Football Daily - Euro Leagues: QFs set & AFCON 'disgrace'

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Steve Crossman is joined by ESPN's Julien Laurens, Guillem Balague & Rafa Honigstein on this week's Euro Leagues.The team reflect on the latest Champions League action as the quarter-finals are decided. Are Barcelona 'back' amongst the European elite after beating Newcastle 7-2? The team discuss how good they actually are, and what an asset Hansi Flick is.Are we beginning to see Alvaro Arbeloa find his feet at Real Madrid, and can Kompany's Bayern Munich defeat the fifteen-time champions in the quarter-finals? Then, the panel discuss how Sporting completed a crazy comeback to knock out the neutral's favourite, Bodo/Glimt!Finally, how have Senegal been stripped of their AFCON title, two months after beating Morocco in the Final?Timecodes: 01:55 Are Barca 'back'? How Hansi Flick continues to impress 14:20 Can a manager ever be judged on winning the Champions League? 18:30 Are we finally starting to see 'Arbeloa's Real Madrid'? 23:50 Is Vincent Kompany tactically good enough to win the Champions League? 29:04 Bodo/Glimt knocked out! Will we see big names leave the club? 35:56 Delving into Sporting's 5-3 comeback 41:01 Senegal stripped of their AFCON title!5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Thu 2000 Aston Villa v Lille, Sat 1200 Man City v Spurs in WSL on Sports Extra, Sat 1500 Fulham v Burnley, Sat 1730 Everton v Chelsea, Sun 1415 Spurs v Nottingham Forest, Sun 1415 Aston Villa v West Ham on Sports Extra, Sun 1630 League Cup Final - Arsenal v Man City.

On the Football Daily podcast, the Euroleagues, with Steve Crossman. Hello there, welcome to the Euroleagues on the Football Daily podcast. Coming up, we'll reflect on all of the Champions League action. We have our quarter finalists, including Barcelona's demolition of Newcastle, how Alvaro are below us, finding his feet at Rail Madrid after knocking out Manchester City, plus sporting's great comeback to knock out the heavyweights of European football, Bodo Glimt. We'll also talk about the news that you'll probably have seen. that Senegal have been stripped of their Afcon title

two months after they beat Morocco in the final. Guillaume Balagay is with us in studio. Hello. Hello, Steve. That must mean you've been Champions League match of the daying. That's right, yes, yesterday. Still, you know, when I do that, even though everybody's just treating like just another show,

it's not just another show, is it? Someone's phone buzzed immediately there. I don't know who it is, but I think it just highlights that every second somebody wants to get in touch with you. Oh, I see. Somebody's mom, probably, at this time of the day.

A little bit disappointed that you're all wearing black or dark blue. I have to be honest. Raffa Honikstein, you are the former fashion journalist. Nobody told you it's spring, my friend. In Munich, it is sunny, but it is still very cold. I vowed not to wear my winter jacket anymore, but my dad said bring long underwear for the game. Underwear.

That's very specific. long underwear And it was freezing last night Yeah I think the introduction that we did off air All about Eurovision Was probably better than this

But it's still good stuff Jules It's all good stuff It is It's always good when we're all together You know Right fine Does anyone want to talk about

The Champions League Yes All right Yeah fine All right Why don't we start with Barcelona That feels natural The beat Newcastle 72

At the camp now last night haven't won the Champions League since 2015. I kind of felt Guillem watching them last night that it reminded me quite a lot of Barcelona 12 months ago when we were all getting quite excited about them and that attacking football but culpable

defensively. Is this different? No, it still is a very young sight, which means that they like to go up and down emotionally in games instead of controlling what happens. So in the first half, they

realized that the man-to-man-marking of Newcastle allowed them to drive with the ball and attack all the time. I was from John Garcia just playing it long to whoever was in the midfield, not trying to do the five, ten passes that you require to then attack together. There was

none of that. And that was not the plan. So they still fall for that. And of course, if you open up a game like this, Newcastle, whoever, would just could take advantage in the Champions League, they outscore anybody. That is the other thing.

Nobody plays like Arthorona. Nobody creates so many chances. I think it was Simeone last night saying is the best attacking side in Europe. So you still got two sides. The only change has been that about two months ago, there was a meeting between all the players and Hansi Fleek. And they had started getting things right,

but still he wanted to hear what the players felt. And they said it in no, you know, in clear terms. It'd be nice in certain games at certain moments. It would drop 10, 50 meters and don't put the, push the defensive line so high. So that has happened. In certain moments, in big games, they have speculated, if you like, a little bit more. But try to tell that when the ball gets to Lamine or try to tell that when the ball gets to Fermin or Rafin. They are made to counterattack, to do quick transitions.

