Can Man United open gap to Champions League rivals?
Talk of the Devils: The Athletic FC's Manchester United show
The Athletic
4.6 • 771 Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Champions League, is it the be-all-and-end-all of club football? With Manchester United's financial results getting a deep analysis from The Athletic's Chris Weatherspoon and cashflow problems coming into real focus, it has never seemed more important.
Aston Villa are another club for whom chasing the glory and riches of the Champions League has been a huge part of the narrative. They will play Lille in the Europa League, in fact, before they make the trip to Old Trafford for what could prove a crucial head-to-head in the race for Europe's premier competition.
It's also a huge weekend for Manchester United's women; aiming for their second major trophy and to join an elite group of women's league cup champions, they will need to defy a woeful record against their bogey team, Chelsea.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic FFC. |
| 0:03.1 | This is Dr Devils, the the athletic show dedicated to Manchester United. |
| 0:24.7 | Coming up today, we preview United being back in action against Aston Villa in the Premier League this weekend. |
| 0:30.6 | It's been billed as the most important match of Michael Carrick's time in charge already. |
| 0:35.6 | I think Andy Mitten did that on the last show. |
| 0:37.5 | Anyway, we'll preview that game, like I say. |
| 0:39.6 | Also, we need to talk about the stadium plans a year on from that announcement in London. |
| 0:44.8 | What exactly has happened and how exactly are United's finances impacting the progress or lack of on that? |
| 0:52.4 | And Manchester United's women face their nemesis Chelsea |
| 0:55.8 | in their first ever women's league cup final this weekend as well. |
| 1:00.7 | A big weekend for United across the board. |
| 1:02.8 | And Megan Ferringa will be with us later on in the show |
| 1:05.6 | to look ahead to that game too. |
| 1:08.2 | But to start with, we've got Critch Carl and Andy. |
| 1:10.5 | How are we doing |
| 1:10.9 | all right? All good. All good. All good. That's slightly more cheery than last time. |
| 1:18.8 | I think I'm going to stop asking people how they are at the start of these podcasts because it |
| 1:22.1 | starts like that and then anyway. Well, it's confusing now because the team's winning. |
| 1:27.6 | They lost the last game though, Carl. So I mean, there's confusing now because the team's winning. Well. |
| 1:27.8 | They lost the last game though, Carl. So, I mean, there's lots of confusion. There you go. So I'm doing all right. I'm not panicking. The sky hasn't fallen in. Things are mostly okay. Be like a duck. It's calm on top. Feet scrambling on it. It's a swan, isn't it? It's a swan is the same thing on top. |
| 1:44.3 | I thought it was a swamp. |
| 1:46.4 | Yeah. |
... |
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