Podcast: Champions League draw, USMNT roster, MLS Rivalry Week

The latest Planet Futbol Podcast focuses on the Champions League draw, the U.S. men's national team upcoming roster release and a glance at MLS's top rivalries ahead of some crucial matchups.

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Aug 27, 2015

The 2015-16 UEFA Champions League field is set, with Thursday's group draw in Monaco yielding some interesting results.

Powers Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain will be in one group, while Arsenal will play Bayern Munich in the group phase, but the deepest is a Group D featuring Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach.

With Grant Wahl and Brian Straus back in the fold, the Planet Fútbol crew dissects the draw, picks out the toughest groups and most notable items and storylines and ponders whether the group stage is just a mere formality for the typical giants en route to expected deep runs. (For more analysis and group predictions, read Ben Lyttleton's breakdown of the group draw).

We then shift gears to the U.S. men's national team (whose Fabian Johnson will play in the vaunted UCL Group D with Monchengladbach), and the forthcoming roster release ahead of September friendlies against CONMEBOL foes Peru and Brazil. With the Confederations Cup playoff against Mexico looming in October, can Jurgen Klinsmann afford to make roster gambles and change up his team yet again? Or will the team that failed in the Gold Cup join the returning Tim Howard for the games, which carry more significance than the typical fall friendlies.

Finally, we wrap up by previewing MLS's Rivalry Week, which sees the likes of LA-San Jose, Seattle-Portland and D.C.-New York Red Bulls headlining the slate of action.

Listen to the latest Planet Fútbol Podcast below (and subscribe to us on iTunes here):