“Almaty is closer to the Great Wall of China than to Buckingham Palace. It was a vital stop on the Silk Road. It`s a football-obsessed city where temperatures often plunge far below freezing.”
This is a glimpse into the mind of Nico Cantor, for whom every Champions League goal is a passport stamp, and every matchday a crash course in global trivia. As the host of “The Golazo Show”—Paramount+`s dynamic broadcast that weaves together Europe`s most captivating football afternoons—Cantor doesn`t just keep pace with the action; he elevates it.
With each goal, he deftly interjects a cultural or historical tidbit, enriching viewers` knowledge without ever slowing down the excitement. By the end of each matchday, you`ll not only know every scorer but also understand why a goal in Almaty, Kazakhstan`s largest city, can be just as significant as one in Madrid.
Dynamic Pace and In-Depth Insights
Until the competition`s final stages, “The Golazo Show” operates at a relentless pace with a clear promise: no goal goes unseen once the European football day begins—be it the Champions League, Europa League, or Conference League. The program is crafted for a seamless viewer experience, yet it remains wonderfully unpredictable for Cantor and the crucial production crew. This is especially true in the early rounds, where a goal might prompt a reminder that Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels—a fact that proves more relevant than one might expect.
“We`re a highly adaptable show, both at the start and the finish, but we constantly adjust to everything that unfolds in between. This could range from an explosive goal-fest to, perhaps, a rather quiet broadcast with numerous lulls,” Cantor explains.
Even on the most intense days, when the show is running at full throttle, Cantor manages to set the scene for viewers, providing context each time the screen transitions to a new stadium for an incoming goal.
“Being on the continent of Europe, I believe we`d be doing a disservice if we didn`t delve into its history, because it`s not just about the soccer,” he elaborates. “You`re hopping around, so instead of just jumping from one football game to another, let`s truly grasp where we`re going.”
Behind the Scenes: The Enterprise Crew
Now in his sixth season hosting “The Golazo Show,” Cantor admits there`s no such thing as a typical day; the rhythm of the broadcast is almost entirely dictated by the day`s scheduled teams and their on-field performances. The production team behind “The Golazo Show” has achieved remarkable synergy over years of collaboration, though preparing for such an unpredictable live program is a multi-day endeavor.
“I`m in constant communication with my statistician and the production team throughout the day,” Cantor shares. “When I sit down, we review the starting elevens with our statistician and research team, then move through the show`s intro, jumping between venues. After that, we`re ready to go. We transition to our main game, then we wait and react. It`s truly on the fly. You do all the prep from the weekend prior to be in that chair at that moment, and when you go, you simply go. You kind of just let the energy guide you a little bit.”
While “The Golazo Show” offers the easiest way for viewers to follow the action, it requires a transatlantic team to keep up with goals as they happen—a monumental task during the group stage with its 18 weekly games.
“I think for the fans, it`s an amazing tool,” Cantor remarks. “It`s a fantastic enhancement to their Champions League experience that I don`t believe we had before, and it`s a privilege to do it, to be the conducting voice for all of that. It wouldn`t be possible without our incredible production team in London. They are so focused and sharp… While two people are the `voice` of the show, I feel like there are people flying the Enterprise behind me once the broadcast is live, because the control room in London is full of people. It`s all hands on deck. It`s quite incredible.”
Audrey Hepburn, Giorgio Armani, and the Silk Road: What`s the Connection?
“The Golazo Show” is an excellent method to stay abreast of a busy Champions League day, but Cantor`s unique skill lies in layering context onto the live action. His daily cheat sheet contains all the information a broadcaster would expect—key players, recent team form, and more—but he interweaves it with fascinating facts, making “The Golazo Show” an unparalleled viewing experience. References to the capitals of the Roman Empire seamlessly blend with details about Audrey Hepburn`s and Giorgio Armani`s birthplaces, allowing Cantor to uniquely narrate the story of each Champions League season.
Cantor, a self-proclaimed “culture vulture,” meticulously curates and deploys his fun facts, showing as much intent in their usage as in his research.
