PSG v Barcelona "like a game of basketball" as goals flow
Peter Martin, Hugh MacDonald and Gordon Parks on why the Champions League is producing football like never before, and whether Luis Enrique is now ahead of Guardiola.
By Peter Martin,
PSG v Barcelona was "like a game of basketball", with more teams, more games and more goals in a Champions League that is producing football like never before. That was the starting point on The Journos, where Peter Martin, Hugh MacDonald and Gordon Parks looked at how the game has changed.
Flick and the new Champions League
The panel used the meeting between PSG and Barcelona to examine the wider goal rush in the competition. They also turned their attention to Hansi Flick, the Barcelona head coach, as part of that discussion.
Luis Enrique or Guardiola
The bigger question was whether Luis Enrique is now ahead of Pep Guardiola. That led the three journalists to weigh up Luis Enrique's PSG against the great Barcelona team. One verdict was blunt: "PSG all day for me."
The comparison took the panel back to the 2009 final in Rome, when Barcelona met Manchester United.
Ancelotti and Klopp
Carlo Ancelotti also came under discussion, with the view put forward that he "manages rather than coaches". Jurgen Klopp was part of the same conversation about different approaches to running a team.
Money and power
The full edition of The Journos also covered broadcasting money and the Premier League's wealthy owners. The panel looked at why Barcelona and Real Madrid are back in the European Club Association, a move that sits alongside the wider debate about where the power and the money in European football now lie.