Inter hit Lazio for six as Barca lose again in La Liga
The Totally Football Show with James Richardson
Rivalries and Rising Stars in French Football
This chapter highlights the recent PSG vs. Lyon match, focusing on young talent Desiree Douai's performance and the challenges he faces. It also delves into the ongoing rivalry between the two clubs, featuring insights into player transfers and the contentious relationship between club representatives. A mix of humor and serious commentary illustrates the competitive nature of French football and its key players.
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Speaker 1
Only
Speaker 3
one team. Which was it? It was my team. Come on. PSG, in
Speaker 1
what looked like being a tricky fixture, they were taking on Lyon, who were in good form. Owners get on really well. Yeah,
Speaker 3
I was going to come to that.
Speaker 1
Yeah. Okay. Wherever you want to start. Do you want to start with...
Speaker 3
Start with the game because it was a really good game. I
Speaker 1
want to ask you about 19-year Desiree Douai. Desiree Douai, who finally... Sexiest name in football. Desiree Douai.
Speaker 3
I mean, Desiree as desired. I think we talked about that. Desire due. Desire gifted, even. Oh, Douai. Because Douai as in gifted, yeah.
Speaker 1
Oh, right.
Speaker 3
Yeah. So, desired gifted, yeah, for Desiree Douai. To be fair, for somebody who costs 50 million euros, he had a really slow start, which is normally he's 19 years old. He had a slow start where I think the expectations and the pressure, playing in Paris, moving from Rennes, where he lived all his life with his family.
Speaker 2
He's Rennes born and bred. Yeah, he's Rennes born and bred.
Speaker 3
So he's not really one of mine. But it's okay. No wonder he struggled. Yeah, exactly. If he'd been from Paris, he would have... But now we saw his goal against Salzburg in midweek in the Champions League, and he was outstanding in the game, the best player on the pitch on Sunday night. His assist
Speaker 1
for the first goal. It
Speaker 3
was wonderful how he turns over Esli Maitland-Nice, the former Arsenal defender, or midfielder, and then Greg Cross. He keeps the ball, he's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He's passing. He scored a lovely goal that was disallowed for offside, rightly so, but the movement was great for PSG in the second half. He was outstanding. Technically, he's so gifted and he's so quick. He's great. He just needed a bit of time, I think, to adapt to Luis Enrique's methods and philosophy and find his place in this team. But he looked a really good other option to play either the fourth nine or right winger or left winger like he did in that game on Sunday because he's so gifted and desired
Speaker 1
yeah
Speaker 3
he's very much desired because talent is not
Speaker 1
enough you've got to have Desiree indeed so next up for Paris Saint-Germain who are now seven points clear of both Marseille and Monaco, is a game in Monaco against, well, Monaco.
Speaker 3
On Wednesday night. That's right. Wednesday night. Because then they play the French Community Shield at the start of the year, which was postponed from the summer. That's why it's the only game in the league in midweek. So it's not like a midweek round of games. It's just that one rescheduled in a way because then they will have to play the French Trophée des Champions while the others play their league game, if you see what I mean. It's trophy, James. You know who wasn't at the Par de Prince for the PSG Lyon game? Who? It was Randal Kolomwani, and Milan Skriniar dropped as well so clearly the two players that Luis Enrique we never really liked let's be honest here it's just trying to get rid of the Rashford
Speaker 2
and Garnett
Speaker 3
show of Paris very much so they're on the transfer
Speaker 1
market list good lord we haven't had enough chat so far on this podcast about owners so let's hear about the Lyon and PSG beef yes because I don't know if you saw or if
Speaker 3
you follow John Texter, the Lyon owner, who's also the Botafogo owner and partly owner of Crystal Palace in England. But after Botafogo won the Copa Libertadores and the league, to be fair, in Brazil, he posted a photo on social media of him with the Libertadores trophy, which is massive, a bit like the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 2
And the text from texting.
Speaker 3
And then like a... Screen grab. Screen grab, that's it. Thank you, James. Screen grab of a couple of messages that him and Nasser Khalafi, the PhD president, exchanged back in the summer in a very nice, kind way. Nasser Khalafi said, you loser, you will never win anything in football. Banter. Banter. Like friends might enjoy. But there were no
Speaker 2
emojis of crying laughter. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3
Just like that. Literally, you would never win anything. So, Texture, obviously, no caption needed. Like him withadores govita is his club had never won but a fogo and then almost by pure coincidence the following day in l'equipe newspaper a journalist who's very close to john texter wrote this article about the john texter and nacelle high kind of whatsapp messages the war that they had over WhatsApp in the summer, because obviously they are two of the most important presidents and owners in French football. And they were clearly not getting on about the TV right deal. And Textor wanted maybe Ligue 1 to have their own channel, if you want. Whereas El Khalafi is also obviously the CEO of Bein Sports, wanted the rights to stay on normal television. So they had a fight. So, for example, Nasser Al-Khalafi texted John Texter saying, you understand nothing about football. It's a waste of my time to talk to you. Thank you very much. John Texter said, you always say that you save the whole world, which is just megalomaniac behavior. Here you go. Laughing
Speaker 1
emoji?
