This Week: Project Europe
This Week: Project Europe
Welcome to This Week from Premier Skills English, a weekly review of football action for learners of English from across the globe. This Week, Laura, Rich and Jack talk about the latest action from the Premier League and have lots of football English for you to learn.
Transcript
Project Europe
Laura: Hello my name’s Laura and welcome to our weekly round-up section called ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English.
Rich: Hi there. I’m Rich. We’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.
Jack: And I’m Jack and we hope you are all well.
Laura: The Premier League season is over but Premier League teams will still be in action over the next few weeks.
Rich: This week we’re going to be talking about the three Premier League teams that are still alive in Europe.
Jack: And on top of that we have plenty more football English for you to learn, too.
Laura: First of all, we’re going to take a look at three football headlines and focus on some useful bits of vocabulary.
Rich: And we want you to use and practise these words and phrases by interacting with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.
Jack: And a little later we’ll also have a Premier League prediction for you.
Laura: If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, you can leave your comments in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.
Rich: You can find all our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page.
Jack: Don’t forget that we also have our weekly Premier Skills English podcast that is released every Friday. Every week we help you with some different vocabulary or an aspect of grammar.
Laura: Our latest podcast is called Learning Vocabulary: Agreeing and Disagreeing.
Rich: We take a look back at the Premier League season and decide to give out a few Premier Skills English awards.
Laura: But Rich, Rowan and Jack can’t agree and they end up arguing.
Jack: We focus on words and phrases we use to agree and disagree. You can find the lesson on the homepage on the Premier Skills English website.
Rich: You’re now going to hear our three headlines. After each headline, we’ll have a little discussion and look at some vocabulary.
Laura: The words and phrases we are looking at this week are: tie, convincing, on aggregate, book a place in the next round, on course and get through.
Jack: After the headlines, we want you to make a Premier League prediction and we have a language challenge for you to have a go at.
Headline 1
Rich: City knock out Europe’s finest.
Jack: Manchester City finished off the job they started in February with a convincing 2-1 win in the second leg of their Champions League tie against Real Madrid. Raheem Sterling opened the scoring following a mistake by Raphael Varane and could have added more before Karim Benzema equalised for Madrid. Gabriel Jesus got the winning goal in the second half to make the tie safe for the team in blue.
Laura: A great win for City - knocking out the thirteen times winners from Madrid.
Rich: Yes, it’s the first time Zinedine Zidane has ever been knocked out of the Champions League as a manager.
Jack: They now go to the final eight tournament in Portugal. They’ve got Lyon in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Laura: They had to wait six months to finish their tie against Madrid and have their next match just a week later.
Rich: Let’s look at a couple of bits of vocabulary from that headline. The first word is tie. We spoke about City’s tie against Real Madrid. Isn’t it the same as game or match?
Jack: Not quite. When we spoke about the tie between Madrid and City we’re talking about the two matches between the teams: the first leg and the second leg.
Laura: City won the first leg and the second leg so they won the tie overall. Tie is also used to speak about cup matches and tie is a shortened version of cup tie.
Rich: Ah yes, we might say the tie of the round is Arsenal against Tottenham. That means we think it’s the most exciting match or cup tie or tie in that round of matches.
Jack: We don’t usually use it to talk about normal league matches. We say which match or game are you going to watch this weekend - not which tie.
Laura: There’s another meaning to tie as well; it’s the same as a draw. The match ended 1-1. It finished in a tie. This is more common in American English. In football English, it’s better to use the word draw.
Rich: OK, so we use tie to describe cup matches and matches over two legs and we can use it to mean draw. Got it.
Jack: The next word we’re going to look at is convincing. This is an adjective and we see it quite a lot in football. We said that it was a convincing win for City.
Laura: Here it basically means that it was an easy win and City played well - they played like possible champions. Through their play they are convincing people that they are good enough to win.
Rich: More generally, convincing means to make someone believe that something is true. We often use it about actors. It was a very convincing performance.
Jack: Or maybe when someone wants you to believe something is true. She was very convincing - I think she must have seen an alien.
Laura: OK, let’s move on to headline two.
Headline 2
Jack: Wolves join United in Germany.