By the way, that's Barcelona. The essence of Barcelona is quick transitions. It's a German coach, and they aim for that. but that exposes the team unless they are just matters and sometimes they allow very often the rival to have a go. I know, Raf, that they've got a quarter final against Atletico Madrid, so they won't be thinking that far ahead. But the journalist in me is already thinking the prospect of Hansi Flick versus Bayern

in a Champions League final, I have to be honest. Yeah, but a journalist and you probably also thought it's going to be the company against Pep in the next round, right? So those big narratives, they don't tend to come off. I remember when Alex Ferguson was supposed to win the champion's league in Glasgow in 2002. Let's just play a bit more football. I think what we can say is that any combination of these teams, with the possible exception, I say this with the greatest of respect to sporting Lisbon and Atlittico Madrid,

I think all other six teams would make for an unbelievable final. and Barcelona of course in a slightly better position that's some of their biggest rivals because the draw is a little bit kinder to them even though I'm sure they won't relish playing another Spanish side in the next round

but yeah I mean Barcelona I think have come courtesy of the score line sort of back to people's consciousness I think there was slightly under the radar because the group stage was kind of underwhelming but I think people would love to see them take any of those big teams on

and, well, in the semi-final at the latest. I think, Jules, that's one of the interesting

nuances of the league phase is that as exciting as it was to see big teams play each other, maybe there is the idea of people

only waking up to even the big clubs when we get to this stage. I mean, some of the big clubs themselves have only woken up when we get to this stage. Yeah,

yeah, because the league phase could be a bit I think this evening in a sense that you play your eight games, the draw differ to other teams, you might get a slightly nicest draw suddenly at home, then away, then another big club, and we're not really sure past match day five,

how much really those big teams take that seriously, you know? And that's why the reality of that league phase, and we often say, I don't know it sounds a bit like a cliche, but there's two different Champions League. The first one is the league phase, and it's a different competition that starts after that in the knockout stage. is true. And that's what we've seen.

For Barcelona, Newcastle would never be good enough anyway to beat them over two legs. So yeah, they gave them a good game in that first leg, a decent first half yesterday. But overall, Barthar are just too good for a team

like Newcastle and the way they play, especially. Athletical would be different. You still expect them to win. And after that, if it's awesome in the semis and then whoever from the other side

of the draw in the final will be a much better contest than what we've seen yesterday. Just keep in mind, Steve, that twice the met in the knockout stage, of the Champions League, Barcelona, Aletico Madrid, and Lettico Madrid qualify both times.

And in the semifinals of the COP just recently, it was 4-0 at the Metropolitan, and only 3-0 at the Camino. So, you know, we'll see. If there is a team that knows how to damage Barcelona and take advantage of their weaknesses, that could be Aletico-Madr. Let's own in on Hansi Flick a bit then, Raff.

I just think he's fascinating. This guy who obviously left Bayern by choice, didn't leave Germany by choice and is now doing such a good job that even the two presidential candidates for the election, which Juan Leporteur ended up winning, agreed on him. We had Victor Font on the other candidate last week

and even he was like, okay, Leporter has done a knockout job getting Hansi Flick. Yeah, and I think in Germany especially there is a sense of real shock and surprise still, how successfully he's reinvented, reinvented himself after a disastrous spell with Germany because we talked about this before. There was a documentary that really revealed him as someone

who didn't seem to have the answers. There was a team talk where he would constantly ask the players, what do you think? What's going wrong here? And it just didn't come across as a man in control. And then you had this idea, taking him with no Spanish, with an almost exclusively German staff,

and putting him into this Barcelona minefield and shark tank where things have gone wrong for many coaches in recent years. And it was just hard to imagine him being such a success, especially with a style that isn't really a Barcelona style, not at least as we traditionally like to think of them, on the ball. Off the ball, maybe you can say, yes, it's not a million miles removed from what Pep started.

But he's done it and he's done it in real style. And now the question is, I think, can he take that all the way? Because winning La Liga is one thing, defending La Liga is another thing, but in order to get to the point where you make a historic sort of impact, you don't have to win the Champions League.

And I still wonder, and I'm still a little bit doubtful, whether his approach will work against sides who are so good on the ball that they will expose, Barcelona, but of course, we've been asking that question now for nearly two years, and very few teams have managed to do it. But, yeah, he's having a fantastic season, and Lapporte getting re-elected, and that bond

that they have shows you just how much he's made his job is on, which is no mean thing to do. They're going to renew his contract, so they are completely in love with him, even though he doesn't speak Spanish publicly. I don't know many cases of a manager that at this stage wouldn't have even tried but he wears so many clothes and does it so well

the father of all these kids so you know when you get Lamine coming off the pitch that doesn't want to be replaced he manages that crisis like a dad almost he has been a brother if you like

to Levandoski giving him a lot of love your moment will arrive and he has arrived two goals scored and in double figures already this season when actually Barcelona are thinking of no renewing his contract unless Pini Sahavi says otherwise his agent and very close to Laporta. He, I don't think he's a genius tactically

but he insists on the idea and perfections it to a point where everybody has bought it apart from that adjustment that we're talking about and it's got a lovely smile. No, I'm telling you. Should have led with that. It's so charming to disarms you completely when you go and attack him

because, you know, they lost the game against Mayoka, whatever. And he smiles at you. It's like, oh, yeah, okay, all right. He'll get a better next time. Hansi Flick has just charms you out. He hinted the other day

that this would be the last club job that he would have. Yeah, good point. Is it because he would feel like, I don't know, fulfilled? Is it because he wants to just go with another national team maybe after? Or he just wants some holidays

and retire somewhere nice and sunny? So I remember talking to him in February of the year that he signed for a year that he signed for Barcelona. And he was already preparing himself to be the Barcelona manager, even though Chabierlander was still in a job.

But he had been told that that job was for him. And I spoke to him about, this was an off-the-record conversation, which can come on the record now. But basically it was like, you know, I had a back operation, I struggled with pain since I left being a player,

I enjoy my life away from football. I need a project that would just make me happy every day. And then that's it. Because he's absolutely going to give everything. That he did have had that operation in his back and he's much better, but still suffering a bit. So I think he comes on that. He's the kind of person that having done what he's done already, he just wants a place to be happy. So here's my question, Jules, around the idea of how Hansi Flick is coaching Barcelona.

