Paris, April 27: The two Champions League semifinals that start this week have a bit of a beauty and the beast contrast.
Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich pairs two easy-on-the-eye attacking teams playing arguably the highest quality technical football in the world today.
Atlético Madrid vs Arsenal is a clash of traditionally durable styles with tight defences.
Titleholder PSG and Bayern each has won the Champions League in the past six seasons.
Atlético and Arsenal never have been European champion and are a combined 0-for-4 in finals.
PSG and Bayern have a total of 24 domestic league titles between them in the last 14 seasons. Bayern is already Bundesliga champion this season and another French title is likely coming to Paris next month.
Atlético was twice Spanish champion in that period, while Arsenal is in a duel with Manchester City to earn a first English title in 22 years.
What the semifinals have in common is being rematches from this season’s league phase, which were won by Bayern and Arsenal.
The real final?
PSG vs Bayern would be many people’s choice of the ideal final, after their majestic displays in the quarterfinals to eliminate, respectively, Liverpool and Real Madrid. They are the tournament joint top scorers this season, each with 38 goals.
It was the final in 2020 when Bayern became European champion for the sixth time and PSG lost its first title match appearance.
That game in Lisbon was the strange climax to the delayed, pandemic-affected season – played in an empty stadium in mid-August. It was decided by Kingsley Coman, the former PSG trainee who eventually starred in Munich.
It was also the only time Bayern advanced to the final in its last six semifinal appearances. The five losses were against Spanish opponents and the one victory was against a French team. Lyon was beaten in a single-leg game at the lockdown Lisbon mini-tournament.
Bayern won on its trip to Paris in November. Luis Diaz scored twice then was sent off before halftime for a tackle on Achraf Hakimi.
Still, PSG under coach Luis Enrique peaks in the second half the season, finding a new level since signing Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in January last year.
The return game is on Wednesday next week in Munich, where PSG routed Inter Milan to win its first European title.
PSG raring to go against Bayern
Enrique joked that picking his team against Bayern Munich will be like a “lottery” because he finally has a full-strength squad to choose from.
That means midfielder Vitinha could start against the six-time champion in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal in Paris on Wednesday. He missed the last two Ligue 1 games with a right heel injury sustained during a 2-1 loss to Lyon.
“It’ll be a lottery. Everyone’s ready,” Luis Enrique said Tuesday at a pregame news conference. “But be warned, we’ll need all the players who are apt to play, and on that point I think we’re more than ready.”
With so many players pushing for places, rather than recovering from injury like earlier in the season, Enrique was faced with a new task. “It’s all about calming everyone down,” he said.
Bayern must adapt without coach Kompany
Vincent Kompany’s influence as coach is a key reason Bayern Munich is in the Champions League semifinals. Now Bayern will have to manage without him.
Bayern is preparing for arguably its toughest game of the season so far with its head coach suspended and assistant Aaron Danks reportedly due to take over.
Kompany was still involved in training Monday before Bayern’s departure for Paris, but he’ll be barred from the team’s locker room and bench at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.
“We’ll miss him on the touchline. He’s our boss, a coach who’d love to be out there with us,” Harry Kane has said.
It’s all because Kompany was booked in Bayern’s thrilling quarterfinal win over Real Madrid for disputing the referee’s decision to allow Madrid to play on and score after a hard tackle on Bayern defender Josip Stanisic.
That was Kompany’s third yellow card in what was Bayern’s 12th Champions League game of the season. He argued UEFA should relax the rules now there are more games than ever.
“It’s an extended format and it’s the strictest-ever ruling with a lot of interpretation from referees, where sometimes you can get a yellow card wrong as well. So what happens then?” Kompany said after the game.
“I’m not happy because of this, but it’s not important. The team can do it and I’m there for the return game. I have total faith in the team, the staff, to not just continue but also gain strength and motivation out of it.”
A-game in Madrid
Arsenal’s record as the only unbeaten team in this season’s Champions League will be tested in the intense atmosphere of the Metropolitano Stadium.
Arsenal has conceded just five goals in 12 games so far, the kind of record associated with Atlético during coach Diego Simeone’s long reign of mostly feisty football.
This is a more expansive Atlético version, with a surprising 26 goals conceded in 14 Champions League games this season. Julian Alvarez has got nine of the 34 scored at the other end.
The semifinal pairs two of Europe’s long-serving top-tier coaches: Simeone in a remarkable 15th season – often described as the highest paid club coach in world football, earning about $35 million – and Arteta in his seventh with Arsenal.
Still, Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Atlético in October feels a long time ago. A four-goal burst in 15 second-half minutes, including two from Viktor Gyokeres, showed a freedom Arteta’s team has found hard to recapture in a tense second half the season.
Atlético’s path to the semifinals has been taking first-leg leads – ambushing Tottenham at home then winning at Barcelona – before riding out severe pressure in the return game. (AP)
