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Speaker
Sports Podcast Network.
Introduction to the Daily Villa Podcast
00:00:11
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Daily Villa Podcast as part of the Global Sport Podcast Network.
Aston Villa vs. Leipzig Match Recap
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Speaker
My name is Joe Boone and I'm delighted as ever to be joined by Craig Burtwhistle to talk all things Villa. We're back after what was a rollercoaster of a game in the Champions League as we ran out of Leipzig with ah with three points after a 3-2 win. But first of all, how are you Craig? Can't smile wide enough Joe.
00:00:39
Speaker
Brilliant. Good to hear. So once again, the Champions League, its we we've come out with three points, but probably slightly less convincing fashion than some of our other ah Champions League victories. How did you feel going into into this one, Craig? I was nervous. um I feel like I've been noticed a lot recently with games, but it's it's because Leipzig are a good team. At the end of the day, they're representing themselves while in Germany. They haven't represented themselves while in Europe, but that also adds to the case of, are Villa going to be that generous team all over again? Are we going to give them those free points? and
00:01:19
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From watching them, um i not so much this year, but in previous years, I've been able to watch a lot of Bundesliga games and they're a very entertaining side. So I was nervous for Villa to come up against them. But yeah, it worked out to be pretty good.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I think going into the game, they they definitely had players in their starting 11 that were, I suppose I feared is the probably the the most kind of appropriate word, especially they're attacking players. They've got a lot of talent. Sesco and Appenda, who we saw were kind of there their main danger men and both performed ah really well across the the kind of course
Tactical Insights from Emery
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of the season. And I think they were ah pretty strong ah yesterday as well. So They definitely had players that could hurt us, so as you mentioned there. They haven't necessarily given the the best to account of themselves in this competition, but you know we we know the dangers that they have. And at the end of the day, as we've said before, every team in this competition are there because they have ah players that that can hurt you. So they were definitely a team I kind of were were cautious of of being too kind of complacent about going into the game.
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One of the biggest surprises for me, at least, was the inclusion of Matti Cash in a slightly more advanced role than we may be used to seeing him play on that kind of right side, pushing a bit higher up, a bit further forward. What did you make of his performance? Well, first off, I was surprised myself as well when I saw the lineup. I so saw there was no Bailey, there was no Philogene. Obviously, we learned later i on that Bailey's picked up an injury. I think Philogene had a slight knock as well, so it was day four for that reason.
00:02:55
Speaker
um So we have seen Maddy Cash play there. I think he played there mainly under Gerard as opposed to under Emery. I haven't seen him there as much, but I thought he did great. I thought it offered us a lot more, um, a lot more defensive structure as well because it felt like Kanza had no need to go forward. um So he would protect us on the counter attack. It also had the case of that Madikash could provide us that like going forward, but also had a good understanding when to go forward and when to hold back to offer for that issue support on Kanza.
Ollie Watkins' Impact
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Oi made our whole right side a lot stronger and his services into the box were fantastic.
00:03:41
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Yeah, absolutely. I think it was a, it's sort of ah a tactic or a system that that makes sense on paper, that but but not one that a lot of Villa fans that I'd seen at least had really kind of discussed. Obviously, Matikas started his career in a more advanced role at Forest. He kind of played on that right side, pushing higher up. And he's shown in kind of in glimpses, ah he's attacking talent in front of goal. He's relatively good. I mean, he picked up a goal.
00:04:07
Speaker
um very recently and and against Brentford that was on the Wednesday night game and he can you know put the ball in the back of the net and as you mentioned there I think in terms of balance down that right side he offers cons are a little bit more support when needed and as you say his deliveries into the box have been pretty consistent so I think in terms of his performance yesterday it was a ah really kind of positive experiment do you think moving forward it's something we could see a little bit more often?
00:04:35
Speaker
I don't see why not while Bailey is struggling for form and while Philogene is a little inconsistent. um I don't see this as as an issue. I think it actually, if we can bring in and it goes back to that but that conversation we've had many times about bringing in another write back.
