Football Daily - Euro Leagues: What next for Real Madrid?

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

What next for Real Madrid after Xabi Alonso's sacking? Steve Crossman is joined by Guillem Balague, Julien Laurens and James Horncastle to discuss all of the fallout from the Spanish capital and where Real Madrid go from here. Who might they look at to replace him? Rafa Honigstein drops by to talk about the Jurgen Klopp links - could the German really be heading for Madrid? Elsewhere, they look at the rivalry in the French capital after Paris FC knocked out PSG in the Coupe de France - could this be Marseille and Robert De Zerbi's year? They also take a look at the Serie A title race - can Napoli or Milan catch Inter? And with the AFCON final this weekend, will it be Senegal or Morocco who triumph?TIME CODES:00:40 - Real Madrid sack Xabi Alonso 29:00 - Paris FC knock out PSG from the Coupe de France 38:50 - Serie A 44:00 - AFCON Final

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We are going to discuss Javi Alonzo leaving his position as head coach of Real Madrid. What next for him? What next for the club? Could Juergen Klop end up at the Berner Beu? Then we'll reflect on how Paris FC knocked Paris Saint-German out of the cup and whether Napoli's title defence

is just starting to slip. We've got the Athletics, James Horncastle. We've got ESPN, Julian Loron, and we've got Guillain Balaget. Good evening, everybody. Good evening. How are we? All right? All good. Yeah? Very good.

Good. Well, I think we should just jump right in because it's, you know how people always say? It's a packed show. This is genuinely a packed show. And I feel like it's going to take some time to unpack Rail Madrid. So I'm just going to do the statement, Guillem, first, that they're released. So for those that don't know, they lost 3-2 to Barcelona in the Super Cup. Alonzo gone. In comes Alvaro Arbaloa and promptly starts by getting knocked out of the cup by Albaethe last night. which we will talk about.

But this is what Rail Madrid said. We wish to announce that by mutual agreement between the club and Jabby Alonzo, it's been decided to bring his time as first team coach to an end. Jabbi Alonzo will always carry the affection and admiration of Madridistas because he is a Real Madrid legend

and always represented the values of our club. Rail will always be his home. Okay, I'm hearing a lot of mutual agreements here, Guillem. I'm hearing a lot of He has left his position. He was sacked, wasn't he? Yep. Right, okay, good.

I did like how you use a small pause after mutual agreement because, yeah, you have to put the focus on that first. He was sacked. He didn't know he was going to happen. He was surprised by it on the way from Saudi. He was convinced that perhaps things weren't going the perfect way, but certainly a way. but quite clearly this was a decision that was not made on the back of the Super Cup in fact I tell you more

after 13 wins in 14 games including the classical the day after the classical there was a training session and marker reports that he got a little bit upset by faces, two people too relaxed not enough intensity it's like I'm coaching a kindergarten he shouts

I know how he fails yeah well he was trying already felt frustrated, despite the wins, that the team wasn't going the direction that he wanted. And then he lost against Liverpool, drew against Rajo, Elche, Girona, and then he lost against Celta Vigo.

This is the 7th of December. And that's when Real Madrid decided, Mr. Real Madrid, Frentino Perez, decided this is it. Shabil also has to go. Next is when? So that's more than a month ago he decided he's done? and there's nothing he could have done really.

Nope. First of all, you have to say he wasn't, Frantino Perez, he was his decision, but he wasn't on the back of him thinking this is the guy for me. He was suggested to him. Secondly, Shabby Alonso, as soon as he entered the club, he said, no, I don't want to go to the Club World Cup. And the club says, no, no, you have to go.

So his authority gets diminished from minute one. And as I said, on the 7th of December, it was like, all right, tell you what. Look at the calendar, Super Cup. We win it. Great. stay a little bit longer. We lose it. That's the moment. Because the next manager, Arbelloa already decided, has got a Copa del Rey, easy draw, Alvacete, and then it's Levante and then it's Monaco.

So, you know, a good start to the new manager. It hasn't worked like that, is it? No, no, it hasn't. So the thing is, Jules, that quite often you don't necessarily want to put a manager or a player in before an absolutely humongous game, do you? Because the danger is, they get burned straight away. Michael Carrick, Man City, Arsenal. Good luck. Wilfrine Norsi. But the problem is, if you don't do that,

and look, I know we're going to sort of split this up between Jabby Alonzo and Arbaloa, but it's all the same story. The flip side is if you try and cherry pick the time and then it goes horribly wrong, it looks even worse. Yeah, that's true. I guess the only good time, really, is at the start of an international break,

although for the top clubs, there's nobody there at the training ground. So you're going to coach a couple of players, the kids, and then that's it. But I guess to have those 10 days where your club doesn't play because it's the international break and you have a certain amount of players available for there. For you to start, it's probably the least worst of when to bring a new manager in, really. Because the bounce is, we often hear right about new manager bounce, all of this is great, but there's often no bounce. It's like it's a non-bounce even.

