The Rondo - Champions League Jameson

Welcome back to another episode of The Rondo presented by Jameson

The world is ready for another incredible season of the Champions League, and it's time for us to make our predictions

Who are the biggest teams to watch and which underdogs could shake things up

Let's find out. We got some giants playing in the Champions League this year

You got the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Barcelona. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You just called Chelsea a giant in the Champions League

Bro, I'm saying, man, listen, bro. They won it back in the day. listen i always give credit to the winners who have won it in the past 10 years they've won it

what 20 okay you know come on man that's pretty recent you know i'm saying uh covid champions

league asterisk we gotta also remember like bro this is the biggest tournament of the year

there's some incredible teams this year the transfer window has been absolutely crazy

let's talk and go deep go in depth about the champions league this year you know what for me

it's it's got to be psg again like why if you look at this psg team why why can they not win it

You know what I mean? Like, genuinely, I was thinking about this. It's like, you know, Liverpool might have a chance

You can't rule out Real Madrid, yada, yada, yada. But PSG are the same team, and they arguably got better

And they had the last four weeks of the summer. Like, forget the Club World Cup final, bro

Club World Cup's a wash. They've had four weeks to just chill. Yeah, for sure. To just chill

That whole thing, like, you know the game, what was it, the Super Cup against Tottenham

Yeah, exactly, yeah. They go down, what was it, 2-0, 1-0, whatever. I think they went down, yeah

They struggled for 80 minutes. And then they just found a way to grind out, guys

And that's the thing that you need in the Champions League. And they've got that in August

Come on. Not a question. I think my prediction for this year, I got Liverpool, baby

You've got Liverpool. I got Liverpool, man. Look at you. For me, I think Arsenal's main focus is really winning the Premier League this year

And I don't... How many years you've been saying that for? Phase 32

This is phase 30. I hope this is the last phase. I'm hoping

I'm hoping this is the last phase. Do you know what? I think it's the last phase no matter what. Yeah

I think this is like, if we really want to win the league this season, it has to be it. And I think a team like Liverpool, with the type of talent they have, they want to win the Champions League, bro

You don't think Hugo Eketike Salah is going to give a problem in the Champions League, bro

I think Liverpool's a good shout. I'm just always nervous with Liverpool this year. Liverpool signed Florian Wurtz

I screeched. When the jersey became available, I bought it. You do have the jersey

But now my expectations are being tempered. Because it can only hurt me

For a guy like Florian Wurtz, we're seeing a lot of transfers in this window that are really impacting major clubs

You know we seeing a lot of teams go through transitional phases where they buying those last pieces where they think they could win You know Arsenal buying Guilchores you know liverpool buying wurtz and in this world of strikers right now do you think their money for value for what these clubs are getting no not really because the market

skewed isn't it it's just like you i mean we see it with the usmnt bro like you can't get a number

nine anywhere can't get a number nine you just can't you just can't there aren't many teams in

the champions league in particular at all who have great number nine absolutely and i think that could

the difference for example for you you little arsenal fan um but i think like yorker could

make a difference in a game where you just need to stick a ball in a net if anything i see arsenal

is more of an underdog than a favorite does that make sense we're gonna get to that real quick oh

yeah yeah no but i think i think my point is with that is that like they're going to be so focused

on the premier league they're going to be so drilled in on that that their style of play isn't

really suited to champions league football they're so attritional bro so it's like i reckon when

people play against arsenal when psg barcelona real madrid like any of those guys when they look

at um when they look at arsenal they're not scared and i think that kind of makes arsenal maybe have

the bit of like scrappiness to them absolutely like that extra little edge where it's like you

can maybe catch a team off guard so that's why that's all i'll say on that of course now that

we talked about the heavyweights we got to talk about some of the smaller teams here man we got

got some nice squads in the Champions League this year. So does that mean Arsenal's a small club? I would not say that Arsenal's a small club. I prefer that you do not call them that actually

You know what I'm saying? I don't support a small club, Tom. We could go toe-to-toe with

Liverpool. Don't do that. Don't do that. Who's your underdog favorite team to watch? I got to ask

Ooh, okay. Tell us about Arsenal. Why do you think Arsenal's an underdog knowing the type of

quality their squad has? Because, I mean, I've already kind of said it, but we'll steer it in

another direction as well i think they have a lot of weapons that they're still figuring out how to

use and once it clicks it could be amazing i think you know they made a few signings you bring in

some new players arteta's whole thing this summer has been get me a bunch of configurations where i

can play different lineups and change things at different points within a game and i think that

could be unbelievably impactful like you could have maduake off the bench you could just surprise

someone after like an hour if Martinelli or Saka aren't playing well. Okay, we're gonna play super attritional, gross football with Haberts up front

Now the game's opened up. Jokic, go run, buddy. Like, there are all these little different tweaks he can make

Arteta still has like 25 left backs. Like there gonna be all sorts of I don know there an unpredictability about Arsenal where that could be crucial in like the latter phases of a game if you still in it

Do you know what I mean? They've got the plan B. There we go. I just took two and a half minutes to say they've got the plan B