Are Barcelona just like the likes of Rail Madrid and PSG, whereby someone, who can man-manage and do the ego side of it is just as important, if not more important than being a great tactician? No, I think you need both of those sides and some have only one of the sides and that could well work, but I think it's more difficult. Others have the other side and that can work, i.e. Zidan, Carlo, you know, this kind of guys, but it's getting more and more difficult if you just have that side. I think Ansi Flick, who clearly Guillem is in love with, loves the same.

smile, because of the smile, you know, has both sides. I think Wysenrique has both sides as well. I think Vini Company has both sides as well and we can go on. You can acquire in a certain way, maybe the management skill a little bit more. You can, you can mellow a little bit. You can have a bit more softness maybe in the way you deal with some players, the ones that need the love the most. I think the tactical genius side of it is either you're born with it or you're not,

but it's very difficult to get it when you're 50. 55. I think as a coach you will improve for sure, but when we talk about tactical genius, I think you have that or you don't really. What I would add is that Barcelona's style and winning. So style requires work.

But he's managed to actually transform what, as Rafi was saying earlier, the style that we relate, the DNA that we relate to Arthona to something else is a counter-attacking team now. But because they still have long moments of possession, especially when they're

head. People think still he's, I don't know, Tiki-taka football. But no, he's transformed that, winning in the process, making people fall in love with him. And it just couldn't, it just really couldn't have been better.

And the fact that he's, as Rafi is suggesting again, has to be judged for having won the championship is a little bit unfair. Nobody should be judged for that. But to be close and competing, absolutely, yes. Nobody?

Go on. Not even Pepoardiola, no. Why not? Because Champion's League is a knockout competition, because a million things can happen. You can demand teams that have got the biggest budget to be top four in Europe regularly, but you cannot say, but you have to win.

Otherwise, you're not a genius, or you're not a super genius, or you're not a good manager. That's completely unfair. It's a cup competition. I agree with you, in principle, but I think if you have 20 opportunities to win the championship,

League with one or two teams that are the best in Europe, then why wouldn't you be judged on it? I mean, as you're saying, Juventus is not a super club because they lost so many finals. They still are. It's to be there in the last stages, what makes you, what is the minimum demand that you should give. But to even ask a manager, a club you could say, yes, okay, different managers. I've taken Juventus to the final.

Perhaps they should have wanted more. but to say the manager can be just defined. I'm talking about Pep. Someone should ask this question to him. I think it would go down well. I don't know if anyone saw the press conference after the game. You want to get him fired. That's why you want to himself.

But seriously, I think if as a manager you set the bar quite high for yourself by winning domestically regularly all the time, then the more you win domestically, the more people say, well, okay, that's fine. But where is the biggest trophy? Flick were to win five titles in the row in La Liga, but get knocked out at quarterfinals and semifinals every year, right? Yeah. People would say, great, but he hasn't figured out to win the Champions League.

Or should we... Yeah, it's just a reality. I think it's interesting because, Guillem, I... The question is, because I'm going to shock you here as a BBC presenter, I think you've all made interesting points. But I suppose the thing is, Guillem, that... Like, I mean, Pep Guardio has obviously been an amazing manager and doing incredible things.

No, no, no, but there's no but. Okay. There is no but. He is and has been. But just because it's not necessarily, it might not feel fair to question these things, because these things have happened, they will naturally be questioned. So if you look at one Champions League season in isolation or maybe two or three, you're exactly right.

You can just be on the wrong end of it. You think of two buy-in semifinals. You can just be on the wrong end of it against another. mega team. The question becomes, if that happens a large number of times, is there scope there to question what you have done in that situation as a manager? But you do have to look close up and you see, by a minute, destroying Atlantic of Madrid in the semi-final or Manchester City destroying Grand Madrid twice and being knocked out. And okay, because at the end there will just be a win and only one team winning. That would allow many to

create a narrative. I do think that what he was asked for, Pepe Bore Diola, when he first arrived, please dominate the domestic titles in the first four or five years, which he did, and then make sure that you are the top four team in Europe to be in semifinals regularly, which kind of did as well. That's the measure of how his own club, you know, calculates success. That's it. I mean, I just feel I have to defend Peabodial all the time. You're talking about the second manager in the history of the game

with numbers of champions he won. So I don't know. No, no. It's an interesting discussion. And it's not, is he a great coach or is he not a great coach? That's not the discussion. Clearly he is. Right.

Do you want me to tell you to finish up something interesting about Bordeaux? So Citi are now waiting for him to confirm that he will stay there two years. So he signed for two years. He's in his first season of two. Yeah. And Oobiana is kind of putting precious the word, just pushing for him to confirm. that he will stay the second year as well.

Oh, interesting. You always do that. You did that on Champions League match at the day last night. You just drop a little thing in at the end of the conversation. Like when you were like, by the way, Levantowski's going to leave. Right, let's move on to Rail Madrid. So Barcelona through, Rail Madrid through, basically La Liga domination over the Premier League.

