Nagelsmann’s naivety, Mbappe’s pivot and Xabi’s smart start

Jimbo and the continental panel of Raphael Honigstein, James Horncastle, Julien Laurens and Alvaro Romeo shine a light on the big stories in European football this week. Bayern throw away a 2-0 lead in Dortmund, with questions starting to be asked of whether Julian Nagelsmann is the long-term future of the club. But it’s the perfect start for Xabi Alonso at Leverkusen. Bayern’s former striker Robert Lewandowski is a bit starved of service at Barca as they face Inter in a huge Champions League clash. In France, there’s more Mbappe melodrama at PSG with the star striker criticising Christophe Galtier’s tactics on Instagram. Elsewhere, Kristof Terreur gives us the lowdown on the perfect Club Brugge and Jules purrs over the perfect Enzo Fernandez.  Plus some harsh red cards and some not so harsh red cards. Produced by Charlie Jones RUNNING ORDER:  • PART 1: Moment of the weekend (01.30) • PART 2: Germany – Klassiker classic and a not too Xabi start (06.00) • PART 3: Spain – big weeks for Barca and Real (18.00)  • PART 4: Kristof Terreur on the remarkable Club Brugge (29.00) • PART 5: France - more Mbappe melodrama (37.00) • PART 6: Italy – champions Milan stay on Napoli’s tail (49.00) SIGN UP TO THE ATHLETIC TODAY FOR £1 A MONTH FOR THE FIRST 6 MONTHS • theathletic.com/totally Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices