Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Champions League heating up. Kyle Bond is with us to give us a recap of yesterday's matches and preview a big one coming up later today.
00:07Kyle, thanks for coming on the show. Really appreciate it.
00:10All right, so the big talking point today on our show here is this huge comeback from Inter Milan yesterday against Barcelona.
00:17Certainly a lot of people seem to be on social media saying that Barcelona blew it.
00:22It wasn't that Inter won it. What do you make of it?
00:25Yeah, look, sometimes we like to get into the nitty gritty here, Craig, because that's what we do, right?
00:31We want to find the angles. We want to break down the games.
00:35Sometimes sports just happen, right? And it's great when they do.
00:39Sometimes soccer comes down to put ball in net and one team put ball in net better than other team yesterday.
00:47And that was Inter. That's just the way it went.
00:49They got just the perfect mix of incredible goalkeeping.
00:54Jan Sommer was unbelievable, made an incredible number of saves against Laminia Mall in particular.
01:01The equalizing goal at the end of regulation to send it to extra time was scored by a 37-year-old defender
01:08who never scored a Champions League goal in his life before that one.
01:12And it was like a striker's finish. It was unbelievable.
01:15So, you know, sometimes this is just what happens in these knockout tournaments.
01:19It was an all-time game. We had a blast.
01:22But now you look forward. What does it mean for the Champions League final?
01:25Here's what impressed me the most about Inter and why I hope nobody sleeps on them in the Champions League final
01:30against either Arsenal or PSG.
01:32This was the best defensive team in Europe coming into this semifinal.
01:38And they won the semifinal 7-6 on aggregate, which tells me not only are they an exceptional defensive side,
01:48but they can flip the switch and play with an attacking team when they want to.
01:54And Barcelona played right into their hands.
01:57And so I really think that people shouldn't sleep on Inter.
02:01We want to keep a look at the lines when the Champions League final odds come out
02:06because there's a chance that the odds will sleep on Inter and we should watch for value there.
02:15Because while I think, you know, I still probably would favor Arsenal or PSG over them,
02:20certainly PSG, you've got to look at potential value here because it very well may be there.
02:26All right. So let's take a look closer at the match today between PSG and Arsenal.
02:33Now, you know, certainly PSG with a little bit of an advantage, you would think, going into this one.
02:38There's certainly some familiarity, as we would say, there as well.
02:42Right now, the game is supposed to...
02:44The match is supposed to begin at 3 o'clock Eastern.
02:47PSG is the favorite, plus 125.
02:49Also, a tie, as you see here, is plus 250.
02:54And if you go the other direction and take Arsenal, they are plus 210.
02:58So the oddsmakers are certainly telling us here this could come right down to the wire.
03:03Absolutely. And remember that these are odds for who will win this game in particular in 90 minutes,
03:09not necessarily who will advance, which is a completely different thing.
03:12But I think PSG still have to be favored to move on here, even though we saw what happened yesterday, right?
03:19Like, anything can happen.
03:20But I think, you know, holding that 1-0 lead, going back home for the second leg, protecting that lead.
03:27Ousmane Dembele is healthy.
03:29So that's a big deal.
03:31There were questions about him after coming off in the first leg late in the game with a muscle injury.
03:36He's healthy.
03:37There's a few ways that I like to play this other than the result, because I could see either team winning this.
03:44I definitely lean towards PSG, especially with the plus odds coming away with another win in the 90 minutes.
03:49But I like Kvart's Kalia was all over Arsenal, fullback, Jurian, Timber in the beginning of the first leg.
03:59Timber fouled Kvart's Kalia four times in the first 20 minutes.
04:04Somehow didn't get a yellow card.
04:05But I like to take that and translate it to this game, because there's going to be a lot of attention on Ousmane Dembele up the middle, but everything starts for PSG on the wing.
04:16And so I really like Kvart to have a good game today.
04:21You can get him, I think, plus 125 to score or assist, I think was the number, which is really, really good.
04:29He had a number of good shots on goal in that game that were saved by David Raya in the match.
04:36And you can get Jurian Timber to get a yellow card at about plus 290.
04:40I like both of those.
04:41If you're looking on somebody for Arsenal, because Arsenal are going to have a lot of attacking pressure in this game.
04:46They have to come back from that 1-0 deficit.
04:49Gabriel Martinelli is a really good option on the left.
04:52Everybody looks to Bukayo Saka, who's their superstar on the right wing, but he's going up against Nuno Mendes, the left back for PSG, who's been unbelievable defensive this Champions League.
05:03He pocketed Mo Salah against Liverpool in the round of 16 over both legs.
05:08Salah had nothing.
05:09And he was really good against Saka in the first leg against Arsenal.
05:12So, I'm staying away from Bukayo Saka against a tough matchup defensively and looking to the other side.
05:19Martinelli had a number of shots and a number of good chances in the first leg.
05:24I like him three-plus shots at plus 200.
05:27That's a great number.
05:28All right.
05:29So, now this weekend, Kyle is going to be leaving the States and headed to Barcelona to see this match between Barcelona, Real Madrid.
05:37It's called El Clasico on Mother's Day.
05:41Kyle, shame on you, man.
05:42Leave it on Mother's Day.
05:43All right.
05:43Fair enough.
05:44I know.
05:45I got to go to the mother of all soccer games here, which is El Clasico.
05:49Yeah.
05:50All right.
05:50I'm very, very excited for it.
05:52It's going to be a blast.
05:53And the reason why I'm excited for it is there's a ton of meat on the bone for this game now from both sides.
05:59Right now that Barcelona are out of the Champions League, like we mentioned, this is the season for both teams, which should be really fun.
06:06Barcelona hold a four-point lead at the top of the La Liga table.
06:09It's one of the only title races that's still kind of in doubt in Europe.
06:14And so, this is it for both teams.
06:17If Barcelona can get a win or a draw, they're probably good the rest of the way.
06:21If Real Madrid can get an upset win, now it's a one-point deficit and anything can happen over the last couple of matches.
06:28The big storyline to watch here is there's a number of reports that say that Carlo Ancelotti will leave Real Madrid at the end of this game, not the end of the season, but the end of this game, and join Brazil to be their national team manager.
06:43If Real Madrid win the game and make it just a one-point deficit at the top of the table, and then Ancelotti leaves, what a mess that that would be.
06:54So, I'll be on hand in Barcelona.
06:58We'll see what happens.
07:00Kyle, enjoy your trip.
07:02We'll look forward to catching up with you when you get back.
07:04Thanks for coming on Newsbar.
07:05I really appreciate it.
07:07Thanks, Craig.
07:07Appreciate it.
07:08Anytime.
07:08Anytime.
07:08Anytime.
07:08Anytime.
07:08Anytime.