Railbeat Manchester City, five won on aggregate. As we mentioned, they've got Bayern Munich in the quarter finals. Are we starting to see Alvaro Arbaloa's Real Madrid? now? Is there something tangibly are below or about it? Or are we seeing Real Madrid now? Full stop. This is Real Madrid. Things work with the logic that many in the outside

may seem a little bit outdated. But it works at Real Madrid. Chavi Alonso was brought with the idea of breaking all Real Madrid. Let's give him structure. Let's give him idea. Let's give it layers. Let's roll some responsibilities to players. And they had to return. to the essence of the team,

and Arbello has done that. And he's done it by giving players confidence, by making it simple. But he, in a way, he's been benefited by not having Bellingham and Embappe and demanding the 11 to run the socks off. And that has helped Real Madrid do what they do very well in the biggest moments from March competing very well.

Everybody's happy. It'd be interesting to see Bellingham back in. obviously Mbapé will start and score a lot of goals but I think the standards have been raised now in terms of what they have to do, especially without the ball. So it'll be an interesting transition into the lineup that we'll expect now. By the way, Couttsua out for six weeks.

Loonin was great though, Jules, wasn't he? I mean, I know he's not Cototouin there, is he? No, and for all the games where Cottois bailed them up this season and there's been a lot where he had to do three amazing saves in a game, two amazing saves on top of Killian's scoring to win them games without him as not the same story. And also we saw them beating the Manchester City last season, for example, and then going to the quarterfinals and then once they fell, they play against the team like Arsone with all their

structure and their solidity, et cetera, they had no idea, no creativity. So it would be very interesting. I don't think they'd be Bayonne over two legs. I think Bayan are too good for this Ramudriti team, even with Killian and even less now without Courtois, who will be missing at least the first leg. for sure. That's the funny thing, Raff,

isn't it, about success like this? And again, it links back to that thing of fairness versus expectation. If I'm a Rail Madrid fan and my team have just beaten Manchester City

5-1 on aggregate, I'm now thinking, oh, well, cool, we should get to the final of the Champions League at least then. Yeah, yeah, of course. It's not just because of the 5-1, it's because you've done it so many times

and we know all the story. When Guillem said, this is Real Madrid, what he means is, this is a team that look fairly ordinary for big chunks of the season, but then turn it on and somehow find this unbeatable run, and we've seen it so many times.

And often than not, to go back to the earlier discussion, often more than not, they do it with a manager who doesn't come with a very clear sort of playing identity, but just lets the players define almost what happens. But the quality of the players is so high at Real Madrid, and the confidence in those moments seems to be so high that they find a way. I mean, what's interesting,

I think if this Real Madrid were to do it, it'd be the first time in the post sort of cross-moderge area that they'd do it without the kind of control that they have. Even I think sort of Ramadrida, their worst moments, there was a sense that they keep just enough of the ball to just kind of play themselves into games again, even when games are not going for them. And I don't quite see this with this game,

with this team. This team is even more of a moment's team. They don't have that sort of underlying structure of control and calmness on the ball that they had for 10 years with those two, give a take. So that's going to be super, super interesting. I think the tie is going to be absolutely fascinating. A buying ready for it? I think buying feel ready for it, yes.

They need everyone fit. It's a very thin squad. They can't really lose the likes of Olise, Kane, Luis Diaz. The replacements would not be at the same level. their back, it's very thin. They basically have three proper centrebacks, four a few counts, Stanley Sage. So there's really very, very little

room for error. But of course, the league is almost done and dusted that gives them a bit more freedom to rotate. And they seem to have made another step up in relation to last year. Last year, we saw them score a lot of goals,

but they also conceded quite a lot of goals, and they looked very open and they lost a few games, even in the group stage. At this time, They've lost one game against Arsenal, which was close for the first half and the second half, Arsenal were better and deserved to win. But there's a sense that the team has become more complete and are more sort of comfortable within their own game plan at any given a moment. So, yeah, I mean, we've seen many, many amazing round red bind games over the last, I don't know, 25, 30 years. I can think back to a game in 1987, even, which was an amazing. in the semi-final, but I think this could have the hallmarks of a real classic.

The interesting thing here then, Jules, is going back to the question that I asked you previously about needing to be a great man-manager versus a great tactician, if we're now in the era where you're talking about where you absolutely categorically have to be both or you just can't succeed at the very top, what about the non-great-player, great-manager, a great friend angle of Vincent Company. Do you think he is tactically good enough to win a Champions League? Yeah, I think he's got everything now.

And I know we were surprised when he got the buying job, one, because he was not among the first three choices to start with and because coming from Bernie, all of that. But I think very quickly, we just saw all those attributes that we just mentioned. And I think, and we know him well,

all four of us, really. And in a way, this is not surprising. Okay, maybe it's surprising that he's doing so well. and last season was a disappointment probably in the Champions League, again, to go back to that, how you should see this, a team like Bayern and the way they were knocked out by Inter. But this year, I think on the second season,

you see how good it is and how good he's made this team be because he's got all those attributes, because he's got everything. I watch them every weekend pretty much, not as closely as Rafi, but I'm amazed and yeah, okay, maybe the league is not very strong this season and apart from Doctmo-ish.

But I just love watching them play and I think everybody would love watching them play and it must be a pleasure to work for this team, for this manager, and I think you could see that even from the players. And leadership qualities that has shine this season as well. Personally, it's a pleasure

to listen to Vincent Kompany in press conference. I don't know if every press conference is the same, Rafi, but he's always got things to say and he says in such a wonderful way. A lovely smile. Not so much. A lovely aura. He's got a lovely aura

which is what Jules talk about. The players will just feel that he's a winner. He showed it. But also, they will go whatever he wants because he seems to have that honesty about him. Is it like that? Press conferences are things to watch with him? It depends on the topic.

