We’ve all had a whinge about the international break, and with no small amount of justification given the strain on footballers these days, but Scotland and Poland served up an outstanding game of football in Warsaw and Scotland, after all their bad luck and all their poor form, secured a fantastic victory. Best game I’ve seen in ages.Elsewhere, Spain won their group, Denmark qualified in second, San Marino won again and Sudan have qualified for the African Nations, which is arguably the most impressive performance of the lot. Plus, we’ve got more details on the Lyon story and a look ahead to Mauricio Pochettino’s first competitive home game in charge of the USMNT.   Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved there and I’ve cracked and followed them over. You can find me on the link below and hopefully the place will stay nice for at least a week or so. https://bsky.app/profile/iainmacintosh.bsky.social We are delighted to say that this show is now sponsored by PELOTON. Find out more about them by visiting onepeloton.co.ukPresenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Paul Tenorio, Julien LaurensProducer: Steve Hankey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

England have returned to the top tier of the Nations League after beating Ireland 5-0 at Wembley. Jack Pitt-Brooke was at Wembley for that one. France had a good night as well, they beat Italy 3-1 at the San Siro. Plus, did you ignore all the international football to leave the house and have fun with real people doing real things? Then you need our giant international round-up. In just ten minutes, we’ll have you up to speed with Scotland’s massive result, with Ghana’s massive fail, with Javier Aguirre’s massive head wound and Lyon’s massive financial crisis. You need this podcast, you really do.  Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved there and I’ve cracked and followed them over. You can find me on the link below and hopefully the place will stay nice for at least a week or so. https://bsky.app/profile/iainmacintosh.bsky.social We are delighted to say that this show is now sponsored by PELOTON. Find out more about them by visiting onepeloton.co.ukPresenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jack Pitt BrookeProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lee Carsley isn’t going quietly into the night. He made some very bold selections and he was rewarded with a resounding 3-0 victory over Greece. Jack Pitt Brooke was in Athens to watch that one. I, on the other hand, was in my office watching Italy mostly dominate Belgium, though they should have won by more than their single goal. We’ve got some interesting scores from around the world, we’ve got news of Claudio Ranieri’s return to Roma and, most importantly, we’ve figured out which pub I went to in Barcelona in 2006. Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved there in the last 48 hours and I’ve cracked and followed them over. You can find me on the link below and hopefully the place will stay nice for at least a week or so. https://bsky.app/profile/iainmacintosh.bsky.social Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jack Pitt BrookeProducer: Steve Hankey  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You thought we had no football to talk about during International week didn’t you? WRONG!We look ahead to Thursday’s games, the Women’s Champions League and by the way: What is going wrong at Roma?Plus what Cole Palmer really thought of his move to Chelsea and is there ANYTHING more frightening than the prospect of asking Roy Keane for his daughters hand in marriage?And you know who we haven’t heard from for a while? YOU! We’ve had so much football, we’ve had no space for your messages.  You can email imacintosh@theathletic.com or, if you’re listening on the app, leave us a comment. It’s international week, we need the content…Need something to read? Head over to the Athletic where Oliver Kay looks back on Premier League nostalgia and the perils of comparing different eras: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5917161/2024/11/13/premier-league-best-era-comparison-nostalgia/Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: James Horncastle and Si WattsProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come on, it’ll be fun. We’ve got the return of the Impromptu International Week Book Club, that’ll be good, right? We’ve got news on a 57 year old professional footballer in Japan, you can’t miss that. Hey, and what about Lionel Messi? You know what they’re reporting in the USA right now? Messi-fatigue. You can find out more about that if you listen. And that’s not all. I’ll also reveal the location of London’s best pub… And you know who we haven’t heard from for a while? YOU! We’ve had so much football, we’ve had no space for your messages. You can email imacintosh@theathletic.com or, if you’re listening on the app, leave us a comment. It’s international week, we need the content…Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Felipe CardonasProducer: Steve Hankey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, Manchester City have lost four on the spin, but one was the League Cup, one was Europe, there are 26 matches left to play in the league and…it’s City, isn’t it? Sam Lee is here to bring perspective. But it really is bad at Roma, there’s no hiding that. They are looking for their third manager of the season already. What went wrong? James Horncastle is here to answer that. Wild horses couldn’t hold back Danny Kelly when it comes to summing up Spurs’ weekend. We had no chance.  And you know who we haven’t heard from for a while? YOU! We’ve had so much football, we’ve had no space for your messages. You can email imacintosh@theathletic.com or, if you’re listening on the app, leave us a comment. It’s international week, we need the content…Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Sam Lee, James Horncastle, Danny Kelly Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been another good weekend for Liverpool, not only did they win, but Manchester City lost, Arsenal and Chelsea drew and Nottingham Forest squandered a single goal lead to lose 3-1 to Newcastle. It’s looking good for Arne Slot.  Inter missed a penalty against Napoli and blew a chance to go top of Serie A, James Horncastle was watching that one. In Spain, Barcelona went to Real Socieded and lost only their second La Liga game of the season. And in Germany, Bayern Munich won and almost all of their rivals didn’t. If you have a question, ideally about football, but we’re not fussy, get in touch. You can email imacintosh@theathletic.com or, if you’re listening on the app, leave us a comment. It’s international week, we need the content…Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Liam Twomey, Jay Harris, Abi Paterson, James HorncastleProducer: Abi Paterson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tottenham lost 3-2 in Istanbul, but that scoreline really doesn’t tell the whole story. Jay Harris does though because he was there. Man Utd beat PAOK Salonika 2-0, but Carl Anka still isn’t happy. Meanwhile, I watched Ajax who, seven months on from getting spanked 6-0 by Feyenoord, appear to be back in business. Abi Paterson has got the Conference League covered, she spoke to Simon Johnson who was at Stamford Bridge for a goal frenzy to rival Abi’s pun frenzy…It’s all here and you should be too. Click the button now. Go on. Live a little. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Carl Anka, Jay Harris, Simon JohnsonProducer: Abi Paterson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it time for Arsenal fans to panic? They lost to Newcastle at the weekend, they lost to Inter on Wednesday night. They’ve actually only won two of their last six and one of them was against Preston. James McNicholas has some soothing words. Nothing will soothe Tyrone Mings pride after an extraordinary misjudgement saw him give away a crucial penalty in Bruges to condemn Aston Villa to their first defeat in the competition. Jacob Tanswell was there.Plus, we’ve got Pol Ballus in Belgrade for another Barcelona goal fest and Thom Harris was Paris for a surprise result that leaves PSG outside the qualification spots…Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: James McNicholas, Thom Harris, Jacob Tanswell and Pol Ballus  Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wow. Manchester City were torn apart by Sporting in Lisbon and there will be a rush to say that this really sets the tone for the future of the Manchester rivalry. Does it though? Sam Lee was there, we’ll find out what he thinks. Seb Stafford Bloor usually covers German football so he’s a useful, fresh set of eyes on Real Madrid. Because they are absolutely awful right now. James Pearce was at Anfield to see yet another Liverpool victory, this time over a team managed by the man most supporters initially thought should have replaced Jurgen Klopp. I bet they don’t think that now. We’ve got all the rest of the Champions League news, so stick this in your ears immediately and you’ll be up to speed in no time.   Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: James Pearce, Sam Lee, Seb Stafford BloorProducer: Abi Paterson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices