Beyond The Pitch - Sid Lowe

Phil and Anto are joined once again by the tremendous Sid Lowe to have an in depth look at the fallout from the emotional events at the Bernabeu midweek and what some of these may hold in the near and distant future as they relate to Madrid as a football club and what all these things hold for Cristiano Ronaldo looking down at the barrel of a team that seems to have solved Jose Mourinho both on and off the pitch like no other opponent he has yet faced domestically. We get under all the mitigating factor from a contextual perspective as there are no clear outcomes to be drawn, but we do examine some of the inconsistencies in the approach from both perspectives, whether allegations of doping amongst Barcelona players has come from Mourinho himself, and gauging the political elements within the walls of the Bernabeu as Valdano and Di Stefano continue to watch what would never have been accepted during the days under Capello, del Bosque, Schuster and Heynckes. We also dig into the ramifications of these four extremely heated games on the Spanish national team as well as the recent destruction of Villarreal at the hands of Porto in the Europa League, the sale of Getafe and its curious Dubai branding opportunities and then we close on the Diego Forlan who looks to be on his way out of Atletico Madrid and La Liga at the end of the season - one of the truly remarkable offensive talents Spain has seen in the modern era. This is one jam-packed episode of La Liga football - do not miss it!

Training ground Diego Armando Maradona Argentina Copa America Boca Juniors Andres Iniesta