I mean, if it's serious topics, especially they go beyond football when he talks about his heritage, his culture, the way he grew up in Belgium, with Congolese background, the way he talked about the incident with Benetius. He is just so interesting and thoughtful and yeah, a great communicator.

But it's a little bit wrong. And I say this as someone who has close connections, of course, with the coaching staff. But it's a little bit reductive to think of him as this guy who just shouts at players and kind of motivates them well and handles them well. I think the reason why he's very successful is because his work ethic is unbelievable. I mean, this is a guy who will still sit in the buy-end office at 11 o'clock on a Thursday night, going over opposition teams. I mean, they will now watch probably 30 round of grid games, full 90 minutes, minimum.

Wow. He will personally watch them. And there was one game early when they drew against Frankfurt in his first season. He made the coaching staff watch their game four times in the full 90s. minutes to figure out what the missing bits were and where they could improve. So there's a tremendous amount of thought and an idea that goes into it. But he's so effective communicating it because A, he's got the personality, but also he's a former world-class player who played under PEP Guardiola, who won big stuff, big things, and people respect

his opinion. So he really is the complete package in many ways. Right, coming up, we'll chat sporting after their comeback to knock out Bodo Glimp. We'll reflect on the news that Senegal have been stripped of their Afcon title as well. All of that on the way after this. From a small village on the banks of the River Nile. Everybody call me Mohammed, but, you know, short name or nickname, they call me more. To the biggest stages of world football. Sala is more than just a player.

He's an icon, a symbol, a king. Mohammed Sala represents a dream for Egyptians, for Muslims, for Africans. More than just a football player, he gave us hope. I'm Kelly Kate. This is Sporting Giants, Mo Sala. Listen on BBC Sounds. On the Football Daily podcast, the Euroleaks with Steve Crossman. Welcome back to the Euroleagues.

We've got Guillem Ballagay, we've got Raphael Honitstein, and we've got Julian Leone, all with us, Sporting Lisbon, slash sporting club to Portugal came back from 3-0 down to knock out Bodo Glimp in the second leg of their last 16 tie they won 3-0 in 90 minutes and then 5-3 in the end on aggregate

and they've got Arsenal in the quarter-finals next month. Jules, I've got a bone to pick with you here. You stuffed us last week. You should thank me for you exactly. Stuff does. You were like, oh, we don't need to talk about Bodo again this week for the 500th time

because they're going through, aren't they? No, no, I said we'll talk about them if they go through. Did you say it? That's what I said. Yeah, yeah. Because we were not going to talk about them after the first leg because there was just too much still up in the air.

Remember, the game at Inter Milan, which they won in the playoffs. Yes. Could have turned a very different way that on that night had interbeen a little bit more efficient in front of goals. I will never understand why a team with so much confidence and so much momentum going into the second leg in Lisbon decided to park the bus and just wait, wave after way from sporting to go at them and go and sporting a good team. They're not going to beat Arsenal, I think, over two legs.

They're not going to win the Champions League. They're not the level of the other teams left in the competition. But for Bodo Klim, a team that is so interesting and so good with the ball, why would you just decide by yourself because you're 3-0 up on aggregate after the first leg to just abandon the ball completely and just wait and try to keep the score at nil-nil for as long as possible? I thought it was the most stupid things that Notting done probably since it took over at Bodoglint.

I really didn't get it. It's a shame, Guillem, because, well, not sporting going through, but it's a shame that that story has come to an end. Even though from an editorial point of view, we were in danger of becoming the official Bodoglip podcast at one point. We are, yes. We had absolutely everybody on. But the story's not over.

That's the great thing about Bodhis. Glimb and clubs like them. I was much of the day yesterday. I looked at the numbers of the Scottish League and Bodo Klimt and how the, say, Celtic has got about £100 million in revenue every year. And Bodok Limp has got like, I think, 27. And how their wages is like $17 million a year compared to the 80 million of Celtic. How is it possible that with so little you can do so much?

go and explore. And Celtic ranges see if the league themselves can just bring something out of it and continue the story that way of what they've shown us. A team with identity, with continuation in the idea,

with respect of hierarchy, with science, with all of that can actually take you very far. And you don't need to get into the semi-finals of the Europa League or score 4-0 against sporting club. But I'm sure you can do much. much better if you learn from the lessons.

I really hope the story isn't over Raff, and I don't mean to be cynical. They are an interesting lightning in a bottle case, though, in that they have quite a few players there who are not sort of new kids on the block who might now get picked up by major European teams. Quite a few of their players have already done that and it hasn't worked and they've come back.

The question, I suppose, is, is that going to mean that they think, know what, I've tried that I'm happy here, or is it more realistic, Rath, that they are going to lose some significant players, maybe the manager as well? I mean, the question is how many clubs will believe that they can replicate that kind of environment for the players to work out or for the manager to have success. I think everything we've learned about Buda Glimtsofar suggests that this is very much about the collective and a very specific set of circumstances that they've created.

You take one guy out, you take a centre forward. you take the manager out and put them somewhere completely different. Will they have the same impact? I doubt it. So I'm not sure. I think clubs look at this team and understand that this is not a team of players that are natural, their natural habitat is the quarterfinals or last 16 of the Champions League, but they've achieved it through their unique ideas and unique kind of togetherness.

