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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Settle the tie
In this week’s football-language podcast we look back at some language from the Champions League play-off games, including ‘settle the tie‘ from the Manchester City versus Real Madrid first leg match. We also look ahead to some of the big games this weekend in our predictions, including the Derby d’Italia. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.
Hello
DF: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.
Hello everyone and welcome to the show for all those who love the beautiful game of football and who want to improve their English language skills. My name is Damian and I am in a cold but bright London and I am one half of the Languagecaster team – the other member of course is Damon who is in Japan. And I wonder how he feels about his team Liverpool’s draw at Everton mid-week under the lights?
DB: Hi Damian. I knew you would ask about the Merseyside derby. I’m not going to lie, I was gutted when Everton scored that equaliser with the last kick in 7 minutes of added on time! Four goals and four red cards, drama, shithousery, dodgy refereeing, a rocking stadium, a fight between the players… what a great way for the last derby at Goodison Park to end! I would have preferred the three points though! What did you think?
DF: It was a great occasion and great fun! I don’t think it will affect Liverpool’s run to the title but I am sure that Everton fans must be loving it!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (from Vasco da Gama fan)
DF: And how is your favourite team doing? Did they win, lose or draw this week? Can I just highlight one amazing victory for League of Ireland club Shamrock Rovers who won their Conference League play-off first leg game away in Norway with the winning goal coming from a 16-year old player making his debut – that’s playing his first ever game for the club. Michael Noonan is only 16 and is now one of the youngest ever scorers in European competition – amazing! That’s a much better news story than if you are a Tottenham fan like me as we had two cup defeats – that’s two cup exits – in four days last week which was very painful indeed!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Japanese)
DF: OK, that message, or stinger, was in Japanese and we’ll be hearing some more languages throughout the show – can you guess what ones they are?
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Irish)
Today’s Show
Now, on this week’s football-language podcast, we look back at some of the language from the play-off round first leg matches from the Champions League that took place this week. In particular, we will look at the phrase, ‘to settle the tie‘ from the Manchester City versus Real Madrid game – we’ll also look at the phrase ‘play-off’. We will also look at some of the big games taking place this weekend in our predictions, including some big matches from the Premier League and the Derby d’Italia between Juventus and Inter.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian)
Manchester City 2-3 Real Madrid: Play-off first leg
DF: Manchester City and Real Madrid faced each other for the fourth time in five seasons in the Champions League but rather than playing each other in the quarter-final or semi-final they had to play in the play-off round. Well, what is a play-off? Well, this is usually an extra match or round to decide which teams will continue in the competition; which teams will go through to the next round of the tournament. We have a play-off to see if a team can progress.
In this season’s European competitions there has been a new format with 36 sides playing 8 matches in the group stage. At the end of this set of matches, the top eight teams automatically qualified for the round of 16, while the next best 16 teams go into a play-off round to decide who would also join them. This means there has been an extra round of matches which are called play-off games or play-off ties. They are played home and away and these matches are known as legs: the home or first leg and the away or second leg – sometimes this second leg is known as the return leg. So, as Manchester City finished in 22nd place in the group stage and Real Madrid in 11th it meant that these two powerhouses had to face off in order to make the last 16.
Manchester City 2-3 Real Madrid: To settle the tie
DF: OK, so we can see that a play-off game or tie is used to decide which team will progress to the next round of the tournament and another phrase that means to decide something in football is, ‘to settle the tie‘. So, in this play-off game Madrid player Jude Bellingham scored a late goal which turned out to be the winner – his goal decided the game; his goal settled the game. If an action leads to a final result then we can use this verbal phrase, to settle the tie. It is often used when a game has been really exciting with lots of things happening which was the case in this match. First, City went ahead then Madrid equalised before a penalty gave City the lead again; until the final five minutes when first a mis-hit shot from Mbappe and then a Bellingham’s strike settled the game in Madrid’s favour.