And I think in this case, we're not. with Albasete and really and probably the worst thing even is to lose it the way they did and the last minute went twice they came back and they thought okay at least extra time surely that team 17th in the second division are going to get tired and we can just get like a

scrappy win not even that the guy is called a screamer for you to lose three to and be really embarrassed so it's again there's never a good time I think when you're in crisis anyway to change manager let's just move just quickly away from Real Madrid and let's give 35

seconds if you allow me. Two albacete. Yes, absolutely. Score twice. This is a guy that's been in 23 teams since 2011, 23 professional teams, who not so long ago, his mind blew up and he decided to leave football.

Didn't know what was going to happen next. So looked around for a job, any job, and his dad said, do you want to be an electrician with me? All right, electrician for six months. Then he says his mind cleared, went back to football, and had a dream night. the one that he had dreamt all these years.

He's 32, and he was crying. The first thing he did once the game finished, he just rang FaceTime his family, kid and wife. The three of them, he was asked, what did you say to them? Nothing. We were just all, the three of us crying.

There was no words coming out of us. There's no words that can destroy what he was feeling. So that's it, a little moment for Albaite who qualified to the quarterfinals of the Cup. Real Madrid might need a new manager soon, so maybe he's laid down a market. I don't know, James. What's the opposite of a bounce?

A burst? Is that what it is? Perhaps this is kind of a dead cat bounced, though, is. Yes, it is. I think it's fascinating. Listen to Guillaume, explain Florentino Perez's process here and look at it with kind of a month to sort of, okay, these are the scenarios in which we do this or not,

always with the intention of it being Arbeloa to come in, rather than thinking, okay, regardless of what happens in the Super Cup, Let's win it, Chabby stays on for a little bit longer. Lose it, we move. You're still giving yourself a month to consider options other than Arbeloa. But, Guillem, I'm going to throw this to you. Arbeloa is very close to Florentino Perez, no? And not just Florentino, his son.

And to Chabby Alonzo as well. Yeah, and Jabby. Ah, still. Alvaro, there's a before and after Jesus Christ, sorry, Morino, which is basically a player that did a lot with his career. and his talent, not a lot of talent, but he was at Liverpool, championship final, etc. And then when he went to Madrid and he became the biggest soldier of Morino, his career was transformed because without much thinking, once he retired,

having been at West Ham for a little bit, he went back to Real Madrid, became a coach, and he was just like parachuted into the second team. And he's, you know, having tried Santis Solari, who is also at the club, also works for Real Madrid before, they thought, okay, is the chance to give Arbelloa the opportunity to be in the first team, even though nobody really believes that this is the greatest of idea. In fact, if I tell you what Florentino Perred was doing the day before the game against Elvacete, this is while Arbelloa was training,

the only training session that he said with the first team, Forentino Perre was already calling agents to see who could come in this season in case the Arbelloa experiment doesn't work. Jules, can I just check something with you? Because your face massively screwed up about a minute ago. Is that because you've just been introduced to another English phrase that you don't know when James said dead cat bounce? I was trying to picture in my head.

Don't. The cat is dead and he can't jump. No. Effectively, what it means is if you have something which is going down, it may, inevitably when it hits the ground, come back up a little bit. So it's basically a bad thing. right? They thought about Dead Cats Can't Jump,

but they decided with this. Bridget Bardot, if she was still with us, would not be happy with this. Dead Cats Can't Jump is an odd sequel to a Wesley Snipes film when you think about it. It was quite impressive that James came up with that. I love it. It's great expressions like that.

It's quite political, but then I think James Huncastle secretly has got that in his locker as well, so I like that. Hey, if we're talking about Real Madrid, a manager has to be political. He has to know how to play those games. Chabby wasn't enough.

Clearly Chabby Alonzo wasn't enough. That is a great link, Jules. Because it's true, isn't it? And listen to the thing. It would be easy to kind of feel sorry for him and stuff. Ultimately, there is an expectation of a certain level of winning at Rail Madrid didn't happen. And there is an expectation of a certain way that you are. And it might have seemed like a perfect fit.

But after he put on the coat, if you like, it didn't seem to work. So the perfect fit is interesting here because we would all agree that he was greater by a Leva Cousin, right, with a squad that he basically put together with players who looked up to him and just so this guy is amazing, all his ideas are great, we're going to do everything he says to the comma, to the full stop, and it would be great, and they got amazing results. The perfect fit for Real Madrid and Chabillian Chabillian was the fact that, yes, he used to play there, he's this great brand of football, he had the best coaches in history, so sure. But I think quite early on, we also said on the show,

Hang on a minute here. This squad, which is a very particular squad, full of egos and superstar, probably one of the most difficult dressing room in a way to probably manage if you arrive with your ideas and you're quite rigid and you're quite dogmatic and this. So we were all quite curious, I think, to see how that would work out.

