The Nico Williams Derby (Feat. Graham Hunter)
The Nico Williams Derby (Feat. Graham Hunter)
To be fair, BARCELONA vs ATHLETIC CLUB was a clásico well before this particular transfer saga.
On week two of the reborn club season we head to La Liga, where Barcelona will host Athletic Club on Saturday. It’s a fixture with deep roots in Spanish football history: These two and Real Madrid are the only clubs never relegated from the top division, and they were the true powers of Spain before (and at times after) Real Madrid’s rise in the 1950s.
But this weekend the Narrative will be drenched in talk of Nico Williams. The electric winger starred for the Spanish national team at EURO 2024 this summer, and when he returned, he was heavily linked in TransferWorld with a move to FC Barcelona. Except the 22-year-old appears to have turned down the opportunity.
What does that say about Barça at the moment? Graham Hunter of ESPN joins the show to parse it out and trace some of the history of these two teams, each of which hails from a region—Catalunya and the Basque Country respectively—with a strong independent streak when it comes to the larger state of Spain. That certainly has not made them allies:
You can also check out the show on Spotify, Audible, Amazon, and Acast.
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FRIDAY
BORUSSIA M’GLADBACH vs BAYER LEVERKUSEN
2:30pm ET, 7:30pm UK
Give the Germans one thing: they can pack a lot of letters into a name. The hosts are properly known as “Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach,” though they’re often called Gladbach, and they’ve won four more Bundesliga titles than their opponents here.
It just so happens that Leverkusen won their first last season without losing a single match, and Xabi Alonso’s side return to league action looking to prove last season’s indomitable run—which very nearly stretched across three major competitions—is an ongoing story. They started well enough last week with a penalty shootout win over Stuttgart in the Supercup.
SATURDAY
BRIGHTON vs MAN UNITED
7:30am ET, 12:30pm UK
The Seagulls started brightly under brand-new 31-year-old manager Fabian Hürzeler, smashing Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park. They host a United side who did not produce a hugely convincing performance at home to Fulham on Matchday 1 despite securing a 1-0 victory. A trip down to the Amex could be a whole ‘nother kettle of fish for Erik ten Hag and these perplexing Red Devils.
CRYSTAL PALACE vs WEST HAM
10am ET, 3pm UK
The Eagles of Palace were unlucky in their opening fixture, as talisman Eberechi Eze’s virtuoso direct free kick was disallowed through some jumpy refereeing. The Hammers’ bout with high-flying Aston Villa the day before could have gone differently, too. This should be a highly competitive affair.
(FULHAM vs LEICESTER CITY also features in this match window if you’d like to attend another Red Bull-fueled Vardy Party. Also, mighty MAN CITY host new boys IPSWICH TOWN, while TOTTENHAM face EVERTON.)
ASTON VILLA vs ARSENAL
12:30pm ET, 5:30pm UK
Unai Emery did the double last season over Arsenal, where he was dismissed in 2019 following a disastrous run of form that feels very far way these days. His Villa side were something of a phenomenon last season, scrapping in the center of the park and stringing some great moves together and flying their wingers down the flanks and smashing in goals. They were well worthy of a ticket to the Champions League this term, but Emery’s squad will be stretched like never before with all the additional matches—particularly following the key departures of Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz.
On the other side, Arsenal found out last season that every single match is a must-win. That second loss to Mikel Arteta’s managerial predecessor proved particularly disastrous, but even a draw will be considered insufficient in their quest to finally dethrone Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. They must jump into the cauldron of Villa Park with all the strength and steel of last season along with—perhaps—some added ruthlessness in front of goal. This will be a war on one of the last great old battlefields of the English game, a ground that Villa have called home since 1897.
PARMA vs MILAN
12:30pm ET, 5:30pm UK
The hosts have way too many good nicknames, but i Crociati (The Crusaders) might take the cake. They’re back in the big time again following relegation to Serie B in 2021, the latest of many chaotic years in this new millennium. Before then-owners Parmalat crashed into financial ruin 20 years ago, this club fielded some of the great teams of the 1990s: Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Lillian Thuram, Hernán Crespo, Juan Sebastian Verón, Gianfranco Zola, Enrico Chiesa…ridiculous. What better way to mark their return than with a visit from the giants of A.C. Milan?
BARCELONA vs ATHLETIC CLUB
1pm ET, 6pm UK
Get the full preview with Graham Hunter in the podcast above!
SUNDAY
WOLVES vs CHELSEA
9am ET, 2pm UK
The Chelsea circus rolls on, this time stopping in the West Midlands. The West Londoners will have to leave much of their vast—vast!—squad at home for this one, and we’ll have to see if anyone else receives the news like Raheem Sterling’s camp did last weekend. It’s chaos for the Blues at the moment, but Wolves gave a decent showing of themselves away at Arsenal on Matchday 1 and surely must be confident they have what’s needed to take all three points from their stuttering opponents here.
LIVERPOOL vs BRENTFORD
11:30am ET, 4:30pm UK
Arne Slot had a fairly ideal first day out as Liverpool manager a week back, riding out some first-half pressure from the Tractor Boys of Ipswich Town before knocking in a couple goals to take the points back to Merseyside. That’s where they lie in wait for Brentford, the beneficiaries of that unfortunate officiating against Crystal Palace last weekend who nonetheless looked in decent fettle considering their star striker, Ivan Toney, seems to have one foot in Saudi Arabia. Like last season, when the #17 was missing through suspension, Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbuemo are eager to show they can fill the void.
NAPOLI vs BOLOGNA
2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK
The Neapolitans followed up a thrilling Scudetto win two seasons ago with a disastrous title defense last term, but they’ve got a new coach in the commanding Antonio Conte and—they might’ve hoped—a whole bunch of air back in their balloon. The 3-0 shellacking they received from Hellas Verona on Serie A’s opening day will have punctured that, however, and now they’ll play host to one of the teams that profited from their dismal form last season.
The scenes out of the medieval movie set of Bologna were magic when they secured the fifth and final Champions League place in May—Italy got an extra ticket thanks to the Italian clubs’ strong performances in European play—and they’ll hope the good times keep rolling in 2024. They could only manage a draw at home to Udinese last time out, however, and the loss of powerful striker Joshua Zirkzee to Manchester United and multitalented defender Riccardo Calafiori to Arsenal will sting. For a club of Bologna’s modest size, though, these setbacks are inevitable. The key is regeneration, wherever and however you can manage it.⚽︎