00:04:53
Speaker
but it's a case of if Maddy Cash can be that that subtle replacement for both positions over time and not necessarily just replacement on injuries, but like rotation with us wanting to be going deeper in all different competitions, it's only going to make us stronger. And I am a big fan for if we played against Forrest at the weekend and Maddy Cash was back on right midfield, I'd be very happy with that.
Sponsorship Promotions and Tactical Consistency
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Absolutely. And something we've seen Emery do slightly more kind of recently in in in the last couple of months I think is sort of changed the the traditional wide midfielder or winger positions obviously he played cash there yesterday he also likes putting McGinn in mc begin and on the other side with with those kind of less traditional wingers whether they're midfielders or fallbacks that can kind of sit a little bit deeper or drift inside how what what do you think that offers to this villa team? I think it offers us a lot of flexibility in the tactical
00:05:52
Speaker
Basically, we've talked about how Emery as a Plan A and not so much a Plan B. I think because to a neutral's eyes, there isn't that much changes, but like the fact of putting in, say, a John McGinn on left side of midfield, as opposed to a Jacob Ramsey, is going to offer you more substance in the middle of the field.
00:06:13
Speaker
um Playing to Jacob Ramsey or Morgan Rogers out on the left. He's gonna offer you a bit more pace It's gonna offer you a bit more width because they're naturally drift out wider So I think these little tweaks to positions Makes his plan a if you will like a plan a point to you know I mean like it's just those subtle differences that he feels when playing you up against certain positions like looking at let 16 where I we saw like maybe a threat was coming along there right our left or there left our right with Noosa being a big threat on the left hand side. Maybe you looked at that and said if Kash and Kanza can basically deal with that on the right hand side, that would be a better fit. So I think that's where the little tweaks come in. It's how is the opposition going to hurt us? How can we tweak it to protect that and also give us an advantage on the count?
00:07:07
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Yeah, I completely agree. I think we've spoken before about how Emory seemingly likes to maintain a very kind of similar tactical approach, but maybe have certain players in positions that offer slightly different skill sets. I think we spoke about it before with the differences between Onana and Bubakar Kamara and how they are essentially the same style of midfielder, but they do the same job very differently.
00:07:30
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And I think that's something that Emory wants to have all over the pitch, players that you can rely on to to so to do the same job in different ways, depending on who we're playing. And I think that that depth in in quality that we have throughout the squad is ah only going to benefit us. And once again, we saw ah some changes kind of later on in the game at the top of the pitch, but it was Ollie Watkins that started the game. Did that surprise you at all? Not really, because I feel Emory has a lot of trust in Ollie. I know Ollie goes up and down with his form from time to time and I think one of the reasons we're very critical is his goal return to shot ratio. I mentioned on a previous podcast that he's a good striker that is lacking that great status because he doesn't finish enough shots.
00:08:21
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One thing I will say though that Ollie works his socks off in every game, some of the things that the average fan wouldn't see and he proved it again that he's just exceptionally good at assists as well. So I think he needs to be valued on like that great assist that he gives him again at the beginning of the game.
00:08:43
Speaker
And that's not uncommon for Ali as well. So sometimes when he's on the score sheet, I think we do need to to value what work rate he puts on off the ball as well. Yeah, absolutely. We're going to delve into the goals a little bit deeper later on in the episode, but it's a really good point there in terms of the but exactly what Wally Watkins brings to this team and is his willingness to run his creative play, which is we saw in and in parts last season with the way that he led the the assisting league and the Premier League. He's a really intelligent attacker and is you know whether it's running in behind to split defences, whether it's sliding a winger through with ah a ball, I think those are
00:09:23
Speaker
are kind of the key um qualities that are that make up part of his game that maybe go unnoticed I think with with certain sections of the fan base and we are going to be delving into all those goals after a very short message courtesy of Zencaster.