Because when you come to the back of Carlo Angelotti, as we've said the other day, the cheeriest manager in history of football, and you are the complete opposite. Let's see how that goes down. this dressing room. And that's the thing. And maybe Guillaume can help us understanding, did they promise Chabby Alonzo that he could do, that he would have like full power to do everything he wanted, to change the mentality, to get this team to play? Or did that change halfway through? And maybe at the

beginning, say, yeah, yeah, do what you want. But then once Vinnie were not happy and Bellingham was not happy and X and Y were not happy and Valverde, then suddenly the club said, hang on, you need to change. And Chabby didn't want to change maybe. Because just to finish game, I for somebody as smart as Chabi Alonzo. And maybe, maybe when you get to this level, it's you and new methods and your principles and you don't want to budge and you don't want to change and you don't want to tweak anything.

And maybe that's the way you get to the top. However, if you are a bit smarter though and you know that at some point, you'll have to be a bit smoother and you'll have to change a few things maybe, then you do it. It looks like Chabby didn't want to change and maybe it would be naive on that sense.

I'm not sure. He did change. The games against Alet the club against Olympiacos. Olaf Oslo is a team defending deep. There was no pressure high because what was the point if three players weren't doing it?

So he was forced to change in a Reh, Madrid that you would not recognize with the kind of Real Madrid that he said he was going to put in practice and certainly nothing to do with by a Leibucuson. Did they change with him, though? They forced him to change. You don't go and say,

listen, unless you play in a different way, unless you stop me having to defend, I'm not going to play. But he sees the faces. He sends the team he hears Florentino. So there's a lot of things that make him think and perhaps he stopped at Pintus, the former Zidane physical coach,

to come in and be imposed by the club because the accusations, you have to accumulate a series of accusations to get rid of a manager just for the public side, even though the decision was made and it was radical. And one was like,

oh, the team physically is no well, the players are not responding to Shabby. Shabies, this is not the kind of football. that he said he would put in practice. The list became very, very, very long. But what's interesting, and you know what? I've been asking managers, three of them in the last week, what is it that you get promised when you come in

and then how does that develop? For instance, were you told Enzo Mariska that the imposition from the club was to get some substitutions at certain time and did they tell you about that? No. Rubenamorim, did they tell you you're going to be a coach instead of a manager? No.

So at the beginning with Xiavi Alonso was like, in what you don't know by a Levecousen. Go and do it. We trust you and we need a change. We understand we need to change because last season was bad. So he comes in, starts doing that, but when he says, as I said earlier, don't want to go to the global cup. I want to start when the season starts proper. And he says, they told him no. So he's got to coach a team with players that are going to go, players that are tired, players that don't know if they're going to go. Already the whole thing starts badly. And he, yes, for a while, went on with his methodology, pressure high, tried to convince them.

I think the failure of Chabby's not being able to do that. They're convincing. Because everything else, the coaching was good. The selection of players was good, decent. And he got to a point maybe when he said he was coaching a kindergarten. But certainly little by little just became to a point where players were like, nah, not with you. Do you think that Chabby Lanza will learn and be better from this experience? Because over the last 72 hours, so many of people,

have held up the mirror of Carlo Ancelotty to Chabby Alonsoe and pointed at it and said, Chabby, this is what you should have done. And Carlo Ancelotti at his age is humble enough and wise enough to go to the players, say, I've got these ideas, what do you think? Oh, you want to do that? Okay, I'll factor that in. Let's do that. Very good at not just managing games, situations, managing presidents, but managing players.

But people forget that Calanchotty is now considerably older than Chabby Alonso He's been through what Chabby Alonso Has just been through When Carlo Ancelotia got his first big job At Juventus It didn't go well

They came up short He was sacked And it was only through That learning That he realized he had to adjust more He realized he had to incorporate bigger egos Better