Speaker 3
No emoji. They don't like emojis, it seems, between them. Nasser Rafi is saying to text her, you're a guy. So another one. I don't want to talk to you.
Speaker 1
They do a lot of talking for people who don't want to talk to each other. Yeah,
Speaker 3
but it felt to me that text her was like, listen, I would like to talk to you about the TV riding and stuff. And Nasser would just respond like, nah, I don't want to talk to you. Your people are stupid, blah, blah, blah. So they don't like each other. Texter was not at the game on Sunday. But Nasser Al-Khalafi hosted very well the Lyon people, as he should. But maybe the best of all, to finish on that, is that PSG and Botafogo, so Al-Khalafi and Texter will play each other in the Club World Cup in LA in the summer. And that, they have to be there both. They can't miss that. I think it might even be the opening game for their group. So that would be pretty special. They're just going to sit, I don't think they would shake hands, I don't think they talk, I don't think, they really don't like each other. Okay.
Speaker 1
What was the reaction in Paris to these texts? Any suggestions that it wasn't a great way for PSG to be behaving? I don't know. I mean, I think... Quite a Parisian way to behave. Yeah, probably.
Speaker 3
That's how I would talk to you, if you were, like, annoying me on the WhatsApp group. No, there was not much reaction, to be fair. You have a WhatsApp
Speaker 1
group? Oh. Sorry.
Speaker 3
Yeah, we'll invite you in. It's the TMZ WhatsApp. Oh,
Speaker 1
the ghost show. Quick laughing emoji. Yeah.
Speaker 3
No, no, I haven't seen too many reactions.
Speaker 1
Okay. All right. Well, that's huge then, the Monaco game. Yeah.
Speaker 3
And kind of last chance, maybe? Monaco, not great. Yeah, they drew a Reims. They should have lost that game. But to
Speaker 1
get a bit of title chasing momentum back for the Monacos?
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah, definitely. They need it. They need a striker. They're struggling for goals. They have players missing, injured. Zakaria is a big doubt for the game on Wednesday. So usually it's a very competitive match, but we thought that the PSG Lyon game would be competitive and actually PSG were quite dominant and too good for this Lyon side. Are they still
Speaker 2
going down, Jules, Lyon? Well,
Speaker 3
they are still, yeah. Unless Texas comes up
Speaker 2
with the cash. Unless
Speaker 3
he comes up with the cash. So he's really hoping that some of the money he earns with Botafogo can go just like transfer from account to
Speaker 1
account. And has anybody told him whether he can or not yet?
Speaker 3
Yeah, they said they couldn't, but he's
Speaker 1
going to find a way. Okay. Monaco this weekend held goalless by Reims. Yeah, it should have lost him. Marseille, meanwhile, were held to a 1-1 draw by Lille, who are now 16 games unbeaten in all competitions, Lille. Wonderful Pep Genesio. Yeah. I mean, is that still a flattering nickname for him, do you think?
Speaker 3
Well, yeah, you're right. It's actually... Yeah, it would be good to call Guardiola Bruno Guardiola, no, really? But he's the number
Speaker 2
one Pep, isn't he? Because Pep Lindes got sacked. Yeah, that's so true. Guardiola's on this run. Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 3
He's the best Pep out there. Pep
Speaker 1
Linders, who was with Red Bull Salzburg and their disastrous Champions League campaign and poor form in the Austrian League as well. Sacked before Jurgen Klopp starts.
Speaker 3
Well, surely Jurgen had something to do with that.
Speaker 2
That's interesting. Maybe he didn't want anything to do it. That's the thing. January 1st, he starts. So he's like, oh.
Speaker 3
Please, guys, sack him but suck him now because it can't be me I don't want to do it I can't do this I can't do this to him the Marcel Lille game on Friday night was outstanding by the way like a Champions League level game yeah and Deserby was a bit frustrated because Lille scored in the 87th minute to equalise but the draw was the fair result and both teams had plenty of chances but it was a really really high quality game.
Speaker 1
Okay. I like Desiree Duhay as a name, but I'm quite a big fan of Quentin Merlin. Quentin
Speaker 3
Merlin. Quentin Merlin. Yeah. Nice goal, by the way. Quentin Merlin. He doesn't score often. He doesn't. No, he's a left back. I mean, he plays left wing back now with Deserby. But he, yeah, he was injured. He was a big miss for them. And him and Rabiot combined really well on that goal. Lovely goal. And then Lille had the Grover one-on with Rulli, Geronimo. I bet you love that name as well. Geronimo. Geronimo
Speaker 2
and Merlin in the same. Same game. That's pretty. Same team. What sorcery is this? I
Speaker 3
mean, imagine Graham Potter being the coach. But they're doing well and now they're off to Copenhagen. They are in Copenhagen today, Marseille. Oh. Yeah, just for a team bonding trip.
Speaker 1
Okay. And there's only one more game before the end of the year and it's Wednesday night's Monaco-Pierce because everybody's off now.
