Hello Rank Squad!

It's time for Champions League Takeaway, your late night delivery following the action - following the first legs of the new 'Playoff Round' in the competition, pitting the teams who finished 9th to 24th in the league stage against each other to earn places in the Round of 16.

And it started with a bang, with a matchup between Manchester City and Real Madrid that we've seen multiple times in recent years, but not quite like this - and the game delivered, for the neutral at least. We discuss another City collapse late in a game, that tifo about the Ballon d'Or and Vinicius Jr's on-pitch response, the defensive frailties in both sides - but that were handled far better by Los Blancos, and all the rest. 

We also take a look at PSG's win over Brest and if the Parisiens are back in the conversation to win this thing; Juventus fighting off PSV in what should have been the USMNT-off; and why Borussia Dortmund are just much better in Europe than they are in the Bundesliga, as they hammered Sporting in Lisbon. 

Then in Part Two, we start with Bayern's trip to Celtic Park, where they won 2-1, but where their opposition caused serious problems for Vincent Kompany's side nonetheless; before moving on to look at managerless Feyenoord's victory against AC Milan; Atalanta falling to Club Brugge in controversial circumstances; and another win for Benfica against Monaco in the Principality. 

It's Ranks!

And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

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