Project 90 Soccer: Marco
Marco: Yo.
Project 90 Soccer: We are live, Champions League Match Day One Roundup Recap. My name's Antonio, and I am here with, as always, on the Project 90 Podcast, the soccer podcast for the real fans around the world. I'm here with the one, the only, as always, with the Man United shirt with the red devil, the devil logo on the chest. Marco Munoz. Marco, how are you doing this lovely Thursday afternoon?
Marco: I outside of this crazy heat, I'm doing great.
Project 90 Soccer: Tell me about it.
Marco: I am doing great. Especially
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: because my man man united baby. And we're gonna touch on it a little bit a little bit soon. But yeah, man. I'm doing solid. How are you?
Project 90 Soccer: I'm doing fantastic, bro. I'm melting like a like a fucking hot pocket out here right now, dude. It's hot, it's
Marco: Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: muggy. Working on the yard, like terrible time to do it, you know, in the afternoon here in this heat wave. But you know what, man?
Marco: How pockets.
Project 90 Soccer: Hot pockets. That's a throwback.
Marco: Hot pockets. They're so good.
Project 90 Soccer: You know what else is good, but fucking absolutely dangerous to the mouth, bro, is those Totino's pizza rolls. If you don't if
Marco: interest.
Project 90 Soccer: Dude, if you don't let cool off just to the right temp and you bite into one of those, it's the nuclear bomb going off in your mouth.
Marco: quick quick little segue.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: Suppose he that's not real cheese inside.
Project 90 Soccer: I wouldn't dude, I wouldn't even think anything on that thing is even real. I'm gonna be honest, dude.
Marco: But they get the job done, especially after a nice night of throwing some bruise back. They get the job done. But without further ado, let's go.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Ultimate snack. Yeah, without further ado, we're getting way off topic, but here we are, bro. First round of the Champions League match day one just concluded in the group stage. Different format, as I just brought up previously, that they are now throwing games in on Thursday just for this group stage. Usually it was Tuesday, Wednesdays. So we decided to give it that extra day. Now we're here with the full recap. So let's jump straight into Tuesday, September the 8th, match day one. First game, AEK Athens, 1 0 up. They won 1 0 versus L A S K, the Austrian team from Austria. 1 0 for Athens. Good start for them. Next game was Club Bruges losing 2 3 to Aston Villa, bro. And we've seen Aston Villa sort of struggling early on in the Premier League. This is a good win for them, dude. Really bring up their spirits. yeah.
Marco: Did you know real quick that when all this layout came out for the Champions League, they were top ten to win the Champions League?
Project 90 Soccer: Aston Villa was.
Marco: Yeah, dude.
Project 90 Soccer: Hey, man. I mean, I've seen teams not do so well in their domestic leagues, but then just have a massive run in the Champions League. So it's possible, although this was Club Bruges. So we're gonna find out. But one of the top 10 teams, I'd say the other top nine teams are pretty strong. You know what I'm saying? So going forward here, though, Borussia Dortmund, the German Giants, three to two versus Villa Real. Okay, that's a big win for Borussia Dortmund. Next game up, Man City, Erling Holland, getting the brace, two goals, defeating Porto two to zero, bro. Holland, check this out 59 Champions League goals in 59 appearances.
Marco: Baller.
Project 90 Soccer: I mean, we're talking about this is world class. This is like, you know, that there's always that player that starts out their career, they're young, they're on fire, they're doing work, they're doing well. And then the question becomes, do they sustain that and keep it going to really solidify some sort of a of a GOAT status, right? A legacy. And I have to say, Erling Holland, after this World Cup, after these previous seasons he's had, his time at Dortmund, Leipzig, all the way now to to Man City, he's really doing the damn thing, bro. And Frenzo Moresca, we questioned his, you know, him coming in for Man City, but out of the four games he's had so far, competitive matches, he's f he's four and So in the Premier League and now in the Champions League. So good start for them, dude. Leal going down three to two versus Real Betis, bro. And unlikely score for Batis, bro. The ex Barcelona man, Mark Bartra, bro, getting
Marco: Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: two goals. So I don't
Marco: Never happens.
Project 90 Soccer: it's never, bro. Never, never, ever. And Ethan Mbappe getting a red card. Mbappe's brother, bro. So,
Marco: Yeah, we saw that. Saw that.
Project 90 Soccer: you know, that's that's not too good for them. It was a V A R. He elbowed a guy and got sent off, bro.
Marco: Like blatant elbow. But
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, you can't do that. I mean in these days with the VAR, bro, you're you're just not you're you're gonna get red carded
Marco: Can't get away with shit.
Project 90 Soccer: for a a lot less, bro. So you cannot be hitting someone in the head with an elbow. Not gonna work.
Marco: Two highlights, two highlights from that match. Betty's Betty's getting the dub. And I'm really
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yep.
Marco: digging Lil's jersey, man. New balance is coming coming
Project 90 Soccer: They're clean.
Marco: in clutch with those clean jerseys.
Project 90 Soccer: They're clean, bro. And speaking of new balance, I've heard that they're I've never worn them, but they're cleats, bro. I've heard that they're they're mighty comfortable, bro. So I might have to give those
Marco: They were quite at you.
Project 90 Soccer: give those a shot sometime. But moving on here, we both saw this match, saw a lot about this game. Real Madrid, two to one versus inter Milan at the Bernabelle. And look, I just want to flat out say Inter Milan shot themselves in the foot in this game, bro. Two massive mistakes. Two.
Marco: I just gonna say that.
Project 90 Soccer: Mega mistakes, bro, that gave Real Madrid both of their goals. Other than that, dude, Inter Milan, quite honestly, they had sixty four percent of the possession. Ti Wak Rtois, a ton of saves. Not to
Marco: Yep.
Project 90 Soccer: say he had a great game, but ultimately I think Inter Milan sort of fumbled it here. they were on the road. So that you know, it's a contributing factor. But ultimately, bro, they lost to themselves, bro. Jose Mourinho got a win against his ex team. What'd you think about this game, bro? It was pretty competitive. It was fun, fast paced, but In Tremulan, bro.
Marco: Same, same to what you you're alluding to. two big teams, and then in in games like this, it's gonna come down to who makes the mistakes and who's able to capitalize on it. And
Project 90 Soccer: Exactly.
Marco: right off the rip, mistake by the defense, you can't do that in front of Mbappe. Just give him an inch, and he's gonna be able to put the ball at the back of the net. Goalie, Martinez, what the
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: F are you doing, bro? You're a goalie, you're not a midfielder, you're not a defender, you're not a forward. Get rid of that ball. So
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that t I mean, we see that happen way too often, bro. Way too often. I don't know what they're thinking. They're literally the last man. They're trying to do some Zidane fucking esque turn in the box. And it never works out. Valverde just stuck a foot in there, bro, and just fucking poked it into the goal. So you know, it's not good, it's not a good look for you as a goalkeeper. Your one job is to like not do that. And he did that. So I don't know. Looking looking at this score line though, I think Instagram Milan was they had a good game other than those two mistakes.
Marco: They could have won the game. If that was the case, take those two mistakes away. I
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: mean, like you said, they were creating a lot of chances. Steve O'Curtois came in clutch, right? Blocking, doing whatever he could do. But Route Madrid, take those two mistakes away. Could have been one zero, could have been zero zero.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: We could have been having a different conversation. But like I mentioned, in these type of games with two big clubs like this, you cannot have those mistakes, man.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, you're right. And and before we move on here, just a quick shout out again, T Bok Rtois, 100th Champions League appearance. Wild, bro. Feels like I've been watching him forever. 100 Champions League appearances is pretty massive. moving on here to Wednesday now, September the ninth. Barcelona, bro, they just love they recently they really love scoring five goals. I don't know what it is, but they beat Feyenoord five to one. Rafinha is on dude. Rafinha's on fire this season already. Rafinha is goaded right now for Barcelona. I Laminha Mall is the the talk of the team, but goddamn, dude, Rafinha's really stepping up, dude. And of course, Lamin got one goal. Gabriel Jesus, the new player, getting a goal. So that's you know, that was a shock signing
Marco: One and only.
Project 90 Soccer: to me. Shock signing to me, bro, to be completely honest. But Yeah, man. What do you what do you think about this Barcelona team so far with with their La Liga performances now going into this Champions League? Obviously it's Feyenoord. Still a quality European side, but to score five goals again, bro, and only concede one? I mean, Jesus Christ, bro, they're on fire this season.
Marco: Bro, I'm not surprised. It's Barca. I keep saying it. They're gonna they're
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah.
Marco: gonna they're gonna win the Liga, potentially can win the Champions League. They're playing with so much swagger. They have they have it all in every position. Rafinha
Project 90 Soccer: They do.
Marco: is playing his brains out. He looks swaggy. He looks clean out there. The new captain of the team. His braids are always on fleek. Bagging
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: goals, bagging chicks outside of the pitch. What else do you want these guys to do?
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. What else can they
Marco: Outside of winning, man, these guys, man, man, these dude,
Project 90 Soccer: What else can they do, bro? They can't do nothing else.
Marco: they're just they're doing what needs to be done. They they they see the task at hand and they're getting the job done, right? Again, shout out to Farrenoord, they're in the champions. Champ they're
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: in the champions league, right? But they're still a tier. The league is a tier underneath La Liga. So I'm excited to see a matchup where Barcelona goes toe to toe with somebody at close to their level or at at their level. So
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: in La Liga, in Copa del Rey or Champions League. I'm I I wanna see them fight and come from behind.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. And Rafinha, man, speaking of him, you know, he was fifth place in the Balondor race last year. And this year he didn't even make the nominee list. Which it might be s
Marco: Much of how much of that is the World Cup?
