Champions League: Preview

In details : Champions League Semi-final 2019/20

What a quarter-final, we witnessed everything. Comebacks, late goals, giant-killing -- Quarter-finals lived up to the hype. In the first game of the quarter-final we nearly saw Atalanta reaching the semis they were a few minutes away, a late PSG comeback sent them packing home. The story keeps on getting better for RB Leipzig,  formed a little over a decade ago, Now they are competing with big boys for the biggest club competition.  Bayern Munich battered Barcelona 8-2 to reach the semi-finals. They inflicted Barcelona a hammering blow, they might need time to come back from this-- But for Bayern, they go from strength to strength. It looks like they are the favorites for the title this year. Lyon shocked the whole footballing world, no one expected them to get past Juventus. But here they are and now and they can't be taken easily.

RB Leipzig vs PSG

As I would like to say Money v Money, both of the team are financially backed -- by multi-billionaire owners. But the PSG are the ones who will feel more pressure than their German counterpart. Leipzig beat Atletico to reach the semis, they tore Simeone's well-drilled team apart. Played some wonderful football, they are the underdog --With nothing on the line for them, they might fancy taking on PSG. On the other hand, PSG must be fancy themselves to reach the finals for the first time in their history. With the likes of Neymar, Mbappe, and Icardi leading the charges, without a shimmer of doubt they fancy the chance of winning this year. For Leipzig, this is there first ever knockout experience in Europe's premier club competition. They lacked a cutting edge for the most part and had a good fortune with Adams' shot that took a massive deflection to outwit Jan Oblak. PSG was far from at their best against Atalanta, with Neymar in particular, with his shooting boot off the mark. But they possess the firepower necessary to work their way out of tricky positions.

RB Leipzig

UEFA ranking: 32

This season: P9 W6 D2 L1 F17 A9

How they got here: Group G winners, 4-0 agg Tottenham (R16), 2-1 Atlético (QF)

Last five games: WWLDW

Top scorer: Timo Werner, Marcel Sabitzer (4)

Last season: Europa League group stage

European Cup best: semi-finals (2019/20)

PSG

UEFA ranking: 7

This season: P9 W7 D1 L1 F22 A5

How they got here: Group A winners, 3-2 agg Dortmund (R16), 2-1 Atalanta (QF)

Last five games: WDWWW

Top scorer: Mauro Icardi, Kylian Mbappé (5)

Last season: round of 16

European Cup best: semi-finals (1994/95, 2019/20)

PREDICTION : RB Leipzig 1 - 2 PSG

Highly-rated Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann will no doubt be relishing the chance to tactically outwit former mentor Tuchel, but this may prove a step too far for his side as PSG look to make the final after so many high-profile failures on Europe's biggest stage.

Betting odds and tips

• RB Leipzig to win: 4/1
• Draw after 90 mins: Between 3/1 & 16/5
• PSG to win: 4/5
• Over 2.5 goals: 8/11

Bayern Munich vs Lyon

Both results Bayern and Lyon got were shocking, no one expected Lyon to win against Man City, whereas for Bayern. Everyone expected Bayern to reach the semis but -- They did it in such a way that everyone was left amazed. They didn't stop even after it was virtually impossible for Barca to comeback. Lyon hammered a blow to a Man City side that was chasing their first-ever Champions league crown. They now have knocked out two big teams Juventus and Man City. Bayern will surely be looking to reach their 12th final. This Bayern team is one the best in the world, despite their heroics against City. Bayern might be a task a little bit out of their reach. In knocking out both Juventus and City, Rudi Garcia's team have now proved themselves a highly dangerous outfit that should not be underestimated. However, it is simply impossible to pick against a team as confident and incisive as Bayern after watching that 8-2 destruction of Barcelona.

BAYERN

UEFA ranking: 2

This season: P9 W9 D0 L0 F39 A8

How they got here: Group B winners, 7-1 agg Chelsea (R16), 8-2 Barcelona (QF)

Last five games: WWWWW

Top scorer: Robert Lewandowski (14)

Last season: quarter-finals

European Cup best: winners x5 (most recently 2012/13)

LYON

UEFA ranking: 17

This season: P9 W4 D2 L3 F14 A11

How they got here: Group G runners-up, 2-2 agg Juventus (away goals, R16), 3-1 Manchester City (QF)

Last five games: WLDLL

Top scorer: Memphis Depay (6)

Last season: round of 16

European Cup best: semi-finals (2009/10, 2019/20)

PREDICTION : Lyon 1-3 Bayern Munich

The Bavarians are unbeaten in their last 19 matches across all competitions and have already scored a whopping 39 goals in just nine European outings this season, boasting considerable threats all over the pitch.Expect Lyon to produce another valiant performance, but Bayern will surely have enough to set up a final date against either domestic rivals RB Leipzig or Paris Saint-Germain next weekend at Benfica's Estadio da Luz.

Betting odds and tips

• Lyon to win: Between 12/1 & 13/1
• Draw after 90 mins: 7/1
• Bayern to win: 1/4
• Over 2.5 goals: 4/11

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Champions League night!