Match Highlights and Key Moments
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00:10:23
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Welcome back and we're going to be delving into each of the goals from the 3-2 win in Germany in the Champions League and Villa's first goal came just three minutes in as Ollie Watkins' cushion header fell into the path of John McGinn whose finish was confident, composed, just in front of goal. Really well-worked goal from Villa and at 1-0 Craig, was there any expectation to go and and really put a few past them and and kill the game off? Did that early goal settle any nerves for you?
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It was really funny, I did something that was extremely uncharacteristic from me when Bella scored. I got convinced that it was going to be 2-3-4-0, I don't know why, it just like, it did settle my nerves, it really pumped me up with anything.
00:11:10
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it, it was really funny because as soon as the goal went in, I started checking my phone with the league standings going, okay, so now if we if the winter day, make sure that we're guaranteed a playoff position. And like, we just need a big Monica or Celtic now to get the top eight. And like, I'm doing this, as you say, three minutes into the game. Um, and usually I'd be like biting my nails for the next 87 minutes, if you know what I mean? So it was an unusual one for me. And, uh,
00:11:40
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i did regret my response as soon as they scored
00:11:45
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yeah no i'm quite glad you've said that mate cause i did exactly the same i think it was the the nature of the the way the goal was scored, it was so well worked and we looked so confident and and kind of fluid in those in in that kind of attack, the way that the ball was crossed in, Watkins cushioned it down and it just and looked really, really confident and I thought, you know, this is a ah villa that the villa that has shown up that are kind of the best of of what we've seen in in some of the recent games. So I was yeah hoping that we could kind of kill it off early and and settle a lot of nerves because
00:12:16
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I knew the dangers that Leipzig had and you know they showed that around 20 minutes later with their their equalizer, a long ball that was sent over the over our back line. Emmy Martinez kind of came out, misjudged it a bit, ended up in no man's land and ended up being kind of lobbed almost by a pender who then kind of tapped it into the the empty net. But I think we're going to try and analyze if we can. What what was Martinez thinking?
00:12:45
Speaker
I think he wasn't. That was the problem. of me know i mean it was It was a real lack of communication. He's come off his line at the wrong time for me. um Was it Kansa or Diego Carlos that they got? like It was basically miscommunication between him and Carlos. It was just a real bad judgment of error and it couldn't have come at a worse time because I feel like one of the things that I would like Emory to address with this villa team is we're very much an emotional team. When things go well, we really thrive on it. But when things don't, I think it's a case of we reserve back into ourselves. Because as soon as they got that goal, I felt all the good play we had throughout the game started to diminish. And every touch and every pass we seem to have less and less conviction.
00:13:41
Speaker
and we started to like get back into our shell again and that's something that I think we need to learn ah about playing the occasion and understanding that we shouldn't need to be pumped up all the way to be able to achieve and not suffer with every setback. So that's definitely something that I think as a Villa developve team we need to grow with.
00:14:03
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. We're certainly an emotion team and a confidence team. And that could maybe come from the fact that we are built up of a lot of younger players who maybe haven't had the the experience in those huge games to kind of suffer the setbacks and then bounce back from them. So I think that's certainly something Emory will be kind of looking to address, making sure that the the mentality of this team is is kind of where it needs to be. I think in terms of the the goal specifically. I don't know whether Martinez sort of comes to think he can clear it and then gets caught out by maybe the pace of a pender or the kind of the flight of the ball. But looking at it kind of as it played out on on TV, it looks a really, really bad goal. And I think we're quite fortunate that we can kind of look at this in the with the context of the game and kind of almost laugh about it now. But it could have been a really, really costly mistake. And it's something that we've already experienced in the Champions League, particularly in the Bruges game, sort of moments of of madness and individual errors have cost us what could turn out to be very, very valuable points. so I think you know it's it's certainly a learning curve and it's something that we need to iron out of our game because
00:15:11
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Ultimately, when you get into those knockout games, you know you don't have the the the kind of fixtures down the line to make up for lost points. An individual error can knock you out of this competition. So you know you have to be you have to be so kind of um focused in in those moments.