“I didn`t really get `funky` with my fun facts until maybe two seasons ago,” he admits. “Once I truly got a handle on the prep and could dedicate time to making my research `rabbit holes` worthwhile, I started incorporating them. They`ll get quirkier as the season progresses because, in the group stage, there`s so much action happening simultaneously that you don`t really have time to settle. I have all these facts ready under my sleeve, but I try not to expend them all in the group phase because I don`t want to use them just for the sake of using them. I aim to weave them into the show and imbue them with a bit of meaning.”
These pieces of trivia evolve as the season progresses, with the challenge of offering fresh insights mirroring the difficulty teams face in advancing through the rounds.
“The reason they become a bit quirkier towards the end of the season is because we become so familiar with these teams, even if they`re new ones,” Cantor explains. “We spend an entire season delving into the cultures of these clubs—who they are, what they represent. I strive to do a really good job of painting that picture at the beginning of the season, to understand the nuances of every club and what their Champions League participation means to them, so it resonates in the broadcast if there`s an upset or a player scores a truly important goal that, to us, might otherwise seem like just another random goal on a Champions League night.”
“I conduct a lot of this research to be ready for the moment, but sometimes I find myself going down these wild rabbit holes about the city they`re in, or when they last played Champions League football, or how much football is consumed in that country—you learn an immense amount during the preparation process.”
The eight-game length of the group stage provides ample opportunity for Cantor to share his fascinating tidbits about teams that might not reach the knockout rounds. This could include Champions League debutants like Cyprus` Pafos and Kazakhstan`s Kairat. Cantor already possesses a wealth of information for both clubs: he covered Pafos during their UEFA Conference League run a year ago, and Kairat`s home city of Almaty hosted fellow Kazakh side Astana, who played there in last season`s Conference League. However, Cantor must consider one particular detail.
“My only concern… is that because they are so far east, I doubt any of Kairat`s home games will be featured on `The Golazo Show`,” Cantor admitted, confirming his apprehension.
Kairat will play all their home matches before “The Golazo Show`s” usual 3 p.m. ET time slot, including an unusually early 10:30 a.m. ET kickoff on Matchday 6 against Olympiacos in December. Still, no valuable fun fact is ever left behind, and Cantor might have something ready for this week`s broadcast.
“I think I`ll be able to drop something in on Matchday 1 against Sporting, regarding the distance they`ve traveled,” he noted. “The longest away trip in proper European competition history: FC Kairat will journey from Almaty, Kazakhstan—the easternmost city to have a team in proper European competition—to Lisbon, Portugal, to face Sporting CP. That`s 4,291 miles… and that will be on Matchday 1. It will be the furthest away trip.”
Champions League Matchday 1 Schedule
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
| Match / Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League Matchday | 12:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| PSV vs. Union Saint-Gilloise | 12:45 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| Athletic Club vs. Arsenal | 12:45 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Champions League Today pre-match | 1:30 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| The Golazo Show | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| Juventus vs. Borussia Dortmund | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| Benfica vs. Qarabag | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| Tottenham Hotspur vs. Villarreal | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| Real Madrid vs. Marseille | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Champions League Today post-match | 5:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| The Champions Club | 6:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Golazo Network, YouTube |
| Scoreline | 7:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Golazo Network |
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
| Match / Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League Matchday | 12:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| Olympiacos vs. Pafos | 12:45 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| Slavia Praha vs. Bodo/Glimt | 12:45 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Champions League Today | 2:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| The Golazo Show | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| Ajax vs. Inter | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| Liverpool vs. Atletico Madrid | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| Paris Saint-Germain vs. Atalanta | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Champions League Today post-match | 5:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| The Champions Club | 6:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Golazo Network, YouTube |
| Scoreline | 7:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Golazo Network |
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
| Match / Event | Time (ET) | How to Watch |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League Today | 12:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| Copenhagen vs. Bayer Leverkusen | 12:45 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| Club Brugge vs. Monaco | 12:45 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Champions League Today pre-match | 2:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| The Golazo Show | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Galatasaray | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Network |
| Sporting Lisbon vs. Kairat | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| Newcastle United vs. Barcelona | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| Manchester City vs. Napoli | 3:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Champions League Today post-match | 5:00 p.m. | Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network |
| The Champions Club | 6:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Golazo Network, YouTube |
| Scoreline | 7:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Golazo Network |
