People used to complain that “VAR takes the emotions out of football” but you don’t hear that line so much any more. Without VAR you could never have compressed so many emotions into the last two minutes of the Spurs-Sporting game, from the pure elation that lit up the face of goalscorer Harry Kane to Antonio Conte’s snarl of thwarted rage.

 

After some CL talk we discuss the Australian team’s video calling for reforms in Qatar, and Ken takes a look at his own preview of Russia 2018 to see how it stands up. (Caution: may contain gullibility).

We talk to Dermot Corrigan and Miguel Delaney about the disappointing Spanish performance in the Champions League: the country that has dominated European competition over the last 25 years now has only one side in the knockout phase. Is Diego Simeone losing his edge at this level? And is it too soon to say that Barcelona’s Operation Levers has already failed?

 

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