He realized that he had to be more aware and have his ear close to the street about what they were doing and saying about him upstairs to journalists. And he became a better manager because of it. And likewise, sometimes coaches will go to a club and in Italian, they always use the English word, which is funny, they always talk about feeling. Is there that chemistry between the coach and the club at that particular time? And sometimes, for whatever reason, it's not there. At other clubs, they do find it. So I don't think what has happened to Chabby Alonso over the last seven months, all of a sudden makes him a bad manager in the same way that what happened to Ruben Amarim over the last 14 months

doesn't make Ruben Amiram a bad manager. Yeah, these are two guys who achieved incredible things with Bia Levesant and Sporting Lisbon. And I think in their next job, now, and I think Chabee will have a better pick of his next job still than Ruben Amarim will. But I think just because Chabio Lanso didn't work out at Real Madrid does not mean he can't work out at Liverpool, at Bayern Munich. Or just another big club. Yeah, well, it was Jose Antonio Camacho, you remember, Spanish national coach and Ramaradic coach. Very sweaty man, yes. Saying that you start becoming a good manager when you get the sack. And that, yeah, there's going to be lessons there. I don't think he had a lot to, you know, his behavior, he's insisting on his idea to a point, didn't have to do with the

fact that if actually left Real Madrid, as he had done, he's going to have Manchester City, Liverpool, and others looking at him, no doubt. But he's got in the industry that profile still. So, yeah, it won't affect it also. Real Madrid are outlayers. But let me say something else quickly about Real Madrid. I noticed a lot of negativity towards the club. Oh, what a way to behave against Shari Alonso and the ego of players but actually is the most successful club since association football started in 150 years or whatever it is. The most successful club.

So they know what they're doing and certainly Fronino Perth who has done this kind of thing before finished the run of a manager early knows what he's doing. It's just that as Jules was saying earlier and James as well referred to it this is a group of players

that think that perhaps the better than they are. They don't want to do things that they should be doing. And good look to the next proper manager that comes to Real Madrid to organise all that. Hey, Raphaonixstein. You're with us briefly, just because Yergen Klopp's name has obviously come up. So Guillem can tell us a little bit about what may be happening from the Rail Madrid end. What do we know, what do you know about the possibility of any discussions or any interest? Well, I'm not privy to those discussions, but I think it's a fascinating experiment, mental experiment to envisage Juergen Club at Real Madrid. And I think in the

past there have been approaches. And in the past, Klopp's answers always has been one, I don't speak the language, and B, I've got another job. Now, those two answers would be a little bit different this time because he's been learning Spanish, speaks in, yeah, lives in Spain. He plays paddle in New Yorker. That's all he does. Yeah, all the time. Well, and of course he has a job, but it's not a coaching job. And it is a job that still leaves, I think, the opportunity to go back into coaching proper. And I don't think it is as categoric as it used to be when it comes to him and saying no to Madrid, but you still wonder if his way of doing things, especially with the experience of Charville-onso, could actually work.

there and there have big doubt because he is probably the last remaining football ideologue, maybe not so much in terms of system and formation, but in terms of principles. Even Guadjola has kind of negotiated with his own principles over the recent years. I don't think he would have tolerated somebody not pressing like Erling Harlan 10 years ago or having Ryan Cherke doing his own thing, not listening to the manager. But he's mellowed in a way or adapted or matured. or whatever verb you want to use or adjective. But Klop, I have seen no suggestions that he has.

I think when you see now how Leipzig, with a bit of guidance from him, have gone back to their original blueprint of young players and pressing and being really energetic, I just don't see him coming in and saying, you know what, I'm going to turn to some kind of German version of Carlo and Cholotti and say, guys, from now and it's just vibes here.

Just do your thing. Tactics, schmactics. You know, we don't need all that. You train as much as you want. You do whatever you want. You express yourselves. I just don't see it. And I think he would be very unhappy there.

And I think if Real Madrid are looking for that kind of manager, then Club wouldn't be the right answer. So there's a couple of things to say, Guillem, I suppose. And first is that he has Juergen Klopp fulfilled the sort of the Klop vow that he made when he left, which was no British club again ever. and no club job for at least a year. So he did sort of throw out some caveats of I won't be doing anything anytime soon

from a coaching perspective. Well, that has kind of passed now. And it is Real Madrid. Do they want him? 100%. 100%. Yeah. Right.

So as Rafia said, they tried it before. He already got no. Frantino Perez doesn't believe in knows if that's what he wants. And normally, eventually, he tends to get the man. I agree with Rafi that if he doesn't change his way,

it could be a clash, an immediate clash, because he will come in and says, I won different players, or you know, you have to get used to this kind of methodology. But they won him, and Ferenino Perez on the Tuesday, so this is, yeah, the day before the Copa de Rei game against Aldecete, was bringing super agents,

trying to find out the availability for this season of Eurogagin Club, Enzomeresca and a third one that I haven't found out who it is but I know that in the list of potential managers for next season his Pocetino so I don't think he would have ranked Pocetino to say would you just leave the USA to actually come and join Real Madrid which is your dream? Maybe he did maybe he asked the question but the answer again was no so Arbelloa is for now but the idea of club taking over this team

is very present and I hear Rafi and we know the past but this is his last job in managerial football. You go to Real Madrid and adapt, no? Don't you? I just don't see him adapting. He's never adapted. And I think the older you get, maybe Pep Guardiola's job won out,

