Welcome to The Daily Football Briefing from The Athletic. It’s all the football news you need in ten minutes or less. Subscribe now and you’ll never miss anothe...
Have Man City spent wisely (and do Real Madrid have a point?)
Manchester City’s spending has been the focus of much discussion over the last 24 hours. They bought four players in the window, but will they be enough to prevent Pep Guardiola’s empire from crumbling? Rory Smith thinks not
And Real Madrid have complained very loudly about VAR “manipulating” the game against them. Thomas Hill Lopez Menchero is here to tell us if they have a point.
Plus we’ve got news from all of the big games around Europe too.
Presenter: Iain Macintosh
With: Si Watts, Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero
Producer: Si Watts
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10:26
What happened on Deadline Day (and how much did Chelsea need that win?)
We’ve got a full deadline day round-up for you here with everything that was confirmed after 11pm, but before our bedtime at midnight. Deal of the day? Marco Asensio for Aston Villa? Or will it be Mathys Tel for Spurs?
Chelsea were never really comfortable at Stamford Bridge, but they grabbed themselves a much needed victory against West Ham. Simon Johnson was there.
And we’ve got another episode of Heavy Metal Football…statistics for you, including the answer to the question: Who’s always trying to walk the ball into the net? The answer may not surprise you…
Presenter: Iain Macintosh
With: Simon Johnson
Producer: Si Watts
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11:43
Arsenal flatten City (and Man Utd lose again)
Be honest. When Kai Havertz missed that first half sitter, you thought that Arsenal were going to lose, didn’t you? And why wouldn’t you? That’s how football works. It’s powered by narrativium. Except this time it wasn’t. Arsenal destroyed City and Havertz got one in the back of the net eventually.
Amy Lawrence has the Arsenal angle, Sam Lee has City, but we’ve also got Carl Anka at Old Trafford, the theatre of pathos, we’ve got Jay Harris at the GTech where Spurs were impressive and if that’s not enough, Pol Ballus joins us from Spain where Barcelona have rejoined the title race.
Presenter: Iain Macintosh
With: Sam Lee, Amy Lawrence, Carl Anka, Jay Harris, Si Watts and Pol Ballus
Producer: Si Watts
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17:03
Europa League special. Who’s in and who’s out (and is Mathys Tel off to Spurs?)
It’s mission accomplished for Tottenham and Manchester United, they’ve spared themselves a Europa League play-off. So have Rangers, which very few people expected. Jay Harris was in North London, Mark Critchely was in Bucharest, but they both made time for DFB.
So did Seb Stafford Bloor because it looks like young Mathys Tel is on the move. But where to?
And we’ve got a whole weekend of domestic football on the horizon, so we’ve picked out the most interesting games in the top five league.
Presenter: Iain Macintosh
With: Mark Critchley, Jay Harris, Seb Stafford Bloor
Producer: Tom Fuller
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10:37
Champions League special. Who’s in and who’s out (and who is everybody likely to play in the knock-out rounds?
Manchester City were 0-1 at home to Club Brugges, but they fought back to win 3-1 and claim their place in the play-offs. Sam Lee was there and he’s looking forward to their reward; a clash with Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Paris St Germain didn’t just survive, they managed to bag a seeded place in the play-offs, Seb Stafford Bloor watched them and he was impressed.
And Aston Villa’s 4-2 win over Celtic was overshadowed by David Ornstein’s news that Jhon Duran is set to move to Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia. Jacob Tanswell was there trying to make sense of it all.
Plus, we’ve got a full and actually quite straight-forward guide to what happens next. Could Liverpool’s reward for finishing first be a clash with PSG? Yep.
Presenter: Iain Macintosh
With: Sam Lee, Seb Stafford Bloor, Jacob Tanswell
Producer: Steve Hankey
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Welcome to The Daily Football Briefing from The Athletic. It’s all the football news you need in ten minutes or less. Subscribe now and you’ll never miss another story.
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