Premier League reaction + Barcelona continue to dominate 🍿 | ESPN FC

ESPN FC

ESPN FC reacts to Barcelona's big win, Premier League results and the Vinicius-Mourinho row

The show breaks down Barcelona's win over Betis, the handball controversy and whether Flick should prioritize El Clasico over PSG, then reviews Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in the Premier League. The panel sees Barca as dominant, backs El Clasico as the priority, and criticizes Mourinho's defense of Vinicius plus Wirtz's impact at Liverpool.

On ESPN FC, the panel discuss: 0:00 Real Betis vs. Barcelona reaction 11:08 Real Madrid vs. Sevilla preview 17:33 Man City vs. Ipswich Town 23:20 Brentford vs. Liverpool 29:25 Everton vs. Chelsea 34:40 Barcelona’s historic start 39:24 Extra Time ✔️ Subscribe to ESPN Unlimited: https://plus.espn.com/ ESPN ESPNFC

Transcript

five goals and yet again another highscoring game between Bettis and Barcelona last year this fixture finished 5-3 [music] again Barcelona the winners and Barcelona perfect through their first nine games this season [music] and scoring plenty of goals on the way to it adding another five to their tally [music] today no one is close to them in terms of goal scoring no one is close to them in the table right now Luis Garcia was watching for us today another in for Hansy Flicksmen. Bit of drama on the way to it, but it is another three points in the bag, Luis. >> Yeah, exactly. And a good test for Barcelona. Rotation work in the end, but I think that everything changed after the the send off for Real Metis. Bet was open and and ready to to challenge this Barcelona side that is really difficult to to handle. But if you because if you try to open a little bit if you try to make those quick transition that it were for real in the first half and part of the second half you can get something that you you create chances you score goals and even you could have scored another two goals but um you are going to be punished if you allow them to be in transition and I think that they knew it very well. PGO knew that at some point this might happen because this what is happening to every single team and Barcelona right now is dominant is very comfortable with the ball but also in transition. The amount of quality up front is is crazy because today we saw once again being important but then it was Gordon and Gab providing not not only goals and assist but also a lot of work something that if you want to be part of this Barcelona side you have to bring because Rafina is the leader up front but if there's someone else arriving it's going to provide also that so a very good test for for Barcelona that in the end managed to to get a good result in a very difficult pitch. the the grass wasn't the best one, but they managed to to do it. But again, I think that that endov kind of put the balance in the other side and and and help Barcelona to get that uh that fold goal to who allow them to in the end get the three points. >> Can we talk about that first goal from Lamin and just how special it was LA? >> You try to stay with them. You really can. It gives you a little bit of this and a little bit of that and a little bit of this and now you're gone. And beyond all of that, which all of that is the special, is the finish, the quality of the finish that follows. Yeah, you can give me all all all the all the flavor, all the all the sasson, all all the seasoning, if you will, and all the spice that Laminia can bring to the game, but you also need to bring the finish and the final product. And he did that perfectly in that particular sequence. We say it every single weekend. He is special. He really, really is a special talent. And whoever doubts the abilities of Lamin, just watch him. Not just in the goals, but watch him in his overall play and you'll see a guy who's seeing a completely different picture than everybody else. >> Now, in the end, it was the 5-2 win for Barcelona. But Luis, if we can just go back to that hand ball where it would have been the equalizing goal for Loels because, of course, it's going to be talked about afterwards. You were fine with the hand ball. You were on the coverage with us today, >> but how long the this have to happen? And I understand that if he's in a counterattack, they continue play. He just humble just right there, just before the player who touch the ball. But we are talking a moment of grab the ball, open the ball, make a cross. It's a deflection outside of the ball. There is a 50/50 there. There is a battling between Barcelona player and Real Bedin. The ball goes out. So there is so much happening different phases on that play that I think that that goal could have go on the score and Real Betty had another option of um of being into the game but the the referee decided again we have to go and ask the referee why did he turn over the the goal because in my mind I think that was a totally different play. >> What did you think of it Stevie? >> They have to decide how many phases of play before they can go back. I mean otherwise it just becomes ridiculous >> and define a face of play as well. