The Football Weekend

There’s a big game down in Italy on Saturday, but there’s only one headliner for this weekend. It’s El Clásico, Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu, the biggest game in club football outside the late stages of the Champions League.This one is box office each and every time, even if we’ve descended somewhat from the interstellar days of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. We’ll make do with Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Jude Bellingham, and whoever wins out here will take pole position in the Spanish title race. With Atlético Madrid fading somewhat, this is a campaign that could well end with both these teams taking 90+ points — or, as this week’s guest suggests, perhaps they both have more weaknesses than you might think.Here to help us get our bearings ahead of kickoff on Sunday (11:15am ET / 3:15pm UK) is Dan Hilton of The Barcelona Podcast.Get more sharp coverage of the world's game at TheFootballWeekend.com ↗️

Club football is back and so is Germany’s biggest game. It’s BAYERN MUNICH vs BORUSSIA DORTMUND in Der Klassiker.The Bavarian hosts have returned to their formidable best with 11 wins from 11 matches across all competitions this season. Bayern have scored 25 goals in six Bundesliga matches, with Harry Kane, Luis Díaz, and Michael Olisé firing on all cylinders. They are once again among the favorites to win the Champions League.On the other side, the last couple of years weren’t up to Dortmund’s standards domestically as they fell away from what they’ll feel is their rightful place as Bayern’s main challengers. But they now look to have reclaimed that spot from Bayer Leverkusen and are unbeaten in the league, though they’ve relied more on stout defense than explosive attack.This one’s shaping up well, and joining us to preview the match is the commentary team who will deliver it to American viewers on ESPN at 12:30pm ET on Saturday: Derek Rae and Stewart Robson, who also happen to be the in-game commentators for EA Sports FC 26 — and many previous iterations of the famous franchise formerly known as FIFA!We got into how they record play-by-play for video-game matches that haven’t happened yet, their travels together across Germany (and shared taste for bratwurst), and much more...Get more sharp coverage of the world's game at TheFootballWeekend.com ↗️

It’s the second international break of the young club season, so we’re continuing our tour around the continents to see who’s doing what in World Cup qualifying. This week we head over to the Confederation of African Football to see who’s on their way to North America next summer, plus:How the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams rights a historical wrong with respect to how many tickets African nations get every four years.The wonderful story of Cape Verde, population half a million, who are on the verge of qualifying for their first world cup.Why the continent’s traditional powers like Nigeria and Cameroon are struggling to qualify.Why the power base of the continent is moving north to Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, thanks in part to changes to FIFA rules and the North African diaspora in Europe.The controversy around South Africa’s qualifying campaign and why they are the most rapidly improving team on the continent.Here to break it all down is Maher Mezahi, an African football journalist based in Algiers who hosts the African Five-a-Side podcast:Get more sharp coverage of the world's game at TheFootballWeekend.com ↗️

Monaco and Nice are not the biggest clubs in the South of France — that’s Marseille — but they maintain a testy feud that carries the cultural differences between the two towns. The Principality of Monaco is fiercely independent from France but plays in Ligue 1 alongside Nice, a gorgeous but (somewhat) less glitzy destination than the champagne-and-caviar precincts of the Monégasques.AS Monaco has a rich footballing tradition in recent decades, from the Arsène Wenger days (and those of Thierry Henry and George Weah) to more recent times, when the club has been a kind of finishing school for elite talent like Kylian Mbappé and Bernardo Silva. OGC Nice has not enjoyed the same success recently, and yet engenders fierce support rooted in deep tradition that Monaco can’t always match: the Stade Louis II, where this weekend’s match will be played, has inconsistent attendance in a town where football isn’t always paramount.Meanwhile, both clubs are seeing varying levels of fan revolt over poor results and msigivings about how they’re run — not least Nice, where fans are even more disenchanted with Sir Jim Ratcliffe than Manchester United supporters. That combined with a rebellion against French footballing authorities has spurred a boycott among Nice ultras, who will not be attending this match or enjoying their traditional mass scooter procession across the 20-or-so kilometers from Nice to Monaco.Joining us to break it all down is Jonathan Johnson, a Paris-based French football expert.if you like what you hear in this episode, leave us a rating and review! It helps spread the good word about The Football Weekend.