I think the less you are able to adapt in your ways, in your way of doing things, maybe he wants something different. I think if there is one last job, I think he'd be much more suited to having a German national team. I thought about that. It might be a job that might come up

after the World Cup or maybe after the euros, I think there you pick your own players, you can be even more of a principled guy because you don't have any contracts. If a player doesn't run enough or isn't part of the team, as much as you want,

or it's too much of negutist, you just don't invite him anymore. So you have, of course, you cannot buy and sell player, but you have almost complete power in a way that a Real Madrid manager, if you want to compare it, that, of course, never has. So I think there is probably something in him that says, you know, the magic of this club is something that you cannot just say no to.

But if he thinks about it and tries to square that what the requirements are, what the realities of this job are, or at least the way we perceive them from the outside, with the way he works, it doesn't strike me as a natural fit. Even with him speaking Spanish and maybe wanting that kind of last big job somewhere. discussing with two or three people today what these words of club mean and how would Florentino per take it when he says in general it's a sign that not everything that is 100% right when Chavi Alonso who showed over two years in Leverkusen what an outstanding coaching talent he is has to leave Real Madrid just half a year later if there is an

implication that is not to do with the coach that there's something else that's problem there's the problem at Real Madrid there's something else is pointing directly to Forentino and the interpretation from from people that have taken decisions from and the future direction of a club saying, yeah, he's saying no. He's saying no. He cannot go and say, no, I don't want you to Real Madrid,

but he can say it in different ways. But I insist the Eugen Klopp link will continue for a while. Rafi, can I just ask you a question? Klop has always been a risk taker. He's not afraid of big jobs. He's also proud, I think, of never being sacked. And I think if there's one inevitability about going to Realm of Tristan.

it's you will be sacked. So I don't know whether that would figure at all in his thinking, but like, you know, it's, and I don't know how conscious and protective he is of the legacy that he's already built. But do you think he would maybe look at it and think, is this worth a hassle if it is to be my last job in management? I think, James, what was you saying,

or what you're implying, fits well with what Gim is saying. I think Klopp has always chosen his clubs very carefully. And chosen clubs where he feels somehow he can connect with the energy of the place. You know, Minds Storpeman and Liverpool are very different, but in the same way, they're kind of similar in certain ways, that they rely on the crowd, that they were in a place where he took them from being, I don't want to say nothing, but fairly behind the curve to the very biggest heights. And it's a very different job than coming in at Bayern or Madrid where it's no question that you finish second,

but you have to finish first and you have to win the Champions League and everything else is failure. And he's never done that job and he's never done the job where he's worked with superstars. He created superstars. He's never taken a club where superstars are already there and think they might know best. Plus he's never had a club boss who thinks I've done it all because I have won already a lot of. of things. The club bosses that he has worked with hadn't won anything themselves. And then you have the thing about the legacy. Seven years at mine, seven years at Dortmund, nine and a half years at Liverpool, I think it's hard to see a similar outcome at Madrid. And I think deep down,

it might be in his mind to say, you know what, I want to be one of the very few managers at this levels who haven't been fired yet. And the reason for that is that I chose my clubs very carefully and knew, for example, at Liverpool, that finishing fifth one season is not the end. I mean, we know that finishing fifth at Real Madrid would, you wouldn't allow to finish fifth because you'd be fired before. And even Chavi with the results and the season he was having in terms of the results and the situation at the table still had a lot of chances to win stuff, but it wasn't wasn't good enough. So I think that statement that Giam just read out suggests that Klopp sees this as a very,

very difficult place in brackets, probably not the right place for him. Brackets closed. And I think that might not be the end of the discussion. That might not be the end of the story as Giam has intimated. I think Ramadrude might ask again. But I think for the reasons we mentioned, I think it's going to be hard to see this working. And I think Club will be

very conscious of that. And again, just to finish on that, why, if you're in Real Madrid, why would you go there again? You just tried. Chabby Alonzo, I know it's different to Club, and maybe you want the biggest name because you're the biggest club in the world. But those dogmatics managers, they clearly don't work with his squad.

So unless you're ready, if you're in Madrid, to get rid of maybe a third of your dressing room, because that's never going to work with somebody like Klop, like Raffa just said, because he makes the stars. He doesn't He doesn't coaches the stars straight away. It's never going to work. So even for the club to think that club could be a good idea,

I think is crazy. Raff, lovely to have you with us. Thank you very much. Thank you. Rafael Honixstein. I'm just trying to decide Jules whether tactics schmactics or dead cat bounce is the best name for the pod.