00:15:27
Speaker
But as you know as always, John Duran comes on to ah to save the day. ah He entered the pitch and decided to smash the ball from around 30 yards out in what's a very unemory and unvillars kind of tactical goal, I suppose. It was a very Duran goal, just decided to smash it with no real thought. and you know it We all know the quality that he has from those areas as it flew over a glassy in the Leipzig goal. It was certainly a spectacle of a goal. But in terms of the style of play and and and sort of the way Emery likes to play football, do you think that he takes the the kind of the Duran madness, as I suppose, for what it is? Or do you think there's a certain part of him that thinks you're going against all the tactical things that I stand for here, but
Emery's Tactical Management of Players
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it's working? How do you think he kind of finds that balance?
00:16:16
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Oh, here's the thing. I can't remember many chances when Duran's took a chance like that and it's gone 25 yards over the bar, you know what I mean? Or it's gone like with wide and hit a corner flag or anything like that. So I don't think Henry's got a problem with it. I think he looks at it and says like, when it works, it's great. When it don't, I'm going to criticize you. So simpler. I do think that shot really should have been saved.
00:16:43
Speaker
um I think the keeper will be mad that he didn't get a hand to that, to be perfectly honest. But also, again, who was expecting it? Because Villa are a very patient, build-up team that works their way into the box in order to create chances. So when we have these moments, if you will, that keeps a keeper guessing, we've had success with it. like I can look back at some of Duran's, we got that wonder strike he scored earlier on in the season, I think it was against Everton.
00:17:13
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um He scored that one with Liverpool last season. He scored the one in Bayern Munich. He knows where the goal is. Wherever he is on the field. He knows how to put it there. And he keeps keepers guessing. That's one of the biggest things that Duran offers. And he's got that confidence. I'm pretty sure that I heard that he says it's but it's his birthday on Friday this week. And he only turns 21. And in the interview he was saying about how he was sad about getting old.
00:17:44
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which infuriated me. That's for sure. But like, but that just shows that he's confident at such a young age and he takes those chances. And I think Emery will be all on board for him to just keep plugging away. Because like I say, he always troubles the keeper if he doesn't even score.
00:18:05
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And you know, it's funny what you say there. I'm now getting to the age where I'm older than players that are scoring for Villa, which is a it interesting to say the least. I am now older than John Duran.
00:18:15
Speaker
um But as you mentioned there, you know, I think it's exactly right. Emery will be very sort of critical of those moments when they don't come off. And then, you know, there's not really a lot he can say when when they do, because ultimately on the the face of it, yes, it it wasn't a shot that kind of flew into the top corner. It was very central. It kind of I don't know whether it moved in the air because glasses are very experienced European goalkeeper and he wouldn't be expected to be kind of getting caught out from from that distance but I think the thing that stands out for me with that goal if I remember it correctly is I think it was McGinn down that left side was kind of sprinting through and I think if Duran had played that ball McGinn's one-on-one with the keeper so I think if Duran takes that shot and it does fly over the bar I think there is some some real criticism from Emory and McGinn
00:19:02
Speaker
in those moments, but you also have to, I suppose, applaud the confidence of a man so young to avoid playing his club captain through and decide to smash it from 35 yards out. There's a certain um confidence that I suppose that must take that can be a kind of applauded. And it's the also analogy, Joe, that you just can't coach a goal. So at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if it goes in there off your ear. If it goes in the net, it's perfect because that's what we're playing for.
00:19:29
Speaker
You know what I mean? So it's as simple as if it all goes in the net, you're a hero. if it If it doesn't, then you're up to criticism. Yeah, exactly. And I think it's quite refreshing in the kind of the modern game, the emphasis on, you know, passing it for 15 minutes before you eventually tap it in from three yards out to have a player that can thump it from 30 yards. It's quite fun to watch as a supporter when it works.
00:19:51
Speaker
um But we're going to be looking into the remaining ah remaining goals from that game after a very quick message courtesy of the Global Sports Podcast Network.