And I think that be, I don't say, I want to say reluctant, but probably quite conscious of the fact that it's not going to be so easy for those players to play as successfully somewhere else. But will one or two clubs look at the manager? 100%. I mean, he is a guy that has created a following. People look at what they do. People look at the coaching. I think there was already a club in Germany.

Frankfurt recently who looked at him when they had to replace Dino Topmuller and ended up with Albert Riera. So 100%, but I think both they and the people who might want to go after them understand that this is not a normal food chain situation where you just pick off players and managers from a lower club and they're going to be great further up. I suppose one problem, Jules, they might have, is that it doesn't need to be the very biggest clubs who think about trying to poach.

Like Raff was saying, people will look at it and think, well, how does that work for us? But the brilliantly named Hooch, who plays up front for Bodo Glimt. I mean, he was being linked with a move to Norwich City, who at the time were right down the bottom of the championship. So there are teams who can probably cherry pick these players without having to worry quite so much as like a major top club would. Yeah, true.

The thing is now, after what you've gone through with Bodo and we'll try to do it again next season, for example, is would you leave this kind of environment to go to Norwich City? I've got nothing against Norwich City, but it's the championship. Yeah, there's probably more money somewhere, but would you be happier there?

I'm not sure. In the end, he stayed, by the way, and he stayed also because this Champions League campaign was so good for him to go away from it. What I find also interesting in this and maybe to go back to other clubs coming to sign those players is that even their own national team manager,

head coach, he doesn't really keen on those Bodoglip player because apart from Berg, he's probably the only starter from that Bodoglian team into the Norwegian national team. But even if you extend it to the whole squad, if they have three of their players in the whole 25, 26 men squad for the World Cup,

they'd be lucky. And I guess that also shows you that to go back to the great point that Rafi made, it's a collective. Even if you're the Norwegian national team head coach, unless you take the whole starting 11 and play them at the World Cup, you might not get the Semberg or Hauger or Hogg

or Evianz or. or whoever player you're looking at, because you will take him outside of that collective strength to a different setup, a different style, a different mindset with the national team that he might not perform exactly the same way. And that I find really interesting as well. Will you all think less of me, even less of me,

if I say sporting Lisbon in the quarterfinals? Are you going to be alright? Yeah, I would because you have to say sporting club. You can't say sporting club. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have to say sporting club. And to be fair, I do know the answer to that. because I have been out there and done stuff with sporting. And the point that was made to me, Jules,

which I think is a very good point is, it's not like some other teams, like Athletic Club Athletic Bilbao is another one that people should get right. The difference is the word Lisbon does not appear in sporting's name, but it does appear in Benfica's name. So that is different, right? Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

But you corrected yourself earlier. We didn't have to say anything. That's what my nervous. No, but I did see your face. And your face said, I will never look at you the same again. That's what you're... You weren't doing a lovely smile at all.

That's what happened. Right. Sporting club then are going to play Arsenal in the quarterfinals because they knocked out Bodho glimped. One of the players, Guillem, that I'm really interested to ask you about, and actually Jules will have some experience with him as well, is Louis Suarez, who is 28 now,

is absolutely banging in the goals there, scored again, made one in the second. against Bodo. Last season he was playing in the Spanish second tier. I'm just getting his goals up. So he scored 33 goals this season, replacing Yoccaresch. Sorry, 28 goals this season, 33 goals last season. We talk so much about amazing young talents in football. Max Dauman at Arsenal the other day. We always talk about Lamin Yamal in such glowing terms. I think it is quite nice to have somebody who, at the, not the back end of his career, but later in his career, is suddenly finding themselves?

Although he would tell you that he's the best called the scorer in the second division in the history of second division in the 21st century in Spain. So he's broke one or two records already. But it is all about context. He was in the first division with Granada, a team that got relegated

and it looked overweight, slow, didn't really shine. There was something there. You knew there was a finisher there. We're talking about maybe three years ago. And where Portugal have done really well is to look into the second division in Spain and get the best players there

and put them in the right situation. This is a team that attacks a lot that has got like Trinca, for instance, somebody that failed at Barcelona big time and now it looks like a world beater. Well, he's exactly the same. He was always a finisher. He's much sharper now physically as well.

And he feels important. This is the magic combination. And right now, with the ambition of doing well and perhaps, as he's been rumoured are ready to move into the Premier League at that age for 60, 70 million euros. So it's a, yeah, it's a good story. Why didn't it work for him at Marseille? Must be the most asked question in French football.

Yeah. And then we say often enough on the show, there's no bad players at that level. There's no bad players. But they are bad context to join exactly what Guillem just said. And just Marseille was not right for him at that time, the way they played, who was on the bench, And maybe at some point, he just knew it very quickly, this is not going to work. I think the idea from Longoya to sign him at the beginning was not a bad one,

a bit like what sporting I've done with him to come and replace Jokeres. It's just the environment and the situation, where the team was at the time, he just didn't add up for him. And that's it. That didn't make him a bad player. Okay, he failed, he didn't succeed, that's for sure. But you also knew that there will be someone. where he could thrive that would just, where he would fit better than in Marseilles.

And it was just one like many others, not just in Marseille, but in other clubs where club A didn't work out, but club B because coach was different, the style was different, the environment was different, then it worked. Yeah, and we've got two legs of that tie to come, of course, with Arsenal still in the Champions League, Liverpool's still in the Champions League. But it's still the English teams in the Champions League? There are still two English teams in the Champions League. But Guillem told us that...