Project 90 Soccer: A lot. It could be a lot. Maybe he wasn't as strong last season. Maybe it's the World Cup. Maybe it's all of it combined. I don't know. But the way this season is starting right now, I mean, this guy is truly on fire. If he keeps this up for the rest of the season, I could I see him in probably the top five. Obviously there's other great players out there, but Rafinha right now, he's on my on my list of players to watch for this season. we already knew he was good, but he's really turning up this season. next game here. Look, Stuttgart 3-1 versus Viking, the Norwegian team. Sickest name in the Champions League, dude. If you're rolling up to a to a game and you're like, who you playing today? We're playing Viking. That's fucking hard as fuck, bro. If if if Holland didn't play for Man City, bro, he should play for Viking. That's all I'm gonna say, dude. And yo.
Marco: Did you know they have two coaches?
Project 90 Soccer: Viking?
Marco: Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: What do you mean two coaches?
Marco: They couldn't decide on who so they hired both both guys.
Project 90 Soccer: I mean, I don't see nothing wrong with that, to be honest. Imagine you get
Marco: Split the salary right down the middle. Guides, do your thing, get the job done, go out there
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: and
Project 90 Soccer: Split the workload. You get you get double the experience to come into one team into one locker room. Imagine getting Pep Guardiola like Jose Mourinho to come together and make a hybrid team. I don't know if that would be good or bad, but in this case, bro,
Marco: I don't I don't think that'll work out.
Project 90 Soccer: I don't know. I feel like they end up fucking killing each other. But shout out here to Stuttgar, bro, Damirovich getting a hat trick, tied right now as a top scorer in the Champions League. Obviously it's only been one game, but already bagging three fucking goals. This guy keeps it up right here for Stuttgart. I see some clubs knocking on his door. That's typically what happens when someone's a standout in the Champions League. So we'll see what happens with him and with Stuttgart moving forward. Next up, though, bro, the Atletico Madrid, the sorrowful start to their season continues, bro. Liverpool two to one versus Athletico Madrid. They blew the lead, bro. Yorente got the early goal, 17th minute. Then Sobasline McAllister hit a banger, bro. Two to one, bro. At this point, look, Julian Alvarez got the assist I have right here. Okay. That's that's good for Athletico. You know, they got over the hump with with Alvarez, but Jesus Christ, man, they've had a dreadful start to this season. And at this point, bro, it doesn't seem like just a one game here thing, maybe bad game or bad performance, maybe a mistake. They lost the game. It's starting to look like their team's falling apart a bit. You know what I'm saying? What do you what do you think about
Marco: What
Project 90 Soccer: that?
Marco: what I'm afraid is if they continues to go down this rabbit hole that they're in, j it may be an easier exit for Julian Arris' exit. Right?
Project 90 Soccer: Yes.
Marco: It's it just seems like it'll be playing in his favor, right? Like,
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: hey, we're struggling anyway. Let's get rid of him, get rid of him. He wanted to leave anyway. And then you end up letting him go for peanuts on the on the dollar. So
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: there's a pro and the con is it's athletico, man. You want these guys to be always fighting for the top spot, but like I mentioned last episode. go tune in and and and and listen to what we're talking about. I
Project 90 Soccer: Yep, yep.
Marco: don't know, man. I think it's taking his course. maybe they don't have the qu the quality of players. Maybe they don't have the depth on the bench. Maybe Simeona is running out of ideas, out of options. Maybe
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: they need a new system. They need a breath of fresh air coming in on the bench. I don't know. But to your point, the sorrow continues. They lost. And shout out to to Liverpool for Liverpool getting the job done. And shout out to McAllister background back in the goal because he's talking about how upset he is not getting a contract extension after bleeding, after sweating, and giving it all for Liverpool. So this is gonna be helping him because it's
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: one of those prove it deals, right? Like like like in the NBA, you have a 10 day contract. Prove it that we we we need to give you an extension. Like when you put somebody on a franchise tag in football, let me know what you can do in a year and then I'll get and I'll pay you next year. So I think this is McAllister's year to continue balling out, bagging some goals and who knows, maybe he's on to a bigger club. And what happens the Premier League?
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: Lateral moves Man City to Manu, Manu to Man City, Liverpool to Arsenal, vice versa, Chelsea.
Project 90 Soccer: Chelsea. Mm-hmm.
Marco: It happens all the time. So I would not be surprised. When Argentinian already did it, his name is Enzo. Who's
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: to say McCallister is not next?
Project 90 Soccer: You never know, dude, at this point. You know, as long as McAllister keeps this up, at least his stock keeps rising, his own price tag, whether it's Liverpool, whether it's Man City, somebody big's gonna pick him up if he keeps this up, dude.
Marco: He'd probably re he'd probably be very good in Italy rough too though right now.
Project 90 Soccer: McAllister is someone I'd like to see at like a a Juve, maybe a Milan. I think he would do very well in Italy. I think in terms of the Premier League, I think Liverpool is probably going to be his only stop. other than that, maybe go to Spain. I'm not too sure. But at the end of the day, he's a Liverpool player. He's bagging goals for them. He's starting games. Bradley Barkle again, the full Liverpool debut in the Champions League. So Liverpool's looking pretty Pretty dangerous, bro. Last year they were they were concerned a little bit. Salah wanted out. They got rid of Salah. You know, what was his name, dude? Sadio Mane left a few years prior. So it looked like their attack and their sort of dynasty they had going was gonna end. But it looks like they've sort of made up for it with this current Liverpool team. So we'll see how it goes for them. Now, next up here, bro, the reigning champions, PSG, two-time reigning champions going for the three P Bro. Six to one against, of course, it's Slavin Bratislava. It's not the strongest team in the Champions League, but dear God, dude, this is the kind of result you want when you play a team like this as PSG. Faron Torres, bro. Ever since I said it, bro, he's been on fire. Ever since I said anything about this guy, he's got a hat trick, dog. A hat trick, bro. Fabian Riz, Dembele getting on the score sheet. I mean, what do you feel about this PSG team so far? No.
Marco: Word around the street is Ferrand Torres is a it's a ghost subscriber. What I mean by
Project 90 Soccer: good.
Marco: that is he watches a Project 90 podcast, he just doesn't subscribe. So nor does he like
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: but he's been paying attention, he heard your take, he knows
Project 90 Soccer: Good.
Marco: how we feel about him, he's been hearing you talk about about him since the World Cup that you don't
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: know what's going on with this guy, but he always finds the back of the net. So he's been listening to Anto and his critique, right? So for on Torres, shout out to you. Banto, I'm not gonna lie, I didn't watch this game a hundred percent of the time. This is one of those games
Project 90 Soccer: I did not.
Marco: that this is one of those games where I was in the office and I just had it playing in the background with the expectation
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: that they were gonna win three, four goals. I did not see six, I did not see a hat trick coming. But what's a surprise.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, I'm not surprised either. Didn't catch much of this game at all, to be honest. there's so many games to pick from, and this was just not one of them. But not surprised by the result. We'll see how things move forward when PSG sort of comes up against some stronger opponents. Moving on, dude. Sporting from Portugal, sporting Lisbon, three to one, bro, versus our our buddy, our pal, Rafael Leao's Galatasarai. Now, look, dude, sporting is notoriously. Up there with like Porto, right? One of the best teams in Portugal. we saw Porto win the Champions League go on that massive run with Mourinho back in the day. Haven't seen sporting though really climb up to the semis finals, anything like that. Beating Galatasai, though, I'd say that's a pretty even matchup, right? For more or less right there. For them to go 3-1 against Galatasaray. I think that's probably the best start they could have had. Another, another game I did not watch, but I'm looking forward to seeing how. Things play out for sporting and also Galatasai, bro. I want to see if Leao really comes out of his shell and just takes over in the Turkish league and in the Champions League. So we'll have
Marco: See.
Project 90 Soccer: to see, man. We'll see what happens there. But then here we go, bro. We were talking about it last episode, which as Marco mentioned, you need to go check out because Napoli, bro, getting another L, bro. Another L to Arsenal, one to zero. Martin Odegaard with the only goal. And you know what's sad about this, bro, for Napoli? It's another loss at home. In Napoli, dude. So Arsenal obviously made the final last season. They have a great fucking team. They have a great coach. Napoli, you would think the same. They have a great coach, a great squad. It's not panning out for them, dude. This is not gonna help Allegory's case, bro. What do you think about Napoli going down, losing at home again?
Marco: You never want to lose at home. You never wanna lose in front of your fans who paid Boku Bucks who to go watch you play, who took the day off from work, who left work early to go wait in line to get inside the stadium. it was unfortunate I would have liked to see a one one, but ultimately Odegaard and and Arsenal were able to get the job done on the road. as important as the as the wins at home are, s the games on the road are even more important when it comes down to who's gonna get those top spots in the group, but to what we're talking about last time, man. Allegri, I just don't know if he's he can make things happen anywhere. I I
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: think it's just one of those things where well one, he doesn't have a crazy team. Let's j let's just say that, right? He
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: doesn't he doesn't have a crazy team, but with the team that he has, you can get coaches that can make things happen.
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: we we we've seen crazier things happen, but yeah, man, I don't know. I just think allegory needs to take it upstairs and and just be an advisor in the future. So we'll see how long this run goes. They continue to lose, but we never wanna see a historic club like this continue to go down this route.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, it's not looking too good for Napoli. And those fans are ruthless, bro. So if they're not already screaming from the heavens, they they're about to start, dude, because it's unacceptable for a team like Nopaly. And quick little fact and stat about Arsenal before we move on. They have twenty under Mikel Arteta. They have twenty clean sheets in their last 40 Champions League games. I mean, that's a
Marco: Nice.
