Kylian Mbappe has been France's captain for three years and it has already been quite the ride. For @theathleticfc.bsky.social, I’ve written about his role in the squad, how his relationship with the armband has evolved over time and the kind of captain he is growing into

France have incredible depth in talent and are looking strong 💪💪 After impressive wins over Brazil and Colombia in the US, @mattspiro.bsky.social asks @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @andpscott.bsky.social if Didier Deschamps’ charges are favourites to win the World Cup. 🎧 pod.link/1834019548/e...

🚨 MONDAY POD! 🚨 @mattdaviesadams.bsky.social in the hot seat with @oilysailor.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @danielstorey85.bsky.social... 🔄 Tudor out... De Zerbi in? ft @dankp.bsky.social 🇮🇹 World Cup curse lifted? 🇺🇸 USMNT's 'reality check' ft @felipecardenas.bsky.social pod.fo/e/3d7761

🚨FRIDAY POD!🚨 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @mattdaviesadams.bsky.social, @colinmillar.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @jameshorncastle.bsky.social 🇮🇹Can Italy do it this time? 💔Penalty pain for 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿+🇮🇪 🇯🇲 @jacklang.bsky.social in Mexico with the Reggae Boyz 😢Salah leaving Liverpool pod.fo/e/3c470f

PSG have requested their game v Lens be postponed so they can focus on the Liverpool tie. Lens determined to play potential title-decider as planned on April 11. What should the LFP decide? @mattspiro.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @andpscott.bsky.social discuss 🎧 shorturl.at/dR1KG

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social & @sebsb.bsky.social assemble for some European chit-chat 🇪🇸 Real’s derby delight 🇮🇹 Finally back at a World Cup?! 🇫🇷 Monaco’s rise, Lyon’s fall 🇩🇪 Wolfsburg being Spursy pod.fo/e/3bc691

Some interesting detailing on France’s new away kit. “Our differences unite us”

Achraf Hakimi surely becomes the first player in football history to reach the Champions League quarter-finals and win a major continental trophy at the same time.

Chelsea fans streaming out of the ground. Guess they couldn't be bothered 2-8 to the end.

People mocked Liam Rosenior for saying the Chelsea huddle around the ball was about respecting the ball but they didn't do the huddle around the ball tonight and look what's happened.

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 Get @acjimbo.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social & @jameshorncastle.bsky.social in your ears ahead of the last 16 second legs 🏆 Plus Guler's golazo, Bayern's GK woes, Cole to Cesena & Marseille's season of humiliation 🇪🇸🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹 pod.fo/e/3ad407

Rayan Cherki is a sensational player, but - after a strong start at #MCFC - Pep has benched him. Is there still room for mavericks in football & could Cherki be France's next superstar? @mattspiro.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social, @andpscott.bsky.social investigate 🧐 🎧 shorturl.at/UGuKU

🚨THURSDAY POD!🚨 The Premier League takes a pummelling as @acjimbo.bsky.social, @oilysailor.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @benjilanyado.bsky.social hit the studio🎧 💻PSG defy xG 🌍Valverde - best in the worldy? ⚒️West Ham to beat City? #⃣ The James Garner index pod.fo/e/3a75eb

🚨 L’ÉQUIPE 10/10 PLAYER RATING KLAXON 🚨

Strong echoes of last season's transformative win over Man City for PSG tonight – finding strength in adversity at home to an English club (and while wearing a new kit). Some sloppy moments, and a fair bit of good fortune, but that was the best they've looked against top-level opposition for ages.

PSG looking a bit more like their old selves in terms of their use of the ball and pressing/counter-pressing. Two brilliantly taken goals but an extremely sloppy one to concede. Be interesting to see if they can sustain their energy levels, which has been a/the major issue of late.

Hakimi man-marking Enzo Fernandez and leaving Marquinhos to fend for himself against Pedro Neto is an… interesting allocation of resources by PSG.