It’s the Madrid derby this Saturday as Atlético host Real Madrid at the Metropolitano, and ahead of the big game we’re getting into some La Liga history. There’s a thrilling story of how two Racing Santander players defied Generalissimo Franco’s fascist regime, a look at the man largely in Santiago Bernabéu’s shadow who did so much to make Real Madrid what it is today, and the tale of how a flying Atléti winger became a Nazi spy.Each of those is a chapter of Once Upon a Time in La Liga, a new book out this month. Author Brendan Madden joins the show to share them, talk about his path from data journalist to football storyteller, and of course talk about how the current versions of Atléti and Los Blancos are looking coming into this weekend’s marquee fixture.Be sure to pick up a copy of the book: https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/once-upon-time-la-ligaAnd if you like what you hear in this episode, leave us a rating and review! It helps spread the good word about The Football Weekend.Get more sharp conversations, thoughtful commentary, and on-the-ground reporting: https://www.thefootballweekend.com/

It's the Merseyside derby this weekend, and we get into that feud a bit with this week's guest. After all, Stephen Warnock came up through the Liverpool academy and has been to Anfield and Goodison Park umpteen times (and to Everton's brand new Hill Dickson Stadium once). But that’s not the marquee match of the round. Neither is Man United-Chelsea.The big one is ARSENAL vs MANCHESTER CITY at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, and it could tell us a lot about whether the Premier League is about to see a two-horse title race, a three-way, or even a foursome if Chelsea get involved. It will certainly have a different feel from those recent seasons where Pep Guardiola got the better of his ex-pupil Mikel Arteta, however, because Arsenal come into this one as firm favorites.Beyond all that, Warnock also talks about a couple of his more idiosyncratic managers back in his playing days, Big Sam Allardyce and Neil Warnock. He also remembers sharing a flank with streets-won't-forget Barclaysman Morten Gamst Pedersen, and these are the kind of behind-the-scenes stories you'll find — along with some expert insight into the fitness and recovery side of things — on his new podcast, Strain on the Game.Check that out, but first: Have a listen here, leave a review if you enjoy yourself, and check out more sharp conversations and on-the-ground reporting at The Football Weekend.com.

The 2026 World Cup in North America is less than a year away, and while the club season has now kicked off in earnest, we'll have a number of international breaks before the big show. Each one is an opportunity to take stock of the various national teams across (nearly) every continent and see who’s on their way to the United States, Canada, and Mexico next summer.We’ll take those opportunities with a series of shows in those windows where club football is on hiatus, and joining up for the inaugural edition is Felipe Cárdenas, senior writer for The Athletic covering national teams across North and South America.We got into the U.S. Men’s National Team, Mauricio Pochettino’s performance, and the controversy around this summer’s Gold Cup; Lionel Messi’s last ride with Argentina and his chance to add a line to his resumé that could really settle all debates; Carlo Ancelotti’s bid to put the icing on his own cake with Brazil; Chile and Colombia’s struggles; Bolivia’s 13,000-foot home field advantage; and how Mexico and Canada are setting up as hosts.(And to come clean: I mispronounced Felipe’s last name in the intro! Ignore my “ñ.” We learn.)Get more sharp coverage of the world's game at TheFootballWeekend.com ↗️

The violence, the sectarianism, the proxy war linked to The Troubles in Northern Ireland and what it means to be Scottish — all of it is tied up in the Old Firm, Celtic vs Rangers, Glasgow’s white-hot derby. A particularly ugly Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park even saw alcohol banned from Scottish football stadiums.But what about the commercial side?Because from the beginning, all concerned have recognized the financial opportunity generated by Scotland’s greatest rivalry. “The Old Firm” name may well come from a cartoon that satirized the whole thing as a joint business enterprise, and fans have rebelled against the two clubs and the authorities for reasons financial. Some local companies, like Tennent’s brewers, have even chosen to sponsor both Celtic and Rangers simultaneously — because to choose just one could mean financial ruin. After all, both sides are more than happy to stage a boycott.The 447th Old Firm derby was played Sunday, as early as possible to (theoretically) keep the number of pints consumed beforehand to a minimum. Rangers have won 171 of those meetings, Celtic 170. Last year, ahead of the first Old Firm of 2024/25, Chris McLaughlin of the BBC Scotland joined the show to run through the rich and tempestuous history of this very particular derby match.Get more on this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAGSb8lq12g&pp=2AYB

Here's a proper Big Match Preview, and it’s a big guest to help us do it. Andrew Mangan is the proprietor at Arseblog, the preeminent fan chronicle of Arsenal Football Club, and he joins us to look at the true doozy ahead this weekend. The Gunners will head north to Anfield on Sunday to face Liverpool in the first proper title clash of the Premier League season.It comes on the back of a very active transfer window for both sides, and we got into that along with the rich history between the two clubs and why they differ in some fundamental way — as far as heritage and culture — from big-money upstarts Chelsea and Manchester City. Plus, Andrew offers his view as an Irishman on the Irish thread that runs through both of these clubs.Fair warning that this is a meeting of two devout Arsenal partisans, but there’s plenty for everyone to enjoy along the way!Get more at TheFootballWeekend.com ↗️