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean I mean the obvious one is the shot and then it's deflected. I mean it's from the it's completely a a different if you want to call it phase of play but but it kind for me it means that what happened way back there 15 seconds ago 100% becomes null and void but the referees aren't told precisely how to how to manage it and so you're going to end up with some referees going that far back and you might find some that won't. So they have to define what it is. How many phases of play? What is a phase of play? I think we pretty much know kind of most of us what that is >> kind of. Yeah. >> But to try but they have to just define it what it is. Otherwise it's just going to continue. We we'll we'll see it again. It's interesting because in the coverage, Ricardo Burggoa, the referee, they showed the um angle from his camera, ref cam, right, where he's seeing the handball and he doesn't quite see it as clearly as we see it on the replay and he you can hear him in the audio say na na essentially play on play on as if he's sending the message to whoever is listening in VR of what he saw. Now that's one one aspect of the play in which you can argue and say listen the referee didn't see it clearly and so therefore he allowed play to go on and that I understand. What I don't understand is how can they not define this as a different phase of play once the ball is deflected up in the air and now the the ball is up for grabs. It's it it could be at the Y that wins it. It could be the defending player from Betus that wins it. that that rebound could go anywhere as he did. The ball actually went backwards, which by definition means that you're sort of having to start over if you're Betty's. If I'm pellegrini and I'm Betty's, I'm feeling really, really, really disturbed about this because we can all understand that you give the hand ball and I think once you see the play and you see the arm swinging towards the ball, you say, "Well, yeah, a handball." Some would argue, hey, I thought the hand ball was supposed to be down to the sleeve length and whatever. It feels like it's on the sleeve. We're not going to go down that path. Let's assume that indeed it's a it's a hand ball. But I what I think all of us have a problem with is we defended this play, the ball bounced up in the air, now it's up for grabs, now for somebody to get on the rebound. Rebound happens to follow to fall to Loel. So, he hits a shot that he hits. And we're thinking, we're saying that this that happened over here is connected that to that what happened over there. And I don't think that's the case. I don't think that's the case at all. >> There's no question that the referee's been influenced by >> he saw something but wasn't sure. >> And regardless of how many so-called phases of play, as soon as he gets the opportunity, he wants to go and see it. >> Yeah. >> As for Barcelona, that is another win for them, Luis Garcia, but it's a big week ahead from them. They've got PSG in the Champions League, then they've got Real Madrid and Eláico. How does Hans Flick approach the week ahead? >> I think that the same way that he's been doing since the rest of of the season, I think is doing a fantastic job on keeping everyone on their toes. Um, now Frankie is also back in the training. Rafina has been just recovered. We saw him today once again. So he's got so many different options and he's doing a fantastic job on rotating because from what we saw in the middle middle week we are going to see a totally different team. Maybe not that many changes again there is going to be probably the biggest test so far this season. H but the players arrive in a in a great moment with a lot of confidence knowing what they have to do. Today we we saw once again that high line it was exposed against update that is a very quick player. Let's don't forget maybe Betty has got only one or maybe two player who can break that line against Paris men they are three four players who can hit and and make and exploit those those spaces but but what we've seen so far of this Barcelona is there is a lot more solidar last year a lot more confidence the piece of rod in the middle of the park I think that have gave this Barcelona that composure in the middle of the park his ability to have the ball control today he was 98% accurate on on the passing rate that's something incredible that's very difficult to do and he he kind of provide that to to to Barcelona giving the freedom to Pedri. He's solid in the middle of the park helping the backline to be organized to give them the the the help on the buildup and up front. What can I say? I think that Barcelona right now is probably the best team with the best striker. If we talk about the deaf in their squad, five, six, seven players who can deliver not only threat, speed, and power, but also the ability to score goals as we've seen today. Once again, >> the neutrals may not want to hear this because the headlining game on this upcoming Champions League week is indeed Barcelona against PSG. >> Um, if I'm Hansy Flick and I'm managing this group and I'm thinking what is the priority for me, it is not PSG. Not given the stage of the competition in this group phase or initial phase of of league phase