On The Continent: Miserly defending in Madrid, teenage kicks at Dortmund, and the fall of José Mourinho

It’s nice to have the Champions League back, isn’t it? Like a nice mug of warm cocoa on a cold midweek night. We give this week’s round of fixtures a thorough going over on today’s episode of On The Continent, which features Andy Brassell, Lars Sivertsen and David Cartlidge!

We begin with Atlético Madrid’s hugely impressive win over Liverpool at the Wanda Metropolitano. We discuss the unwavering influence of Saúl Ñíguez on this Atléti side and their unrelenting commitment to miserly defending that infuriates their opposition. Afterwards, we check in with Lars for another episode of Håland Watch™, as the teenage sensation scored both goals in Dortmund’s win over PSG. David also talks us through Thomas Tuchel’s bizarre changes to PSG’s line up, Marco Verrati’s incessant stupidity and Neymar throwing the PSG medical staff under the bus.

We also decide whether José Mourinho is finished as an elite European coach and assess Barcelona’s enforced signing of Leganes striker Martin Braithwaite!

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