Roma, Marseille, Alnasser, wherever he's been,

the French guy has been mentioned as one of the candidates. He already was a candidate for the Belgium job in 2016 when they appointed Roberto Martinez. Thierry Henry has been mentioned again. That would make sense, wouldn't it? Thierry Henry, former assistant. Thierry has has been mentioned again. That would make sense, wouldn't it?

Thierry Henry, former assistant. Thierry has already denied it, but Thierry has been in the loop since he's been an assistant and the sporting director has been talking with the players and the players all love Thierry because Thierry has had good ideas that the assistant is close to the players, knows what some of these top players, still like Lukaku and De Bruyne, want.

So they put his name forward. They've done background checks on him. But yeah, he was a candidate before Domenico D'Aresco came, and then they didn't pick him. So I'm not sure why they would pick him now. And then last week, 10 days ago, another manager became available, and then they suddenly did a phone call to Julien Lopetegui

and they thought, oh, if we get that one, if we get a former Real Madrid manager, one who won the Europa League with Sevilla, he has that experience at the national team already, only for a short while. We make that call, but maybe Guillaume knows more about that. Friend of your leagues, Julien L make that call but maybe Guillaume knows more about that

friend of Euroleagues does he fancy that I think he needs a rest and that would

have been the message you get lots of rest in international football he needs to gather

some energy it was really tough what happened in England and I feel it's something that he would have to gather some energy. It was really tough what happened in England and I feel it's something that he would have considered at another point

because as Christophe said, he was a Spain national manager but it's not a priority now. I feel that he will continue like that until the summer and hope to get a project that starts from the beginning of the season

and with a stronger foundation that he's found. Let's end by talking about some big transfer stories around Europe. The January transfer window in full swing, plenty of deals which may get over the line before the deadline. We'll talk about one first that's been done though. Omar Mahmoud to Manchester City, €70 million confirmed on Thursday morning. So Archie from Eintracht Frankfurt, what

sort of player is he going to be for Manchester City? Do you think he will fit in straight away to Pep Guardiola's style? It's difficult going straight in in January. If he was playing through the middle, I'd have more confidence of him fitting in. But they've got a guy up

front who's just signed a nine-year deal so I wonder where he will fit in and and how he will because at Eintracht Frankfurt he's proven himself as an incredibly quick skillful excellent reader of the game sky-high confidence shooting technique out of this world three kicks first player since Lionel Messi in Europe's top five leagues to score, three free kicks in three consecutive games this season. He's on fire. And when you watch him live, it does feel like you're watching some magical performance happen in front of you.

And just seeing somebody like that, it really is so engaging. The question is, Pep Guardiola likes to have control in a game and very specific moments of explosion and i wonder how omar mamouchu has not been this explosively good until this half of the season that he's had with frank for how he will adapt to that i think it's going to be fascinating to see how they do work together because there is a player there 100% and being at Frankfurt on Friday and seeing the way that he was waved off by his teammates in the crowd was was really beautiful thing to see actually it's it's usually not the case when a player leaves for greater things, as in this case where everyone is happy to kind of go with it. And it was nice to see a player

get that kind of appreciation in the moment. It was interesting that at the beginning of his career in Europe, having come as an 18-year-old from Egypt, that he was recognised as a street player, which was difficult to fit in into teams that will have to have a passing pattern. And that's why eventually Walsworth let him go for free. But he's obviously developed as a player. I think he's a mixture of Salah and Julian Alvarez. So not really a winger, not really a number nine,

but he can be a number nine, of course, and has been, but can fit in with another forward. And remember that Manchester City puts a lot of players in front of the ball. As long as he does his role without the ball, then that's it. That's the player that they need to score goals as well. Now, this is the beginning of the next season. There's going to be six or seven players from the line-up of City that are going to disappear, that's going to be six or seven players from the line-up of City that are going to disappear.

They're going to be sold. And they probably will get enough money to then bring six or seven players, three of which probably will arrive already this January, to start next season. So what we were saying earlier about how much Pep Guardiola envies the youthfulness and naivety and ability to adapt to a very high demand of the Chelsea's and the PSG's.

He's going to try to look for that kind of profile that can do that for him. Marcus Rashford, Guillaume, you mentioned him a couple of times. What is the latest then? Barcelona keep being mentioned. Surely, though, surely this can't happen. I mean, all the financial problems at Barcelona, the huge wages that Marcus Rashford is on. Can you really see him going to camp now? Can this happen?

