The Football Weekend

LIVERPOOL vs CHELSEA is a modern classic, a rivalry born when Roman Abramovich bought the Blues into prominence and kicked off 20 years of tumultuous encounters: The Slip, the Ghost Goal, the feud between José Mourinho and Rafa Benitez, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, Jamie Carragher and John Terry, Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba. There were transfer sagas, wars of words, Champions League sem...

It's a meeting of two old enemies in Guadalajara, two years before they co-host a World Cup, but this international friendly wouldn't mean much without big news on the American side: the U.S. Men's National Team has a new coach with serious pedigree at the top of the European game. Mauricio Pochettino took Tottenham to a Champions League final, he's coached Chelsea and PSG, and now he'll try to le...

This one's named for a region named after a road—the Via Aemilia—that the Romans built after they took this chunk of northern Italy off some Celtic tribes back in 189 BC. A bunch of towns grew up along the new thoroughfare, and now there are a number of football clubs scrapping over this turf. The two biggest and most decorated are BOLOGNA , from the medieval masterpiece known for its food, archit...

We’re headed over to Germany for an early Bundesliga title clash, and Derek Rae is our guide before he calls the game for ESPN. It’s BAYERN MUNICH vs BAYER LEVERKUSEN in a meeting of the perennial powers and the fresh-faced upstarts, with Bayern looking for a return to the normal order of things after Leverkusen posted a scintillating unbeaten domestic double last term, taking the Bundesliga and D...

There are few feuds like the 111-year-old dispute between Arsenal and Tottenham over who exactly owns North London. These two first met in 1896, but that was when Arsenal were in Woolwich, south of the River Thames. It wasn’t until the Gunners crossed the waterway in 1913 and set up shop in Tottenham’s neighborhood that the trouble began, and it hasn’t let up since. Though as an Arsenal fan, I fee...

It's the battle of Glasgow, one of the most combustible matches in world football. CELTIC vs RANGERS is a fixture like no other, a vehicle for ancient blood feuds and sectarian strife. In the beginning of the 20th century, these two sets of fans marked the final whistle of a cup final by attempting to burn down Scotland's famed Hampden Park. After the 1980 final, supporters from both sides rioted...

La Liga is back and so is one of its true classics. BARCELONA and ATHLETIC CLUB have been duking it out in this division for as long as it's been around. Along with Real Madrid, they're the only clubs who've never been relegated. Like Barça, Athletic represents a part of Spain—the Basque region—with a serious independent streak, but that hasn't always made them allies off or on the pitch. In the 1...

The Premier League is back following a breathless summer where we scarcely had any break from football at all. Still, it's a new season brimming with possibilities, and CHELSEA vs MAN CITY is a fine marquee fixture for the opening weekend. These are two teams making considerable news off the pitch, with Chelsea's freewheeling—some would say "chaotic"—transfer spending and City finally (maybe) faci...

The EURO 2024 final is upon us, and DAN BARDELL of Sky Sports and TalkSPORT returns to the show this week to preview ENGLAND vs SPAIN . Together we make the case that Gareth Southgate is among the very best England managers of all time, and Dan describes the unique joy of watching Ollie Watkins’ winner in the semifinal as a lifelong Aston Villa fan. We also discuss the stress of watching players f...

The quarterfinals kick off at EURO 2024 on Friday with SPAIN vs GERMANY and FRANCE vs PORTUGAL , before ENGLAND and SWITZERLAND meet Saturday and the NETHERLANDS face TÜRKIYE shortly after to round out the last eight. Joining us to preview this sweet schedule of seismic sporting encounters is CARL ANKA , a staff writer for The Athletic . He covers Manchester United during the club season but was d...

The Copa América quarterfinals begin Thursday with Lionel Messi's ARGENTINA against ECUADOR , while the marquee match of the round comes last: BRAZIL vs URUGUAY . Joining the show to preview both—and the two other matches in between—is ALEXIS GUERREROS of The Cooligans podcast and Morning Footy on the CBS Sports Golazo Network. We also spared some time for the USA's disastrous group-stage exit fro...

The EURO 2024 group stage is done and dusted, and the tournament's sudden-death phase is upon us. It's the Round of 16, with SWITZERLAND vs ITALY and GERMANY vs DENMARK on Saturday, ENGLAND-SLOVAKIA and SPAIN vs GEORGIA on Sunday, FRANCE vs BELGIUM and PORTUGAL vs SLOVENIA on Monday, and finally, ROMANIA vs the NETHERLANDS and AUSTRIA-TURKIYE on Tuesday. Joining us this week to preview the knockou...

What a time to be alive as a football fan, as COPA AMÉRICA joins EURO 2024 on our television screens. Here to preview the Western Hemisphere's championship is STU HOLDEN , who played for the U.S. Men’s National Team and was one of the first Americans I ever saw play in a Premier League midfield. Now he’s a co-commentator and analyst for FOX Sports, which will be broadcasting the Copa América here...

It's EURO 2024, the European Championships, and it all blasts off on this opening weekend with GERMANY vs SCOTLAND, CROATIA vs SPAIN, and ENGLAND vs SERBIA. Dan Bardell of Sky Sports and TalkSport joins the show to preview these matches and the tournament in general, and as a devout Aston Villa fan, he found a way to get John McGinn and Andrés Iniesta into the same sentence! If you're enjoying The...

With men's football in a very brief offseason, it's time for a change of pace. How does a football club get started in the first place? Maximilian Mansfield can tell you first hand. He's the CEO of Brooklyn FC, a startup club that's sprouting out of the asphalt not far from TFW HQ here in New York. Max joins the show to chat about where BKFC fits in a football ecosystem that already boasts two MLS...

It's the Champions League final on Saturday at Wembley Stadium, where REAL MADRID will seek a preposterous 15th title and BORUSSIA DORTMUND will play the David to Madrid's Goliath. CLIVE TYLDESLEY will call his 30th final in this competition for CBS and Paramount+ in the United States, but first he joins the show to run through some of the biggest moments to which he's borne witness—from Mancheste...

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...

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...

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 se...

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 co...

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 Spur...

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 m...

Roma vs. Lazio is not often a contest for silverware, but the locals aren't fussed. This is a battle to determine who controls Rome, and fans are often more concerned with who takes this game than who takes the Scudetto . These two share a stadium, the Stadio Olimpico, and a history tied up in the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. This one is known for the colorful signage and tifos that ri...

The Etihad Stadium has not been a place that Arsenal like to go in recent years, but they travel there on Sunday with an opportunity to strike a massive blow against a fellow title contender. Manchester City will fear no one at their citadel, but Pep Guardiola's respect for his former assistant coach has surely grown this season as Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has twice defeated his former employe...

It's the EURO 2024 playoff round, where teams that failed to finish first or second in their qualifying groups (but made it to this stage through a very complicated formula involving the UEFA Nations League) must win two more matches to earn a ticket to Germany this summer. One of those teams is Ukraine. More than two years on from Russia's full-scale invasion, qualifying for the EUROs—and lining...