Project 90 Soccer: that's a big stat, dude. 20 clean sheets out of 40 Champions League matches. It's looking good for Arsenal, bro. I really like what they have going on over there. here we go. Thursday, September 10th. Today, bro, there's six more Champions League games. Part of the new sort of schedule they got going on for the group stage. So the first game was Fener Bace tying one to one with Roma, dude. I really like Roma. Brian Cristante scoring the goal, which you know, us Italians, we we're not too fond of Cristante, bro. Never on the national team on anything. But he comes in clutch when he needs to, bro. He's a very simple player. Nothing magical really happens with him, but he gets the job done. One to one for Ro Roma. Danielle Malin. He's a key player for Roma. Out on the wing, dude. I think he was a good pickup for the team. So we'll see what happens with Roma, dude. They're they're doing well in Settiao right now. They could have, yeah.
Marco: They could have won. They could have won. Dybala had due opportunities. But
Project 90 Soccer: Uh-huh.
Marco: he just couldn't get the he just couldn't score. And I
Project 90 Soccer: Then finish.
Marco: was I was listening to the game and I guess he hasn't scored since January for that. It's a long time. So this guy need this
Project 90 Soccer: Oof. That's not good, bro.
Marco: guy, this guy needs to get the back get get it going on the back of the net so he can see more goals coming in because Roma's in a good spot right now at the start of the season. Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: I I I was watching part of the game and nothing too crazy.
Project 90 Soccer: No.
Marco: I was kind trying to as a Man United fan, I was I like keeping up with some of the old Man United players and I was watching Greenwood and
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: how he was doing for Nabacha and it just it's just a fortune. I wish he would have still been with the Red Devils.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, Mason Greenwood getting the assist. And for Fenerbache, shout out, bro. It's their first time back in the Champions League after 18 years. So
Marco: No way.
Project 90 Soccer: yeah, good start for them, dude. That's a good result. If it's been 18 years, bro, you're coming in here getting that kind of result's a big deal. So we'll see what happens with both of them. PSV, bro, one to one against Shoktar Donetsk. Look, Serginho Des. Shout out USA getting the goal. it's a it's PSV's always been one of those teams, right? They always have those quality players, but they seem to be running a business there, right? Where they flip them for more cash, flip them for money. Look at that, bro. On deck. I just wore that jersey the other day. Shout out PSV. It's a very very big club with a lot of Mexican players coming through PSV, if I'm not mistaken, right? So now we got Serginho Des looking good. you know, got Concord Calf. Yeah, because he you know had a few stints that he was Was it Milan? Yeah, Milan, Barcelona. Could never find his his feet anywhere, bro. And so hopefully here at PSV, you know, he he earns his spot, which it looks like he has, and he he can find a team. It's the hardest part, dude. Some of these players are always bouncing around, but to find a team and establish themselves where, you know, they get maybe a five year contract and they're consistent through those five years for the club, he has yet to find
Marco: And what I would
Project 90 Soccer: that team.
Marco: and what I would say maybe 'cause to your point, he did take a step down, he came came to PSV. Maybe he's on one of those deals where he's not getting paid a whole lot. So he's able to to be with the team. I mean, you remember DeJang? he he was he was with the team for quite a while. He had
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: he had opportunities to go elsewhere, but he stuck around and was was bagging goals for PSV, but
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, PSV two have right here for them. In the last five Champions League openers that they've had, they've lost all five in their previous five campaigns. So they came out with a draw on this one, but still not getting a win. So we'll see, man, what happens with PSV. Hopefully they can turn it around. Shakhtar Danet's always been one of those teams that a lot
Marco: They're always in it.
Project 90 Soccer: a lot of Brazilians coming through Shoktar, bro. They've they've been one of those teams that have made some major upsets in past Champions League season. So they're always exciting to watch. We'll see how they do this here. Now, the biggest winner of this whole entire Champions League match day for me, bro. Como four to one against RB Leipzig, bro. Their Champions League debut, bro. This is their first ever Champions League match ever. And they won four to one. And I was speaking of them the other day, and I was saying how they have so much depth where they have people scoring goals, a bunch of different players scoring goals. And on this game right here, they got two different players to score goals as well. So They have a lot of they have, I mean, they have a very I think I don't want to say underrated at this point, but I think people are still sleeping on them a little bit in terms of quality and and threat that they possess as a team, dude, because they're really I mean, they came in to set the and they mean fucking business. They min they made the Champions League last season. Now they're in the Champions League and they're starting strong with a four one fucking win. Nico Paz, bro, undeniably like
Marco: Baller.
Project 90 Soccer: Goaded bro. He's so good. Obviously, Real Madrid. There was the talk of bringing him back, doing all this. So that's the caliber of player that they have on their team. And I'm starting to feel I'm starting to feel excited because I've sort of predicted this early on. I feel like the Cinderella story of the year is gonna be Como, dude. And I don't know, dude. I don't want to hold him because
Marco: Hold your horses, hold your horses. Shout out, shout out we we both like Red Bull Leipzig. We
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: both like but hold your horses. They played against Red Bull Leipzig. All right. Hold your horses.
Project 90 Soccer: Damn, dude. Four to one though. Come on, bro. Just give some flowers, Marco.
Marco: It wa hey, and I'm gonna give flowers. It was real a really good first it was a really good first half. They kinda
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: toned it down in the second half, right? had I think one goal in the second half and got scored on in the second half. But yeah, man. Como Como looks good. And I'll and I'll watch it.
Project 90 Soccer: They look good. You're right. You're right though. To interrupt real quick, you are right where when they come up against a bairn or something we'll really see. Right. We're real we'll really find out. But go ahead.
Marco: We'll see. We'll see. And I was looking around the stadium, and you know, you and I go to a lot of USL games and kinda had that USL type feeling, the way the stands, you kinda it looks like bleachers in a way.
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: but but come on, man. Yeah, I mean, solid performance, they all look good. And check it out, bro. They have Richie on loan from AC Milan. Richie
Project 90 Soccer: Yes.
Marco: didn't play too bad, but there was another AC Milan guy on the other side, Nkunku. So When I was watching this game, I'm like, man, Milan just started getting rid of everybody. I mean, both of those guys went on loan. Santi Jimenez is on loan. And the starters are now on the bench. So quick little tangent on AC Milan on on on what what they got going on. But it was nice to see both of those guys gain some playing time. One good for Ricci because he's on loan, he's getting playing time on a very good team. And then Kunku
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: and Kunku a guy who they paid so much money for. who was at Chelsea and just couldn't really get it going at Ace La. But yeah, man, to your point, Goma looked very good. Looking forward to how they looking forward to them finishing the top of the group.
Project 90 Soccer: That's what I like to hear, Marco. That's what I like to hear. Moving on though, dude. Bayern Munich. There's no surprise here, not much to talk about. They won five to zero versus Vodo Bodo Glimped the Norwegian team. And on the score sheet, the names you would expect, bro. Jamal Mussiala, Harry Kane, Alfonso Davies, Michael Elise. Now, this is the exact kind of result, similar to PSG. You play a team of of a lower caliber, you can say you would expect them to go in there and handle fucking business. And they handled fucking business. biggest takeaway from this game though is Jamal Muziala, bro, making his first start after a two-month absence. I don't know if you saw this past summer, these past he had two moments where he fainted, collapsed, one of those scary sort of incidents. So, whatever that might be, it looks like they seem to have resolved it. It's good to see him on the field, especially. Yeah, go ahead.
Marco: Did you see go ahead, sorry.
Project 90 Soccer: No, I was gonna say because not only that. But a few seasons ago I remember Donoruma came out and he broke his leg. Ug broke Jamal Muciala's leg. So this kid's
Marco: yeah. Yep. Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: really, you know, one of the wonder kids coming out playing for Bayern's really good player for Germany. He's had a lot of lot of
Marco: He's been going through it.
Project 90 Soccer: injuries, bro. A lot of shit happening to him. So it's good to see him back.
Marco: But I was gonna say, dude, did you see Alfonso Davies' goal? Bro.
Project 90 Soccer: I didn't
Marco: Outside of the eighteenth banger. And then Olise. Olise
Project 90 Soccer: Absolute one. Yeah.
Marco: had two nice goals as well. He had one banger as well. So Olise, man, I wish you'd be with you were with the Red Devils, man. I wish you were Manchester United. You would fit perfect. You need to get out of Barry Munich, man. We need you.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, he's gonna he's gonna end up somewhere, bro. His price tag is gonna be astronomical. We've already seen some crazy numbers, but his is gonna be wild. And shout out to Harry Kane, bro. Again, he's on the the the Ball on door list. You know, this guy is putting up numbers, right? After this game right here, he's got seventy three goals now and sixty five matches in the calendar year. So those are some fucking elite fucking numbers, right? We saw Messi Ronaldo hitting like ninety goals within the calendar year. It's a different level, but Seventy-three goals, 65 matches. We're still in September, bro. So
Marco: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Project 90 Soccer: he he we might see history. You never know. If he just goes on an absolute streak, bro, he could he could maybe potentially break that record, right? Of the calendar year, how many goals he gets. So I'm kind of excited to see that. I still want him to win the ball on door, but we'll see what happens there, bro. Now here we go. Let's see your team, bro. Man United four zero versus the Azerbaijani side Sabah. This is good, bro. This is good for Man United, bro. Cunha Fernandez, Benjamin Sesko, the guy they brought in was it last season, two seasons ago? And
Marco: Two seasons ago.
Project 90 Soccer: Lisandro Martinez, bro, the stud.
Marco: My favorite Argentinian.
Project 90 Soccer: He's solid, bro. I'm sorry. Like he really
Marco: Let's go.