They got the plan B. I think my underdog, which is crazy that we're calling them this, my underdog low-key is Bayern Munich, bro

Behave. You know what I'm saying? Behave. How are they an underdog? It's crazy, bro

But I think Bayern Munich is not the first destination for a lot of players nowadays

Because look, we look at Nick Woltamate, a player from Stuttgart. Back in the day, if this was eight years ago, if there was a striker playing for a mid-table club in the Bundesliga

how fast would he be at Bayern Munich? Before he could breathe. Exactly. Now we're seeing teams like Stuttgart say, no, we want 50 million

We want 60, we want 75. He's unsellable. We don't want to sell to Bayern Munich no more

I think teams in Germany are actually fed up with being like that little brother role for Bayern Munich

and it's becoming very difficult because you also got to think about it like this

There's not many players on a world-class level that are going to choose moving to Munich

over moving to Madrid, Barcelona, Inter. A major player don't want to live in Munich, Germany, bro, like that

Come on, bro. Munich is quite a nice place. It's okay, but you know that they're going for the club

more than they're going for the country or the environment, in my opinion. You know what I'm saying

If a player has to choose between living in Barcelona, Madrid, or Munich

which one are you choosing, bro? Me? Think about it. Thinking in Liverpool, baby. Yeah, exactly

You know what I'm saying? So I think we're actually reaching a day and age where for Bayern, bro

it's becoming very tough for them to get players. And we're seeing with Eberle right now, he struggled to get Wiltamada

He struggled to find another winger to replace. You know, Kingsley Coman is leaving now

Leroy Sané left already. They are having trouble recruiting players for Bayern Munich

And I think for them now, Diaz is a great signing. And I think for Diaz, the reason that Liverpool, he didn't feel the love

I feel like he didn't feel like he had the responsibility to win these games. You know what I'm saying? He's rotating with Cody Gakpo

A lot of players in that position You don't really feel integral Now at Bayern Munich He's like alright

I'm going to play 90 minutes a game I'm going to do my thing I'm going to play with Harry Kane I'm going to play with Michael Elise

Their attack is still great on paper bro Right You know what I'm saying So they're an underdog

No because they don't have the depth bro That's what I'm saying So that's why they're not a favorite

Yeah they're not a favorite Because they have the opposite of what They don't have what Arsenal has

That plan B Bayern don't have that bro It's like either it works or it doesn't And I think for me

That plan A might just work though You got Harry Kane, you got Luis Diaz, and you got Olise

That's a great attack. I don know if they have the depth to go to a final and win it but I do know that that front three has the ability to cause a lot of big teams problems this year Thus making them an underdog Now we move on to our Spirit of the Game segment presented by Jameson Champions League environments just hit different

The fans always show up. Which fan base do you think will bring the most energy

and set the tone for this year's tournament? Do you know what? I mean, it's obvious

It's obvious. Who is it? It's so obvious. It's so obvious. It's so obvious. Tell me. It's Olympiakos

Olympiakos. Right. Because here's the thing, right? Here's the thing. Anfield is like untouchable on European nights

90 minutes is a long time at the Bernabeu, as we are told by Real Madrid before they lose to Arsenal

Not for Arsenal, though. That was funny. That was funny. But the hardest away games in football

if you're like a English, like big five club, it's going to Greece to play against those fans

Oh, for sure. Who's the Greek owner of Nottingham Forest? You know the Greek owner of Nottingham Forest, bro

I'm scared of him, bro. Yeah, I'm terrified of him. Greek football is scary, bro. Yeah, and like, you know, this is how I think about it

You know how every different country has a different, like, noise that their fans make

Yes. Like, in England, it's like a yeah. In, like, in Spain, it's like a roar

Yeah. In Italy, it's kind of a scream. In Greece, it's like a visceral shout

Like, it is the most terrifying noise after they bundle in a gross 1-0 winner against Man City

And it just wouldn't surprise me. dude i i am not a professional footballer i will never be i am far off that level that ship has

sailed a long time ago i would be terrified to play that i feel you man i feel like there's a

couple iconic stadiums that we really look at this year and be like wow like there's gonna be

some great games this year i think for me it doesn't get bigger than anfield on a wednesday

night in the champions league or tuesday night i like how i like how i'm giving liverpool a lot

of love today i'm not gonna lie but i think for them i think anfield like you never walk alone

the chants, the screams. Like, bro, when you're watching a game at Anfield, it just hits different

You think of the results back in the day against Barcelona when they came back, and those moments that they had at the stadium

are just so iconic. It's a crazy thing because that game actually finished 3-3

Which one? Against Barcelona. Which is insane. No, but it actually finished 3-3

because that corner taken, someone took a corner, but actually he isn't real

Oh, you're getting rid of Trent in your history now. Yeah, I am. We're raising him

We're playing revisionism. We are so ready for Champions League football to kick off again

A huge thank you to Jameson for sponsoring today's episode of The Rondo. Make sure you leave a comment

like and subscribe and let us know in the comment section who do you think is going to win this year's Champions League