Peyton: What’s going on? Talon marks, it’s your boy, Peyton Oliveira, co host, Duran, and today we’re going to be going over everything soccer related that’s going to include the Europa League, which recently just wrapped up before we started recording. Obviously, the Champions League in its new format, the MLS, where the shield was just decided, and a bit of local news with the Cerritos soccer teams, both men and women. We’re going to kick it off talking about the Europa League, and I’m gonna throw it over to you, Duran,

Duran: Hi everybody, yes, the Europa League just recently wrapped up today and very good decisive games. Athletico club defeated al Samad two zero and tottenham, they won a two one against falsenheim, and Ajax finished one, one against Sal pals in Czechoslovakia. But of course, the high scoring game today was Manchester United versus Porto. Ended three. Three could have been more goals, but wow, what a game.

Peyton: And you know, this is the kind that kind of reminds you of that all Champions League matchup they had when Ronaldo was back there, Bruno Fernandes received a red card. Not exactly sure what minute was. Marcus Rashford was able to kick off the scoring. He’s trying to return to the vein of form. He had around 2020, 2021, when he was doing very well in the league. So not necessarily the best sign for United defensively. But you know, Andre Onana, Lissandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt, you know, they’ve got a very talented defense over there, so they’re looking to wrap things up. Obviously, the red card didn’t help. A very interesting result from that game.

Duran: Yes, in the first half of that one, it was back and forth. It was actually two nothing, Manchester United, and they were rolling, but then Porto came back with two straight goals, and they actually grabbed the lead in the 50th minute, but in the 90th minute, Manchester United scored in the 91st minute. And you gotta admit, you know, Porto, they were up a man. Why did they let this happen? They could have beat Manchester United.

Peyton:I mean, it doesn’t matter who’s in the manager dugout at United. Fergie time is always gonna be a thing that’s always something that they’re going to believe in, and you just can’t, especially against opposition like that. I know United isn’t necessarily the strongest Big Six team in the prem right now, but as a team like Porto, coming from Portugal, this is a game that must be won, especially a game where you’ve got the league going into the 90th minute, it’s something that they’re definitely gonna have to clean up, because those are valuable points, especially with the league format. You’re not going to have that for the familiarity of getting to play united again. And you know, okay, this time we did this, now we get to do this. You know, everyone’s completely different, and so you only get one chance per team. You have to take it.

Duran: That red card. Really messed it up. Really messed it up. It would have been a big win. You know, Manchester United. You know all the turmoil, all the ownership problems, still, you need somebody you know to fix this team. You need a star. I mean, they’re not how there used to be.

Peyton: I mean, back before, like it almost feels like pre Eric Canton off, like they need someone like him to push this team forward. And you know, you think it’s going to be Anthony for 100 million pounds, and you wanted to be Bruno, because he’s been here for, what, almost five years at this point, and you know, he’s producing, but you need a superstar

Duran: Look. They haven’t done anything since Alex Ferguson left. All right, I remember when they brought Ronaldo. He was gonna go to Man City, but, you know, he said no, because, of course, Manchester United, that was his club. Of course, they brought him back as a star, but still nothing,

Peyton: Absolutely nothing. And it’s just you have to, at some point, wonder if it’s an organizational problem with them and hope that things can get better. I mean, Ajax had a very solid showing as well in the Europa League. I believe they won for nothing against the sick task, one of the stronger teams in Turkey, and that’s great for them. Obviously, they had a rough domestic campaign last year, and they’ve not necessarily struggled, but they haven’t been what they are after Eric tan Hagg left, which is completely understandable when you have a manager of his caliber in the Eerste Divisie. So you know, a very good win for them. You know other big games like Roma versus Athletic Club, like we stayed at Tottenham one, Lyon was able to get a two nil win against Olympiarcos, you know, so some very interesting results in the Europa League.

Duran: Oh,yeah, of course, Lazio, they also beat Nice 4-1 you know, little Italian-French matchup and Galatasaray, Turkish club, they beat RFS, 2-2, a 2-2 game.