It's high level tonight. It's really difficult to find out. Well, we'll think about that. Bring more gear, carry more passengers, face greater challenges. Welcome to the world of Defender, with seating up to eight, Cargo Space and legendary off-road capability. It's built to make the most of every adventure.

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Hello, this is Matt Chawley's urgent questions. Your daily dose of political mayhem from the heart of Westminster. Order, order. I call Matt Chawley. I'm a supporter of flags. It turns out time is finite. Government doesn't want to. be involved in this. I do not think the candidates are for books.

Match early. Urgent questions. Subscribe to the podcast and you'll get the best bits every day from around 5 o'clock. Listen on BBC Sounds. On the Football Daily podcast, the Euroleagues with Steve Crossman. We've got Guy M Ballagay. We've got James Horncastle from The Athletic and ESPN's Julianne LaRone. All with us.

And we'll start the second half of our Euroleagues with a brilliant story. in the Coup de France, Paris FC knocking Paris Saint-Germann out in the round of 32. And before I say anything else, Jules, I'm really disappointed how little needle there seems to be. Like, I'm not having Louis Enrique saying,

like, oh, best of luck to them for the rest. Come on. It was one of those games, one of those, you know, smash and grabs that we see in our leagues all the time. If you look at all the chances that PhD missed and the expected goals and the one from Paris FCC,

and the two shots on target and the one scored by Iconi that won them the game. I think there was that kind of feeling within the stadium on Monday night. It's one of those games that I think if you were with

Enrique Utec on the chain, he said to there, like, don't expect us to win every game. Nobody wins every single game of their season. Nowhere, no countries, no league, no level. So this is the first thing, but I think it was a very important win

for Paris FC in a way. Okay, it might just be the Cup de France and they're still very much they will have to fight not to go down in the league. But I think in terms of symbol and what this could make, not now because they're still way, way below PSGI in terms of level and the size of the club

and the resources and the revenues and the money, everything, even with the third richest owners in the world, it still doesn't happen like this. You just don't click your fingers and suddenly your team becomes one of the best teams in the world. But it shows that they're in that kind of little race with themselves that they have of trying to get as close as possible to PhD, not just in terms of stadium because as we've said so many times on the show,

there's literally 10 yards between the two stadiums in Paris, also trying every time they can to cause problems, to cause an upset there and there. They were okay in the league when they lost to one, but this one was brilliant. And for former PhD Academy product and PhD player, Jonathan Iconi, Paris Bon and Bread, Bondi, Bonne and Bread, even,

him and Killian Mbapé played together a youth level for Bondi under Killian's dad as a coach, for him to score, not to celebrate, obviously, but for him to score, a Bela Kingsley Common, scoring for Bayern Munich in the championship final against PSG. There's always those stories that at some point just comment by you. Is part of it, Jules, as well, I suppose, that if you're Paris FC,

you kind of need to have a good relationship there because you are going to benefit if you do that. You're only going to lose. if you try and make yourselves an enemy. That's so true. There's no battle to be won there for them, certainly. I mean, and for PhD, I don't think they would even look into that. For them, and I know it's funny, and I know it's, it's just that kind of destiny in a way,

but the current owner, Paris SFC, is a PhD season ticket holder. He's been for 25 years. All the Arnault family, okay, maybe not the dad, is quite old now, but certainly all the children and grandchildren are PhD fans, all of them. Some have been ultras at the party of prime. So for now, for them to own the other club and yet still celebrate PhD wins like the Champions League final, for example, for some of them being in Munich too. And now to almost cheer against them when it's twice or three times in a year when their

own club Paris FC face them, it's a little bit special. But it's that the rivalry one day might be there for the first team, for the first men team. It is for the women's team right now. The Paris FCC women's team is actually better this season than the PhD women's team. Oh, really? But the rivalry, yeah, they're doing amazingly well. with Sandra Nso-Berrant and in the Champions League, for example, where they have qualified and PhD have been knocked out of the league phase. But what was interesting, especially for us when we were growing up, was the rivalry was very much a youth level all the time between Paris FC and PhD.

They were the two best teams at a youth level. Because you were running around the pitch smashing everybody. Is that what you said? No, no, no, no, no, no, because the problem for Paris FC, a talent like Conatee, for example, if Paris FC had had a team in Ligin at the time, he probably would, have stayed, they would have had a proper academy like every professional team and Liga or Ligde team, which was not the case at the time when I was growing up. They were in the fourth division, fifth division. All their focus was on youth level and youth development. And they were great, but all the players, all the talented one like Ibu used to leave, our 14, 15, 16, 17, to go to

academies all around the country, all around Europe. But under 13 in tournaments we were going to, there was always, it was Paris FC against PhD, the final, always. Under 12, under 14, under 16, et cetera, et cetera. Now, Paris FC will have a chance to keep those talents for a bit longer, maybe, to have them break into the first team, which is the idea here, and not them going to PhD, going to Monaco, going to North, at the kind of academy edge level. So, Jules, there was a takeover, wasn't it?