Project 90 Soccer: he really is. He's really, really, really solid in the defense. And the thing we even noted when we were covering the World Cup this summer was like, this guy will get you goals, bro. He he'll win the game for you. So I love that, bro. What do you what are you feeling about Man United so far? Michael Carrick, obviously, this is his first game in charge for the Champions League. So what are you thinking?
Marco: Look, Lissandro Martinez, he's my height, right? So I'm reach I'm I'm always rooting for this guy. But to what we were saying earlier, the opponent, right? Sabah. Champions League debut. They're going into the theater of dreams against arguably one of the biggest clubs in the whole white world, whole whole white
Project 90 Soccer: Mm.
Marco: galaxy, solar system, whatever you want to say. But yeah, man, expected. Man U played well, changes to lineup. I really loved seeing Chesco Zesco up top. He was able to get a nice goal. Bruno Fernandez able to get a nice goal. I always like Mbumo. You just never know if he's gonna pass or if he's gonna shoot.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: nothing crazy in the defense to where it was concerning. And I know we talked about that in the past. But
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: overall, you ca you need to win these games against these opponents. Again, respect to Savab, but they were going in there at best, hoping to not get scored on and leave with the points. Or at best, not get scored on more than three goals. So win for them during the Champions League and win for Man United getting the getting the job done and getting three points at home.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, it's really good job. And the biggest concern I'd say here is not the results or anything, it's the fact that they played today on Thursday, right? So this weekend is the Manchester Derby versus Maine City. So again, that that that less
Marco: Yeah. Sunday.
Project 90 Soccer: that one less day of rest, right? Obviously they came out. Great performance, good confidence booster and everything leading into that game. But we're gonna see if maybe that's a bit of a factor. I'm not too sure. But big fucking game this weekend for Maine United. We're gonna see what happens
Marco: Hey.
Project 90 Soccer: there, man.
Marco: Quick quick quick little proposition. You,
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Marco: me, Zebra bar, Man United bar, games at eight games at eight thirty. We go out there, have a couple Guinness, split the G. Man United gets the dub, and we go home and enjoy the rest of our Sunday. What you think?
Project 90 Soccer: Dude, I'm down for 9 a.m. Guinness. Get real, get real
Marco: Okay, okay.
Project 90 Soccer: British with them. Yeah, dude, the zebra bar. We stopped to go there, bro. Tangent, we met the Ultimate Man United fan at the Sack Republic game. She's been telling us over and over about the zebra bar.
Marco: Yeah. I'll let you borrow a jersey.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, we're gonna go. We're gonna we're gonna talk about this after the episode, okay? Moving on here. Slavia Prague, bro. Losing three to two to Lounge of France. Lounge. Excuse me. Now. The shit shitty part here for Slavia, scoring twice, losing the lead, losing three to two. Up 2-0, losing 3-2. That's never good. That's never a good feeling. They were at home. So you know, one of those teams again, I've seen them in the Champions League a lot. Never really made a deep run. They're just one of those teams that sort of consistently perform, consistently get into the Champions League. That's about the level they're at. Maybe they have a miracle run one of these years. I'm not too sure what's going to happen. I doubt it. But Lons is a team that not so often you see them in the Champions League. Okay. So for them, that's a big that's a big deal. returning to the Champions League, right? They had a good victory. Now, I don't know if if I expect either one of these teams to really go through. There's obviously the way it's set up right now is the top eight teams are going to go through to the round of 16 knockouts. Then the last I can't remember how many teams it is, but it goes they go into a bit of a playoff round, right? Where then the next eight teams are selected to go through to the round of sixteen. And maybe one of these teams slips through the cracks. We'll have to wait and see, man. But that's it for the Champions League roundup and recap. Who is your biggest winner of this Champions League first round, match day one? If you had to pick. I know mine. You already already know mine, dude. I already already know.
Marco: If I had to pick, if I if I had to pick, it is not Manchester United. It's Como on their debut Champions League game at home, next to the ocean, getting
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: the job done, scoring a bunch of goals, and just getting those three points, baby. Those are my winner of the the first match they won.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, decisive victory. Same for me, bro. I'm really excited to see what they do this Champions League. But moving on, dude, from the Champions League. That's our little recap roundup of match day one. Just want to quickly touch on our NorCal MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes, going to San Diego, bro, getting a three-two victory. And my God, did it look like a new team just sprouted out of the concrete for this one, dude? This is their first win, bro, in eight matches. They were on an eight-match non-winning streak, finally getting another dub, bro. Preston Judge back on the score sheet, bro. Twelfth goal this season. It's a new career high for the guy. He was on absolute fire at the beginning of the season. It was kind of kind of scary seeing him score as many goals as he was, really coming out. Now, Nico Shakiris, bro, number 10. Okay, he's only 20 years old. Okay, got a goal. He got an assist, missed a penalty, but God, he was he was player of the match day for good reason, right? He was all over the place. He was involved in everything. Crazy assist with the outside of the foot, bro. it's it's
Marco: Gui, favela.
Project 90 Soccer: yeah, he he's quite honestly might be one like we're talking about Kevin Sullivan and also there's for New York Red Bulls, there's Julian Hall and these younger players. Nico Shakiris is only 20, bro. So he's I mean, yeah, he's not 18, but he's 20 years old. Wearing the number 10 shirt. He puts on performances like this, really carries the team. And yeah, man, this is a big win for the San Jose Earthquakes. Now, San Diego, scary at the end, coming back, putting two goals in, you know, earthquakes getting a red card. Floriani was sent off, led to a penalty that San Diego buried. But they're able to hold on, which is something that we don't see too often, or we're often criticizing them of is that they get a lead and they can't hold it, right? And they always give it up last minute. but this is a good result for San Jose. I'm excited to see them winning again. And hang this gun, dude. All of a sudden, he is, man.
Marco: Hey, he's coming to his own in the MLS.
Project 90 Soccer: He is, man. Big, big game for him as well. Four saves.
Marco: And you are shitting on him at the beginning. Why did we get them? Why?
Project 90 Soccer: Well, everyone was. Everybody was, dude. He was single handedly costing us maybe not the entire game 'cause the team
Marco: Even before he played, you were like, Why the other guy was doing so good. Why did we get rid of him?
Project 90 Soccer: Why get rid of Daniel? Why get rid of Daniel, bro? That's my only criticism is not Angus Gunn not being maybe a good goalkeeper, but why would you get rid of a guy that's fucking doing so well? You're on a winning streak with this goalkeeper and you sell him. Yeah. Money. It's probably just money, business deal. I don't know, dude. But you know, I'm glad Angus Gunn's getting his shit together. He's obviously a top notch goalkeeper, but he needs he needs to start playing that way, dude.
Marco: Two things need to happen for San Jose. I'm I'm gonna say this is the start of a a streak of games that they're
Project 90 Soccer: Okay.
Marco: that they're not gonna lose. But a
Project 90 Soccer: Okay.
Marco: couple things need to happen in order for that streak to continue. You not showing up to any games. And
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, no shit.
Marco: Timo Werner needs to take his time, don't come back, not just yet. Heal up, do whatever you gotta do, let the team come into their own. but I hate to say it, man. Timo Werner, just hold your horses. Let the team do their thing right now.
Project 90 Soccer: Dude, and on that on that topic of Timo Werner, bro, at the beginning of the season, he picked up an injury. And we were I believe we saw the game where he pulled a hammy, right? He pulled his hamstring. He was out
Marco: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: for four or five weeks, something like that. And they they were winning, dude. And as soon as he came back, Shakiris was out. Didn't look too hot for the San Jose earthquakes. Then of course I went to a game. Okay, I went to one, two, three games maybe. And the curse continues, bro. I've yet to see them win a game in my life. And I'm starting to really believe that, like, now that I haven't gone to five games. sense. Look at look what's happening, bro. They're turning it around. They went from losing, losing, losing, getting a draw to now winning a game. So I don't know if there's any truth to that, but look, they're eleven eight and five right now. They have thirty eight points. They're in the playoff race. now the question is, Marco, do we go to another game?
Marco: I'm gonna hold off on going to any games unless I'm gonna go shoot the game. And by shoots, I don't mean guns, ladies and gentlemen. No gun violence here, but take some photos. But
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: yeah, I say we hold off, stick to going to the USL games. I like the shorter commute to Sacramento. So I'm gonna stick
Project 90 Soccer: Uh-huh.
Marco: to that. We got a couple games left before the end of the season. And to close it out on Timo Werner is something that I've heard before. And I it's very true. If you come, if you limp into the season, you're gonna limp out.
Project 90 Soccer: Mm.
Marco: So who's to say that he comes back and he doesn't re-aggravate what he has going on. So like I said, Timo Werner, take your time. Quakes, medical staff, take your time per usual. Don't rush this guy back. let these guys do their do their thing. And we'll hopefully we'll see another three points this coming weekend.
Project 90 Soccer: Well I'll have to wait and see, man. That's the recap of San Jose Earthquake, San Diego. Marco, do you have any last words before we close out this episode?
Marco: Beautiful Thursday. It's hot, but you know what, man? I'ma go and enjoy a beer. It's Thirsty Thursday. It's the NFL season is back. Let's go. Your team is playing. Let's log off and go
Project 90 Soccer: Love that. Mm-hmm. Yeah, nine.
Marco: watch it.
Project 90 Soccer: That's right, dude. We're gonna log off. Ladies and gentlemen, if you enjoyed this episode, go to Project90Soccer.com. You find all the links to our socials, YouTube, Spotify, Apple. If you're here on YouTube watching this, like and subscribe, leave a comment, turn on the bell notification. you'll get to know when every episode gets dropped, the moment it gets dropped, so you can click on it and get the latest updates around the soccer world. My name is Antonio. I'm here as always with Marco Munoz. And until the next episode, this has been Project 90. Peace.