Speaker 3
No, it's the French Cup this weekend. Your favorite competition. Yes. With teams from everywhere overseas.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 3
And Aminos against big clubs. So Monaco have a tricky game then after the PSG one. They play Union Saint-Jean. We talked about it when Union Saint-Jean qualified and they're in the sixth division, beat Versailles from the third division and now we'll play Monaco in the Toulouse Stadium because their stadium is too small.
Speaker 2
Are there any from like Réunion?
Speaker 3
Yeah, one from Martinique I think and one from La Réunion. So like, yeah, 13,000 miles or whatever, 12,000 miles to come and play this weekend. So let's hope they do well. Let's
Speaker 2
hope they do well. There's a team, Jules, who's playing Annecy called Goal FC.
Speaker 3
Yeah, but we talked about that. They merged a few clubs in the Lyon area. And I think Goal is all the It's an acronym. Yeah, first letters of all the clubs. And I think Ludovic Julie is maybe, certainly his dad, Dominic Julie, is maybe the president or something like that because Julie is from there Saint-Philbert
Speaker 2
lovely
Speaker 3
pronunciation by the way we say goodbye to Olivier Dalaglio the Saint-Etienne coach who was sacked by Ivan Gazidis
Speaker 1
oh Thionville-Lusitanos at this time of year that's
Speaker 3
got to stink. I know, it is bad, just before Christmas. Merry Christmas, Delaglio.
Speaker 1
All righty. Saint-Etienne are currently in the relegation playoff spot.
Speaker 3
They really like a Norwegian coach. Sorry, let me just get there.
Speaker 1
James, what were you getting excited about?
Speaker 3
It's a team
Speaker 2
called Stade Brioche. Is this where Brioche is from? No,
Speaker 3
that's Saint-Brieuc, but it could be. I'm sure they make Brioche. Are they good at crossing? They've got Croissant. Yeah, they are. So Eric Horneland, who is a cousin of Horncastle, but just Norwegian, is on the shortlist to replace Daloglio. There
Speaker 1
you go. That answers your question, listener. I think that probably wraps it up, does it, for Ligue 1 for now, Jules? Yeah, I think so. Get an important update in our final Euro show. There might be another club, James.
Speaker 3
Have you found the clubs from Martinique and
Speaker 2
Reynon? Well, I assume this club is from Martinique. It's called Matigues. No,
Speaker 3
that's Martig in the south.
Speaker 2
Matig? Yeah, that's near Marseille. Damn. All right, okay.
Speaker 3
Another one. Try to find it. It's a great game.
Speaker 2
Okay. Corte?
Speaker 3
No, that's in Corsica.
Speaker 2
Okay. Let's see if I can find it. Essa Merignac. Sounds like a place where you get like Armagnac. But
Speaker 3
that's near Bordeaux. Yeah, Marignac is the Bordeaux airport. Okay, there you see.
Speaker 2
It doesn't strike me as obvious, this.
Speaker 3
No, I'm disappointed.
Speaker 2
S-U That's like your team, Divas.
Speaker 1
Oh. They go down easily, but. Oh, yeah. Wow. I'm going to cut short this. Still.
Speaker 3
So, Saint-Denis FC are the team from Saint-Denis de la Réunion. I thought they were in Paris. Well, there is Saint-Denis in Paris, but they are not. I thought there was Saint-Denis that's not in Paris. Yeah,
Speaker 1
yeah. Well, here we go. You know, in the banlieue. It's in the banlieue. Okay. Anyway. Okay. Jules, I think we've run out of time for our
Speaker 3
French segment.
Jimbo’s joined by his continental crew - James Horncastle, Julien Laurens, Pol Ballús and Seb Stafford-Bloor - to look back on the latest week of action from across Europe.
Atletico Madrid took advantage of their faltering rivals Barcelona and Real with a 1-0 win over Getafe to move level on points with Hansi Flick’s side at the top of the table - and with a game in hand. That’s after Barca’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Leganes, while Carlo Ancelotti’s men were held 3-3 by Rayo Vallecano.
It’s just as exciting over in Italy, with Atalanta flying high after their historic 10th consecutive league win. Napoli got back to winning ways to sit two points behind, while Inter also kept up the pressure with a statement 6-0 win over Lazio on Monday night.
In the Bundesliga Bayern tasted defeat for the first time courtesy of a lacklustre 2-1 loss at bogey side Mainz, meaning Leverkusen closed the gap to four points courtesy of a 2-0 win at Augsburg. Plus, are Leipzig in the process of getting their season back on track?
And in Ligue 1, PSG remain unbeaten and sit seven points ahead of the rest of the pack after their 3-1 win over Lyon. Elsewhere Lille extended their unbeaten run to 16 games in all competitions courtesy of a late 1-1 draw with Marseille, their longest unbeaten run for 51 years.
Produced by Lucy Oliva.
RUNNING ORDER:
• PART 1: Moments of the weekend (00.45)
• PART 2: Serie A review - Six of the best from Inter while Atalanta make history (06.45)
• PART 3: La Liga review - Barca lose again as Atleti close the gap (23.15)
• PART 4: Ligue 1 review - PSG still unbeaten and seven points clear (34.15)
• PART 5: Bundesliga review - Bayern taste defeat for the first time as Leverkusen slash their lead (47.55)
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