The first leg of the UEFA Women's Champions League Semifinals are Saturday. Dino and Grant take a look at the recent form of the four clubs still battling for the coveted UWCL trophy. We started with Barcelona, fresh off some dominating victories in Liga F, and talked about all the factors opponents need to beat them. We then moved to London to take about those Chelsea Blues, who have had some uncharacteristic stumbles in two domestic tournaments. Next, we traveled to Décines-Charpieu to talk ab...
Apr 18, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 42
"Beef" has been a popular topic of conversation the past few weeks. While we won't get into the dynamics of the current rap beef that's consuming social media, we scribbled in our notepads and put together the latest edition of the NWSL tiers. We placed all 14 teams on tiers based on their current vibes, the way they played this last week, the way they've played over the course of the first few weeks, and more! Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing 2023-2...
Apr 17, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Hello, friends. The USWNT won the SheBelieves Cup with victories over Japan and Canada. We talked about our beloved 4-2-3-1 formation, the terrifying sight of a potential Naomi Girma injury (she is day-to-day, based on the last report), the Shaw-Horan combo in midfield, and many other things from those two matches. Make room in the trophy case, USWNT. After that, we worked together to build an Olympic roster the only way two bros who love traditional sports media can: DRAFT STYLE. We took turns ...
Apr 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 40
The NWSL table is easy to find. You can go to the NWSL's website. You can go to our pals at FotMob (online or the mobile app). Or you can visit our other friends at FBRef. But sometimes football fans need a little more info, and that's why we created the ITC NWSL Tiers (the official name is a work-in-progress). In this episode, Dino and Grant place all 14 clubs across five tiers, with the goal of factoring in current form, potential future form, vibes, and other characteristics to create an accu...
Apr 05, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 39
The quarterfinals of the UEFA Women's Champions League is complete, and while we're excited to watch four incredible clubs compete in the semifinals, we spend a good chunk of this episode memorializing the four incredible clubs who've been eliminated. We start, where else, in Bergen, Norway. We honor the club and the Brann Battalion, but please remember, this isn't "goodbye;" it's merely a "see ya later." Then, we discuss Ajax's elimination after a 1-1 draw in London. With a combination of young...
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 38
We saw another wild week in the NWSL, as the "Chaos League" marches on in this young season. In this episode, we cover: - Chicago Red Stars reach the top of the table with a win over the Seattle Reign - Orlando Pride find a draw vs. Angel City on the strength of Marta's left boot - KC Current are level on points with Chicago after another win and impressive showing from Temwa Chawinga After that, we dive into El Clásico, where Caroline Graham Hansen put on a dominant performance en route to a 3-...
Mar 27, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 37
The first leg of the UEFA Women's Champions League Quarterfinals is in the books, and they were a magical group of fixtures. We start, where else, in Bergen, Norway -- where SK Brann gave everything they had in a 2-1 loss to the most talented side in the world: Barcelona. We dive deep into this one, covering the brave effort from Aurora Mikalsen, the toughness of Karoline Haughland (The Terminator), Signe Gaupset, and of course, Cecilie Redisch Kvamme. After that, we talk about Chelsea's convinc...
Mar 23, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 36
What else can we say? The UEFA WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IS BACK. Dino and Grant talk about all the matchups ahead of the games, and give some thought into how the matches might play out. We got into: - Ajax vs. Chelsea - Benfica vs. Lyon - BK Häcken vs. PSG - SK Brann vs. Barcelona (a very calm and neutral preview) Around the 45:45 mark, we switch gears and talk about what jumped out at us from the NWSL opening weekend, with a primary focus on Grant's attendance at Seattle Reign's 1-0 victory ov...
Mar 19, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Friend of the program Cam Pope, the freelance broadcast journalist who's done excellent work calling the UEFA Women's Champions League for DAZN, returned to the show to chat about Brann-Barcelona. But before that, we took a brief detour to ask Cam about his work at Manchester United TV, where he was on the call for Sunday's epic (men's) FA Cup Quarterfinal at Old Trafford between United and Liverpool. (If you didn't see what happened, do yourself a favor and find the replay or the highlights.) W...
Mar 18, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Into the Channel will continue to stay LOCKED IN on the UEFA Women's Champions League, but you know your boys can't get enough football, so we're talking about the upcoming NWSL season in this episode. With Dino in Orlando and Grant in Seattle, we now consider ourselves the world's premier Orlando Pride/Seattle Reign podcast. We start with our hometown clubs, then we talk a little about every other club in this incredible league. If we overlooked something major, or if there's something sneaky y...