Laura: Wolverhampton Wanderers booked their place in the final eight tournament of the Europa League with a hard-fought victory against Olympiakos of Greece. Raul Jimenez scored the only goal of the game to win the tie 2-1 on aggregate. Wolves will be joined in Germany by Manchester United who confirmed their place with a 2-1 win against LASK of Austria to win their tie 7-1 on aggregate.
Rich: That was a difficult match for Wolves and they’ve got Sevilla from Spain in the quarter-finals who have won the Europa League a record five times.
Jack: A tricky tie. Manchester United have FC Copenhagen which looks easier on paper but I suppose there are no easy games at this stage of a competition.
Laura: Let’s look at a bit of language. We said Wolves have booked their place in the final eight tournament.
Rich: We often see this phrase used to talk about cup competitions: booked their place in the next round, booked their place in the semi-finals .. that kind of thing.
Jack: To book something means to reserve something, to arrange something in advance. You might book a table in a restaurant, book a holiday online - that kind of thing.
Laura: The phrase is being used in a non-literal way here as a team can’t book a place in the next round. The only way to play in the next round is to win.
Rich: We also said Manchester United confirmed their place in the next round. We used confirmed instead of booked here because there was little doubt that United would reach the next round. They won the first leg 5-0.
Jack: The next phrase we want to look at is on aggregate. On aggregate is the scores from a number of games added together.
Laura: In cup competitions, teams often play two matches against each other and the winner is the team that scores more goals over the two matches.
Rich: Wolves beat Olympiakos 2-1 on aggregate. The first match finished 1-1 and Wolves won the second match 1-0.
Jack: Let’s listen to our third headline.
Headline 3
Jack: Mini tournaments to decide European Champions.
Rich: Mini tournaments in Portugal and Germany will decide this season's Champions and Europa Leagues. Both kick off this week with the final eight teams playing one-legged matches. Manchester United are on course to meet Wolves in the semi-finals if they get through their quarter-finals and Manchester City could potentially play Bayern Munich in the semis in the Champions League.
Laura: Both tournaments are being played over the next two weeks so lots of football to look forward to.
Jack: Wolves against Manchester United would be nice. An all Premier League match - a Premier League derby.
Rich: Let’s look at some language. We said that Wolves and Manchester United are on course to meet in the semi-finals.
Laura: On course means to be moving towards completing or achieving something. Moving in the right direction.
Jack: Wolves and United won their most recent matches to make a meeting between the two more likely in the semi-finals.
Rich: They are only on course towards this meeting though because they still need to win their quarter-final matches to make this happen.
Laura: Another phrase we used in that headline was to get through. Manchester City, Manchester United and Wolves all got through to the next round of the competition.
Jack: The phrasal verb get through has lots of meanings but one of them means to reach the next stage of a competition.
Rich: All three teams got through to the next round but who will get through to the final?
Laura: OK. We’ve looked at three stories and six bits of vocabulary in our headlines. The words and phrases we’ve looked at are: tie, convincing, on aggregate, book a place in the next round, on course and get through.
Jack: Have a listen to the headlines again and see if you understand the vocabulary we’ve looked at.
Prediction
Laura: It’s time for our Premier League prediction.
Jack: We’re going to stick with Manchester City’s bid to win the Champions League for the first-ever time.
Rich: We successfully predicted that they’d get through their tie against Real Madrid even though we thought it’d finish in a draw.
Laura: It’s Lyon from France next, in Portugal. Everyone thought City would be playing Juventus but the French team got a shock win. What do you think will happen, Rich?
Rich: I think Lyon’s surprise win against Juventus will work in City’s favour. There is no doubt that City will prefer playing the French team instead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus. City are stronger than Lyon all over the pitch but if they underestimate them they will lose. They have to play in the same way as they played against Madrid. If they do this I think it will be another convincing win for City. Final score: Manchester City 2-0 Lyon.
Jack: Let’s see if City can book their place in the Champions League semi-finals.
Laura: So, that’s our prediction. What’s yours? Do you agree? You can make your prediction for all the Champions League and Europa League ties on the Premier Skills English website.
Language Challenge
Rich: To finish up the show we’ve got a quick language challenge connected to this week’s vocabulary.
Jack: Earlier we used the phrase to get through. The word get is very common and there are lots of phrasal verbs that use the word get.
