Champions League Takeaway: Madrid March On, Chelsea’s Bridge Too Far, Arsenal’s Flow Show & Sporting Smash the Fairytale

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the Second Legs of the Round of 16 - where our first four quarter finalists booked their spots in the last eight. We start at the Etihad, where despite a brave performance from 10-man Manchester City following Bernardo Silva's red card, Real Madrid proved too much to handle to see them off 5-1 on aggregate. Some positives for City to take ahead of the Carabao Cup final at the weekend, but perhaps more intriguing is the way Real Madrid look genuinely like they've worked out a system that minimises their weaknesses and gives them a sturdier platform on which the stars can shine.  Reigning Champions PSG also had an excellent night at the Bridge, finishing Chelsea off with a 3-0 win on the night in West London, which equalled the Blues' worst aggregate defeat ever in the Champions League - 8-2. This was a chastening night for Chelsea and Liam Rosenior, who never really looked like even beginning a comeback, and the meek nature of the defeat might well have just turned an already angry fanbase into an apathetic one. That's a very, very bad sign.  In Part Two we head first to the Emirates, where Arsenal put in a very impressive performance to overcome Leverkusen 2-0, with Ebere Eze and Declan Rice providing two wonderful goals, and we examine their chances of genuinely putting up a fight for a quadruple where they're now favourites in every competition; and finally to Lisbon for the game of the night, where Sporting put together the perfect Champions League comeback to end the Bodø/Glimt fairytale in an absolute avalanche of emotion and attacking football at the Jose Alvalade.  It's Ranks!  And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth! Sam and Dougie are back in the studio for more of a positive episode - looking at some of the players who have made a major step forward in their individual careers over the course of the season.  We walk through six players - three each for the two boys - who have really moved onwards from 2024/25 to 2025/26, stepping upwards to either make huge individual contributions for their own teams, or taking a huge step up last summer and dealing with it incredibly well.   So, who are the gold dust XP winners. Who has evolved over the course of this season? And how do you even measure these things? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the First Legs of the Round of 16 - where chaos reigned again and goals flowed freely. We start at the Bernabeu, where Fede Valverde's hat-trick carried Real Madrid to a 3-0 win over Manchester City in by far their best performance under Alvaro Arbeloa, and where Los Blancos went back to looking like a side who could win this competition once again.  Reigning Champions PSG also had an excellent night at home, although their 5-2 win over Chelsea was probably a bit of a flattering scoreline for Luis Enrique and co. A back-and-forth encounter gave way to a PSG onslaught in the final stages, with a little help from Chelsea keeper Filip Jörgensen, and some real quality from Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, who came off the bench to bag a brace and give them a significant advantage for the second leg at the Bridge.  In Part Two we head first to Germany - where a very impressive Leverkusen were a little bit unlucky in some ways to eventually be pegged back for a 1-1 draw against Arsenal - with former Werkself hero Kai Havertz scoring the late equaliser from the spot on what would have been an emotional evening for him; and also to the Arctic Circle, where Bodø/Glimt's incredible campaign stayed right on course with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Sporting, in a performance which showcased the very best of what Kjetil Knutsen's side are capable off - some breathtaking football again.  It's Ranks!  And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first  Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the First Legs of the Round of 16 - where there were a glut of goals, some games put to bed already, a couple of shocks, and another nadir from perhaps the saddest club in world football right now in Tottenham Hotspur.  We start with Spurs' visit to the Metropolitano to play Atletico Madrid, where in the first 15 minutes a catastrophic collapse plumbed new depths in what has already been a disastrous season for the Lilywhites. This time Antonin Kinsky was the man in the firing line, with the young keeper substituted just 15 minutes into his Champions League debut. Atleti hit five, and whilst Spurs managed two in reply to nominally keep them in the tie, this was another brutal night for interim manager Igor Tudor, who has now conceded 14 goals in the four games he has been in charge of - all four of them losses. Surely, this can't go on.  We then head to Tyneside, where Newcastle United put in a very impressive performance against a lacklustre Barcelona, and were rewarded with Harvey Barnes' late opener to give them the lead...only to see that wiped out by a Lamine Yamal penalty in injury time after Dani Olmo was felled in the box. Scant reward for a good showing for the Toon, but Barça escaping with a draw despite being nowhere near their best at St. James' Park.  In Part Two we look to Istanbul - where Galatasaray repeated their league stage scoreline against Liverpool with a 1-0 win over the Reds at Rams Park, in a game that ended up being a microcosm of Liverpool's season - fragile defensively and wasteful up top; before rounding things off with a chat about Bayern's mesmerising 6-1 win over Atalanta in Bergamo, where Michael Olise dazzled on a night where Bayern ran absolute rings around their opposition, and confirmed their status as one of the outright favourites to win this competition this season.  It's Ranks!  And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth! Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to look at three sides who had relatively lofty expectations for the season back in August, and who find themselves in far more difficult situations than they had first feared. We look at what this season has meant for Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Newcastle United; what the fallout might be if they miss their ambitions from the opening of the campaign; and how they can actually still pull something out of the fire to make this season somewhat of a success.  