Marco: Yo.
Project 90 Soccer: We are live, Champions League Match Day One Roundup Recap. My name's Antonio, and I am here with, as always, on the Project 90 Podcast, the soccer podcast for the real fans around the world. I'm here with the one, the only, as always, with the Man United shirt with the red devil, the devil logo on the chest. Marco Munoz. Marco, how are you doing this lovely Thursday afternoon?
Marco: I outside of this crazy heat, I'm doing great.
Project 90 Soccer: Tell me about it.
Marco: I am doing great. Especially
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: because my man man united baby. And we're gonna touch on it a little bit a little bit soon. But yeah, man. I'm doing solid. How are you?
Project 90 Soccer: I'm doing fantastic, bro. I'm melting like a like a fucking hot pocket out here right now, dude. It's hot, it's
Marco: Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: muggy. Working on the yard, like terrible time to do it, you know, in the afternoon here in this heat wave. But you know what, man?
Marco: How pockets.
Project 90 Soccer: Hot pockets. That's a throwback.
Marco: Hot pockets. They're so good.
Project 90 Soccer: You know what else is good, but fucking absolutely dangerous to the mouth, bro, is those Totino's pizza rolls. If you don't if
Marco: interest.
Project 90 Soccer: Dude, if you don't let cool off just to the right temp and you bite into one of those, it's the nuclear bomb going off in your mouth.
Marco: quick quick little segue.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: Suppose he that's not real cheese inside.
Project 90 Soccer: I wouldn't dude, I wouldn't even think anything on that thing is even real. I'm gonna be honest, dude.
Marco: But they get the job done, especially after a nice night of throwing some bruise back. They get the job done. But without further ado, let's go.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Ultimate snack. Yeah, without further ado, we're getting way off topic, but here we are, bro. First round of the Champions League match day one just concluded in the group stage. Different format, as I just brought up previously, that they are now throwing games in on Thursday just for this group stage. Usually it was Tuesday, Wednesdays. So we decided to give it that extra day. Now we're here with the full recap. So let's jump straight into Tuesday, September the 8th, match day one. First game, AEK Athens, 1 0 up. They won 1 0 versus L A S K, the Austrian team from Austria. 1 0 for Athens. Good start for them. Next game was Club Bruges losing 2 3 to Aston Villa, bro. And we've seen Aston Villa sort of struggling early on in the Premier League. This is a good win for them, dude. Really bring up their spirits. yeah.
Marco: Did you know real quick that when all this layout came out for the Champions League, they were top ten to win the Champions League?
Project 90 Soccer: Aston Villa was.
Marco: Yeah, dude.
Project 90 Soccer: Hey, man. I mean, I've seen teams not do so well in their domestic leagues, but then just have a massive run in the Champions League. So it's possible, although this was Club Bruges. So we're gonna find out. But one of the top 10 teams, I'd say the other top nine teams are pretty strong. You know what I'm saying? So going forward here, though, Borussia Dortmund, the German Giants, three to two versus Villa Real. Okay, that's a big win for Borussia Dortmund. Next game up, Man City, Erling Holland, getting the brace, two goals, defeating Porto two to zero, bro. Holland, check this out 59 Champions League goals in 59 appearances.
Marco: Baller.
Project 90 Soccer: I mean, we're talking about this is world class. This is like, you know, that there's always that player that starts out their career, they're young, they're on fire, they're doing work, they're doing well. And then the question becomes, do they sustain that and keep it going to really solidify some sort of a of a GOAT status, right? A legacy. And I have to say, Erling Holland, after this World Cup, after these previous seasons he's had, his time at Dortmund, Leipzig, all the way now to to Man City, he's really doing the damn thing, bro. And Frenzo Moresca, we questioned his, you know, him coming in for Man City, but out of the four games he's had so far, competitive matches, he's f he's four and So in the Premier League and now in the Champions League. So good start for them, dude. Leal going down three to two versus Real Betis, bro. And unlikely score for Batis, bro. The ex Barcelona man, Mark Bartra, bro, getting
Marco: Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: two goals. So I don't
Marco: Never happens.
Project 90 Soccer: it's never, bro. Never, never, ever. And Ethan Mbappe getting a red card. Mbappe's brother, bro. So,
Marco: Yeah, we saw that. Saw that.
Project 90 Soccer: you know, that's that's not too good for them. It was a V A R. He elbowed a guy and got sent off, bro.
Marco: Like blatant elbow. But
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, you can't do that. I mean in these days with the VAR, bro, you're you're just not you're you're gonna get red carded
Marco: Can't get away with shit.
Project 90 Soccer: for a a lot less, bro. So you cannot be hitting someone in the head with an elbow. Not gonna work.
Marco: Two highlights, two highlights from that match. Betty's Betty's getting the dub. And I'm really
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yep.
Marco: digging Lil's jersey, man. New balance is coming coming
Project 90 Soccer: They're clean.
Marco: in clutch with those clean jerseys.
Project 90 Soccer: They're clean, bro. And speaking of new balance, I've heard that they're I've never worn them, but they're cleats, bro. I've heard that they're they're mighty comfortable, bro. So I might have to give those
Marco: They were quite at you.
Project 90 Soccer: give those a shot sometime. But moving on here, we both saw this match, saw a lot about this game. Real Madrid, two to one versus inter Milan at the Bernabelle. And look, I just want to flat out say Inter Milan shot themselves in the foot in this game, bro. Two massive mistakes. Two.
Marco: I just gonna say that.
Project 90 Soccer: Mega mistakes, bro, that gave Real Madrid both of their goals. Other than that, dude, Inter Milan, quite honestly, they had sixty four percent of the possession. Ti Wak Rtois, a ton of saves. Not to
Marco: Yep.
Project 90 Soccer: say he had a great game, but ultimately I think Inter Milan sort of fumbled it here. they were on the road. So that you know, it's a contributing factor. But ultimately, bro, they lost to themselves, bro. Jose Mourinho got a win against his ex team. What'd you think about this game, bro? It was pretty competitive. It was fun, fast paced, but In Tremulan, bro.
Marco: Same, same to what you you're alluding to. two big teams, and then in in games like this, it's gonna come down to who makes the mistakes and who's able to capitalize on it. And
Project 90 Soccer: Exactly.
Marco: right off the rip, mistake by the defense, you can't do that in front of Mbappe. Just give him an inch, and he's gonna be able to put the ball at the back of the net. Goalie, Martinez, what the
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: F are you doing, bro? You're a goalie, you're not a midfielder, you're not a defender, you're not a forward. Get rid of that ball. So
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that t I mean, we see that happen way too often, bro. Way too often. I don't know what they're thinking. They're literally the last man. They're trying to do some Zidane fucking esque turn in the box. And it never works out. Valverde just stuck a foot in there, bro, and just fucking poked it into the goal. So you know, it's not good, it's not a good look for you as a goalkeeper. Your one job is to like not do that. And he did that. So I don't know. Looking looking at this score line though, I think Instagram Milan was they had a good game other than those two mistakes.
Marco: They could have won the game. If that was the case, take those two mistakes away. I
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: mean, like you said, they were creating a lot of chances. Steve O'Curtois came in clutch, right? Blocking, doing whatever he could do. But Route Madrid, take those two mistakes away. Could have been one zero, could have been zero zero.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: We could have been having a different conversation. But like I mentioned, in these type of games with two big clubs like this, you cannot have those mistakes, man.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, you're right. And and before we move on here, just a quick shout out again, T Bok Rtois, 100th Champions League appearance. Wild, bro. Feels like I've been watching him forever. 100 Champions League appearances is pretty massive. moving on here to Wednesday now, September the ninth. Barcelona, bro, they just love they recently they really love scoring five goals. I don't know what it is, but they beat Feyenoord five to one. Rafinha is on dude. Rafinha's on fire this season already. Rafinha is goaded right now for Barcelona. I Laminha Mall is the the talk of the team, but goddamn, dude, Rafinha's really stepping up, dude. And of course, Lamin got one goal. Gabriel Jesus, the new player, getting a goal. So that's you know, that was a shock signing
Marco: One and only.
Project 90 Soccer: to me. Shock signing to me, bro, to be completely honest. But Yeah, man. What do you what do you think about this Barcelona team so far with with their La Liga performances now going into this Champions League? Obviously it's Feyenoord. Still a quality European side, but to score five goals again, bro, and only concede one? I mean, Jesus Christ, bro, they're on fire this season.
Marco: Bro, I'm not surprised. It's Barca. I keep saying it. They're gonna they're
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah.
Marco: gonna they're gonna win the Liga, potentially can win the Champions League. They're playing with so much swagger. They have they have it all in every position. Rafinha
Project 90 Soccer: They do.
Marco: is playing his brains out. He looks swaggy. He looks clean out there. The new captain of the team. His braids are always on fleek. Bagging
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: goals, bagging chicks outside of the pitch. What else do you want these guys to do?
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. What else can they
Marco: Outside of winning, man, these guys, man, man, these dude,
Project 90 Soccer: What else can they do, bro? They can't do nothing else.
Marco: they're just they're doing what needs to be done. They they they see the task at hand and they're getting the job done, right? Again, shout out to Farrenoord, they're in the champions. Champ they're
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: in the champions league, right? But they're still a tier. The league is a tier underneath La Liga. So I'm excited to see a matchup where Barcelona goes toe to toe with somebody at close to their level or at at their level. So
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: in La Liga, in Copa del Rey or Champions League. I'm I I wanna see them fight and come from behind.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. And Rafinha, man, speaking of him, you know, he was fifth place in the Balondor race last year. And this year he didn't even make the nominee list. Which it might be s
Marco: Much of how much of that is the World Cup?