Laura: Here are three sentences which use phrasal verbs with get. Can you complete each sentence?
Rich: It usually takes a while for players and fans to get **** a cup final defeat.
Jack: I find it really difficult to get **** to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
Laura: I want to get **** for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
Rich: We want you to write the correct answers on the Premier Skills English website where we have some more questions and activities connected to this week’s show.
Jack: Or write your answer on Apple Podcasts if that’s where you listen to us. Just write the answers in the review section and say hi.
Laura: Before we finish we just wanted to say that we hope you found this lesson useful and we hope that all of you stay fit and healthy.
Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.
Headlines
City knock out Europe’s finest
Manchester City finished off the job they started in February with a convincing 2-1 win in the second leg of their Champions League tie against Real Madrid. Raheem Sterling opened the scoring following a mistake by Raphael Varane and could have added more before Karim Benzema equalised for Madrid. Gabriel Jesus got the winning goal in the second half to make the tie safe for the team in blue.
Headlines
Wolves join United in Germany
Wolverhampton Wanderers booked their place in the final eight tournament of the Europa League with a hard-fought victory against Olympiakos of Greece. Raul Jimenez scored the only goal of the game to win the tie 2-1 on aggregate. Wolves will be joined in Germany by Manchester United who confirmed their place with a 2-1 win against LASK of Austria to win their tie 7-1 on aggregate.
Headlines
Mini tournaments to decide European Champions
Mini tournaments in Portugal and Germany will decide this season's Champions and Europa Leagues. Both kick off this week with the final eight teams playing one-legged matches. Manchester United are on course to meet Wolves in the semi-finals if they get through their quarter-finals and Manchester City could potentially play Bayern Munich in the semis in the Champions League.
Vocabulary Alert
Language in the headlines
We looked at six words and phrases in our headlines that you can learn to improve your English. Take a look at the phrases in bold. Do you understand what they mean?
Manchester City finished off the job they started in February with a convincing 2-1 win.
Gabriel Jesus got the winning goal in the second half to make the tie safe for the team in blue.
Wolverhampton Wanderers booked their place in the final eight tournament of the Europa League.
Manchester United confirmed their place with a 2-1 win against LASK of Austria to win their tie 7-1 on aggregate.
Manchester United are on course to meet Wolves in the semi-finals.
Manchester City, Manchester United and Wolves all got through to the next round of the competition.
Prediction
Champions League Prediction
Rich has our prediction this week. He spoke about the Champions League tie between Manchester City and Lyon.
Rich thinks it will finish in a convincing win for City who will go through to the semi-finals.
Vocabulary
Language Challenge
Jack, Rich and Laura set you a language challenge. We used the phrase get through earlier in the podcast and we’ve thought of three other phrasal verbs which use the word get. Can you complete the phrases using the correct word?
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get _____ a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get ______ to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get _____ for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
Write the correct answer in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Discuss
Talk about the headlines
Jack, Laura and Rich looked at three stories in the news and some vocabulary that might be new to you. Now it's your turn! Have a look at the questions and write your answers in the comments section below.
- Did you watch Manchester City, Manchester United and Wolves get through to the next round?
- Which match do you think is the tie of the round in the Champions League and Europa League?
- Which teams look most convincing to you?
- Rich has predicted a final score of Manchester City 2-0 Lyon. What's your prediction for this Champions League tie?
- Can you do our language challenge?
Write your comments and answers in the section below.
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Comments
06/05/2021
points
DISCUSS
All the round of matches have been completed except final in 2021 . İstanbul will host the final of UEFA Champions League cup tie. I think match will be finished in tie and the cup winner will be determined by penalty shootout. It might also not be a convincing win for winner. My favourite is M.City.
LANGUAGE CHALLENGE
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get OVER a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get THROUGH to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get AWAY for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
PHRASES
• Politicians are very convincing performers-:) that make you to be believed that everything is perfect.
• This high jumper failed to break world record but booked a place in the next round of olympic games to achieve it.
• After being selected of first round of the national olympic team she/he is on course now to get a good degree in Tokyo Olympic.
06/05/2021 14:55
Tottenham Hotspur
5552
DISCUSS
All the round of matches have been completed except final in 2021 . İstanbul will host the final of UEFA Champions League cup tie. I think match will be finished in tie and the cup winner will be determined by penalty shootout. It might also not be a convincing win for winner. My favourite is M.City.