Prediction time : Round of 16

 Champions league returns tonight with Man City against Real Madrid, where City hold 2-1 advantage over Los Blancos. Other fixture kicking off simultaneously is Juventus against Lyon, Bianconeri  trail against the side from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes who hold 1-0 lead against the home side.

Manchester City Vs Real Madrid

This two have meet 5 times in champions league where Madrid have won 2 games and drawn 2 times. Man city recorded their first victory against the Los Blancos in the reverse fixture at Santiago Bernabéu. Last time these two met in the knockout was back in 2015/16, where they played out a draw (0-0) at Etihad. While Madrid went on to win the home leg with an goal from Fernando. They did play exhilarating match back at Bernabéu in group stage of 2012/13 season where 3 goals came after 84 minutes. Late goals from Benzema and Ronaldo sealed the victory. While this is a blockbluster of clash between two power house, Expect goals from this game as Man city have one of the best attacking force in whole of Europe. Los Blancos will no doubt miss their captain Ramos who is suspended for this tie, it did look like he prevented a third away  goal with Jesus through on goal. They lost Ramos, but maybe have Hazard back for this tie. With Agüero(injury) and Mendy(suspended)  unavailable for selection, Guardiola  has a fully fit squad at his disposal. Guardiola has faced team from Madrid 17 times in his career, where he has lost only twice against Los blancos at home soil. With one of those loss coming at 2013/14 season where his side suffered a huge 4-0 defeat against Ancelotti's team. That score might be rare in this game.

Prediction : Manchester City 2 - 2 Real Madrid 

Ramos will be a huge loss for Madrid, with Hazard expected to be back at the helm expect  Madrid to be dangerous going forward. Combined with City's defensive woes, Guardiola maybe tempted to go with a back four of Cancelo, Laporte, Fernandinho and Walker. Battle maybe won or lost at midfield with De Bruyne playing, Zidane might be tempted to go with both Casemiro  and Valverde to combat the threat of De Bruyne.

Manchester City vs Real Madrid Latest Odds

The Blues are clear favorites at 7/10 (1.70) with bet365 to win in 90 minutes and at 1/8 (1.12) to qualify.

Madrid are available at 31/10 (4.10) to claim a victory without extra time, while the 13-time European champions are offered at 5/1 (6.00) to make it through to the quarter-finals.

Juventus vs Lyon

Juventus return to Champions League action needing to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit if they are to knock out Lyon and advance to the quarter-finals. But Juve face a tall order after being well beaten by Lyon 1-0 in the first leg in France and an away goal for Rudi Garcia's side would make things very difficult for Cristiano Ronaldo & co. Old Lady have been knocked out at the quarter-final stage in the last two seasons. They have met 3 times in Champions where both team have won a game piece, Where Lyon got their victory in the reverse fixture at Groupama Stadium. With Juve loosing just once in home game all season, Garcia's side have a huge task ahead of themselves to reach quarter finals.While both Mattia Di Sciglio and Douglas Costa have been ruled out due to injury, Matthijs de Ligt is hoping to return to the side, at the expense of Daniele Rugani. The Dutchman is set to partner Leonardo Bonucci, at the heart of Juventus’ four-man backline. Gonzalo Higuain is a favorite to spearhead the Juventus attack as Paulo Dybala is still nursing a knock. It remains to be seen whether the Argentine can return to full fitness, although Sarri did confirm that he is training with the medical staff.The return of Memphis Depay has served as a boon for Olympique Lyon head coach Rudi Garcia. The Dutchman performed well in the French league cup final against PSG and is poised for another start.With Dybala a massive doubt heading into this clash, the onus will be on Ronaldo to provide the spark in the final third as Juventus look to overcome the one-goal deficit.However, the attacker’s true quality is often showcased in the UEFA Champions League. He notably scored the hat-trick in Juventus’ sensational comeback victory over Atletico Madrid last season. And the Juve fans will be hoping for a similar performance this time out.

Prediction : Juventus 3 - 1 Lyon

Juventus are the undisputed favourites heading into this game.But, it is needless to point out that they haven’t played to their full potential under Sarri this season and their weaknesses could be exploited by Lyon. While Lyon got the better of Juve in the first leg, games like this are where Ronaldo shines. The Bianconeri should get the victory needed to reach the last eight. With Lyon recording just one away victory this season against RB Leipzig. This might be a task too big for them. Well scoring three might be little optimistic for Juve despite having Ronaldo due to Bianconeri's form. Don't be surprised if Lyon grab an away goal and progress to next round.

Juventus vs Lyon Latest Odds

Juventus are clear 4/9 (1.44) favourites with bet365 to return to bounce back by coming out on top on home turf.

Last Friday’s Coupe de la Ligue final penalty shootout defeat against PSG was Les Gones’ first competitive match since March, and they are 13/2 (7.50) outsiders to blow off the cobwebs with a shock win here.

The visitors claimed a creditable 1-1 draw in their last visit to this stadium back in 2016, and you can get odds of 7/2 (4.50) on them booking a place in the quarter-finals by holding out for a stalemate once again.

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