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Here's the first part of our monthly Q & A - questions on Barcelona and Ajax; Man City and Liverpool; Zidane and Madrid.

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Hola!

Here's a classic from The Big Interview archives. Back in 2015, I sat down with Gaizka Mendieta, a man whose devotion to artistry on the field of play is matched by his obsession with music.

Gaizka describes his conversion to a total footballer at Valencia, his second life as a DJ, and scoring what should be considered one of the best – if not the best – goals of all time. Oh, and he also mentions meeting Lou Reed, the Johan Cruyff of music.

Gaizka, you are a class act.

Enjoy

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Hola!

In the concluding part of our interview, Don Hutchison brings the trauma of a relegation dogfight vividly to life, and tells how survival caused a grown man to weep – this time the late, great Howard Kendall. Don also speaks about how the mind games of another Everton manager, Walter Smith, brought out the best in him.

Enjoy.

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This is one of the audio versions of the columns I write for ESPN that go out to our socios - at patreon.com/grahamhunter - every week.

I was on commentary for Betis v Barcelona this week. I had already seen hundreds of Leo Messi goals in person, thousands of moments of genius from him. But I was still surprised by his hat-trick, still gawped at his talent and audacity, still laughed out loud at his invention.

But this time there was something else. The reaction of the Betis fans made me think about what everyone who watches Messi gets from him. And as I say here - that puts him in an elite bracket.

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Hola!

I recently met with Don Hutchison, a miner’s son from Gateshead whose loyalties lay north of the border.

In the first part of this fascinating interview, Don describes how his formative years playing in the local church hall led to a contract with Hartlepool and soon Liverpool. Don talks about his midfield heroes, including Jan Molby and Patrick Vieria, and how he played without fear and with 360-degree vision. The episodes ends with Don describing scoring the winner for Scotland against England at Wembley, a moment that reduced his tough father to tears.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

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Kevin Kilbane's insight as a pundit mirrors his intelligence as a footballer. In our second episode, Kevin describes playing with a golden generation of Irish talent, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup... and the infamous bust-up between boss Mick McCarthy and talisman Roy Keane.

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Before Kevin Kilbane played in the Premier League and at a World Cup and then became one of the best analysts in the game, he came through a no-holds-barred football upbringing on the streets of his hometown of Preston. In the first of a two-parter, he talks about his journey from there to the high of being selected for the Republic of Ireland.

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This is Simon Stainrod, the kind of footballer we sometimes call mavericks - Simon uses the term 'bullfighters'. From George Best to Tony Currie; Le Tissier to Cantona. They are, as he says, the kind who takes the ball, stares into the defender's eyes and says 'come and get me'.

Simon talks about what makes that kind of player - himself included - special and whether he found a rare modern incarnation of that anarchic talent when he scouted Ousmane Dembélé before he had played a single game in France.

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Back in the summer of 2015 we visited Chris Waddle, the man I refer to as England’s Zidane. The encounter was one of the original Big Interviews, and remains one of the best. Chris spoke about being bullied at Newcastle, the art of the step over and making a big hit at Marseilles.

Enjoy.

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Listen up for the second half of my preview of tomorrow's Copa Del Rey semi-final second leg between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. I'll also be touching on this Saturday's Clasico.

Graham

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