if you will for a Champions League. Both PSG and Barcelona, they're going to advance. This is whether you lose to PSG or you beat PSG. It's irrelevant when you think about Champions League itself. Beating Real Madrid in Eláico at home. That should be the priority because that puts you in a position of total control in league play. That should be the priority. So whatever you need to do with your hands flick to make sure that everybody that you think should be ready must be ready will be ready for that match against Real Madrid. If that means sacrificing certain things against PSG, that's what you need to do. Now, some people are going to say, "How dare you do that?" >> Let me ask you quickly. This the only thing I've thought about this here because I know I've heard a few people say this. What if you know that you're going to meet PSG later in the Champions League and it's going to be a big knockout game? Then it doesn't matter. The old >> It doesn't matter because that's months from now. >> Doesn't count. and and it's months from now and it's a different stage of the competition where there's a whole lot more jeopardy whenever you do that we assume sometime in the spring. So, if we assume that PSG and Barcelona are going to be in the advanced uh positions in Champions League and they're going to advance in knockout stage, they're going to meet each other say quarterfinals or semi-finals. Um that is months down the road the difference will be the teams will be in a much different place and whatever happened this week h would have absolutely no impact on what happens then. >> Eláico the priority for Hans >> 100%. If you if you would I would guarantee you if you were to say to Hans Flick now I'll guarantee you beat Real Madrid if you forfeit the three points against PSG he would bite your hand off >> cuz going nine points clear boy that's that's going to take some some coming back for Madrid. >> Real Madrid have got their own game against a side from Seville tomorrow. It's Sevilla at the Bernabo and then for Real Madrid this is how things look ahead. They've got Leig who didn't have the best of days today. We'll get to that later in the Champions League and then of course they have to go to the camp now to face this version of Barcelona. Jose Mourinho has been talking ahead of this game. In fact, he sarcastically said that he thought it would have been a longer suspension than four for Vinnie Judia. Yeah, we have been hearing from Jose Mourinho ahead of this game. He actually said this as well about competition. The club is adversarious. Madrid. Okay. Obviously, Louise, he's very much sticking up for his player here and supporting him. But were you surprised to see him say this that he wouldn't be at Real Madrid if he were Venicious right now? It's a way of seeing it. It's a way of explaining and send a message to support each player. Um, and we have to understand it. I mean, if I will be in that position, I will do exactly the same. My players, my team, my club, I'm going to defend him until that I'm out and that's the way it is. And if if I'm out probably I will say something different like it happened not long ago when he was managing a different team. So, this is the the way that you have to deal with these things. What I'm curious is that that he he got it wrong. I mean, Ben, you know, made a mistake and something these things happening in football and you did it a wrong thing. You behave it in a in a in the in the in a moment where you should be more calm and you should understand the situation in a way that no one wants to to to see it. No one wants to to feel it and no one wants to be in that situation and you have to understand that some consequent are going to happen. Not everything is against Venicious Jr. If you try to to make that mistake, it doesn't matter if you are Venicious Jr., if you are Rafiniah, if you are Roberto, it doesn't happen. It's a mistake and you have to understand it and grab but because it's Venicious Jr. everything has become once again something about about him. Um yeah, it's a way of seeing it and I I don't agree. I think it was a mistake and he has to be like this because he's a player the same like another player and we'll have to weigh what happen with Venicious during the future. What I would like to see is the player that he is fantastic kid as Mourinho just mentioned. Fantastic player when he's on the field and he's focused when when he's out of focus when he's not being important into the game. We've seen behaviors like this. So um let's hopefully uh one day we see some um behave from Venicious Jun in a different manner. >> My my question really would be and it's something along the lines of what Luis is mentioning there is that did Stevie pull somebody's hair? Did I pull the hair? Was it Luis Garcia? Was it you that pulled the hair? No, it was Vinnie that pulled the hair. This didn't just come out of the blue. It wasn't like the referee says, "You know what I'm going to do today? I'm gonna give Vinnie Jr. a red card just because I feel like it." No, he earned it. He did it. He did it. The video shows it very clearly. And so there is evidence against Vinnie Jr. So this is this is not something made up by the referees. This is not some something made up by Teas. This has nothing to do with the Negrada case. None of that. None of that. Vinnie Jr. pulled somebody's hair and so therefore he got the suspension that he got. Simple as that. He earned it. As for Jose Mourinho saying that Vinnie Jr. should have gone somewhere to clubs and stadiums uh visiting stadiums that really appreciate him. Nonsense. 