Here are a couple of examples from the British media:
- Example: Jude Bellingham’s injury-time winner settled a tense play-off first leg in Real Madrid’s favour (BBC.co.uk Feb 12 2025)
- Example: Real Madrid’s Bellingham settles thriller to leave Manchester City on ropes (Guardian.co.uk Feb 12 2025)
So, both of the reports focus on the fact that the game was an exciting one – Bellingham settled a tense play-off first leg in the BBC report, while in the Guardian they called it a thriller – a really exciting match – which Bellingham settled.
The second leg of this play-off round takes place next week and although nothing has been settled or decided yet, most people and pundits feel that Real Madrid will now make it through to the last 16.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)
Predictions
DF: OK, let’s take a look at this week’s predictions. We have five games this week; three from the Premier League, a top-of-the-table clash from the Bundesliga and of course the big game in Italy between Juventus and Inter. And here’s Damon with his predictions.
Manchester City v Newcastle
DB: Thanks Damian. Right, we’ve got three games in the Premier League starting with Manchester City hosting Newcastle. As Damian has already talked about, Manchester City were beaten by Real Madrid after looking fairly comfortable and being 2-1 up. They are a very fragile team at the moment, meaning any setback can affect them. I think Newcastle may trouble Man City’s backline and sneak a 1-0 away win.
Tottenham v Manchester United
DB: Next is a really interesting game between bottom-half teams; Spurs versus Man United – these two team aren’t used to scrapping it out so low in the table and both will be desperate to win. I think neither will, and this will end in an exciting 2-2 draw.
Liverpool v Wolves
DB: On Sunday, my team Liverpool will hope to bounce back from their painful draw with derby rivals Everton. My football supporter mind says they will struggle against their opponents Wolverhampton Wanderers, while the form book says Liverpool should win. I’ll go with form and say a 2-0 home win for The Reds.
Bayer Leverkusen v Bayern Munich
DB: In the Bundesliga it’s second place Bayer Leverkusen, the Champions, taking on current leaders Bayern Munich. Although it’s the top two teams, there’s quite a gap between first and second, and, while Bayern were beaten at home in the reverse fixture, I think Bayern might get revenge this time and win 2-1.
Juventus – Inter
DB: To finish we have the Derby d’Italia, Juventus versus Inter. Despite this being at Juventus, I think the Nerazzurri, Inter, will prove too strong and win 2-1. Well, those are my predictions. Hopefully I can close the five-point gap between myself and Damian in our predictions table. What are your predictions? Drop us a line and let us know at admin@languagecaster.com.
DF: Thanks for those Damon. I agree that Liverpool will bounce back and win against Wolves but I think the big games in Italy and Germany will both end in draws. As for my team Tottenham? Well, hopefully we can get something from this game – yes, maybe a 2-1 win for Spurs!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Catalan)
Contact
DB: And before we finish here is a reminder that if you have any questions about the language of football or comments on the podcast, please contact us via e-mail at admin@languagecaster.com. Also, come along to the website to check out the football-language forum where you can ask and answer any questions you have on the language of football. And don’t forget to come along to our massive glossary of football vocabulary to find out more about different kinds of football language. And we’d love it if you tell a friend about us and maybe give us a like and follow on social media: we are on Instagram, Facebook and Blue Sky among many others.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch)
Goodbye
DF: Thanks for that message, which was in Dutch – we also heard Catalan, French, Japanese, Irish and Italian stingers throughout the show. And thanks everyone for listening today – we looked at the phrases, ‘play-off game first leg‘ and ‘settle the tie‘ from some of the big European matches during the week. Let us know if you hear these phrases while watching football, in any language of course! We’d love to hear from you and to find out how we are getting on so we have posted a link in this post and on our site for a short survey – if you get a few minutes then that would be great.
Enjoy all the football this weekend and we’ll be back soon with a new football expression on Monday. Bye bye.
Related Terms
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
