Are we heading for an all-England Champions League final?

We’ve got a mammoth week of football with the Champions League and Europa League semi final second legs coming up… Four English teams chase two spots in two finals, are we going to have another all England final in both competitions? 

Who wants it more? Man City and PSG chase gold

The Champions League semi finals start in Manchester as PSG try to muscle their way through to the final in Istanbul. The problem: their opposing fighter in the ring is Manchester City, who look unstoppable. Both sides are looking for a maiden trophy and to be fair to them both, they would make worthy winners. Neymar is playing like a machine at the moment, bar a few unnecessary tumbles, Foden is in the form of his life, De Bruyne is unpredictably brilliant and Mbappe is, well, Mbappe!

Mahrez’s pin-point accurate freekick gave City a deserved away lead in the first leg, minutes after De Bruyne’s fortuitous equalizer and that swung the pendulum City’s way. To make matters worse for PSG, Idrissa Guaye’s straight red card rules him out for the second leg and he’ll be a huge miss. He’s their pivot and no one in this current PSG squad can do his job like he does. 

Paris Saint-Germain will need to be lightning quick in those counter attacks and one early goal can ignite their charge. You’d feel the main difference between these sides comes from the side-lines: the managers. Pep Guardiola has been here before, while Mauricio Pochettino, a Champions League finalist but not a winner, misses that extra edge.

This will be like watching two feather weights dancing toe to toe hoping to land punches. One Man City goal can be a knockout, while if Paris land one, it can aid them in a points victory.

We’re going for the knockout: Manchester City 1-0 PSG priced at 17/2 or 9.5… Experience pays.

Chelsea’s away goal foothold

An away goal at this stage of the Champions League always makes for an interesting second leg. Chelsea started the game brilliantly against Real Madrid last week, taking full advantage of Zidane’s initial tactical mess. As he opted to go with three at the back, gaps started to appear and Chelsea were more than happy to pounce. Pulisic’s early goal was brilliant, but it was only so due to school boy errors. 

Los Blancos only stabilised when Zidane shuffled his pack but never had we seen Kross and Modric have such a minimal impact on the game. The only thing Chelsea might regret is not scoring more when they could have. It is not often you get to dominate a game in Madrid and as Timo Werner missed chance after chance, you saw Real’s confidence grow too. Benzema’s strike was sensational and at 1-1, Chelsea have a slight advantage.

Zidane will have studied his opponents well and surely won’t allow such a loose start by his team. We expect more from the tournament’s most successful club but there’s something so tactically cool about Chelsea at the moment. Thomas Tuchel has got Kante playing in all ten outfield positions. Rumour has it he even carries a set of goalie gloves in his bag in case of emergency. He was unbelievably brilliant in Madrid and in his ‘Player of the Week’ performance he covered every single blade of grass, contested a game-high 21 duels and completed more take-ons (six) than any other player on the pitch. His heatmap was glowing, his shoes were smoking and as ever, his face was smiling. 

Picking a winner here is tough as you can never write of Real Madrid. A goal in London will make this tie explode, but Chelsea are in control of their own destiny. A slim advantage which any tactical genius will know how to use wisely. Over to you, Tuchel, as you keep earning plaudits in your new role.

Back Chelsea to win to nil at 23/10 or 3.3 with Casumo

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