Mar 16, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Lindsey Horan scored the winner as the USWNT managed to stifle Brazil's talented attack en route to winning the first-ever CONCACAF W Gold Cup. In this recap, we discuss the great contributions from players on nearly every part of the pitch, including the ironclad defensive duo of Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson; holding midfielder extraordinaire Sam Coffey; and total footballer Trinity Rodman. We make sure to credit the incredibly talented Brazilian squad, including Duda Sampaio and her free ki...
Mar 13, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 32
USWNT is going to face Brazil in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup Final. USWNT defeated Canada in dangerous conditions, but we try not to harp too much on the obvious stupidity of playing football on an unplayable pitch. Brazil defeated Mexico in a match where they looked like the better team, but a (semi-questionable?) red card colored some's view of the match. And even with those caveats, football is great, and everyone should love it. We then preview what USWNT-Brazil could look like and whether or no...
Mar 10, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 31
We kickoff this episode by discussing USWNT's promising 3-0 victory over Colombia. There was some great skill, some wild shithousery, good subs, and maybe some not-so-good game-planning. After that, we talk about Brazil's 5-1 drubbing of Argentina and why that rivalry match looked so one-sided. Then we talk about Mexico-Paraguay, where Mexico was in control, then it was slightly in doubt, then they were back in control, then it was in doubt again, and then... yeah, you get the picture. We also d...
Mar 06, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Spain took home the UEFA Women's Nations League title with a 2-0 victory over France with a dominant defensive performance. Dino and Grant talk about how Spain didn't allow any of France's world-class attackers to get going, then marvel at the sheer volume of battle-tested players younger than 25 La Roja have on its roster. It wouldn't be an episode of ITC without a good hypothetical, so Dino challenged Grant to come up with a World 11 that could beat Spain. After that, we discuss Germany notchi...
Mar 03, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Mexico scored a decisive 2-0 victory over the USWNT on Monday in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup. But was it poor form, bad strategy, or the wrong 11 for the stars and stripes? Or how about some other options: Was Mexico just as physical and prepared? Does La Tri just have excellent players who showcased their skill in a huge spot? We tackle those questions and send our apologies (in two languages) to Mexico for overlooking them. After that, we chat about USA drawing Linda Caicedo, Catalina Usme, and a ...
Mar 01, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 28
The US Women's National Team looked great against Argentina! ***Editorial note: This episode was recorded after the USWNT beat Argentina 4-0, but before the USA lost 2-0 to Mexico. We'll be talking about USA-Mexico on the next episode*** In this episode, we talk about Jaedyn Shaw's incredible performance and USWNT's willingness to try different combinations of players on the pitch. Surely that will be a strength throughout this tournament! Dino and Grant then move on to discuss Spain's continued...
Feb 27, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Are the remaining giants in the UEFA Women's Champions League starting to show some weaknesses? Dino and Grant take a look at two VERY interesting match results from the last week. First, Grant's Sky Blues scored a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Kingsmeadow, where MCFC Goalkeeper Khiara Keating put in another phenomenal performance. City is now level on points with Chelsea at the top of the WSL table, giving Emma Hayes' squad another thing to worry about as they try to win that elusive Champions Le...
Feb 21, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 26
The past week was light on Champions League football, but there was still plenty of elite women's club football to watch from around the world. Dino and Grant started with the Division 1 Arkema clash between Lyon and PSG (whaddya know, two UWCL teams). This match had a little bit of everything, and we left thinking our new pals from Paris should be feeling quite confident right now. After that, we had an Into the Channel Derby between Dino's Arsenal and Grant's Manchester City. This one featured...
Feb 16, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 25
The UEFA Women's Champions League Draw was held on Feb. 6, and just like the entire tournament up to this point, it delivered. In this episode, Dino and Grant utilize the very-American "draft" format to choose their favorite quarter-final matches: Brann-Barcelona - Brann is matched up against the best team in the world, so we discussed how the "Bullies from Bergen" should attack the first leg vs. Barcelona Häcken-PSG - Offense vs. Defense in one of its purest forms. Each leg of this quarter-fina...
Feb 10, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Matchday 6 of the UEFA Women's Champions League delivered edge-of-your-seat drama until the final whistles in Group C, as well as a mix of re-affirming, concerning, and downright celebration-worthy performances in the other groups. In the audio version of this week's show, we start by talking about Group C, or as Dino correctly named it early in the proceedings: "The Group of Life." After that, we managed to grab time with one of the voices of the UWCL on DAZN: Cam Pope! Cam joined us to talk ab...