00:20:03
Speaker
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Securing Victory and Future Prospects
00:20:32
Speaker
So Leipzig equalized once again after a floated cross came in. I was met by Baumgartner. I'm not the greatest with ah German surnames but that's my guess at that one. A really well taken goal by Leipzig but once again Villa caught out with a ball in behind. Is this becoming a bit of ah a regular concern for Villa?
00:20:53
Speaker
if If I hadn't have watched the game and you would have said to me, we got beat again on the counter attack, I would have absolutely said yes. The one thing about that goal though for me was the fact that it had to be perfect for it to work. The pass happened from like the the long ball across the field was like a 70 yard driven ball in the air and was taken beautifully with a first touch. He then ah crossed it in and the finish was sublime.
00:21:23
Speaker
the way he did just enough to place it over Martinez and Nestle in the top corner. I honestly think even though I have been very critical about the way we've defended Cowers, I can't put any error on Villa for that. We were playing a high line like we normally do. We got caught by a beautiful pass and Martinez got beat by a great finish.
00:21:45
Speaker
No matter how court critical we were on the first goal, I think you just have to kind of hold your hands up for that one and just say that was a great goal. And even though at the time it's extremely disappointing as a Villa fantasy as concede, it's one of those where you kind of in deep down, you're like, well done. It's a nice goal.
00:22:06
Speaker
Yeah, I do agree. I think it's a ah move that they must have practiced because like you say, the the way that the ball was kind of driven across diagonally across the pitch and as you say, sort of plucked out the air by, I think it was Opendre who put the cross in and it was a ah really, really nice finish. It was kind of almost floated. It didn't have a lot of sort of power on it, but it was just sort of steered into that top corner. and Not a lot anybody could have done about it. And as you mentioned, they're disappointing as a fan, but you kind of have to hold your hands up and say, you know,
00:22:35
Speaker
this is the Champions League and I think the kind of quality is a step above what we're all kind of maybe used to seeing Villa come up against. So goals like that will go in and and you sort of just have to applaud them sometimes. What's most important is how you react after that goal's gone in. That's the sort of, you know, the controlling, the controllables is the cliche that's thrown around. So I thought that kind of response from Villa in the the kind of the moments following that was pretty good.
00:23:01
Speaker
and obviously we were awarded eventually with the winning goal scored by Ross Barkley. His shot took a ah huge deflection to kind of steer it into the goal and and give us all three points. Was that goal a case of Villa sort of making our own luck there Craig? A little bit but I also think it was in relation to the game. I think for a good part of the game we controlled the game. I mentioned earlier that we When we conceded the first goal, we kind of lost that confidence and we panicked a little, but we did seem to gain it back. I do think that this game was all about those slight adjustments, those slight measurements, because at the end of the day, the main reason for the disappointment of our second goal was because just prior to that, we thought we'd gone 3-1 up.
00:23:50
Speaker
so we'd had the offside rolled off where Maddy Cash was like barely offside. If it was just like literally the old-fashioned linesman looking across the field, that goal would have counted. Yes, I'm not going to argue it was offside, so the right call was made at the end of the day, but it's those little margins of error that makes a difference because then this ball comes in, we get we get a goal, it's 3-1. I think the game's over at that point. When they then We go from the disappointment of not scoring that goal to then conceding straight away. Automatically you think as an emotional team, like we've already mentioned that you think ah we will dip. But the fact that we got that little bit of look go our way with Ross Barkley. And at the end of the day, that's one of the Ross Barkley's go-tos. Do you know what I mean? He likes a good shot from outside the box. So it's expected that he's going to take the shot. And yes, we did get fortunate with the deflection.
00:24:48
Speaker
but at the end of the day, though it's those small margins that can win you games in the Champions League. Yeah, I completely agree and I think Ross Barkley is... um A player that's probably gone a little bit under the radar but he scored some really important goals this season in sort of cameo appearances and and sort of bit parts that he's played so far but as you say there it's kind of a signature Ross Barkley thing to kind of have a go from outside the box and look this time it's it's we've we've kind of come off um fortunate as as the ball deflected. It was a huge deflection that the kind of wrong-footed Galassi and
00:25:21
Speaker
And ultimately, we've we've kind of come out of Germany with all ah with all three points. Looking at the stats, I think there's some some really interesting kind of, I suppose, things to take away from there. The fact that we had 54% possession when we were playing away from home. You know, do you think that's something Emery would have kind of drilled into the players and emphasis on really trying to look after and control the ball despite being away from home?