LANGUAGE CHALLENGE
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get OVER a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get THROUGH to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get AWAY for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
PHRASES
• Politicians are very convincing performers-:) that make you to be believed that everything is perfect.
• This high jumper failed to break world record but booked a place in the next round of olympic games to achieve it.
• After being selected of first round of the national olympic team she/he is on course now to get a good degree in Tokyo Olympic.
28/08/2020
points
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get over a cup final defeat.
28/08/2020 04:14
Liverpool
6562
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get over a cup final defeat.
28/08/2020
points
I find it really difficult to get back to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
28/08/2020 04:11
Liverpool
6562
I find it really difficult to get back to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
28/08/2020
points
I want to get out for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
28/08/2020 04:10
Liverpool
6562
I want to get out for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
28/08/2020
points
I want to get holiday for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
28/08/2020 04:05
Liverpool
6562
I want to get holiday for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
28/08/2020
points
Bayern and Sevilla were too convincing during the tournament and deservedly won the Cups.
28/08/2020 04:03
Liverpool
6562
Bayern and Sevilla were too convincing during the tournament and deservedly won the Cups.
28/08/2020
points
Barcelona - Bayern is the tie of the round in the Champions League.
28/08/2020 04:01
Liverpool
6562
Barcelona - Bayern is the tie of the round in the Champions League.
28/08/2020
points
I didn't watch the PL teams get through to the next stage, though I was sure they would get there.
28/08/2020 03:57
Liverpool
6562
I didn't watch the PL teams get through to the next stage, though I was sure they would get there.
17/08/2020
points
Language Challenge :
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get **** a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get **** to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get **** for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
17/08/2020 06:38
Manchester United
6536
Language Challenge :
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get **** a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get **** to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get **** for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
17/08/2020
points
1. Yes , I watched Manchester United and Manchester City games but I didn't watch Wolves game.
2. For sure Barcelona vs Bayern Munich and it ended with a humiliation to Barcelona and the GOAT.
3. The most convincing teams are Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Sevilla in Europa League.
4. I predicted a win for Manchester City as well but they lost 1-3 in a surprising result.
17/08/2020 06:34
Manchester United
6536
1. Yes , I watched Manchester United and Manchester City games but I didn't watch Wolves game.
2. For sure Barcelona vs Bayern Munich and it ended with a humiliation to Barcelona and the GOAT.
3. The most convincing teams are Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Sevilla in Europa League.
4. I predicted a win for Manchester City as well but they lost 1-3 in a surprising result.
15/08/2020
points
Hi!
Language Challenge:
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get RECOVERED a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get **** to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get **** for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
Talk about the headlines:
1 - I watched Manchester City x Real Madrid, a good match. I thought would be easiest to Manchester to defeat Real Madrid.
2 - City x Bayer and United x Sevilla. I 'm anxious to see these matches.
3 - I really don't know. United is playing well, but Sevilla also and Sevilla like so much of Europa League, they have many tradciton in this competition.
In the Champions League, the things are more difiicult, Bayer it is a amazing team, playing a amazing football (8x2 against Barcelona), but City seems be more convicing and more balanced, so it is impossible to me picking a side.
4 - ManchesterCity 3-1 Lyon.
5 - I tried.
15/08/2020 17:13
Manchester City
185
Hi!
Language Challenge:
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get RECOVERED a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get **** to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get **** for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
Talk about the headlines:
1 - I watched Manchester City x Real Madrid, a good match. I thought would be easiest to Manchester to defeat Real Madrid.
2 - City x Bayer and United x Sevilla. I 'm anxious to see these matches.
3 - I really don't know. United is playing well, but Sevilla also and Sevilla like so much of Europa League, they have many tradciton in this competition.
In the Champions League, the things are more difiicult, Bayer it is a amazing team, playing a amazing football (8x2 against Barcelona), but City seems be more convicing and more balanced, so it is impossible to me picking a side.
4 - ManchesterCity 3-1 Lyon.
5 - I tried.
12/08/2020
points
Hello everyone, are you good? Let´s do it!