Peyton: And then I do want to say red cards have been a very prominent feature in this instance of the Europa League. I mean, they’re showing up in what feels like every other game you watch there’s a red card. And I don’t know if that’s necessarily a problem with refereeing, or if we need more discipline on the field, or what’s going on, but we’ve got guys putting teams in difficult positions to win from

Duran: Look,you know, look, some of these clubs, they don’t face the big teams very often. What they do, they take their chance. They want to show that we’re not going to be embarrassed. We’re going to take it to you. But of course, some are blowouts, but some like, hey, you know, they pull off the upset

Peyton: Exactly. And now we’ve been. Talking about Thursday nights. Now we’re going to move on to Wednesday nights in the Champions League, which obviously, of course, the Europa League did the same, but we’re gone with the group stages. We’ve got a league format. Duran, is it as intense as it used to be? Are the matchup that upsets exciting? How do you feel?

Duran: Honestly, there’s no hype, you know, because I remember watching Champions League, there’s always a group stage, you know, group of death. You know, there’s just no hype. It’s just okay, Home and Away Home and Away Home and Away. Of course, there’s good matches, like Aston Villa, they beat Bayern, one zero,

Peyton: And Lille beat. Madrid, one nil, course.

Duran: But there’s still, you know, even if you have three losses, you still have a chance to make it to the knockout stage.

Peyton: And that was something that was not necessarily impossible with the group, but I mean improbable for sure, and it’s the kind of thing that you don’t want. You don’t want it to be watered down. You don’t ever want things like the Champions League to feel watered down. And it’s hard for something with the prestige of the Champions League to feel that way. It’s just unfortunate. You know,

Duran:This brings me. This brings us back to, you know, the Super League they try to do in 2010 they said, No, there’s never going to happen. But, you know, this feels like, you know, you’re giving the big clubs more money to face each other. But still, you know, look at the group stage. You had a group of death. You had, let’s say Barcelona, AC Milan Dortmund, against Young boys. You know, you could be getting two great matches Home and Away.

Peyton: You know, you’re gonna get, like, you’re gonna get at least six really, really, really good games from that group. And now you just have to hope that the matchmakers before the season are putting up interesting matchups. And I’m never gonna be against smaller clubs being able to make change. To make Champions League money and compete, but product on the field is very much a different thing, and having teams like that go up against Madrid, obviously, Lille proved us wrong, and they were able to come out with a victory. But that’s a top, you know, that’s a top French team that’s not necessarily a team from, you know, Eastern Europe that might get, you know, shelled by Madrid or by City Year, by any one of those prominent clubs.

Duran: Well, look Real Madrid. They’re in chaos right now. Of course, they got Mbappe but still, you know what’s going on over there. You know, you gotta be curious about

this.

Peyton:Of course,

Duran:Bayern Leverkusen, they beat AC Milan Christian Pulisic. goal streak ended at six. He did play, and Yanus Musu did not get into the game. Borussia Dortmund, they beat Celtic. 7-1. Gio Reina did not play.

Peyton: Karemi Adeyemidid get a really nice hat trick though.

Duran:Gio Reina did not play. He is still injured. Juventus, they face RB. Leixic, I will say three. They beat him. Three, two.

Peyton:For me personally, I’d say the most impressive victory I saw was Arsenal to nil against PSG. I know it’s a revamped PSG team, but they’ve got, they’ve got this one forward. I can’t remember his name, unfortunately right now, but he’s only 21 and he’s been tearing it up in Ligue 1. And you know Tierry Henry on CBS after the game that Arsenal had a great performance, but a real statement win is doing that two nil win against PSG away. But because of the new format, we’re never gonna get that PSG away game, which is unfortunate.

Duran: Well, look, see, look, PSG, they knew Mbappe was gonna leave. Why did you not get somebody like a big star? You know,

Peyton: Even, even if you don’t get a big star, I mean, you know, 50 here, 50 here. Like they should have, they should have sold them when they had the opportunity, and they didn’t, and they’re paying for it now, and that’s where, I mean, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Duran:That’s true. That’s true. But, you know, come on, you know, you have all this young talent in PSG, you know, I have a feeling. Are they gonna win Ligue 1?

