The quarter finals and semi finals of the Champions League tournament for soccer have already had many stellar performances from every club involved. What should be expected out of the matches within the finals?
On April 30th, Real Madrid faced off against Bayern Munich. The Spanish giants of Madrid have already knocked out Pep Guardiola’s legendary Manchester City, sending home arguably the strongest club in the tournament in a stressfully close game. Out of both legs, the score ended up at 4 – 4, and Madrid won 4 – 3 in penalties.
Bayern has also had a very close match against Arsenal in the quarter finals, with an aggregate score of 3 – 2 in both legs. For Bayern, this tournament could be their redemption for the rocky season they’ve had, especially with recent signing Harry Kane leading the way for them.
On the other side of the bracket in the semi finals, we had PSG going against Borussia Dortmund, the strongest club in France clashing against one of Germany’s top clubs and Dortmund’s experienced middle centerfield in Marco Reus.
PSG’s game in the quarter finals was against Spanish club, Barcelona. With a loss at home of 3 – 2 in the first leg, and their star player Kyilian Mbappe having no effect on the game, it seemed impossible for PSG to move on to the semi finals.
However, in the second leg, Barcelona defender Araujo received a red card 30 minutes in, creating a 10 vs 11 player game for the next 60 minutes. This was the turning point for PSG, and they won the game 4 – 1, which allowed them to win 6 – 4 in aggregate.
Borussia Dortmund in their quarter finals game against Spanish Club Atletico Madrid, also lost in their first leg 2 – 1. However, their performance within the second leg was nothing but spectacular. With the game ending 4 – 2, their exceptional comeback paved the way to the semi finals.
These clubs each have their own batch of world class talents, with their own style of play from their intellectual managers.
Real Madrid has exceptional players run by the well renowned manager Carlo Ancelloti, who earned 4 previous Champions League titles in his managing career. Real Madrid is currently fostering world class talents like Jude Bellingham, being their top goal scorer as a midfielder. He’s doing all this after just being signed in the summer of last year, while competing with the talented forwards of Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo for goals. However, their midfield has more than just Bellingham.
They also have well known names such as Valverde, Toni Kroos, and the exceptional Luka Modric. Their reinforced backline is safely secured with the likes of Rudiger and Eder Militao. With such a strong team of world class talents, Real Madrid is arguably the strongest club remaining in the tournament.
PSG is a French club led by manager Luis Enrique. He previously managed Barcelona and led them to win the Champions League. Within PSG, players such as Kyilian Mbappe, France’s current best striker who’s won a world cup at only 19. years of age, as well as the spectacular midfielder Verratti, who seamlessly creates numerous chances for himself and his teammates.
With wingers such as Dembele and Barcola creating chances via their style of play on the sidelines. PSG has a very powerful offense and midfield, and are quick to capitalize when their opponents make careless mistakes. Many fans of soccer doubt their ability to make it much farther in this tournament, however they’ve defied the odds before in their last match and it may just happen again.
Bayern Munich, a renowned German club led by head coach Thomas Tuchel, have managed to beat Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate. Trying to find glory, such as in 2020 when they won the sextuple, the world class players they have on their squad is stacked. Boasting players such as Harry Kane, an experienced striker leading the way with 43 goals.
With more players such as Alphonso Davies, a great defender, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, great midfielders that are pivotal at times, and Jamal Musiala, an up and coming midfielder, and amazing wingers such as Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman, and Serge Gnabry. Bayern looks to reestablish themselves as giants, and winning the Champions League would be a foot in the right direction.
Borussia Dortmund is a famous German club that is always so close to winning, but just seems to slip away. They are led by head coach Edin Terzic, with amazing players such as captain Macro Reus, who seems to have all the experience needed to lead his team. Dortmund also has a splurge of players such as an attack consisting of Jadon Sancho, Youssoufa Moukoko, and Sebastian Haller, the attack has proven to be dangerous. A midfield of Marco Reus, Juilan Brandt, and Emre Can, have proven to be the engine for Dortmund and masterminds. Dortmund looks to win the Champions League this year and further cement their legacy into the history books.
The quarter finals between Real Madrid were exceptional, with their first game ending a tie 2 – 2 in the first leg with Vinicius scoring 2 for Madrid, and Sane as well as Harry Kane getting a goal each for Bayern. The second leg was held at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid’s home stadium. In which Bayern’s Alphonso Davies scored in the 68th minute, but to everyone’s shock Real Madrid came back. With Joselu scoring two last minute goals in the 88th, and 91st minute. However, Bayern also scored a second goal but due to poor decision from the referee, the goal was not allowed. This controversial decision may heavily taint the taste of this game, but overall it was still an amazing match.
The same is happening with PSG and Borussia Dortmund, with a score of 1 – 0 in favor of Dortmund in the first leg. However, leg 2 was held in Paris, PSG’s home stadium, the Parc des Princes. However, Dortmund won 1 – 0 once again, with PSG hitting the post 4 times in the game. An extremely disappointing result to PSG fans, but Dortmund have gotten the great opportunity as the underdog to compete in the finals.
What do soccer fans think of the games so far, and predictions of what is to come in the tournament?
Jose Ulloa, a student at Golden Valley, predicts that “Real Madrid is definitely going through, and I would love to see Dortmund to go through.” However, when asked if he thinks Dortmund will be able to go through he replied, “No, I think it’ll be PSG vs Madrid.”
When asked about what games he thought were surprising, he shared the common opinion that “Barcalona vs PSG, I thought Barcelona had it in the bag, but then they fumbled it.”
Overall, all teams who are within the quarter finals and semifinals are fantastic teams, with each of them having their unique play styles and strengths. The finals between Dortmund and Real Madrid will likely be a very memorable game, with the first leg being played on June 1st in Wembley Stadium. As to who will win, we can predict but soccer can always surprise us. As that’s the beauty of the Champions League, and the sport as a whole.