Delighted to report/announce/disclose that a paperback version of Va-Va-Voom will be published on April 9. It's fully updated to include PSG's all-conquering 2024-25 season and Dider Deschamps' impending departure as France coach and is available for pre-order now www.amazon.co.uk/Va-Va-Voom-M...

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 The Champions League round of 16 is upon us 🏆👌 @sebsb.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @polballus.bsky.social join @acjimbo.bsky.social for a look at the midweek ties - and all the big domestic stories from this past weekend 🇪🇸🇮🇹🇩🇪🇫🇷 pod.fo/e/3a36e2

Not sure if the Premier League has ever previously seen a stepover as mad as the Will Osula stepover.

Stakes higher than ever in Coupe de France🏆 Marseille haven't won the prestigious trophy since Papin's 1989 hattrick. Lyon last won it in 2012. With PSG out, @mattspiro.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @andpscott.bsky.social ask which 1/4 finalist wants it most? 🎙️ shorturl.at/FsgEg

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 Golazo-laden weekend of European football fun for @acjimbo.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social & @tomwfootball.bsky.social to get their teeth into🔥 🇩🇪Kane's records 🇮🇹Lukaku's tears 🇪🇸Yamal's hat-trick 🇫🇷Aubameyang's double pod.fo/e/39bb09

If PSG are still capable of playing the football they played last season, they are doing a spectacularly good job of concealing it.

No Ballon d’Or No Champions League Still the face of his era From wonderkid to Real Madrid talisman & France captain, is Kylian Mbappé already a great? Or is this the year that defines his legacy? @mattspiro.bsky.social @tomwfootball.bsky.social @andpscott.bsky.social 🎙️ shorturl.at/Bzrqo

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 @acjimbo.bsky.social assembles @tomwfootball.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social & @polballus.bsky.social for chatter from across the continent 🇮🇹Inter running away with it 🇪🇸Barca back on top! 🇩🇪Bayern running away with it 🇫🇷PSG back on top! pod.fo/e/3959ae

🚨MONDAY POD!🚨 It's @acjimbo.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @colinmillar.bsky.social after another pulsating weekend 📉Are Spurs going down? 💔Last-gasp Liverpool at Forest 🦅Glasner's future with @mattwoosie.bsky.social 😠A James Milner takedown pod.fo/e/394680

PSG dominance UNDER THREAT 😳‼️ Lens are top of @Ligue1_ENG and they intend to stay there 💪💪 @mattspiro.bsky.social @andpscott.bsky.social & @tomwfootball.bsky.social discuss the secrets to Lens’ success and ask the big question: Can Pierre Sage’s team go the distance❓ 🎧 pod.link/1834019548/e...

🇪🇺 EURO POD!🇪🇺 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @jameshorncastle.bsky.social are in Champions League play-off mode 😎🏆 Plus all the drama from a big weekend of action on domestic shores 👇 pod.fo/e/390f0a

PSG are second in Ligue 1, out of the Coupe de France and picked up only two points from a possible nine in their last three Champions League league-phase games. Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Monaco, could last season’s European kings be about to lose their crown? My piece for @thetimes.com

🚨MONDAY POD!🚨 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @adrianjclarke.bsky.social have their eyes all over the action this weekend👀 🤕Tudor to bang heads together? 📺Were we too harsh on VAR? 🪄Will we see more of the old Eze? 👑Is Salah back? pod.fo/e/3901e2

‘I’m sorry if you feel your child was eaten by a shark’

French football nearly went bust after its TV deal collapsed in 2020. How did it survive? And why could Ligue 1’s new model soon be copied across Europe? Find out on this week's podcast with @mattspiro.bsky.social, @andpscott.bsky.social & Jonathan Johnson. 🎧 shorturl.at/4T00g

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 Never fear - @acjimbo.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social , @sebsb.bsky.social & @polballus.bsky.social are here: 🇫🇷Dembele's brilliance 🇮🇹Dimarco's comeback 🇩🇪Diaz's treble for Bayern 🇪🇸Diego's Atleti stunned by Antony pod.fo/e/38c91a

PSG 5-0 up against Marseille with 15 minutes remaining and absolutely tearing them to shreds. No team has ever won Le Classique by more than a four-goal margin.