1) I didn't watch the games because I was working. However, when I arrived at home I watched the highlights of the game.
2) In Champions league, I strong believe that is Barcelona x Bayern, while in Europa League we'll see an interesting game among MUFC x Sevilla.
3) For sure Mancester City. They have been doing a great job since the season has restarted.
4) I couldn't agree more with him on the final score.
5) Get **** - Get up to - Get out. (I'm not sure about them kkkkk)
12/08/2020 18:11
Manchester City
3
Hello everyone, are you good? Let´s do it!
1) I didn't watch the games because I was working. However, when I arrived at home I watched the highlights of the game.
2) In Champions league, I strong believe that is Barcelona x Bayern, while in Europa League we'll see an interesting game among MUFC x Sevilla.
3) For sure Mancester City. They have been doing a great job since the season has restarted.
4) I couldn't agree more with him on the final score.
5) Get **** - Get up to - Get out. (I'm not sure about them kkkkk)
12/08/2020
points
1. I watched on live the mistakes done by Varane and I haven't been believing on what I was seeing. Man United easily got through with a first leg gap of five goals. It was more difficult for the Wolves to win the tie.
2. The tie of the round in the Champions League is Barcelona vs Munich while in the Europa League it will be between Man United and Sevilla.
3. Bayern Munich and Man United are the more convincing teams.
4. City or Lyon will qualify after spot kicks.
12/08/2020 13:36
Manchester City
3988
1. I watched on live the mistakes done by Varane and I haven't been believing on what I was seeing. Man United easily got through with a first leg gap of five goals. It was more difficult for the Wolves to win the tie.
2. The tie of the round in the Champions League is Barcelona vs Munich while in the Europa League it will be between Man United and Sevilla.
3. Bayern Munich and Man United are the more convincing teams.
4. City or Lyon will qualify after spot kicks.
12/08/2020
points
Hi, everyone.
First the vocabulary challenge.
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get **** a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get **** to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get **** for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
12/08/2020 13:18
Manchester City
3988
Hi, everyone.
First the vocabulary challenge.
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get **** a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get **** to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get **** for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
12/08/2020
points
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get by a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get on to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get off for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
12/08/2020 07:33
Southampton
263
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get by a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get on to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get off for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
12/08/2020
points
Good
12/08/2020 03:40
Newcastle United
1505
Good
12/08/2020
points
1. get ****
2. get ****
3. get off
Thank you guys always for the uploads, I've been using this for my English tutoring materials, and my student(who's a big fan of Premier League) loves it!
-From a Korean fan
12/08/2020 01:00
Watford
8
1. get ****
2. get ****
3. get off
Thank you guys always for the uploads, I've been using this for my English tutoring materials, and my student(who's a big fan of Premier League) loves it!
-From a Korean fan
11/08/2020
points
Did you watch Manchester City, Manchester United and Wolves get through to the next round?
Well, to be honest, i don´t have time to saw football match, I have had a lot or work at home.
Which match do you think is the tie of the round in the Champions League and Europa League?
Manchester United vs Wolves, Go Wolves, Go wolves, Go Raul Jimenez!!
Which teams look most convincing to you?
Manchester City, I think has order in all lines of the pitch, and has Guardiola mind!!
Rich has predicted a final score of Manchester City 2-0 Lyon. What's your prediction for this Champions League tie?
Absolutly
11/08/2020 22:19
Liverpool
817
Did you watch Manchester City, Manchester United and Wolves get through to the next round?
Well, to be honest, i don´t have time to saw football match, I have had a lot or work at home.
Which match do you think is the tie of the round in the Champions League and Europa League?
Manchester United vs Wolves, Go Wolves, Go wolves, Go Raul Jimenez!!
Which teams look most convincing to you?
Manchester City, I think has order in all lines of the pitch, and has Guardiola mind!!
Rich has predicted a final score of Manchester City 2-0 Lyon. What's your prediction for this Champions League tie?
Absolutly
11/08/2020
points
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get throug a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get throug to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get throug for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.
11/08/2020 22:16
Liverpool
817
It usually takes a while for players and fans to get throug a cup final defeat.
I find it really difficult to get throug to work on Mondays especially after a relaxing weekend.
I want to get throug for a few days soon. I’d like to spend some time next to the sea.