It was in November where they are in our family of Paris FC. What is the intention? Because we spoke about it maybe six months ago, and obviously they wanted to establish. themselves as a force in the first division. But is there more now with billionaires in charge? Yeah, they invested well in the summer. Did they buy the right players?

I mean, the jury is still out to be. Obviously, Yogan Club and Red Bull are very much involved. Margot Nepe that we had once on our show is the sporting director. Mario Gomez is also involved. So I think there's that very strong influence. They've started signing young Italian players as well, like Koliosho from Burnley. So the only way is up. Within days of doing that, the BPSG.

Look at that. Exactly. Who cannot start a game for Spanish. Good look with them. He was a teenager at the time. James has just been sitting back for like five minutes. How can I make this about me? Yeah, and Italian football, obviously.

Can I just say, though, Jill, before you carry on, even you, James must accept, and it's the same for Guillem, the French Cup is the best cup competition in world football. Yes. I always like when... Still. I mean, yeah. No, but every January when

Julian gets to sort of go through all of the teams that are in that competition and where they come from in the Indian Ocean is just magnificent. I think we should actually play a game. Like, is this team in the Coupe de France or not?

That's a very good one for the one for next year's quiz. But yeah, but just to finish on that, they've put money on the training rounds. They're obviously the stadium. This is not theirs. It's the Paris rugby team that plays. That's why they're so close to the Padre de France.

But at some point, you would think they would want either to get the Padre de Prince if PSG leave to build their own stadium and move into their own stadium in 10 years time or so. If not, trying to do something to have their own stadium and that identity. But I think Paris is a big city enough to share for sure. But right now they still have a lot of ground to make. FC Mill House. Real or no real?

Real. They're real. They exist. They exist. They had a good 3-0 win over at S. Magenta in the early stages. So there you go.

I think they might be the Biggles way to French football. And also, Jules, before we move on, never forget the fact that you have played in the French Cup.

I always like to get that out. Of course. And you know, I said this story, I think many times, but when you get to a certain round, you get to keep the shirt because they're different shirts.

And when you're a kid growing up, all you dream of is to, at some point, whatever team you play for, get far enough as obviously a grassroots, you know, a professional team. But to try to get to the,

I think it's the seventh round, if I remember well. And when you get to the seventh round, you get to keep the shirt bringing home. That's, that's fair. What was the furthest you got? I think one year we went to the eighth round, although I didn't play that one.

I stayed on the bench. But yeah, I've got a shirt. And my friend Charlie, who might listen, also gave me one of Isha, he also went to the eighth round. Beautiful. That I have just remembered before we move on. And this is a great way to make it

about James Horncastle, well. Roberto de Zerbe's Marseille. Last time they won it, 1989. Surely now it could be their year. Jean-Pierre Papin, right? Look, I mean, I think that doesn't implode before, by the way. We know them. I think it's important for Roberto. I think he asked the knock on him, particularly back in Italy, because, you know, Roberto's profile is so high.

But the knock on him when it comes to, for example, the Milan job was available last summer, the eventus job sort of could have come up i think if there was some encouragement that they could have got someone other than eager two door and those clubs didn't go for him and the knock on him is always like oh you know wonderful patterns of play develops players but what's roberto ever won and so yeah it's it's a very strange way of looking at it you know we all i think for many years we've tried to shift the culture into judging performances first and then results second and if you can marry the two, then you've got a very good coach. But yeah, I do think for him, there is a feeling that he could do to win something.

And to do it with Marseilles would be special. Would be special. Guillaume, just before we move on, since you got the last one wrong, who did Marseille beat 9-0 in the last round? Was it tapestry? Real or no real? It's absolutely real. No, it was in fact by it.

It was in fact by it. I knew you. I see what you did there. I knew instantly. I was like, no, crossy. Well done. You did win. Now that's...

Nobody would get the ref, though. Not everybody would get the ref. Political. Right, let's turn our attention to Saria. Loads of action at the top of the bottom of the table lately. So Inter drew to all with Napoli on Sunday. Scott McTominee got both of the goals for Napoli at Sancero. So they are what, four points behind the leaders Inter.

They've dropped four... They've dropped points against Palmer in 14th place. So that's a very clumsy way of me asking James whether or not their sort of title challenge is starting to go south. To be honest, I mean, it's a testament to Antonio Conte that they are still in this, particularly given the injuries that have ravaged the team from day one this season. Romano Lucaku hasn't played a single minutes. Lukaku showed a different side to his game last year when Napoli won the league.

