CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL
Madrid, Apr 25 (EFE) .- With the effect of the explosion of the Super League momentarily appeased, the four survivors of the, until now, the main European club competition, the Champions League, tackle the final stretch, the last stretch before the appointment for the title in Istanbul on May 29.
Three of the four candidates for the title were part, expressly and publicly, of the gestation of that G-12. Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City. The project also included Paris Saint Germain, who had postponed getting in the open first, although their presence in any major competition, in one way or another, was blessed. Not in vain is an unquestionable powerful and, as if that were not enough, current runner-up.
Under the shadow of that ‘rebellion’, of that threat of splitting, the ball starts rolling after a week of truce between the quarter-finals and the semifinals that are now coming.
For the week that comes the first leg matches have acquired a special relevance, almost decisive as the tournament has revealed since the start of the qualifying rounds.
The pandemic caused a vacuum in the fields and the irrelevance of the field factor, of the environmental argument. The weight of the atmosphere in the stands is irrelevant. The magic of the scenarios is no longer such.
This edition of the Champions League has lacked reversals in the second games. Nonexistent have been great comebacks. Like yesteryear.
In fact, it is the first leg matches that set the tone. The eight teams that qualified for the last 16 were the ones that won the first leg matches. Seven faced it as visitors, the group champions who defeated at home. And one, Porto, got it at home, against Juventus. All eight qualified. Nobody turned the situation around.
The same thing happened in the quarterfinals. Real Madrid in Valdebebas, against Liverpool, Manchester City in the Etihad, against Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint Germain in Germany against Bayern, and Chelsea in Porto, prevailed in the first matches, resisted later and reached the semifinals.
It is the value of the first leg matches. On Tuesday, Real Madrid host Chelsea. On Wednesday Paris Saint Germain awaits Manchester City.
Two English, one Spanish and one French survive in the tournament. Two have already been champions, Real Madrid, thirteen, and Chelsea, one. Two others aspire to be: Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City.
Real Madrid and Chelsea meet in Europe for the first time in 23 years. Zinedine Zidane’s team, who are facing their first semi-final since winning in 2018, when they won their last title, receive a rival on the rise that has taken a turn since the German Thomas Tuchel, who until December managed Paris Saint Germain , took over the reins in January of the London club that fired Frank Lampard.
The white box, which has left Borussia Monchengladbach, Shakhtar and Inter in the group stage and then Atalanta and Liverpool in direct duels, faces their 30th European semi-final. He won sixteen of the above. He lost thirteen.
Chelsea, who were champions in 2012, are not in the top four since 2014 when they were eliminated by Atlético Madrid. The Stamford Bridge team beat Real Madrid in the 1998 Super Cup, the last time whites and blues met in Europe.
Chelsea has won in strength, who has only conceded two defeats with Tuchel on his bench. The English side was first in the group stage ahead of Sevilla, Krasnodar and Stade Rennes. They then beat Atlético Madrid in the round of 16 and Porto in the quarterfinals.
The other duel measures two teams in the assault for their first trophy. It was close to Paris Saint Germain who receives Manchester City from Spaniard Pep Guardiola.
The English team will play its second semifinals after 2016, with Chilean Manuel Pellegrini on his bench. He fell against Real Madrid.
Last year, with Guardiola as coach, he was removed from the tournament by French Lyon. Now they have gained strength with just one goal conceded in the group stage. Then he left Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund on the road. He has not lost in Europe.
Paris Saint Germain, with Mauricio Pochettino on their bench since last January, suffered two defeats in the group stage, against Manchester United and Leipzig. But then it went off. In the round of 16 he eliminated Barcelona and in the quarterfinals the champion, Bayern Munich.
It was to activate Kylian Mbappe and shoot himself in the tournament. The French striker accumulates eight goals and was key, along with Keylor Navas, in each classification. Now it also has Neymar absent in the second round. He is two games away from his second final and his second assault on the throne.
Santiago Aparicio
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