'It’s David against Goliath' I went behind the scenes at RC Lens last week, who are trying to do the unthinkable and pip Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title Includes interviews with their owner, head coach and captain #FiersDEtreLensois #RCL www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

Marseille are on the brink of crisis again; lose in the cup tonight and it could be time for a full meltdown. @mattspiro.bsky.social @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @andpscott.bsky.social on whether De Zerbi is the man to lead Europe's most volatile club & the latest from Ligue 1. 🎧 shorturl.at/OXcwg

Piece for @thetimes.com on what Liverpool can expect from Jeremy Jacquet www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @jameshorncastle.bsky.social take a deep dive into... 🇩🇪 Bayern's lead cut to six 🇫🇷 More misery for Marseille 🇮🇹 Napoli's injury crisis 🇪🇸 Unconvincing Real keep touch with Barca pod.fo/e/386cab

🚨CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW POD!🚨 Hear @acjimbo.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social & @polballus.bsky.social on those knockout play-offs 🇪🇺 🔁Real v Benfica - do you want some more? ✈️The Toon Army head to Baku 🏆Who's going all the way? pod.fo/e/3846ca

🚨THURSDAY POD!🚨 Digesting a smorgasbord of UCL action, it's @acjimbo.bsky.social, @oilysailor.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @liamtwomey.bsky.social 🥪 🧤Benfica goalie goal w/@NickMiller79 😬Man City head to Spurs ♥️Don't worry, be happy Arsenal ❓What next for Sterling pod.fo/e/383641

Confirmation, then, that Tottenham Hotspur are the fourth best team in the whole of Europe. Just as we all thought.

The good news for PSG is that they're really starting to look like the PSG of last season. The bad news for PSG is that it's the PSG from the first half of last season, when they dominated all their matches but struggled to score any goals.

The Euro Pod! On YouTube! 📺 Get ready for Wednesday's MD8 Champions League mayhem in the company of @acjimbo.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social & @jameshorncastle.bsky.social 🏆🇪🇸🇩🇪🇫🇷🇮🇹 www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf4t...

🇪🇺 EURO POD!🇪🇺 18 games? All at once? That's child's play 🏆🍿 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social & @jameshorncastle.bsky.social look ahead MD8 in the Champions League. Plus a whistle stop around the weekend's action in 🇫🇷,🇩🇪,🇪🇸&🇮🇹! pod.fo/e/3815e3

🚨WEDNESDAY POD!🚨 An incredible night deserves an incredible pod with @acjimbo.bsky.social, @jacklang.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social & JJ Bull 🇳🇴Bodø batter Man City with Martin Sleipnes 🏠Spurs win at home! 💪Arsenal power past Inter 🙃PSG lose again with @tomwfootball.bsky.social pod.fo/e/37d710

Liverpool's trip to Marseille has put Mason Greenwood back in the spotlight. Journalists and fans can't avoid talking about him, but how *should* we talk about him? Felt like an appropriate time for a serious and sensitive discussion about him on the latest @frenchfootballshow.bsky.social.

Think of Kylian Mbappe at Monaco and you invariably picture him tearing through opposition defences and announcing himself to the world. But there were also moments of extreme tension. Ahead of tonight’s reunion, here’s my piece for @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/698...

🇪🇺 EURO POD! 🇪🇺 The Champions League is back, don't you know? 🏆 Let @acjimbo.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social & @tomwfootball.bsky.social get you in the mood for MD7 - plus all the domestic action from across the continent! pod.fo/e/37c5fd

PSG lie second in Ligue 1, have been knocked out of the Coupe de France earlier than at any point since 2014 and their top scorer has scored only 10 goals. So are they in trouble? Or might they be just hitting their stride? My piece for @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/698...