00:25:45
Speaker
I think from recent weeks, like we've actually saw a drop in our possession stats. So I think that would have been concerning to him. So the fact that we controlled the ball with more confidence, as I say, we had that blip after the goal. Um, but we did overall look more confident than we had in previous games. Again, goes into the fact that we, before today's game, we were two wins on the bounce.
00:26:09
Speaker
Now with three wins on the bounce going into Forest at the weekend, hopefully the confidence remains high. And I think for a team like Villa, the more touches we have on the ball, the more percentage, the more time we have on the ball. I just think we grow with confidence. And I think that's something that Emory knows. And when we control the game, we we most of the time control the performance as well.
00:26:33
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, in terms of the way that Villa are kind of unknown to play, we're known to be a a possession heavy team. We know that we kind of like to move the ball around at our own pace. And as you say, that's something that we've seen maybe kind of drop off in recent weeks. And it's something that Emory has kind of built his old football philosophy on. So it's something he's going to try and kind of emphasize the importance of to the players, hopefully. Another really interesting thing is that the XG, the expected goals from the game, ah Leipzig was exactly one and Villas was 1.08. So I think to anybody that didn't watch the game, but ah that kind of speaks volumes about some of the but the quality of the goals we saw there. um It didn't feel like a one-one game to me, Craig. I don't know about you.
00:27:18
Speaker
No, it didn't. It seemed very open, um very attack-minded game. I felt like both teams had a clear plan of action, how they were going to play. And Leipzig in particular, the technique, and like I said, with that second goal as well was pure sublime. And it's definitely going to be one of those teams that I like to watch more often now as a neutral when I'm not watching the Villa.
00:27:43
Speaker
They're going to be a team that i I will look for because I really enjoyed watching the way they played, to be honest. Yeah, they have a really sort of attacking philosophy in their lives. as I say they've got some some real quality in that team. Do you think in terms of looking ahead now to the remainder of the Champions League? Obviously, it's Monaco and Celtic that remain ah in in sort of this phase of the competition for Villa. Are you expecting sort of six points from those games? Do you feel as though, you know, that there's any sort of potential of of dropping or any banana skins that that we kind of need to look out for?
00:28:15
Speaker
I think both games are going to be tough. I think the fact that now that we need three points out of six to guarantee us the top eight, which is a massive incentive. So I feel like but those three points will get us through the Monaco game, at least motivational. I'm not saying we're going to go out there and win, but it's a certainly good chance. But I feel that if we can get the three points against Monaco and go into the Celtic game,
00:28:41
Speaker
Not needing any more points from a Champions League game I think the actual Environment of playing Celtic will get us through that game So I do feel that if we can get the win against Monaco There's a very good chance we could get the six points if if we end up getting anything less than a win against Monaco I think it's going to be very difficult to manufacture a win at Celtic so against Celtic I should say though It's going to be two tough games but definitely games that we can win but it's going to have to be a a good performance for us to establish any anything out of those two teams.
00:29:23
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I think Monaco, a team are are going to be pushing for those kind of top eight spaces as well with the kind of the culmination of this phase, this kind of league phase period. They're going to be want to try and do all they can to get in those those sort of automatic positions, I suppose. And Celtic is going to be a ah really sort of interesting atmosphere. I think it's going to be a rowdy and and loud and they travel really well. So I think that is something that we're going to have the weather in the final sort of Champions League game of this league phase.
Podcast Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:29:51
Speaker
That's all we have time for on today's episode of the Daily Villa Podcast. Thank you to Craig Burtwhistle as always for joining me. Be sure to get in touch across all the socials that you can find in the podcast description. This has been a global sport podcast production. Thank you for listening and up the villa.