
Soccer
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Alexi Lalas and David Mosse start in the UEFA Champions League, where Ricardo Pepi made instant impact — scoring and assisting off the bench as PSV dismantled Napoli 6–2. Would you start him over Folarin Balogun? Bayer Leverkusen suffered a 7–2 defeat against PSG without Malik Tillman, and Arsenal cruised 4–0 past Atlético Madrid in a tough outing without Johnny Cardoso. On Wednesday, Weston McKennie battled hard but couldn’t stop Real Madrid’s dominance ahead of the first El Clásico of the season. And finally, Tim Weah & top of the table Marseille fell to Sporting Lisbon. Back stateside, the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs kick off with a loaded best-of-three first round. We’ll tell you who’s hot, who’s not, and who could lift the Cup.
Plus, #AskAlexi returns with your fan questions including a heated plea for Christian Pulisic to NOT wear the armband for the USMNT. Tune in and and smash that YouTube & Spotify subscribe button!
Intro - (0:00)
USMNT in UCL - Pepi is BACK BABY (:)
MLS Cup Playoff Preview - (:)
Best Superstar to add to USMNT: Harry Kane? - (:)
Should Pulisic get the captain's armband next summer? - (:)
2031 FIFA Women's World Cup heads to CONCACAF - (:)
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Listen guide
"Pepi Powers PSV, MLS Cup Playoffs Begin, and no captain’s armband for Pulisic?" is an episode of Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast. Runtime 53 min. Published October 23, 2025. Hit play above to stream it here, or open the free Spot Sports app for background play and offline downloads.