I mean, you know, obviously we had Lille, Monaco, won in the past. You know, weak PSG, teams are not guaranteed anything. You know, I’ve seen weak Bayern Munich teams win the Bundesliga. The ligue 1 is slightly less forgiving.

Duran:I give it up for Marseille, they probably have a good chance this year.

Peyton:Yeah, Marseille or Lille, I would say, are up there. But now we’re gonna go ahead and transition on to MLS, because trophies are being lifted. Duran take it away.

Duran:Yes, Of course, the matchup that everybody’s talking about in MLS was Lionel Messi Inter Miami went into Columbus to face the crew and defeated them three two to win the supporter shield. Of course, the game, it was actually a pretty hectic but in the later stage of the first half, Lionel Messi took over, scored an absolute goal to make it one nil, and on a free kick, He curled it to make it two zero. Second half started, the Crew came out and made it to one, but Lionel Messi and Suarez came in and made it three one. But of course. Course, Columbus, they got a penalty, and it made it, made it, made it three, two and Inter Miami and Columbus Crew, they gave up a red card, but they still had good chances, and a penalty came and they were gonna make it. Crew had a chance to get three, three, but Drake goalkeeper saved it. He deserves the credit for the game. He won them the Supporter shield. I mean, he’s got to give it up for them.

Peyton: He’s got to have a hand on that trophy. You know, obviously, Messi is going to dominate the headlines. He is, you know, one of the greatest of all time, arguably the greatest. So he’s going to dominate, especially when he gets a brace. But, I mean, Dre Calender is kind of the reason that they have that at all. I mean, if they put that gold away, what happens

Duran: Still be battling for the supporter shield. But here’s one thing that I wanted, I want to mention, can we give Messi all the credit for inter Miami winning the supporter shield?

Peyton: I don’t necessarily agree with it. I understand people that would feel that way, especially European fans, because they don’t necessarily respect American, American leagues, American defenses, American anything. But I mean, that team came out and made it close against Messi’s team, and he scored two goals. You know, of course, he’s the difference or he’s a difference maker, but I don’t necessarily think he’s the difference.

Duran: But don’t forget, you know, Messi went to Copa America for a month, and the team was still playing, and they were winning.

Peyton: Yeah, they won games. They did much better than they did his very first year, when he was absent. And you know, so we’ll have to see how they do in the future. But now we get to get into Cerritos soccer, and we’re gonna start with the women’s team. Duran, you’ve got some stuff from the last month. Talk to me.

Duran:Well, yes, I’ve been covering the team and actually going to these away games and the women’s team of their start in non league conference, they finished with a record of one, five and four. First, the home game against Norco, they finished one, one, let it go into the 90th minute. Then the team went on a three game away streak went to, Northern California, faced American River and lost two to one. Then it then lost one zero in Stockton, then they went to Santa Barbara Valley and lost three two. But then came, came home, and that game against College of the Desert, they were down one zero, then Jenny Santos, on a penalty, made it one one, and in the dying moments of that game, Ariana Rivera came in and scored the winner and added time to give Cerritos their first win. Gotta admit, they stole that game from them.

Peyton: They did. Duran, we were there. I mean, we witnessed Ariana Rivera’s finish. It was unbelievable. She curled it in from outside or from very far in the box. I mean, it hit off the post. It’s an unsavable shot for anybody that would have been against it. And you know, that was, that was a game that I felt like they deserved to win. But there have been a lot of games this year that they’ve that we’ve watched and felt like they should have won that just didn’t work their way.

Duran: Well,yes, of course, I still remember that goal of hurry, hit off the post it in. I still hear that ding. Then, of course, next home game, they got destroyed, against Santiago County, five one. Ariana did score in that one. Then they went on another three game away streak, lost to La Sarah University. Actually, they tied in that 0-0 Trinidad and backup goalkeeper Alex Barker got the shut outs for the team. Got a combined shout out. Then they went to Ventura. Ventura, they really, they really took a tour to them, Trinidad, she kind of came out for the second goal. Kind of probably could have been three zero for Ventura, they shot a 30 yard goal, but it actually hit off the line. Did not go in Fullerton. That was a rough game for them. It was really like chippy, because in the start, Fullerton went on and scored first minute, then Cerritos took over.