Remember that Barcelona have jumped from a difficult position in financial fair play to the 1v1, which means that whatever money that they bring in, they can spend in players for the first time in like three years or so. So they could be able to get Marcus Rashford. And there is interest in both parts. There was a meeting on Tuesday in Lisbon between Deco, the director of football, and Arturo Canales, who's the intermediate that is trying to put this together. And it could happen.

But to do that, they have to get a couple of players out. And there was the possibility of Araujo going to Juventus. He wanted to go. All of a sudden, Inigo Martinez gets injured, and they're about to renew his contract. So it won't be him. Eric Garcia, do you want to go to Girona? Because, you know, you won't be that far far it will only be an hour from your home and uh Eric went like yeah okay I can see

what you're saying here but you don't I cannot pay what Barcelona demanded of him so that seems at this point also over and uh and then Ansu Fati uh there are stories every week about answer party poor answerati the story goes and wouldn't it be better if he went somewhere else that means leaks from the club that want him to go and he's told the club okay I hear you I know what you're saying

I'm not going anywhere which means that Marcus Rashford as he stands is not going to happen and he would probably stay at Manchester United and finally on transfers Karl Walker to AC Milan Christoph you've covered a lot of Italian football in your time following the Belgian players over there.

Do you think this is a good move for him to re-energise his career in the late stages of his career? Is this a good move? For all the players, Italian football used to be a safe haven. So he's in the Premier League, he's sometimes outpaced right now, but in the Italian league where it goes a bit slower,

he might still have that quality of the pace, but we will have to see how an Englishman works out in Milan. It might work out well, but yes, sometimes a city like Milan, he will like it like it it might work I think for for one year or two years they've seen with other Premier League players moving to Italy they've all seemed to do well so uh yeah it might work before we go then back to our original question at the top of the pod favorite football phrase which is only used in your country, so Spain, Germany and Belgium and nowhere else. So let's start with Guillaume.

What have you got for us, Guillaume? There's one lovely phrase that describes a very good pass. He's done it with music. La ha puesto con musica. I don't think anybody else says that way of a beautiful pass. Archie? Germans are an interesting bunch where sometimes they will use phrases in English

which we don't even use in English about football. For example, I mean, that goal, that's my lucky punch. And I'm like, excuse me? What? And they'll be like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you that's my lucky punch and I'm like excuse me what I mean you say that in England we don't so therefore I present that but also maybe for somebody

who's an incredibly header of the ball they say it's quite fun to say it Kopfballungerheuer which is somebody who's like a header like a header monster header monster i love it and christoph last but not least well well yeah i know that louis van gaal and eric denaar have have translated lots of their dutch basically dutch flammex expressions into english when they were there like. They tend to use them in press conferences,

which might have sounded funny for English-speaking people. Remember when Van Gaal said, that's another cook in a press conference at West Brom, which Albion I was there. I couldn't stop laughing because I knew what he meant. But yeah, that's another biscuit. Yeah, that's a funny phrase in Dutch but it's not a football phrase but we have

like you have top corner and top bins and we call when in Belgium or in Holland somebody scores they say in the winkelhag which basically means into the T square I think it is the tool that an architect uses to

to draw straight corners. So into the T-square. Oh, I miss Louis van Gaal as well. We want Louis van Gaal back on the scene. So that's the question from the commentator's view. Have you got a question, anyone, for the commentators? For John Murray, for Ian Dennis, Alistair Bruce Ball, Guillaume, anything to throw the guys? Yeah, we don't always fancy commentating

or doing our job. There's times we just don't really want to do it. We just rather do something else. So when that happens, how do they come around and just get themselves in front of the microphone? I hear all of them and they never drop an ounce

their level of enthusiasm. Rubbish. At some point, they won their level of enthusiasm. Rubbish. At some point, they won't have the enthusiasm. So are they faking it? Or how do they get it back? I also want to hear if they really enjoy the sound of silence because commentators are always going on and no silence, basically. So do they enjoy the sound of silence when they're not commentating?

Christoph, thank you very much. Archie, thank commentating? Christoph, thank you very much. Archie, thank you. Guillaume, thank you very much as well. That is all for today's EuroLeagues. Steve Crossman will be here for the next episode of the Football Daily, reacting to Thursday's Europa League match between Manchester United and Rangers. As for us on EuroLeagues, we'll be back next week with all the reaction from that exciting

final round of Champions League League Stage Games goodbye for now