Project 90 Soccer: A lot. It could be a lot. Maybe he wasn't as strong last season. Maybe it's the World Cup. Maybe it's all of it combined. I don't know. But the way this season is starting right now, I mean, this guy is truly on fire. If he keeps this up for the rest of the season, I could I see him in probably the top five. Obviously there's other great players out there, but Rafinha right now, he's on my on my list of players to watch for this season. we already knew he was good, but he's really turning up this season. next game here. Look, Stuttgart 3-1 versus Viking, the Norwegian team. Sickest name in the Champions League, dude. If you're rolling up to a to a game and you're like, who you playing today? We're playing Viking. That's fucking hard as fuck, bro. If if if Holland didn't play for Man City, bro, he should play for Viking. That's all I'm gonna say, dude. And yo.
Marco: Did you know they have two coaches?
Project 90 Soccer: Viking?
Marco: Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: What do you mean two coaches?
Marco: They couldn't decide on who so they hired both both guys.
Project 90 Soccer: I mean, I don't see nothing wrong with that, to be honest. Imagine you get
Marco: Split the salary right down the middle. Guides, do your thing, get the job done, go out there
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: and
Project 90 Soccer: Split the workload. You get you get double the experience to come into one team into one locker room. Imagine getting Pep Guardiola like Jose Mourinho to come together and make a hybrid team. I don't know if that would be good or bad, but in this case, bro,
Marco: I don't I don't think that'll work out.
Project 90 Soccer: I don't know. I feel like they end up fucking killing each other. But shout out here to Stuttgar, bro, Damirovich getting a hat trick, tied right now as a top scorer in the Champions League. Obviously it's only been one game, but already bagging three fucking goals. This guy keeps it up right here for Stuttgart. I see some clubs knocking on his door. That's typically what happens when someone's a standout in the Champions League. So we'll see what happens with him and with Stuttgart moving forward. Next up, though, bro, the Atletico Madrid, the sorrowful start to their season continues, bro. Liverpool two to one versus Athletico Madrid. They blew the lead, bro. Yorente got the early goal, 17th minute. Then Sobasline McAllister hit a banger, bro. Two to one, bro. At this point, look, Julian Alvarez got the assist I have right here. Okay. That's that's good for Athletico. You know, they got over the hump with with Alvarez, but Jesus Christ, man, they've had a dreadful start to this season. And at this point, bro, it doesn't seem like just a one game here thing, maybe bad game or bad performance, maybe a mistake. They lost the game. It's starting to look like their team's falling apart a bit. You know what I'm saying? What do you what do you think about
Marco: What
Project 90 Soccer: that?
Marco: what I'm afraid is if they continues to go down this rabbit hole that they're in, j it may be an easier exit for Julian Arris' exit. Right?
Project 90 Soccer: Yes.
Marco: It's it just seems like it'll be playing in his favor, right? Like,
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: hey, we're struggling anyway. Let's get rid of him, get rid of him. He wanted to leave anyway. And then you end up letting him go for peanuts on the on the dollar. So
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: there's a pro and the con is it's athletico, man. You want these guys to be always fighting for the top spot, but like I mentioned last episode. go tune in and and and and listen to what we're talking about. I
Project 90 Soccer: Yep, yep.
Marco: don't know, man. I think it's taking his course. maybe they don't have the qu the quality of players. Maybe they don't have the depth on the bench. Maybe Simeona is running out of ideas, out of options. Maybe
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: they need a new system. They need a breath of fresh air coming in on the bench. I don't know. But to your point, the sorrow continues. They lost. And shout out to to Liverpool for Liverpool getting the job done. And shout out to McAllister background back in the goal because he's talking about how upset he is not getting a contract extension after bleeding, after sweating, and giving it all for Liverpool. So this is gonna be helping him because it's
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: one of those prove it deals, right? Like like like in the NBA, you have a 10 day contract. Prove it that we we we need to give you an extension. Like when you put somebody on a franchise tag in football, let me know what you can do in a year and then I'll get and I'll pay you next year. So I think this is McAllister's year to continue balling out, bagging some goals and who knows, maybe he's on to a bigger club. And what happens the Premier League?
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: Lateral moves Man City to Manu, Manu to Man City, Liverpool to Arsenal, vice versa, Chelsea.
Project 90 Soccer: Chelsea. Mm-hmm.
Marco: It happens all the time. So I would not be surprised. When Argentinian already did it, his name is Enzo. Who's
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: to say McCallister is not next?
Project 90 Soccer: You never know, dude, at this point. You know, as long as McAllister keeps this up, at least his stock keeps rising, his own price tag, whether it's Liverpool, whether it's Man City, somebody big's gonna pick him up if he keeps this up, dude.
Marco: He'd probably re he'd probably be very good in Italy rough too though right now.
Project 90 Soccer: McAllister is someone I'd like to see at like a a Juve, maybe a Milan. I think he would do very well in Italy. I think in terms of the Premier League, I think Liverpool is probably going to be his only stop. other than that, maybe go to Spain. I'm not too sure. But at the end of the day, he's a Liverpool player. He's bagging goals for them. He's starting games. Bradley Barkle again, the full Liverpool debut in the Champions League. So Liverpool's looking pretty Pretty dangerous, bro. Last year they were they were concerned a little bit. Salah wanted out. They got rid of Salah. You know, what was his name, dude? Sadio Mane left a few years prior. So it looked like their attack and their sort of dynasty they had going was gonna end. But it looks like they've sort of made up for it with this current Liverpool team. So we'll see how it goes for them. Now, next up here, bro, the reigning champions, PSG, two-time reigning champions going for the three P Bro. Six to one against, of course, it's Slavin Bratislava. It's not the strongest team in the Champions League, but dear God, dude, this is the kind of result you want when you play a team like this as PSG. Faron Torres, bro. Ever since I said it, bro, he's been on fire. Ever since I said anything about this guy, he's got a hat trick, dog. A hat trick, bro. Fabian Riz, Dembele getting on the score sheet. I mean, what do you feel about this PSG team so far? No.
Marco: Word around the street is Ferrand Torres is a it's a ghost subscriber. What I mean by
Project 90 Soccer: good.
Marco: that is he watches a Project 90 podcast, he just doesn't subscribe. So nor does he like
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: but he's been paying attention, he heard your take, he knows
Project 90 Soccer: Good.
Marco: how we feel about him, he's been hearing you talk about about him since the World Cup that you don't
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: know what's going on with this guy, but he always finds the back of the net. So he's been listening to Anto and his critique, right? So for on Torres, shout out to you. Banto, I'm not gonna lie, I didn't watch this game a hundred percent of the time. This is one of those games
Project 90 Soccer: I did not.
Marco: that this is one of those games where I was in the office and I just had it playing in the background with the expectation
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: that they were gonna win three, four goals. I did not see six, I did not see a hat trick coming. But what's a surprise.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, I'm not surprised either. Didn't catch much of this game at all, to be honest. there's so many games to pick from, and this was just not one of them. But not surprised by the result. We'll see how things move forward when PSG sort of comes up against some stronger opponents. Moving on, dude. Sporting from Portugal, sporting Lisbon, three to one, bro, versus our our buddy, our pal, Rafael Leao's Galatasarai. Now, look, dude, sporting is notoriously. Up there with like Porto, right? One of the best teams in Portugal. we saw Porto win the Champions League go on that massive run with Mourinho back in the day. Haven't seen sporting though really climb up to the semis finals, anything like that. Beating Galatasai, though, I'd say that's a pretty even matchup, right? For more or less right there. For them to go 3-1 against Galatasaray. I think that's probably the best start they could have had. Another, another game I did not watch, but I'm looking forward to seeing how. Things play out for sporting and also Galatasai, bro. I want to see if Leao really comes out of his shell and just takes over in the Turkish league and in the Champions League. So we'll have
Marco: See.
Project 90 Soccer: to see, man. We'll see what happens there. But then here we go, bro. We were talking about it last episode, which as Marco mentioned, you need to go check out because Napoli, bro, getting another L, bro. Another L to Arsenal, one to zero. Martin Odegaard with the only goal. And you know what's sad about this, bro, for Napoli? It's another loss at home. In Napoli, dude. So Arsenal obviously made the final last season. They have a great fucking team. They have a great coach. Napoli, you would think the same. They have a great coach, a great squad. It's not panning out for them, dude. This is not gonna help Allegory's case, bro. What do you think about Napoli going down, losing at home again?
Marco: You never want to lose at home. You never wanna lose in front of your fans who paid Boku Bucks who to go watch you play, who took the day off from work, who left work early to go wait in line to get inside the stadium. it was unfortunate I would have liked to see a one one, but ultimately Odegaard and and Arsenal were able to get the job done on the road. as important as the as the wins at home are, s the games on the road are even more important when it comes down to who's gonna get those top spots in the group, but to what we're talking about last time, man. Allegri, I just don't know if he's he can make things happen anywhere. I I
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: think it's just one of those things where well one, he doesn't have a crazy team. Let's j let's just say that, right? He
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: doesn't he doesn't have a crazy team, but with the team that he has, you can get coaches that can make things happen.
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: we we we've seen crazier things happen, but yeah, man, I don't know. I just think allegory needs to take it upstairs and and just be an advisor in the future. So we'll see how long this run goes. They continue to lose, but we never wanna see a historic club like this continue to go down this route.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, it's not looking too good for Napoli. And those fans are ruthless, bro. So if they're not already screaming from the heavens, they they're about to start, dude, because it's unacceptable for a team like Nopaly. And quick little fact and stat about Arsenal before we move on. They have twenty under Mikel Arteta. They have twenty clean sheets in their last 40 Champions League games. I mean, that's a
Marco: Nice.
