A Football Report

Business Time - AFR Voice, Ep 18.

It’s early May, which in footballing terms generally means one thing: it’s business time. And AFR Voice is punching in for this week’s audio shift with plenty to talk about. Whether it be a 33-man match in Norway, horror challenges on reporters in Denmark, or the hottest thing out of the Madrid branch of IKEA since someone burnt the meatballs, we’ve got it covered.

The Premier League title may be all wrapped up and tucked away safely in Manchester, but there’s still plenty to play for. We’ll be taking a look at the cross-London melee for the final Champions League places, whilst at the other end, any team not in the top half of the table will be nervously looking over their shoulders as Wigan make their customary late push for survival (if they’re not too busy winning the FA Cup).

Then we hop down into the lower leagues where there was a crazy final day in the Championship, and Paddy waxes lyrical about the play-offs as the league pyramid continues to shuffle itself for a couple more weeks yet.

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AFR Voice Special - Graeme Le Saux & Faye White

The Champions League trophy has landed in London and AFR Voice can proudly say it had a hand in the journey after UEFA kindly invited us to see the famous big-eared trophy travel through the capital. The curvaceous silverware was transported via tube, taxi and London bus on it’s way to the home of English football for the glamour final.

You can watch the rather unusual journey here. 

Happily, we hopped on the bus to speak to the cup’s security guard for the day, Chelsea, Blackburn and England legend Graeme Le Saux. He told us about his Champions League experiences, what he makes of Jose Mourinho’s mooted return to Chelsea, and his take on the controversially late kick off for the FA Cup final. 

In this interview special pod, we also spoke to ex-England women’s captain Faye White who was marshalling the women’s trophy through the sea of star-struck and slightly bemused commuters. We chatted about the health of the women’s game, the pros and cons of wearing a protective mask in the biggest game of your life and whether Arsene Wenger should get the boot.

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Through Ryu’s Lens: Madrid a moment away from history

While there was only one club that looked fit for a Champions League final after 90 minutes in Dortmund, Real Madrid strung together an amazing final 10 minutes in their 180 minute battle with the German giant. The chances were there for the taking. Kaka and Benzema changed the game. Ronaldo faded, but ultimately Los Galacticos left their supporters knowing that every ounce of energy was left on the pitch. Ryu was at the Bernabéu to see Jurgen Klopp’s squad hold on until the dying seconds despite the surge of spirit that came from the Spaniards. [You can interact with Ryu on twitter @Toksuede and check his Flickr. Posted by Eric]

The work looks completed, but the Champions League painting flows on.

The siesta is over as we edge closer to kickoff in Madrid. The scorelines lie in Germany’s favour, but the beauty of this competition is that you never know. With Mourinho, with Messi, you just never know. Here’s to the artistry on the pitch providing us with a few unexpected turns before we march to Wembley. [Posted by Eric. GIFs by Dale con Comba.]

Fans as family, not customers, and the rise of Dortmund

By Anthony Lopopolo

They’re made of steely stuff, these people, and a few stories in the tabloids and the press didn’t do much to break their nerves. After all, Dortmund almost went bankrupt in 2005, and even when they lost so much – millions of dollars, sponsorships and players – the fans never died down. That’s not their way. No fewer than 70,000 attended the matches following that close encounter with the death penalty, and now, sometimes for as little as €11 per ticket, they can watch a team that’s looking destined for Wembley and has a chance to win a second Champions League title.

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Dortmund’s Yellow Wall meets Real Madrid’s Dreams of La Décima

Some of the best fans in the world welcome Real Madrid & their dreams of a 10th Champions League title to Dortmund. As they did for Bayern vs Barça, KICKTV again called on our man Dan Leydon to show what happens when Galacticos face a wall of 70,000 screaming Germans.