The Champions League: Semi-Final
Omar Mahmoud
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Ok, guys, what a quarter final set, oh my god was it insane! 32 GOALS IN 8 GAMES. Do you know how insane that is?! We already knew it would be a heated UCL Quarter FInals with 8 insanely high quality teams. But, this good?! No one anticipated the highest ever scoring Quarter Finals in the tournament’s history.
Unfortunately, we are almost done. We only have the semi finals left. Each team has 3 games left to win it.
In this article, I am going to talk about the European semi finals which are going on.
UEFA Champions League :
We have 4 teams left. Each, in my opinion, equally deserves to win it. Each will fight to win it. And, I think the semi finals will be HEATED.
Let’s begin by reviewing my predictions from last time:
PSG
Atletico
Arsenal
City/Madrid
Here are the actual winners:
PSG
Dortmund
Bayern
Madrid
So, my predictions were not good. In fact, they were really bad. I predicted perfectly last time and had a near 0% on this one. But hey, I am perfectly happy with how these turned out. You will see why…..
Let’s recap what happened:
PSG vs Barcelona
Here is the one prediction I actually got right, but I was this close (imagine my thumb and index finger hovering over each other) to failing it as well.
Barcelona won the first leg AWAY from home 2-3. MASSIVE. All they needed to do was NOT lose to PSG at home and they were through. They went from entering the tie as massive underdogs to being favorites before the second leg.
However, Barcelona being Barcelona, they bottled it. They scored a goal in the first 15 minutes of the second leg, and they were comfortably in the lead.
Then Araujo did a stupid, reckless tackle 30 minutes in, got a red card, and all hell broke loose. Barcelona ate 4 goals that night and ended up losing 4-1, 6-4 on aggregate. Mbappe cooked them as I said and it was a thrashing night to be honest.
Dortmund vs Atletico
Here is one tie I didn’t predict, but I am VERY happy I failed this. I have been a massive Dortmund supporter throughout this tournament. I want them to win it all, despite being the massive underdogs. I don’t care: I believe in them.
Last time, I predicted Atletico to go through due to the amazing footy they were playing. However, I also said Dortmund were exciting and that it wouldn’t be easy, so that’s gotta count for something.
Anyways, I did get a spot on prediction. I said that each team would win their home leg and whoever won by a bigger difference would qualify. That’s EXACTLY what happened. Atletico won 2-1 at their stadium in the first leg, before Dortmund went on and won 4-2 in the second leg. Thus the aggregate was 5-4.
Dortmund qualified. I’m going to give myself a half point, because honestly I am impressed with myself.
Bayern vs Arsenal
Another tie I failed to predict, and was I happy about that! I hate Arsenal in general, and love Bayern in general, so this was a happy moment for me.
Arsenal is by far the better team and this is the worst Bayern team in decades. However, Arsenal’s lack of Champions League heritage (which I mentioned last time) was brought up here, and they bottled it.
Arsenal drew 2-2 in the first leg, nearly losing, and so everyone knew what was going to happen. Arsenal needed a win because a team doesn’t just go to the Allianz Arena and win. Unless you are Liverpool :) (wink, wink).
So yeah, Arsenal drew, went to the Allianz, lost 1-0 and Bayern went into the Semis off of a 3-2 aggregate win.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
The big one, actually, the massive one. Make that, the GOAT one. It was a VERY interesting tie. First leg finished 3-3. Holy, was it amazing. BANGER goals left and right. I think there was only one normal goal the whole game, like for real. That was at the Bernabeu. After Madrid drew at home, a lot of people predicted that Manchester City would qualify, as they now had home advantage.
In the end, Manchester City entered the second leg and found their opponents had the most “park the bus” strategy ever; like all 11 players in their box, doing massive defending. Madrid’s goalie was their backup, and he had an insane number of saves. City was pressuring all game and Madrid looked to be in trouble, but they held on to get a 1-1 draw and go to penalties.
Madrid beat City on pens in their opponent’s backyard, and Madrid went through to the semis.
Now let’s go over the Semi Final Matchups.
PSG vs Dortmund
These 2 already faced each other in the group of death, the fiery group from before. PSG won one game 2-0 and they drew 1-1 in the other one. Dortmund, however, topped the group.