I know, exactly, that the domination was worrying. I was waiting for that. Because these two people never forget. I'm surprised it wasn't used, if we brought it up. Four out of four or three out of four will be in the semifinal. We don't have time for this, but let me just say this. I think we have time for this. No, we don't.

No, we don't. What has happened is circumstantial. Okay. It's happened because it's happened. As often the case, football. Yeah, exactly. It's happened because it's happened. There's got no logic whatsoever. And if you keep me the sample of five years, including this year, if you won, in the next five, you'll come back to me when we still do this show and say, oh, you were right five years ago

when you said of the dominance of the Premier League. It's circumstantial. That's pure accident what has happened. Right. Well, we haven't even got to the controversial topic of the day yet, which is the last thing that we're going to talk about. For those that haven't seen, Senegal have been stripped of their Afcon title two months after the final. They beat Morocco in that final for those that didn't see. In the eighth minute of stoppage time, Senegal's players walked off the pitch. They were off the pitch for 17 minutes. They were basically protesting two decisions that they were really angry with, the latter of which had given Morocco a late penalty, which could have seen them win the title at home. But instead, Brahim Diaz famously missed with an attempted Penenka in the end. Senegal went to win after extra time. Kaff said, this. The Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the final of Afcon. The result is now 3-0 to Morocco. Senegal, through conduct of its team, infringed Article 82 of the regulations. Article 82, by the way, states that if the team leaves the ground before the regular end of the match or pitch,

without the authorisation of the referee, they are eliminated. Discuss, Jules. Well, it's clear that, you know, a lot of people don't know the rules because had they knew the rule, 82 or 84 in the regulations, the game would have been stopped then. And that was the right thing to do. And then you could have understood at the time that the forfeit from Senegal, the referee would have blown the full-time whistle, that the game was awarded and the tournament was awarded to Morocco because Senegal walked off the field.

And according to the rules, the referee should have stopped the game and forfeited them. But if you don't do it then, you can't do it two months later. It's ridiculous. This is the most embarrassing decision ever taken by any sort of organizations. One of the most embarrassing. I think he puts a lot of this credit onto football in general, because surely FIFA have to know about this. And I know Guillem is going to try to defend FIFA.

But their ties with CAF are too strong for them not to be aware before that this was the decision coming from the appeal committee that CAF have, basically, to make it simple. I think it's disgrace for African football in general. And I just think that good luck to do. to whoever is going to try to recover that trophy from somewhere in Senegal and all the medals that all the staff members

and the players will have. Otherwise, you just do another one and they have two trophies and two sets of 25 medals for each country. Let me start with the personal story. So during Manchester City of Real Madrid, Tiago Pitarj realizes that Morocco had won

the Afghan for this and tells Brian Diaf, who's standing up, is like, what? What? And it raises his hands. Oh, okay, but he doesn't really believe what he's hearing during the game. And then the Federation, the Maracle Federation,

are saying, don't do big things about it. He's telling the players that we may celebrate privately we will see on Monday when we all meet. But, of course, now it goes to Cass and we will see. But let me get this right. So, Jules, you're saying that there is a rule. You break the rule, but don't do anything about it. Is that what you just said? Yeah. Then what do you want the rules for?

Well, there were other sanctions of than stripping them at the title, though, right? Yeah, but that is a sanction. But you can't do it two months later. Why? No. Because you've given the trophy to Senegal. Yeah, wrongly.

Yeah, you just said it. It doesn't matter. Once you've allowed the game to go on, to continue to be finished, to award the trophy, the CAF people were on that podium handing out the trophy and the medals. Yeah, so when do you put the limit to a punishment? Is it a day, an hour, a day, two months? I think, I think this is a genuine point. I would have to look through every article.

But I'm pretty sure there'll be something in there which says the full-time whistle. No. No? That's the thing. They can do what they've done. And it's not innocent all this. Morocco has got... Where Senegal, for instance, it's a great football story.

You know, they got into the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2002. They then go down and then they go up through football and a lot of very good football decisions. They don't have the influence in FIFA and in Africa and in Africa, then politically. than Morocco. Morocco have managed to, of course, be part of a World Cup and, you know, organize the Afcon. And they've done that with new stadiums and almost with the, as being in the FIFA ranking, the number one of the African nations, with the hope that to win it. They haven't won it. And they obviously try things out in the corridors of power. That is very true. But none of what has happened is not within the rules. So if we're saying that the rule,

allow this to happen and somebody a lot of people made mistakes on the day, it can be corrected. What do we do about something that is wrong? We try to correct it through court, football court or civil court, whatever it is. And now they've got their... Senegal, I've got the possibility

to appealing. But it was wrong and it has been corrected. Okay, you go over the speed limit, right? The cop stops you. They say, oh, it's you, Guillaume, oh, we love your shows. We're going to lay you off. Okay? You were going 150 miles an hour instead of 90, they said, we like you, we let you off. Okay? And they punish me two months

later. Yes. I broke the rules. I almost got away with it. That's not, but that's not true. You know exactly. You would say, hang on a minute. Two months ago, you stopped me. You should have fined then. Of course, because I was over the speed limit. That's no rules. That's not rules. Are we playing with, if you don't like the rules, jewels, let's change. But that's not about, it's not about that. The rules should have been done on the day. Not two months later. Like you being stopped for your speed limit. It should have. Exactly, but it wasn't.