But has it really been as bad as is being made out in certain elements of both the fanbases and the media across the world? Or is the doom and gloom that permeates some parts of each club actually closer to being true than they would like? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! We thought that with less than 100 days to go now until the World Cup begins this summer, it was time to start to take a look at the tournament in earnest - and the storylines on the pitch that are set to dictate just how this tournament is remembered from a footballing perspective.  We split that into three parts. Firstly, we take a look at three of the favourites to win the tournament - holders Argentina, as well as France and Spain - and the narrative threads behind each of their campaigns to come. We look at Argentina's attempt to be the first nation to go back-to-back since Brazil in the 1960's, France hoping to give Didier Deschamps the send-off his illustrious managerial tenure deserves, and Spain looking to begin a new dynasty by backing up their 2024 Euros with a World Cup two years later, just as their Golden Generation did in 2012 and 2014.  Then in Part Two, we look at the managers who have traded their club loyalties for a shot at winning the most illustrious tournament of them all at international level - looking at England under Thomas Tuchel, Brazil under Carlo Ancelotti, the USMNT under Mauricio Pochettino, and Germany under Julian Nagelsmann.  And finally, in Part Three, we dive into the four teams who have qualified for the first time ever - Cape Verde, Curaçao, Uzbekistan and Jordan - examining their stories, the background, and the manner in which we're expecting them to show up to the party.  It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth! Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to look at what is going down at the bottom of the Premier League table, where one of the great names of English Football has been dragged into the scrap for survival - Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs are still in the best possible position they could be, but things feel like they're tailspinning in a way we haven't seen in a while. They couldn't, could they?  We discuss the relegation battle, chatting through each of the other relegation candidates in the form of West Ham United and Nottingham Forest, and work out where the points are going to come from if each of them are going to survive.  So, could one of the great giants actually fall? All three of these teams would claim that title, as would Leeds. Someone is falling through the trap door to the Championship. And,  as ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the Second Legs of the Playoff Round of the competitions - where the final four teams booked their spots in the Round of 16. It was an emotional night at the Bernabeu, where despite a somewhat lethargic performance from Real Madrid, it felt fitting that it was Vinicius Jr who dropped the dagger on Benfica before celebrating heartily as he guided Los Blancos to the Last 16.  It wasn't great from reigning champions PSG either, who saw off fellow Ligue 1 side Monaco with a 2-2 draw to extend their first leg advantage, although again it was Monaco who took the advantage and the initiative, before losing it after a red card early in the second half - a familiar tale from last week. PSG allowed nervy moments at the end where they didn't need to, and they will need to significantly improve to stand any chance of retaining their crown.  In Part Two we head to Italy - first to Turin, where Juventus did recover a three goal disadvantage against Galatasaray despite being reduced to 10 men when Lloyd Kelly received a very harsh red card, but where fatigue finally set in and allowed Gala to kill the tie in extra time; and also to Bergamo, where Atalanta booked their space as the only Serie A team in the Last 16 with a very impressive comeback win over a weirdly lacklustre Borussia Dortmund.  It's Ranks!  And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the Second Legs of the Playoff Round of the competitions - where our next four teams booked their spots in the Round of 16. It was a very special night for Bodø/Glimt at San Siro, with their incredible fairytale continuing on with a 2-1 win over Inter that made them the first Norwegian side to ever make the next stage of the competition. We discuss their rise from plucky upstarts in the lower reaches of European competition to relatively household name in the football sphere, and how they've continued their incredible trajectory.  Then it's over to Madrid, where Atletico won 4-1 against a young Club Brugge side who have impressed in the Champions League this year; thanks to a hat-trick from Alexander Sørloth, who remains their star man in 2026. The scoreline is perhaps a touch flattering, but Atleti are in a scoring mood these days, and that's a good sign as they look to finally win the competition that has eluded them for so long.  In Part Two we head to St James' Park, where Newcastle had an unassailable lead over Qarabag that never really looked in danger, although it was far from a perfect night for the Geordie Boys as they won just 3-2 against their Azeri opponents despite being 2-0 up after five minutes; and also to North Rhine-Westphalia, where Bayer Leverkusen drew 0-0 against Olympiacos to hold their first leg advantage and progress through without too much trouble.  It's Ranks!  And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth! Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to look at which clubs are best at scouting in certain positions - not just good at picking off the best in the world for huge fees, but opening up that pathway for the biggest guns in the football world.  We work through each position, leaning heavily on Sam's article for ESPN as he works us through his thought process for each selection, whilst suggesting alternative options and the evidence for each.  So, can you be just a general scouting colossus or is it worth focusing in on one position to make your own? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.