Learn English Through Football Podcast: Women’s Champions League Play Offs

DF: Any ideas what that language was listener? Good luck with the other voices and languages on the show. And talking about the show, it’s time for our main focus which is football phrases and language connected with the recent Champions League play offs. And here’s Damon.

Women’s Champions League

DB: Yes, the Women’s Champions League play offs ended this week, and we now know who will be playing who in the quarter finals. Let’s take a little look at some of the football language connected with these games.  

(to) Thump

DB: The first one is the verb ‘to thump‘. The original meaning of this is to punch or to hit, but in the football context, if a team thumps another team, it means they beat them easily. And this was the case in a few of the matches in the play offs. 

Manchester United thumped Atletico Madrid 5-0 over two legs and Arsenal thumped OH Leuven first 4-0 away, before easing past the Belgian side 3-1 at home in the second leg. To ease past is to win without having to play at 100%.

The BBC used the adjective form of this phrase when describing Manchester United’s win over Atletico. The match report said: ‘Manchester United took a big step towards the Champions League quarter-finals with a thumping 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid.‘

So, team A thumps team B; they easily beat them. And, you can also say a thumping victory, or add the score, a thumping 4-0 win.

All (Country/Competition) Affair

DB: OK, the next language focus is the phrase ‘an all English affair‘ or ‘an all La Liga affair‘. Notice that we add a country or a competition to an all – something – affair. An all English affair means a tie between two English teams. Arsenal’s win thumping win means they will face Chelsea in the quarter finals, an all English affair, or an all Premier League affair.

Real Madrid overcame Paris FC 5-2 over the two legs, and they were drawn against Barcelona in the quarter finals. This means that game is… yep, an all Spanish affair or an all La Liga affair.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Welsh)  

In off the woodwork

DB: OK, so Manchester United thumped Atletico Madrid to set up a quarter final clash with Bayern Munich, we’ve mentioned two other quarter finals will see an all English affair, with Chelsea taking on Arsenal, and an all La Liga affair with a Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid. What about the final quarter final?

VfL Wolfsburg secured their spot in the quarters with a win over Juventus. It was 2-2 in the first leg but an early goal had Wolfsburg up 3-2 and a stoppage time goal which went in off the woodwork, secured the German side’s passage to the next round.

In off the woodwork means the ball hit the post or the crossbar and went in, in the goal. Here’s the BBC’s description: ‘Despite Juventus dominating the second half, the visitors sealed victory with a second goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time as Cora Zicai’s 20-yard shot went in off the bar.’

The ‘bar’ in this report is a short form for crossbar. In off the woodwork is different to phrases like ‘rattled the woodwork‘, which simply means ‘hit the woodwork’. The shot did not result in a goal. The crucial word in our phrase is ‘in’, in off the bar, the post, the upright, the crossbar.

Which quarter final looks the most interesting for you Damian?

DF: I suppose the all-English affair between Arsenal and Chelsea stands out though as a Spurs fan I wonder can both teams lose?!

DB: Indeed!

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (a Liverpool fan)  

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DF: Thanks for that look at some of the football language connected with the Women’s Champions League matches.

And I just want to highlight a couple of phrases that emerged from the men’s Champions League play-off game between Portuguese side Benfica and Spanish side Real Madrid. You might have heard the terrible news from that game, when Brazilian player Vinicius Jr was allegedly racially abused by an opposition player. Well, we are going to look at two phrases from that rather ugly story.

Racism Protocol

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This is a new way of trying to tackle racism in football and was set up by FIFA a couple of years ago. The protocol, or rule, can be used by a player (or manager) to signal to the referee that racial abuse has been used on the pitch or by supporters in the stands and the referee can then stop the game to investigate. There is a three-step process: Number 1 stop the game. Number two suspend the match which means that the players will return to the dressing room for a time until the racist abuse has hopefully stopped. Number three is abandoning the game – so this means that the game will not take place and will have to take place on another day.

The player or referee can cross their arms to signal that the game will stop and this is what happened in the game between Benfica and Real Madrid when Vini Jr complained to the referee that he had been racially insulted by an opposition player. The referee stopped the game for around ten minutes before the teams finally finished the game. So just the first step in the protocol on this occasion. 

Zero Tolerance

Now another phrase that has been in the media quite a lot this week is ‘zero tolerance‘. And this means that any kind of rule breaking or infringement will be punished; there is no leniency or tolerance as everyone who commits the offence will be disciplined. FIFA has insisted that there should be zero tolerance around racism in the game which should mean that all racist behaviour on the pitch or by fans in the stand should be punished; should always be punished. However, this is not always the case and it seems that FIFA are not really putting these words into actions as racism continues in the game. Surely there have to be tougher punishments for clubs, fans and players who racially abuse others?

A really sad and quite shocking week for football. 

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Indonesian) 

DB: Listener, maybe you know some interesting football phrases in other languages? If you do, then drop us a line at contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com and let us know. It’s always cool to hear how fans talk about football in different languages.

DF: And now it’s time for our predictions this week. We will first look at the North London derby and then also try and predict the second leg of the Champions League tie between last season’s beaten finalists Inter and Norwegian side Bodo. Damon what do you think about the North London derby?

Predictions: Premier League – Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal

DB: This is a big big game for all sorts of reasons. The main one being that this is the North London Derby, which I think is one of the biggest in English football. It’s also a big game for Arsenal, who have drawn two on the bounce, which means their title challenge is faltering a little. They are looking vulnerable. Tottenham on the other hand will be hoping for some new manager bounce with Igor Tudor taking the reigns. The fans will also will hope that Dr. Tottenham stays in the dressing room!

On paper, Arsenal should win. Spurs have lots of injuries, their captain is suspended, the team is being dragged into a relegation battle. However, I’m going to go for a 2-2 draw. A crazy game with lots of passion. Damian?

DF: I think I would take a draw now but we just don’t have enough fit players – I think we won’t win this one – maybe a 1-2 defeat but who knows? Form might go out the window in the derby! And next we have the Champions League second leg play off, men’s version, between Inter and Bodø/Glimt  Damon. How do you think this one will go?

Predictions: Champions League – Inter v Bodø/Glimt

DB: Well Bodø/Glimt have a 3-1 lead from the first leg, and the question is can they stop Inter scoring three goals. I think they will struggle to do that playing away at Inter. 2-0 to Inter and a winner in extra time for the Italian side.

DF: Yes, I think Inter will win this one and go through to the last 16. They are running away with the Italian title so can put everything into this game. It might go to extra time bt Inter will win 3-0. 

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Urdu) 

Contact

DF: Before we go, remember to come along to our website, and check out our huge glossary of football terms, with hundreds of football phrases and clichés about the beautiful game of football. You can also check out our  new page with our weekly football expressions from the past 20 years! Yes, 20 years! Let us know what you think. And of course, tell all your friends about us and give us ‘a like’ on your favourite podcast and social media platforms!

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Catalan)