Project 90 Soccer: that's a big stat, dude. 20 clean sheets out of 40 Champions League matches. It's looking good for Arsenal, bro. I really like what they have going on over there. here we go. Thursday, September 10th. Today, bro, there's six more Champions League games. Part of the new sort of schedule they got going on for the group stage. So the first game was Fener Bace tying one to one with Roma, dude. I really like Roma. Brian Cristante scoring the goal, which you know, us Italians, we we're not too fond of Cristante, bro. Never on the national team on anything. But he comes in clutch when he needs to, bro. He's a very simple player. Nothing magical really happens with him, but he gets the job done. One to one for Ro Roma. Danielle Malin. He's a key player for Roma. Out on the wing, dude. I think he was a good pickup for the team. So we'll see what happens with Roma, dude. They're they're doing well in Settiao right now. They could have, yeah.
Marco: They could have won. They could have won. Dybala had due opportunities. But
Project 90 Soccer: Uh-huh.
Marco: he just couldn't get the he just couldn't score. And I
Project 90 Soccer: Then finish.
Marco: was I was listening to the game and I guess he hasn't scored since January for that. It's a long time. So this guy need this
Project 90 Soccer: Oof. That's not good, bro.
Marco: guy, this guy needs to get the back get get it going on the back of the net so he can see more goals coming in because Roma's in a good spot right now at the start of the season. Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: I I I was watching part of the game and nothing too crazy.
Project 90 Soccer: No.
Marco: I was kind trying to as a Man United fan, I was I like keeping up with some of the old Man United players and I was watching Greenwood and
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: how he was doing for Nabacha and it just it's just a fortune. I wish he would have still been with the Red Devils.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, Mason Greenwood getting the assist. And for Fenerbache, shout out, bro. It's their first time back in the Champions League after 18 years. So
Marco: No way.
Project 90 Soccer: yeah, good start for them, dude. That's a good result. If it's been 18 years, bro, you're coming in here getting that kind of result's a big deal. So we'll see what happens with both of them. PSV, bro, one to one against Shoktar Donetsk. Look, Serginho Des. Shout out USA getting the goal. it's a it's PSV's always been one of those teams, right? They always have those quality players, but they seem to be running a business there, right? Where they flip them for more cash, flip them for money. Look at that, bro. On deck. I just wore that jersey the other day. Shout out PSV. It's a very very big club with a lot of Mexican players coming through PSV, if I'm not mistaken, right? So now we got Serginho Des looking good. you know, got Concord Calf. Yeah, because he you know had a few stints that he was Was it Milan? Yeah, Milan, Barcelona. Could never find his his feet anywhere, bro. And so hopefully here at PSV, you know, he he earns his spot, which it looks like he has, and he he can find a team. It's the hardest part, dude. Some of these players are always bouncing around, but to find a team and establish themselves where, you know, they get maybe a five year contract and they're consistent through those five years for the club, he has yet to find
Marco: And what I would
Project 90 Soccer: that team.
Marco: and what I would say maybe 'cause to your point, he did take a step down, he came came to PSV. Maybe he's on one of those deals where he's not getting paid a whole lot. So he's able to to be with the team. I mean, you remember DeJang? he he was he was with the team for quite a while. He had
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: he had opportunities to go elsewhere, but he stuck around and was was bagging goals for PSV, but
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, PSV two have right here for them. In the last five Champions League openers that they've had, they've lost all five in their previous five campaigns. So they came out with a draw on this one, but still not getting a win. So we'll see, man, what happens with PSV. Hopefully they can turn it around. Shakhtar Danet's always been one of those teams that a lot
Marco: They're always in it.
Project 90 Soccer: a lot of Brazilians coming through Shoktar, bro. They've they've been one of those teams that have made some major upsets in past Champions League season. So they're always exciting to watch. We'll see how they do this here. Now, the biggest winner of this whole entire Champions League match day for me, bro. Como four to one against RB Leipzig, bro. Their Champions League debut, bro. This is their first ever Champions League match ever. And they won four to one. And I was speaking of them the other day, and I was saying how they have so much depth where they have people scoring goals, a bunch of different players scoring goals. And on this game right here, they got two different players to score goals as well. So They have a lot of they have, I mean, they have a very I think I don't want to say underrated at this point, but I think people are still sleeping on them a little bit in terms of quality and and threat that they possess as a team, dude, because they're really I mean, they came in to set the and they mean fucking business. They min they made the Champions League last season. Now they're in the Champions League and they're starting strong with a four one fucking win. Nico Paz, bro, undeniably like
Marco: Baller.
Project 90 Soccer: Goaded bro. He's so good. Obviously, Real Madrid. There was the talk of bringing him back, doing all this. So that's the caliber of player that they have on their team. And I'm starting to feel I'm starting to feel excited because I've sort of predicted this early on. I feel like the Cinderella story of the year is gonna be Como, dude. And I don't know, dude. I don't want to hold him because
Marco: Hold your horses, hold your horses. Shout out, shout out we we both like Red Bull Leipzig. We
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: both like but hold your horses. They played against Red Bull Leipzig. All right. Hold your horses.
Project 90 Soccer: Damn, dude. Four to one though. Come on, bro. Just give some flowers, Marco.
Marco: It wa hey, and I'm gonna give flowers. It was real a really good first it was a really good first half. They kinda
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: toned it down in the second half, right? had I think one goal in the second half and got scored on in the second half. But yeah, man. Como Como looks good. And I'll and I'll watch it.
Project 90 Soccer: They look good. You're right. You're right though. To interrupt real quick, you are right where when they come up against a bairn or something we'll really see. Right. We're real we'll really find out. But go ahead.
Marco: We'll see. We'll see. And I was looking around the stadium, and you know, you and I go to a lot of USL games and kinda had that USL type feeling, the way the stands, you kinda it looks like bleachers in a way.
Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.
Marco: but but come on, man. Yeah, I mean, solid performance, they all look good. And check it out, bro. They have Richie on loan from AC Milan. Richie
Project 90 Soccer: Yes.
Marco: didn't play too bad, but there was another AC Milan guy on the other side, Nkunku. So When I was watching this game, I'm like, man, Milan just started getting rid of everybody. I mean, both of those guys went on loan. Santi Jimenez is on loan. And the starters are now on the bench. So quick little tangent on AC Milan on on on what what they got going on. But it was nice to see both of those guys gain some playing time. One good for Ricci because he's on loan, he's getting playing time on a very good team. And then Kunku
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: and Kunku a guy who they paid so much money for. who was at Chelsea and just couldn't really get it going at Ace La. But yeah, man, to your point, Goma looked very good. Looking forward to how they looking forward to them finishing the top of the group.
Project 90 Soccer: That's what I like to hear, Marco. That's what I like to hear. Moving on though, dude. Bayern Munich. There's no surprise here, not much to talk about. They won five to zero versus Vodo Bodo Glimped the Norwegian team. And on the score sheet, the names you would expect, bro. Jamal Mussiala, Harry Kane, Alfonso Davies, Michael Elise. Now, this is the exact kind of result, similar to PSG. You play a team of of a lower caliber, you can say you would expect them to go in there and handle fucking business. And they handled fucking business. biggest takeaway from this game though is Jamal Muziala, bro, making his first start after a two-month absence. I don't know if you saw this past summer, these past he had two moments where he fainted, collapsed, one of those scary sort of incidents. So, whatever that might be, it looks like they seem to have resolved it. It's good to see him on the field, especially. Yeah, go ahead.
Marco: Did you see go ahead, sorry.
Project 90 Soccer: No, I was gonna say because not only that. But a few seasons ago I remember Donoruma came out and he broke his leg. Ug broke Jamal Muciala's leg. So this kid's
Marco: yeah. Yep. Yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: really, you know, one of the wonder kids coming out playing for Bayern's really good player for Germany. He's had a lot of lot of
Marco: He's been going through it.
Project 90 Soccer: injuries, bro. A lot of shit happening to him. So it's good to see him back.
Marco: But I was gonna say, dude, did you see Alfonso Davies' goal? Bro.
Project 90 Soccer: I didn't
Marco: Outside of the eighteenth banger. And then Olise. Olise
Project 90 Soccer: Absolute one. Yeah.
Marco: had two nice goals as well. He had one banger as well. So Olise, man, I wish you'd be with you were with the Red Devils, man. I wish you were Manchester United. You would fit perfect. You need to get out of Barry Munich, man. We need you.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, he's gonna he's gonna end up somewhere, bro. His price tag is gonna be astronomical. We've already seen some crazy numbers, but his is gonna be wild. And shout out to Harry Kane, bro. Again, he's on the the the Ball on door list. You know, this guy is putting up numbers, right? After this game right here, he's got seventy three goals now and sixty five matches in the calendar year. So those are some fucking elite fucking numbers, right? We saw Messi Ronaldo hitting like ninety goals within the calendar year. It's a different level, but Seventy-three goals, 65 matches. We're still in September, bro. So
Marco: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Project 90 Soccer: he he we might see history. You never know. If he just goes on an absolute streak, bro, he could he could maybe potentially break that record, right? Of the calendar year, how many goals he gets. So I'm kind of excited to see that. I still want him to win the ball on door, but we'll see what happens there, bro. Now here we go. Let's see your team, bro. Man United four zero versus the Azerbaijani side Sabah. This is good, bro. This is good for Man United, bro. Cunha Fernandez, Benjamin Sesko, the guy they brought in was it last season, two seasons ago? And
Marco: Two seasons ago.
Project 90 Soccer: Lisandro Martinez, bro, the stud.
Marco: My favorite Argentinian.
Project 90 Soccer: He's solid, bro. I'm sorry. Like he really
Marco: Let's go.
Project 90 Soccer: he really is. He's really, really, really solid in the defense. And the thing we even noted when we were covering the World Cup this summer was like, this guy will get you goals, bro. He he'll win the game for you. So I love that, bro. What do you what are you feeling about Man United so far? Michael Carrick, obviously, this is his first game in charge for the Champions League. So what are you thinking?
Marco: Look, Lissandro Martinez, he's my height, right? So I'm reach I'm I'm always rooting for this guy. But to what we were saying earlier, the opponent, right? Sabah. Champions League debut. They're going into the theater of dreams against arguably one of the biggest clubs in the whole white world, whole whole white
Project 90 Soccer: Mm.
Marco: galaxy, solar system, whatever you want to say. But yeah, man, expected. Man U played well, changes to lineup. I really loved seeing Chesco Zesco up top. He was able to get a nice goal. Bruno Fernandez able to get a nice goal. I always like Mbumo. You just never know if he's gonna pass or if he's gonna shoot.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: nothing crazy in the defense to where it was concerning. And I know we talked about that in the past. But
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: overall, you ca you need to win these games against these opponents. Again, respect to Savab, but they were going in there at best, hoping to not get scored on and leave with the points. Or at best, not get scored on more than three goals. So win for them during the Champions League and win for Man United getting the getting the job done and getting three points at home.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, it's really good job. And the biggest concern I'd say here is not the results or anything, it's the fact that they played today on Thursday, right? So this weekend is the Manchester Derby versus Maine City. So again, that that that less
Marco: Yeah. Sunday.
Project 90 Soccer: that one less day of rest, right? Obviously they came out. Great performance, good confidence booster and everything leading into that game. But we're gonna see if maybe that's a bit of a factor. I'm not too sure. But big fucking game this weekend for Maine United. We're gonna see what happens
Marco: Hey.
Project 90 Soccer: there, man.
Marco: Quick quick quick little proposition. You,
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Marco: me, Zebra bar, Man United bar, games at eight games at eight thirty. We go out there, have a couple Guinness, split the G. Man United gets the dub, and we go home and enjoy the rest of our Sunday. What you think?
Project 90 Soccer: Dude, I'm down for 9 a.m. Guinness. Get real, get real
Marco: Okay, okay.
Project 90 Soccer: British with them. Yeah, dude, the zebra bar. We stopped to go there, bro. Tangent, we met the Ultimate Man United fan at the Sack Republic game. She's been telling us over and over about the zebra bar.
Marco: Yeah. I'll let you borrow a jersey.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, we're gonna go. We're gonna we're gonna talk about this after the episode, okay? Moving on here. Slavia Prague, bro. Losing three to two to Lounge of France. Lounge. Excuse me. Now. The shit shitty part here for Slavia, scoring twice, losing the lead, losing three to two. Up 2-0, losing 3-2. That's never good. That's never a good feeling. They were at home. So you know, one of those teams again, I've seen them in the Champions League a lot. Never really made a deep run. They're just one of those teams that sort of consistently perform, consistently get into the Champions League. That's about the level they're at. Maybe they have a miracle run one of these years. I'm not too sure what's going to happen. I doubt it. But Lons is a team that not so often you see them in the Champions League. Okay. So for them, that's a big that's a big deal. returning to the Champions League, right? They had a good victory. Now, I don't know if if I expect either one of these teams to really go through. There's obviously the way it's set up right now is the top eight teams are going to go through to the round of 16 knockouts. Then the last I can't remember how many teams it is, but it goes they go into a bit of a playoff round, right? Where then the next eight teams are selected to go through to the round of sixteen. And maybe one of these teams slips through the cracks. We'll have to wait and see, man. But that's it for the Champions League roundup and recap. Who is your biggest winner of this Champions League first round, match day one? If you had to pick. I know mine. You already already know mine, dude. I already already know.
Marco: If I had to pick, if I if I had to pick, it is not Manchester United. It's Como on their debut Champions League game at home, next to the ocean, getting
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: the job done, scoring a bunch of goals, and just getting those three points, baby. Those are my winner of the the first match they won.
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, decisive victory. Same for me, bro. I'm really excited to see what they do this Champions League. But moving on, dude, from the Champions League. That's our little recap roundup of match day one. Just want to quickly touch on our NorCal MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes, going to San Diego, bro, getting a three-two victory. And my God, did it look like a new team just sprouted out of the concrete for this one, dude? This is their first win, bro, in eight matches. They were on an eight-match non-winning streak, finally getting another dub, bro. Preston Judge back on the score sheet, bro. Twelfth goal this season. It's a new career high for the guy. He was on absolute fire at the beginning of the season. It was kind of kind of scary seeing him score as many goals as he was, really coming out. Now, Nico Shakiris, bro, number 10. Okay, he's only 20 years old. Okay, got a goal. He got an assist, missed a penalty, but God, he was he was player of the match day for good reason, right? He was all over the place. He was involved in everything. Crazy assist with the outside of the foot, bro. it's it's
Marco: Gui, favela.
Project 90 Soccer: yeah, he he's quite honestly might be one like we're talking about Kevin Sullivan and also there's for New York Red Bulls, there's Julian Hall and these younger players. Nico Shakiris is only 20, bro. So he's I mean, yeah, he's not 18, but he's 20 years old. Wearing the number 10 shirt. He puts on performances like this, really carries the team. And yeah, man, this is a big win for the San Jose Earthquakes. Now, San Diego, scary at the end, coming back, putting two goals in, you know, earthquakes getting a red card. Floriani was sent off, led to a penalty that San Diego buried. But they're able to hold on, which is something that we don't see too often, or we're often criticizing them of is that they get a lead and they can't hold it, right? And they always give it up last minute. but this is a good result for San Jose. I'm excited to see them winning again. And hang this gun, dude. All of a sudden, he is, man.
Marco: Hey, he's coming to his own in the MLS.
Project 90 Soccer: He is, man. Big, big game for him as well. Four saves.
Marco: And you are shitting on him at the beginning. Why did we get them? Why?
Project 90 Soccer: Well, everyone was. Everybody was, dude. He was single handedly costing us maybe not the entire game 'cause the team
Marco: Even before he played, you were like, Why the other guy was doing so good. Why did we get rid of him?
Project 90 Soccer: Why get rid of Daniel? Why get rid of Daniel, bro? That's my only criticism is not Angus Gunn not being maybe a good goalkeeper, but why would you get rid of a guy that's fucking doing so well? You're on a winning streak with this goalkeeper and you sell him. Yeah. Money. It's probably just money, business deal. I don't know, dude. But you know, I'm glad Angus Gunn's getting his shit together. He's obviously a top notch goalkeeper, but he needs he needs to start playing that way, dude.
Marco: Two things need to happen for San Jose. I'm I'm gonna say this is the start of a a streak of games that they're
Project 90 Soccer: Okay.
Marco: that they're not gonna lose. But a
Project 90 Soccer: Okay.
Marco: couple things need to happen in order for that streak to continue. You not showing up to any games. And
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, no shit.
Marco: Timo Werner needs to take his time, don't come back, not just yet. Heal up, do whatever you gotta do, let the team come into their own. but I hate to say it, man. Timo Werner, just hold your horses. Let the team do their thing right now.
Project 90 Soccer: Dude, and on that on that topic of Timo Werner, bro, at the beginning of the season, he picked up an injury. And we were I believe we saw the game where he pulled a hammy, right? He pulled his hamstring. He was out
Marco: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Project 90 Soccer: for four or five weeks, something like that. And they they were winning, dude. And as soon as he came back, Shakiris was out. Didn't look too hot for the San Jose earthquakes. Then of course I went to a game. Okay, I went to one, two, three games maybe. And the curse continues, bro. I've yet to see them win a game in my life. And I'm starting to really believe that, like, now that I haven't gone to five games. sense. Look at look what's happening, bro. They're turning it around. They went from losing, losing, losing, getting a draw to now winning a game. So I don't know if there's any truth to that, but look, they're eleven eight and five right now. They have thirty eight points. They're in the playoff race. now the question is, Marco, do we go to another game?
Marco: I'm gonna hold off on going to any games unless I'm gonna go shoot the game. And by shoots, I don't mean guns, ladies and gentlemen. No gun violence here, but take some photos. But
Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.
Marco: yeah, I say we hold off, stick to going to the USL games. I like the shorter commute to Sacramento. So I'm gonna stick
Project 90 Soccer: Uh-huh.
Marco: to that. We got a couple games left before the end of the season. And to close it out on Timo Werner is something that I've heard before. And I it's very true. If you come, if you limp into the season, you're gonna limp out.
Project 90 Soccer: Mm.
Marco: So who's to say that he comes back and he doesn't re-aggravate what he has going on. So like I said, Timo Werner, take your time. Quakes, medical staff, take your time per usual. Don't rush this guy back. let these guys do their do their thing. And we'll hopefully we'll see another three points this coming weekend.
Project 90 Soccer: Well I'll have to wait and see, man. That's the recap of San Jose Earthquake, San Diego. Marco, do you have any last words before we close out this episode?
Marco: Beautiful Thursday. It's hot, but you know what, man? I'ma go and enjoy a beer. It's Thirsty Thursday. It's the NFL season is back. Let's go. Your team is playing. Let's log off and go
Project 90 Soccer: Love that. Mm-hmm. Yeah, nine.
Marco: watch it.
Project 90 Soccer: That's right, dude. We're gonna log off. Ladies and gentlemen, if you enjoyed this episode, go to Project90Soccer.com. You find all the links to our socials, YouTube, Spotify, Apple. If you're here on YouTube watching this, like and subscribe, leave a comment, turn on the bell notification. you'll get to know when every episode gets dropped, the moment it gets dropped, so you can click on it and get the latest updates around the soccer world. My name is Antonio. I'm here as always with Marco Munoz. And until the next episode, this has been Project 90. Peace.
