The Football Weekend

MANCHESTER UNITED and MANCHESTER CITY will contest the FA Cup final on Saturday at 10am Eastern, and Jon Champion will be calling the game for U.S. audiences on ESPN. He also graciously joined the show this week to preview the match, look back on the Premier League season just passed, and offer his favorite stadiums to commentate from—including Goodison Park, where you've got to navigate multiple ladders to get to the commentary position.If you're enjoying The Football Weekend, please give us a rating and review! It will help spread the word to more fans who might like a preview of a big match to start their Fridays.

It's the Premier League's final day, and the title is still on the line. Arsenal have won 15 of their last 17 league games, but it may not be enough to topple mighty Manchester City. The Gunners must win at home to Everton and hope West Ham can get a result at the Etihad Stadium.The last time City and Arsenal went head-to-head, Robbie Earle joined the show to preview the match and mentioned he might like to come back at the end of the season. He’s on location in London, where NBC will provide wall-to-wall coverage of Championship Sunday. For our American listeners, all 10 matches will stream simultaneously on Peacock with coverage beginning at 9am, and you can also catch Man City-West Ham on NBC and Arsenal-Everton on USA Network. For his part, Robbie will be watching pitchside at the Emirates with Rebecca Lowe and the rest of the NBC crew.We talked the title race but also the relegation stakes this season, the points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest, Wolves’ proposal to scrap VAR, Ange Postecolgou’s Tottenham discontent, how Liverpool’s season has changed since Jürgen Klopp’s midseason announcement that he would depart the club, and the twisting fates of Chelsea and Manchester United.If you’re enjoying the show, kindly give it a rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts! It will help others find us and properly pregame their football weekends.

Arsenal head to Manchester United on Sunday, and only victory will suffice. Mikel Arteta’s side are locked in a title race with Manchester City, and even a draw here will mean their race is run. Manchester United are in dire straits: they’ve crashed down to 8th in the Premier League table after a 4-0 thumping from Crystal Palace on Monday night, and the calls for manager Erik ten Hag to be sent packing are growing louder. Still, United always seem to show up against the Arsenal: of their last 16 visits to Old Trafford, the Gunners have won just one match.Here to preview the match is Chris Wittyngham, a play-by-play commentator for CBS and Paramount+ who called both legs of the Champions League semifinal between PSG and Borussia Dortmund over the last couple of weeks. He also calls matches for the MLS on AppleTV+ and features on The Football Show on SiriusXM FC.If you’re enjoying the show, kindly give it a rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts! It will help others find us and properly pregame their football weekends.

Bayer Leverkusen are six matches from immortality. The German champions have won 39 games of their 47 played. They’ve drawn eight. They’ve lost zero. This young team led by Xabi Alonso has already won the Bundesliga, and they’re in the final of the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup. They’re also locked in a Europa League semifinal with Roma, two matches away from a European crown. In the end, they could go farther than Arsenal’s famous Invincibles of 2004 and play an entire season—53 matches across all competitions—without defeat. It is a phenomenon.Joining the show to discuss this remarkable run is a man who's borne witness to it firsthand: Derek Rae is the lead commentator for ESPN’s coverage of German football and for the Bundesliga world feed. He’s also the voice of the FIFA video game series, now doing business as EAFC. We spoke Wednesday, ahead of Leverkusen’s first-leg meeting with Roma, about this spectacular season for Xabi Alonso’s side.

The loathing and disgust that Tottenham and Arsenal have for one another is truly uncommon. It all began in 1913, when the Gunners moved across the Thames to Tottenham's neighborhood. The locals never forgave them for it. Through the years, Arsenal have enjoyed far more success, but this rivalry has always simmered beneath the surface. At times—like when Sol Campbell made a shocking move from Spurs to Arsenal on a free transfer—it's bubbled over. Here to discuss the North London Derby this Sunday is Rory Talks Football, who covers the top-level European game across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter for an audience of hundreds of thousands of followers. He's also an Arsenal fan, so expect some heavy Arsenal chat along with some decent analysis of what Spurs have brought to this Premier League season. Plus, Rory explains why he hates Tottenham more than any other club.

This is the glamor match of world football, the grandest stage for the biggest stars. This was Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane vs. Ronaldinho, Raúl vs. Carles Puyol. And then there was Luís Figo. It's a fixture known for its legendary names and a consistently exquisite level of technical play, but the disagreement between Real Madrid and Barcelona has roots that run deep into modern Spanish social and political history. These are two outfits from different regions with clashing philosophies who have competed with one another for the biggest trophies for a long time. They really do not like each other.ESPN's Spanish football writer Graham Hunter joins the show to offer his insight on this rivalry from decades living in Spain and covering La Liga, including:the legacy of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime with regard to both of these clubs; how commercialization and marketing have changed the rivalry; the legend of Alfredo Di Stefano; how Florentino Perez used Figo to rise to power at Real Madrid, and how Zidane became the Galáctico archetype; the severe mismanagement of FC Barcelona in recent years and the role of player power; how Xavi's departure will be a dark day for the Spanish press; and Carlo Ancelotti's legacy as one of the all-time greats of football management.