Vinícius Jr and Racism in Lisbon, Galatasaray Shock Juventus, and Crystal Palace Staying Humble: European Nights 02/24/26
Men In Blazers
Men In Blazers
4.8 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
European Nights returns as Rog and Rory Smith look ahead to the second legs of the Champions League knockout playoff round. They begin in Lisbon, where alleged racist abuse directed at Vinícius Júnior during Real Madrid’s game against Benfica led to a stoppage and sparks a wider conversation about accountability, institutional response, and whether football is doing enough to protect its players. Then it’s on to Istanbul, where Galatasaray’s emphatic win over Juventus spotlights Turkish spending power and deepens concerns about the broader state of Italian football. Finally, they turn to the Europa Conference League, where Crystal Palace were held to a draw by HŠK Zrinjski Mostar and Oliver Glasner’s call for fans to “stay humble” becomes part of the conversation after the first leg. Plus, Rory delivers his latest continental culinary recommendation from Istanbul.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the Meninblazers media network, Suboptimal Radio. |
| 0:05.8 | The opening round of the Champions League knockout overshadowed by the darkness of Venetius Junior's racial abuse. |
| 0:11.8 | Will players ever get the protection they need from football's administrators? |
| 0:15.4 | You'd like to think so, and it's certainly about time they did, Roj. |
| 0:18.9 | In other matters, how can Turkish clubs in the nation gripped by long-term economic recession |
| 0:24.6 | splurge these huge financial outlays doubling their record transfer spend this season? |
| 0:30.4 | By not thinking about long-term economic recession. |
| 0:34.1 | Rod, tell me, Crystal Palace won't actually trip up against a Bosnium team, Moss Star, |
| 0:40.0 | with an annual operation budget of one single Jorg and Strand-Larsen. |
| 0:43.7 | They'll be fine as long as they stay humble, Roger. |
| 0:46.3 | Apparently, that's where we are, Roar. |
| 0:48.9 | We don't care about tactics. |
| 0:50.4 | It's about humility levels. |
| 0:52.3 | It's European nights where we go deep on all this and more |
| 0:55.3 | for the second leg of the round of 32 of the Champions League, Europa League, |
| 0:59.2 | and, of course, our beloved Conference League. |
| 1:00.9 | Let's go to the football. |
| 1:02.8 | Want to give huge thanks to Bank of America, |
| 1:05.2 | official bank of US soccer and the FIFA World Cup, |
| 1:07.6 | 2026 for supporting the men in Blazers media network |
| 1:11.2 | discover what's possible |
| 1:12.5 | in sports and in life |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Men In Blazers, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Men In Blazers and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.