He didn't score many goals, but he assisted 10. no player in the league assisted more goals and he was assisting them for Scott McTominee because McTominee was able to run off Lukaku and score finished the MVP in Siliat and then in the summer Napoli bought well they didn't buy Kevin DeBroner arrived on a free transfer it meant that Scott McTominee had to move his position a little bit

and then what happens DeBrona gets injured so two big Belgians barely been playing you've got goalkeeper who was in goal for the two scudetti that they've won, injured Rachmani one of the best centrebacks missed a lot of football at the start of the season

LeBock has been out Angisa they were thinking he was going to go to Afcon he couldn't go to Afcon because he got injured too and so Conte I think I spoke about this earlier in the year for the last 12 months I think he showed he'd updated dated his methodology. He'd moved away from playing 352 to 4141. Then when he had a player like Kevin DeBroner came come in, he was talking about playing relationist football. And then when all these

players got injured, he was like, okay, right, we have to go back to basics. So let's go back to the 352. And even the iteration of that, they suffered more injuries. And he's had to change again. So he's shown 50 shades of Conte, I would say. There's another title, cricky. So far this season. But I do think, particularly when this team is having to play three games in a week, which is happening again now, not only with these midweek games that are catching up,

the games they missed when they're away in the Super Cup, which Napoli won in December, but also with Champions League coming. You can see that the squad, it's been ravaged so much by injury that they can't. can't do it in three games. And so they are stuttering. James, I was going to ask you about Rasmus Hoylund, of course, on loan from Manchester United, who's scored, is it, nine goals this season? And Conte used the last press conference,

I think, to have a go at Damorim. Oh, you know, he's improving so much. But he needs a coach that can teach him how to play football. Basically, that's what he said, in other words. Has he improved that much? He has, Guillem. I mean, he was always a talent in Sidiya. I think when he was at Atalanta, although in Atalanta you could see he was a player who really played off his pace on transition. And of course, when you go to a big club like Manchester United, who tried to be ball dominance and are coming up against low blocks, you know, you sometimes need, if not a different striker,

you need that striker to develop other aspects to his game. And very interesting content making those comments, Guillem, because I think if there's one thing that Ante, Antonio Conte has done ever so well at Inter and at Napoli. It's to take players from Manchester United, who many people thought were finished or had not lived up to their potential, and make them into champions,

or particularly in McTominee's case, the MVP in the league. Almost as if he wanted to go to Manchester United to teach them close up. Almost as if he keeps demonstrating, look what I could. do with this squad. You give me Ashley Young, you know, you give me Lukaku, you give me McTomone, you give me

Rasmus Hoyland, and look, every time, champions, incredible. But I do think what is great about Conte and overlooked is he does know how to judge a player. He knows how to see things in players that other managers don't see and bring out other qualities. Yeah, I think that was certainly true of McTominee. And with Hoyland at the weekend, I don't know if you watch the game against Inter, he showed that he could hold up the ball, bring others into play. And so a player who was considered raw when he went from Sturmgrats to Atalanta and then to Manchester United, as a young player still, you can see now he's adding things

to his game, he's refining bits to his game, he's becoming a well-rounded, better player. And that is in part down to himself, of course, but it's also down to Antonio Conte. Let's just finish with this. Are we all looking forward to the Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday, Senegal, Morocco. I don't know if I've mentioned Jules, but I've been to... Have you?

Yeah, I've been to the African of Nations before. Have you? No, no, yeah. 2015, Jules. No, it was, yeah. I swear, a while ago, yeah. Learned a lot, learned a lot. Making it about yourself, crossy.

Oh, absolutely. Since 2015. And I look, and I know it's... the Euroleagues, but I just think it's such a great competition. And we talk about lots of stuff beyond European football. I think, Guillem, it's a great final because the hosts are in the final, and I think that makes a big difference. Yeah, that is definitely one thing.

We've seen players shining as well. The talk of Brian Diaz being possibly the best play in the world is perhaps a little bit exaggerated, but certainly, he has been, correct, if I'm wrong, the best play of the tournament with scoring every run, apart from the semi-finals. And

he has been entertaining. He has been entertaining. Perhaps not so much one of the semis, but with no goals. But anyway, it's a competition.

It's a final you have to watch. When is that Sunday? 7pm? Yeah. There you go that's your buildup,

is it? Just to add to that, in the seventh final that the host have played in the history of, I don't know if you, in your Afconn crossy in 2015

if you had the host in the final, but six or seven times the host win the final when they're in the final. No, Equatorial Guinea did not make the final. But it was

it was a golden year for Ivory Coast. Anyway, enough about me. Thank you very much, guys. Always a pleasure. Great stuff. Julianne Laurent, Guillem Ballagay and James Horncastle, who've been with us on the Euroleagues tonight? Life Sports.

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