On Thursday’s Football Daily, Phil Egan brings you the latest on the Jhon Duran transfer rumours, the lay of the Champions League land as we head into the knockout stage & all of the Europa League action tonight! - All of that, and so much more!

Davos 2025: Saudi Arabia looks to ‘recession-proof’ football and sports tourism to hit visitor targets The National

Jimbo’s joined by a full complement of European experts as Pol Ballús, James Horncastle, Julien Laurens and the returning Seb Stafford-Bloor are on hand to look back on a busy weekend of action. We begin in Saudi Arabia, where Barcelona stunned Real Madrid to win the Supercopa de España in emphatic fashion. Back on home soil, Atleti went top of La Liga after a club record 14th win in a row in all competitions courtesy of their 1-0 victory over Osasuna. The Bundesliga is back after die Winterpause - and it returned in style on Friday night as Leverkusen made it nine wins in a row and inflicted Dortmund’s first home defeat of the season as they ran out 3-2 winners. Plus, which striker who scored a remarkable goal this weekend gets a comparison to Mark Viduka?! Over in Serie A, Napoli sit top of the pile after their 2-0 win over Verona - but it looks like Kvaradona could be on his way out... Meanwhile, Atalanta stuttered to their second consecutive draw to fall behind Inter in the table. Draw specialists Juve made it a remarkable 12 stalemates from their 19 league fixtures after it finished 1-1 in the Turin derby. And in Ligue 1, PSG stay unbeaten and seven points clear at the top of the table after their 2-1 win over Saint-Étienne, while Marseille try to keep up the pressure with their 2-1 victory at Rennes. Plus, Didier Deschamps will be leaving his role as France manager after the 2026 World Cup - but was it wise to announce the news now? Produced by Lucy Oliva. RUNNING ORDER: • PART 1: Moments of the weekend (00.45) • PART 2: La Liga review - Barca blow away Real (again) as Atleti can’t stop winning (8.25) • PART 3: Bundesliga review - Leverkusen shine without Wirtz as Kane keeps his cool from the spot (19.05) • PART 4: Serie A review - Napoli are top but prepare to lose Kvaradona (31.25) • PART 5: Ligue 1 review - Didier Deschamps era given end date while PSG eye invincible season (50.15) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jimbo’s back for the first time in 2025 and he’s got James Horncastle, Pol Ballús and Julien Laurens alongside him to run the rule over all the latest action from across Europe. AC Milan kicked off the new year in style as they fought back from 2-0 down to beat rivals Inter 3-2 in the Supercoppa over in Saudi Arabia as new boss Sérgio Conceição got off to the perfect start. Meanwhile, back on home soil Roma continued their resurgence under Claudio Ranieri with a 2-0 victory in the derby with Lazio. In La Liga the Dani Olmo debacle rumbles on… He’s with Barcelona in Saudi Arabia, but he’s not eligible to play after Spain's football authorities rejected the club’s attempt to register the midfielder. On the pitch, Jude Bellingham atoned for his missed penalty with a 95th-minute winner as 10-man Real Madrid snatched a dramatic victory at Valencia to move top of the table. And in France, PSG picked up the first silverware of the season courtesy of Ousmane Dembele’s stoppage-time winner in their 1-0 victory over Monaco in the Trophée des Champions over in Doha. Back in Ligue 1, Marseille closed the gap at the top of the table to 7 points courtesy of their big 5-1 win over Le Havre. No German action to speak of as die Winterpause continues - BUT we do have Dortmund v Leverkusen to look forward to on Friday night as the Bundesliga finally returns. Produced by Lucy Oliva. RUNNING ORDER: • PART 1: Moments of the weekend (00.45) • PART 2: Serie A review - Milan stun Inter in the Supercoppa while Roma beat Lazio (08.15) • PART 3: La Liga review - Olmo saga rumbles on as Real leave it late to go top (20.00) • PART 4: Ligue 1 review - PSG lift first silverware as Marseille and Lyon continue good form (32.55) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lina Al-Hathloul, Nick Ames and Philippe Auclair to reflect on Saudi Arabia being awarded the 2034 World Cup. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/footballweeklypod. Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FootballWeeklyPodcast

Christian and Alexis break down Manchester United’s come from behind win that leaves Manchester City desperate for answers. Then, Christian and Alexis react to other news around Europe including Arsenals’ frustrating draw to Everton & Gio Reyna getting back on the scoresheet. Later, Christian and Alexis bring back Oh For Real!? to react to Saudi Arabia winning the 2034 World Cup bid.

With this week's news that FIFA has officially awarded the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, we are re-releasing the first episode of World Corrupt Season 2, our four-part series that examines Saudi Arabia's investment and involvement in football. All four episodes are available here: https://mibcourage.co/4cOdoRg YouTube version: https://mibcourage.co/3OYotVy See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

IT’S ROG… and it’s the WGFOP Weekend Preview, presented by our good friends at PrizePicks. It’s the Manchester derby this weekend so we kick off with some discussion about the precarity of Manchester City’s dominance and what happened when they last met a Ruben Amorim side. Then we turn our attention to the title race and whether Everton could disrupt Arsenal this weekend, and reflect on the decision to award Saudi Arabia the 2034 men’s World Cup. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Christian and Alexis react to Tim Weah and Weston McKennie starring in Juventus’ 2-0 win over Manchester City. Then, Christian and Alexis bring on Tifo’s JJ Bull, a comedy soccer content creator, to chat about the comedy world in soccer. Later, Christian and Alexis bring back Rápido Reactions and react to Saudi Arabia winning the World Cup bid, David Coote & more.

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 Men’s World Cup after running unopposed. So why has FIFA allowed this to happen? What are the wider controversies surrounding their bid? And could Saudi Arabia actually be a good choice for a World Cup? Host: Ayo Akinwolere With: Matt Slater, Jacob Whitehead Executive Producer: Adey Moorhead Producer: Jay Beale Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.