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In this football language post we look ahead to some of the big games taking place in Europe this weekend and in particular four of the biggest games of the season that are taking place on Sunday – a real Super Sunday. There is a transcript with this listening activity along with some vocabulary practice and you can also check out our football glossary and football cliches pages for hundreds more explanations of the language of soccer. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
Learning English Through Football Podcast: Super Sunday – El Clasico, Le Clasique and Derby d’Italia
DF: Hello everyone, this is Damian from the Learning English Through Football team. I hope we are all doing well and enjoying the football – how did your favourite team get on this week? Well, my team Tottenham had a mixed week with an away victory at Newcastle in the Premier League before losing to Vitesse from the Netherlands in the Europa Conference League on Thursday. Oh, they were very bad! I think our other member of the languagecaster team, Damon, who of course is in Tokyo, is feeling much happier after his side’s thrashing of Watford last weekend and then they followed that with a wonderful 3-2 win in Madrid against Atlético. Now on our forum, someone asked whether the phrase used by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to describe the win as ‘dirty’ was the same as an ‘ugly win‘ – here’s how the UK newspaper The Guardian reported his words: ‘The dirty points are often the most important, and they were dirty tonight…’. So yes, this fantastic description of a hard-fought win for his side, so I think yes, it’s the same expression as ‘an ugly win‘ or ‘winning ugly‘ and this describes a situation when a team doesn’t play well but still wins. Indeed, to win ugly is often seen as a mark of champions which will please Jurgen Klopp and all Liverpool fans including Damon of course!
Now Liverpool play their arch rivals – that’s their big, very big rivals, Manchester United this weekend but their are lots of other huge matches being played all across the big leagues in Europe this weekend, actually all on Sunday. The expression ‘Super Sunday’ is used by TV companies to advertise their Sunday football show here in the UK but this doesn’t always mean the games are exciting or ‘super’ but this weekend we definitely have a ‘Super Sunday’. So on this week’s show we preview some of the big games…no, the biggest games from Spain, England, Italy and France that all take place this Sunday. To do this we are going to look at some of the historical numbers behind these games, their head-to-head records, and of course offer a prediction or two!
Now, don’t forget there is of course a transcript to go with this podcast – it’s great for teaching and learning English – and if you have any questions or comments about any of the football language in this report then you can contact us here at: admin@languagecaster.com.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Catalan).
Barcelona vs Real Madrid (El Clásico)
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Yes, that message was in Catalan so let’s start our preview of the big games this week with a look at el clásico between hosts Barcelona and Real Madrid. Neither side has started this season well and there is a good chance that they will not win the league this season with Sevilla, holders Atlético Madrid and surprise package and current leaders Real Sociedad (who face Atleti this weekend) all tipped to challenge.
Well what about some statistics between the two sides? Before this season [2021-22] the two sides had played 182 matches in La Liga with Real Madrid slightly ahead on 75 victories to Barca’s 72. As for domestic honours, Real Madrid have won 34 league titles to Barcelona’s 26, while Barca have won more Copa del Rey titles than their rivals: 31 to 19. The player with most goals in el clásico matches is Leo Messi with 18 but of course he’ll be playing in Le Clasique for PSG later on on Sunday evening.
Prediction: Draw.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Inter fan).
Inter vs Juventus (Derby d’Italia)
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Now, this weekend in Italy sees the leaders Napoli travel to Roma in a big game between a team with eight wins out of eight (100% record) taking on the team in fourth place but still this is not the biggest game in Italy on Sunday. This is because Serie A holders Inter host Juventus in the Derby d’Italia. This game is an intense affair with fans not just from the club’s home cities of Milan and Turin watching because all across the country suporters of both sides will be tuning in to watch the match up between the two most successful sides in Italian football. Juventus have won Serie A an incredible 36 times while Inter have claimed it on 19 occasions including, as we mentioned earlier, last season when both sides won their respective home games in the Derby d’Italia.
This season neither side is playing that well with Inter currently seven points behind leaders Napoli and Juventus a further three behind them but all eyes will be focused on the Derby d’Italia on Sunday evening.
Prediction: Draw
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French).
Marseille vs Paris Saint-Germain (Le Clasique)
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Well, we said that all eyes will be on the Derby d’Italia, unless of course you prefer your classic to be French because at the same time as the Derby d’Italia, Le Clasique between Marseille and PSG will be taking place. PSG have won nine Ligue 1 titles but along with St Etienne, Marseille have the most French league championships with ten. Unbelievably, in the 83 matches in which these two sides have played they have both won 32 times though PSG have a much better head-to-head record in the French Cup. PSG are currently leading Ligue 1 and are 10 points clear of their rivals so Marseille, with a game in hand, would need to win this one to get back into the title race.
Prediction: Marseille win
Manchester United vs Liverpool
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The two most successful sides in England face off when United, currently in 6th place in the Premier League, play Liverpool who lie in second. Manchester United have 20 league titles which is one more than Liverpool, though Liverpool have won six European Cup/Champions League titles which is three more than United. In their league head-to-head record, United have 81 victories to 68 for Liverpool. Liverpool are currently on an unbeaten run of 21 matches in all competitions and are playing much better than their rivals who are very unpredictable but as we know in derbies, and here comes a cliche, form goes out the window :-).
Prediction: Draw
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Japanese).
DF: Yes, that message is in Japanese and this is one of the almost 30 languages that we have here at languagecaster so if you’d like to send a message in any language for our podcast then contact us here at languagecaster.com – we’d love to hear from you.
OK, that’s it for this short podcast in which we’ve looked ahead to some of the huge games coming up this weekend, this Sunday: El Clasico, Le Clasique, the Derby d’Italia and of course Manchester United against Liverpool – I wonder will we have a nickname for this game eventually? Which ones will you watch? What do you think the scores will be? And what kind of language will you hear when you watch this game? And do you agree with our predictions? Let us know by adding a comment on our post or by dropping us a line at: admin@languagecaster.com.
Now you can also come along to our forum where you can ask or answer any questions you have on football language. Now, recently we have looked at the phrases, ‘break a duck‘; ‘fairytale opener‘ and ‘larrup a shot‘ which means to hit a shot really, really hard! Come along and have a look at the forum.
Don’t forget there is also a transcript for this report and of course we have a huge glossary of football language here at languagecaster.com – hundreds and hundreds of entries. OK, myself and Damon will be back soon with some more football language. Enjoy all the football this week and we’ll see you again soon. Bye bye.
Check out our glossary of footballing phrases here. If you have any suggestions, contact us at admin@languagecaster.com
Free football language podcast for learners of English brought to you by Damian and Damon. Interviews, match reviews, predictions all with full language support for football fans around the world who wish to improve their English language skills.