100% nonsense. Trash. Don't listen to any of it because it's a rhetoric. It's a narrative that he's trying to put out there. It's this is classic Mourinho and deflecting the attention. Let's go talk about that and let's not talk about this. Truth of the matter is you're asking other stadiums to appreciate the greatness and the joy and the happiness of Vinnie Jr. rather than support their own teams. Respect the other player rather than support their own team. You're acting as if Vinnie Jr. just dances around the field and just does his own thing and doesn't engage with other fans and doesn't uh antagonize other fans or other referees or other opposition. Look, I don't condone some of the behaviors in in some of the visiting stadiums that they've had uh towards uh Vinnie Jr. and some of their racist behavior. I don't condone any of that. But what I would say is Vinnie Jr. plays a part in this. He it it doesn't happen in a vacuum. It doesn't happen. And the reason it doesn't happen to some of the players that Luis just mentioned there, including Roberto, I don't know who Roberto is, but Roberto was involved in the in in in the conversation. It doesn't happen to Roberto because Roberto is not pulling somebody's hair. Vinnie did. Vinnie did it. Not me, not Stevie. Not you, not Luis. Vinnie did it. And therefore, that's why he's getting the suspension. Not because he's not respected or appreciated in other stadiums. >> Yeah. He won't be pulling any hair in the Sevilla game tomorrow because he will not feature in that game, but we will have it for you. We will be covering it. Thank you so much for being with us, Luis Garcia. We look forward to talking to you again very soon. Harland limping off there. Not the prettiest, but City did get the job [music] done. Mesa says that Harland is okay. We hope so cuz Nam Manu is on right now and we don't want any more upset for Nadm. So here's how things are looking in the table. It's been a brilliant start. Man City make it seven wins from seven games. [music] Moresca seven from seven. The third team to begin a season in the Premier League that way after Chelsea in '056 and Liverpool of the 19/20 season as well. Good time Stevie. We won't go back there. NAM's here right now. native, there might be plenty going on off the pitch, but on the pitch in the Premier League at least, Man City are very much getting the job done. >> Yeah, I'm glad you said in the Premier League because that first 30 minutes in midweek against Paris Sanjiman, maybe not so much, but yeah, domestically, they're certainly getting the points on the board and some of the performances haven't been perfect, but the fact that they're able to sort of grind out results and that isn't necessarily what today was because on a different day, they probably score more goals as you can see from the stats, expected goals and stuff like this. It shouldn't have been just a a win by one goal, but there were a couple of mistakes in there, you know, as we've spoken about. I think Mark Ghee's probably had a tough time with those two particular incidents. But I think for City, they just got to keep winning. And, you know, that's what's managed to do this moment in time. And I think for me as well, they start to make one or two changes and keeping some people involved, you know, getting kic starting there, Batty getting a start for doing so well in midweek and Fen being back on the side since his red card against Manchester United last month. So, yeah, the the energy on the field is good. the players are feeling confident and you know hopefully they can keep that going. >> Yeah, speaking of confidence Erling Harland scoring in a sixth consecutive [music] Premier League game, he is unstoppable. >> Yes, he is. And the way he attacks uh the ball inside the 18 yard box is like Stevie attacking a shepherd spy. It is vicious. >> Yeah. >> It it just >> a sight to behold. >> Well, yes, >> there's only one winner. >> Yeah. Well, and that's Stevie, not the Shepherd spy. [laughter] Uh, but and and I can appreciate that because it for a player who has scored as many goals as he has, there's still a a hunger, a desperation. This is how I breathe. This is how I I live. This is this is what fuels me. This is what gets me out of bed every day, scoring goals. And that's why you attack the ball in the manner in which he does. And while in the second goal that he scores, the ball gets away from him. Again, there's a certain desire to get to that ball ahead of the defender. That hunger, that drive, you either have it or you don't. And he has plenty of that. There there are times in which Erling Holland seems to kind of go through the game without participating as much as maybe he would want to. But when it comes to attacking the ball inside that 18 yard box,