Feb 05, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Matchday 5 in the UEFA Women's Champions League produced two great days of football. In this episode, we start with Brann advancing to the knockout stage for the first time in the club's history -- and your boys were FIRED UP about it. We also spent a few minutes wrapping up Group B by discussing Lyon's dominant 7-0 victory over St. Pölten. From there, we turned our attention to Group C, which Dino accurately named "The Group of Life" early in the tournament. The Roma vs. Bayern Munich match saw...
Jan 30, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 23
The UWCL returned with Slavia Praha getting a victory over St. Pölten in the final game of Matchday 4. We talked about the "tale of two halves" in that match and how Praha was able to hold on and stay alive in this tournament. Then, it was time to preview the full list of excellent matches on deck for Matchday 5. We discussed: Group B: Slavia Praha v Brann; St. Pölten v Lyon Group C: Roma v Bayern Munich; PSG v Ajax Group D: BK Häcken v Paris FC; Chelsea v Real Madrid Group A: Rosengård v Benfic...
Jan 23, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 21
In this week's episode, Dino and Grant talk to Christopher Gerrish, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of SoccerDossier, about the NWSL draft. Christopher is one of the few journalists out there who is closely analyzing the NWSL draft, and he shared some interesting insight into which players in this draft have the pedigree to be successful, which teams fared the best throughout the draft, and who might emerge as a quality sleepers from the later rounds. From there, the show turns its focus to The Guar...
Jan 18, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 19
2023 was a landmark year for women's football. Between rapidly increasing in-stadium attendance and television viewership across both domestic leagues and in the World Cup, we're past the whole "women's football is up-and-coming" thing: Women's football is here, and it's a powerhouse. So, we used this episode to talk about the greatest players in the game through the scope of both Dino and Grant naming their respective Starting 11 for 2023. You already know we're going to include many of our fav...
Jan 13, 2024•29 min
Dino and Grant go "Into the News," on this episode of Into the Channel. We cover some of the most important football news in the USA: - Gotham FC shook the NWSL by signing Crystal Dunn, Tierna Davidson, Rose Lavelle, and Emily Sonnett - The NWSL draft is happening (this was recorded prior to the draft), and we wonder aloud if the draft is the best way for the NWSL to acquire talent as international clubs continue to build out their women's academies - Soon-to-be-ex Barcelona FC manager Jonatan G...
Jan 13, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 18
It's been a few weeks since Netflix released "Under Pressure," the four-part documentary covering the US Women's National Team's run at the 2023 World Cup. With the documentary fully out of the "spoiler alert" zone, Dino and Grant talk about some of the things that jumped out to them, and they try to assign responsibility using the "Responsibility Pie" method. (Editorial Note: "Responsibility Pie" is supposed to add up to 100% like any reliable pie chart, but this one only went to 95% because yo...
Jan 03, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 17
***Note: The match between Slavia Praha and St. Pölten was postponed after a mass shooting in Prague on Dec. 21, 2023. Dino and Grant briefly discuss some of the circumstances surrounding the shooting before moving on to the distraction of football. The UEFA Women's Champions League provided us with another incredible match when show-favorite Brann found a way to score a late (LATE) equalizer vs. Lyon. From the confidence to hold the ball in the midfield, to 18-year-old budding superstar Signe G...
Dec 29, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 16
The UEFA Women's Champions League continues to deliver great matches and surprising results (in some cases). In this episode, Dino and Grant discuss all the action in Group C and Group D from Matchday 4. In Group C, first-place Ajax is only three points ahead of fourth-place Roma, with PSG in second and Bayern Munich in third. Dino has coined this as "the Group of Life," and that's bearing out with every team very much alive to advance to the knockout stage. In Group D, Grant discusses how Chels...
Dec 27, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 15
We kicked off this episode by discussing Lyon's 3-1 victory over SK Brann, where Lyon looked like one of the tournament favorites, but our newfound favorite club in Norway showed they have a bright future. From there, we kept it in Group B and talked about Slavia Praha v St. Polten, a match where Praha looked better than they have all tournament, and STP more than held their own. Then it was time to discuss Group A, where the reigning champions of Europe, Barcelona, enjoyed a dominating victory ...
Dec 21, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 14
We were treated to an epic Matchday 3 of the 2023-24 UEFA Women's Champions League last week! In this episode, we broke down both matchups from Group C and Group D: Bayern Munich 1 Ajax 1 PSG 2 Roma 1 Chelsea 0 BK Häcken 0 Paris FC 2 Real Madrid 1 Some of the players covered in this one from Group C: Georgia Stanway, Katharina Naschenweng, Lea Schüller, Linda Dallmann, Sydney Lohmann, Regina van Eijk, Sherida Spitse, Lily Yohannes, Ashleigh Van Weerden, Grace Geyoro, Tabitha Chawinga, Jade Le Gu...
Dec 19, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 12