So you have to let go now. You have to let go before the next time. He's wrong. Because you should have done it on the day. There are, no, nobody says that. No rule says, he has to win the day. You can't correct it if you did it wrong. You don't.

That's not what you do. You know, that's not what you do. Same with your speed, fine. It's exactly the same. They let you off. You got lucky because Senegal got lucky. The game should have been stopped then. Morocco should have been the winner.

They should have been forfeited. So what do we do with the rules? They got lucky. We ask you. But you make sure that next time it happens, somebody, the referee, somebody above the referee, actually go with the rules properly, which the referee didn't do. Senegal got lucky.

You don't correct it two months later. That makes no sense. Totally understand both of your points and these are basically the two points that are now being fought out in reality. Raph, where are you on it? So the rule that we quoted is just a boilerplate rule.

Every tournament has similar rules that says if you don't turn up, you're the loser. There's nothing specific to this particular tournament. There's similar regulations that I just looked it up for the World Cup, 26. If you abandon a game, there will be a punishment. It doesn't necessarily say that you will lose the game, but everyone knows the inference is clear. I think this will hinge on this sentence that says without authorization of the referee. because you could easily argue, as I would, that the moment the referee brings you back onto the pitch to finish the game,

he basically says whatever's happened before, it doesn't matter because we're finishing this game. And I think Cass will take that line as well. They will probably say, that would be my expectations. They would say the referee has the final, under FIFA regulation, has the final say on when a match should be, stopped and started and finished. The referee took that decision.

This is not something that you can then by looking at the law in black and white somehow two months later or whatever it is now say it was illegal because the referee was in his power to do it. The referee did not break the law. There was no procedural issue here with the referee saying, oh, let's play 14 against 12.

I'm not counting the players. And then somebody realizes after the game and appeals for it. The referee said, okay, this is very unfortunate. They've left the pitch, but they're coming back and I'm finishing the game. And I think Cass will do, and FIFA, in fact, who in the past have always come down very hard on federations who've been allowed to referee games in similar cases. It's always said the decision of the referee should be final for that very reason. I think FIFA behind the scenes and Cass will do anything to take that away on appeal and say the referee was,

charge and the referee authorized effectively that absence and therefore they were not in violation of that rule 82 or 84. So that is basically what's going to be for out in court. One more question before we finish. If you were a Morocco player, would this change anything for you? Because it will change the Wikipedia page of both nations. That final's gone. You got your runner up medal and it finished.

So I don't think anybody is going to... Sorry, I mean, if I can jump in. Yeah, of course you go. I agree with that, because they are Olympic gold winners who 10 years later still win gold medals because their opponents cheated or did something that was illegal. This isn't the same as that, though. Senegal leaving the pitch.

I kind of think it is. Senegal leaving the pitch affects the mental state of the penalty taker. Yes. So it is also a way of paying back. I can imagine Brahim Diaz will feel different about it, which I can completely understand that. Sorry, Raph. I understand. My counterpoint would be if you win silver instead of goals in the Olympics, your sporting performance was good enough to win gold, but the person who won gold cheated to beat you. That is a slight difference here, isn't it? It is a slight difference, but you could say, you know, your opponents broke the rule.

and unsettled you. And if they get punched for it, why should I somehow feel I don't deserve my trophy? Yeah. I don't think putting myself in a shoe of a Moroccan player, I don't think I will somehow think this is somehow diminished. But I don't think it's going to happen. I just don't see how Cass can agree that this should be the right outcome.

And FIFA, I think we'll do, just to give you a quick example, There was a famous ghost goal, sort of a goal that wasn't a goal in 1994. Thomas Helmer, people on the pitch thought he had scored, but he had missed. He knew he had missed because you just seemed going like that. But the referee somehow threw some kind of perspective, weird thing, fought the balls over the line, gave the goal. By and won. And the upro was so big that the German FA said, let's replay the game. And FIFA came down so hard on them because they said,

we know it's a mistake, but the referee made the mistake, and you cannot just because you don't like the outcome, then replay the game. In the end, it didn't matter because Brian also won the replay. But the point is, FIFA will do absolutely everything to protect the authority of the referee. And I think, unlike Guillem, I'm not so, such the biggest fan of FIFA, but I think in that respect, they're absolutely right,

because you need to have, as a sporting contest, the interest of a game being finished and refereed in line with what the referee thinks is necessary on the day must outweigh the legalistic arguments two months later where people are looking at the fine print of regulation thinking should you have done, should you have done this, should you have done that. The referee must be protected and that's what I think will happen. Punchy show guys, punchy.

It's like Paris Saint-German, Bayern Munich and Barcelona at the start of the Champions League knockout. You've all come out swinging. Thank you, everybody. Great stuff. Really interesting. Guillem Ballaget, Raffaugh-Hann, Julianne, who've been with us on the Euroleagues. Right, up next on the Football Daily, you will get the football interview. This will be a really good one because it's with James Milner.

As always, thank you so much for listening. I'm Rich Hall, and this is Sports Strangest Crimes Presents Confessions of Confessions. of a Super Bowl streaker. Well, people ask me what I do. I say to them, well, by day or by night. The story of one man's mission to conquer the holy grail of streaking the Super Bowl. Mark Roberts is too lively for his body.

He's just like the entertainer. Mark pushes the boundaries of what is socially acceptable. No chance. Texas. It's really strict. But then the more of those about it. No, though, I'm on it. What are you about?

Sports Strangers Crimes. presents confessions of a Super Bowl streaker listen on BBC sounds