This game will be fire. A favorite to win it and an underdog that probably, by all standards, should not be here right now. They are doing mediocre in the league, and this run so far is insane given their domestic form. However, if they end up doing it, it will be one of the greatest stories ever.
Their 12 year captain is leaving at the end of the season and has never won the league or the Champions League with his club. This sort of farewell present would be awesome. At the same time, PSG has insane quality. They are the first in Ligue 1 by a mile, and personally I think they are the favorites in the leg, but I think Dortmund might be able to do it.
I believe they can draw away from home and get a win at home. That’s not my prediction, just wishful thinking. I won’t make any predictions this time. For both of these match-ups, the statistical and obvious answer is different from my wants and gut feeling, so I won’t make any predictions.
Bayern v Real Madrid
Alright, let’s wrap up the Champions League. This is by far the game of the tournament. I know I say this a lot, but this is the game for history: a game of class, a game of honor, a game with the most important game in all of football on the line. I promise you, in this tie, we will see skills, goals and highlights like we have never seen before. Vincius dribbling on the left wing, Kimmich and De Light in insane tackles, Kane goals galore. Yes, there will be great defensive moments in these games, but I assure you it will be a goal fest. Expect a grand total of 0 clean sheets in both of these ties. There will be no more clean sheets until the end of the tournament. Bernabeu will be the stage of dreams and miracles: Allianz Arena where dreams and miracles get crushed, and hopes are withered. I am looking forward to this tie. Despite Bayern’s overall poor season, it will be a beast.
UEFA Europa League
I will not be commenting on the remainder of this tournament. I have never heard of it and do not know of its existence. Never bring it up again.
UEFA Conference League
Here is a new one. I haven’t talked about it yet, but it is pretty heated, like really on fire. I personally believe the atmosphere here is beyond anything in the other 2 (sorry *cough* one).
I’m not going to go over any of the quarters, Round of 16, Group Stage, etc. that’s too much. Let me just jump right in to the semi finals
Aston Villa vs Olympiacos
Aston Villa are by far the favorites to win this tournament. They are an English club, currently 4th in the Premier League. They are extremely strong, and this time last year they were barely 8th or 9th. Their manager Unai Emery lifted them from the bottom levels to the top, Champions League spot contenders.
I love them. They play nice, smooth football. Their striker, Watkin, is doing extremely well, scoring and assisting 30+ goals. Moussa Diaby, Eric Konsa, and World cup winning goalie, Emiliano Martinez, they are all cooking. But Olympiacos is not an easy foe.
Wow, is their atmosphere good! I know I talked a lot about the atmosphere in previous Champions League articles, but this is beyond insane.
We are talking flames, flags, tifos everything. When they beat Fenerbahçein the Quarter Finals, their fans were so packed and with so many flames, it was actually blinding. Aston Villa will LOSE away from home. End of story. End of conversation. I do not care how good they are, they will lose.
Yes, Olympiacos’ quality is not the best, and they’re only 4th in their league, but the fans and atmosphere are too insane. I am a big believer in the importance of fans, and I know it will make a difference here. However, Aston Villa will probably win at their home stadium. Their fans are great as well, and their quality is just too good to not beat Olympiacos. I want Olympiacos to go through though, so I won’t make a prediction.
Fiorentina vs Club Brugge
I honestly don’t have too much to say here. I do not know as much about either of these teams as I know about the other 2. I am a Prem fan so I know about Villa, and I love Greek football fans so that’s that. Fiorentina is an Italian team, last year’s competition finalists who lost to West Ham. They are only 9th in their league, and are not doing very well for themselves, to be honest. Okay, form I guess, nothing too crazy.
Club Brugge is a Belgian team. Quite strong. A dark horse for this tournament overall. They had some amazing comebacks this edition and are currently second in their league. From what I could gather, Club Brugge’s fans are much better. I guess we will see who prevails though.
On paper, Fiorentina is better, coming from a better league with bigger names. On the other hand, in my opinion, I see Club Brugge going to the finals. That’s my only prediction for this article. Club Brugge doing a shock, winning at home and drawing away.
That’s it everyone. My European Semi Finals article. Next time we will talk about the 2 Finals and that will be it. Also, next month I will write about the Euros and Copa America, which will be exciting. Stay tuned for that!
Make sure to check out my previous articles in the series.
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