Peyton: Um, they kind of took over the momentum.

Duran: Well, actually, no someone, Jessica, she got her first goal, made it, made it one, one, then second half, you know, Cerritos, they wanted to play Fullerton. They wanted to fight and back and forth. They were getting shots, but Fullerton, they got in their head. I’m just gonna say it. They got into their heads. They got physical and Cerritos, they did not take it. They put a foul, but they gave him a free kick and scored over Trinidad to make it two one. And the dying moments, Jenny Santos made it 2-2 off a chip, saved them, literally got them a point, but they know they should have won that game and the final home game before league play, they face Mount SAC. What can and still, you know, they just they allow the first goal

Peyton: They do. They’ve had an issue with it all year.

Duran:They start off well. They dominate the control possession. But still, they allow the first goal and made it one one, made it one in the first half, but then in this still in the first half, Sarah Sanchez got her second goal of the year to make it one, one. But coming into the second half, they still dominated. They should, they should have scored. But Jenny Santos, again, had a chance to score, chipped it, but hit off the post. They cleared it out. But then again, Jenny came into the dying moments of at a time she got pulled down and no penalty.

Peyton: Oh, that’s that’s always a rough one. I mean, the penalty calls will kill you, and you know we’re gonna be moving on now to the men’s team.

Duran:Just quick shout out there. Their next home game is going to be the first league play against rivals Long Beach City.

Peyton: Keep an eye out for that one guys. That’s going to be a good game. And of course, going over to the men’s team now, they’ve been in a very rich vein of form. I mean, five games unbeaten. They’ve won four of those games, two of them. They’ve scored five or more goals scored 11 in their last two. I mean, this team’s identity has always been defense. They’ve allowed more than two goals against them one time, and it was the three goals they allowed at Hartnell at the Hartnell tournament. I mean, other than that, defensively, they’ve been pretty impeccable. Obviously, they have UC Irvine product, Griffin Welch, in between the sticks. He’s very solid. Their entire back line operates well. They they sometimes they’ve seen them play with back five, seen them play with back threes. They adapt incredibly well defensively. But I mean, the real stars of the show are the forwards. You know, specifically Donovan Perez. He was last year’s top goal scorer. This year, he regained the reins as the top goal scorer. His game against Glendale was his best of the year by far. He was able to bag two goals and get a hat trick of assists. I mean, five goal contributions in a six nil win.

Duran: I mean, that’s not a win, that’s a statement.

Peyton: That’s a 10 out of 10 performance. And I mean, that goes along with a hat trick from Pedro Reyes, who’s been very solid this year, or not a Pedro Reyes, I apologize, he’s also been solid. He has two goals and an assist. I believe Jose Lopez has had a hat trick in that game against Glendale, but still just an incredibly talented forward line. I mean, they’ve got a guy like Eric Velasquez or Velasco on the bench. I mean, he scored a double in that win against Golden West, you know, an incredibly talented offensive team, and I think they’ve really got what it takes this year. I mean, they’re allowing less than a goal again. A goal a game, you know. I mean, I’m really excited to see this team in conference play the tournament.

Duran: They got one more non league conference against Los Angeles, then they begin non league play against Long Beach City, the rival.

Peyton: And I am very excited to see how that game plays out. You know, obviously one thing coach Artiaga constantly tells us is, you know, when we’re talking to him, is, you know, no one plays harder teams than us. No one has a harder schedule than us. And, I mean, if this is how they’re performing at you know, this with this level of schedule, I’m incredibly excited to see what happens when we go into league play. You know, obviously, there was an upset last year in the conference, in the conference tournament, and you know, the boys are disappointed, but I think there’s a real motivation behind the squad, and I can’t wait to see how far they go, but that’s gonna be it for us today. I hope you all enjoyed it, and we hope to catch you guys next time. So thank you very much, and y’all have a good one.

Duran: Adios.

Peyton: Adios.