Hand Of Pod

There's not much actual football to discuss on this week's Hand Of Pod, but episode 321 sees Sam, Andrés and Tony run the rule over Marcelo Bielsa's hilarious/heinous (delete as you see fit) headline-grabbing in the English Championship, as well as a bit more transfer talk with Boca Juniors captain Pablo Pérez on his way to Independiente.

Hand Of Pod is back for 2019, and in episode 320 Sam is joined by English Dan, Andrés, Tony and Mariano to review ... well, no football at all, obviously. But we do have talk of some of the early moves in the transfer window, including the shocking news of Luis Rodríguez's move from Atlético Tucumán to Colón (Colón!), as well as discussion of the possibility of Lionel Messi returning for Argentina, and a look at Argentina's squad for the upcoming Sudamericano Sub 20.

In the final HOP episode of 2018, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony look back on River Plate's Club World Cup semi-final failure, before taking a look at what lies ahead for River and defeated Copa Libertadores finalists Boca Juniors in the summer break. We also discuss the 2019 Copa Libertadores group stage draw, and the first round of the Copa Sudamericana. Merry Christmas or the holiday greeting of your choice to all our listeners, and we'll see you again in 2019!

In the three hundred and eighteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Tony, Andrés and English Dan meet to review what turned out – for all the controversy and sadness surrounding the match – to be an entertaining Copa Libertadores final second leg, which culminated in River Plate being crowned champions of South America for the fourth time after beating Boca Juniors in extra time. We also review the final weekend of Superliga action of 2018, which sees Racing very much in the driving seat as the teams head into the summer break.

In the three hundred and seventeenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of action which saw a five-goal thriller in the Tucumán clásico that helped Racing open up a five-point lead at the top of the Superliga going into the last weekend before the summer break. We also preview the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between River Plate and Boca Juniors – again ...

It's not often HOP gets to talk about genuinely the biggest story in world sport of the last week. In HOP316, Sam, Andrés and podcast newcomer Chris take you through the timeline, fallout, mistakes and conspiracy theories surrounding the postponement of the Copa Libertadores final second leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors. We also talk a bit about the Argentine Superliga, to lighten the mood.

Well, this is quite a way to return from our month-and-a-half-long hiatus. On Saturday, River Plate will host Boca Juniors in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final; the biggest match in the history of Argentine – and probably South American – club football history. In episode 315 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan look back on the semis and the first leg of the final, before previewing the superclásico to end all superclásicos.

The three hundred and fourteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Tony to discuss a weekend on which there was less football than normal, due to a rainstorm which resulted in only one match being played on Saturday. Racing won that game to extend their Superliga lead (pending Atlético Tucumán's game in hand), while Boca returned to winning ways and River's reserves tonked Lanús, before beating Independiente 3-1 on Tuesday to qualify for the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores. We also have a look at Lionel Scaloni's latest Argentina squad. HOP will be a little less frequent for the next few weeks, because Sam is going on holiday, but we'll still have occasional episodes, and normal service will be resumed towards the end of November.

In episode three hundred and thirteen of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and English Dan to discuss River Plate's 2-0 win over Boca Juniors in Sunday's superclásico, as well as yet another win for Racing, who remain top of the league, and more success for Aldosivi, who are enjoying a fine start to life back in the top flight.

The three hundred and twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony come together for a bumper episode, discussing the role of the VAR and all the others ins and outs of the first legs of the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals (the three involving Argentine clubs, anyway), and previewing Sunday's titanic clash in the Bombonera between Boca Juniors and River Plate.