The Athletic FC

Welcome to the Athletic FFC podcast with me, Ayo Akimuleri.

For all the talk of Premier League dominance in Europe,

no English sides won in this week's Champions League.

So we're ahead of the second leg next week,

is this just a blip or a rude awakening?

All right, in with us today.

We've got a Chelsea correspondent, Liam Toomey, in Paris,

Arsenal writer James McNicholas,

who will join us later from Leverkusen,

and also we'll hear from our Manchester City correspondent, Sam Lee, as well.

All right, let's start in Paris, a rematch, Liam, of the summer's

Club World Cup Final. Talk to me about that match because from a neutral perspective, it was an

absolute spectacle to witness. Yeah, it was a really fun game and for 74 minutes, a very even one.

PSG clearly went into it feeling like they had a point to prove after the Club World Cup

Cup final.

They approached it with a different level of intensity, different level of seriousness even

from the group stage of the Champions League.

And Chelsea, I think, raised their game too.

They played really well for the bulk of the game, which I think makes the frustration at the way they collapsed in the final stretch even more acute.

Yeah, I can hear you still at the airport, so appreciate you joining us for this.

Can we just talk about the keepers as well?

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