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Arsenal leave it late in Lisbon and Bayern win at Bernabéu – Football Weekly

April 8, 2026·53 min·4 clips

Barry Glendenning argues that watching Arsenal is a worse use of time than painting a picture or walking the dog.

It starts with EFL chaos. After the cold open on Millwall losing to Norwich, Lincoln going up, and late equalisers flying around, Lisbon gets the first proper look. Arsenal are praised, but not in the usual glossy way. The point is not that they were fluent. It is that Sporting away was awkward enough for a scruffy win to count. Handbrake off, apparently. The joke works because the panel keeps admitting the football was not sparkling while still giving the result its due. Then Madrid gets loud. Bayern move the ball with the speed and imagination one panelist calls almost mesmerising, while Real look thrilling and slightly dangerous to themselves. Neuer makes nine saves, and that matters because Real keep finding real chances. Loonan gets his moment too. His hospital pass into a defender surrounded by three Bayern players is met with the right mix of panic and laughter. Bellingham changes the mood when he comes on, all rampaging runs and Madrid momentum. Vinicius misses big chances. Mbappe beside him still makes the forward line feel like an alarm Bayern never quite switch off. The verdict stays messy in a good way. Bayern can deserve it, Real can plausibly have scored four, and the panel does not force the contradiction flat. That is the fun: enough tactics to trust it, enough raised eyebrows to keep it from turning into a coaching course.

As heard by us

Dry, sharp, and alive to the chaos of a big European night.

Football Weekly starts with the Easter EFL before moving into Lisbon, where Arsenal needed a win and Sporting's home was never going to be an easy place to visit.

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Why you'd press play

For Arsenal in Lisbon, Bayern-Real Madrid chaos, and a panel that never sits still.

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