Who will win the Bundesliga vs Ligue 1 UCL semis battle?
The 2019/20 UEFA Champions League has seen a lot of giant-killing in the knockout phases, and I daresay that nobody would have predicted that the likes of Lyon and RB Leipzig would be in the semifinals of the competition.
Nobody would have predicted that the last 4 of the competition would comprise only teams from the Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Imagine the likes of Juventus, Barcelona, Manchester City, and Atletico Madrid being eliminated from the competition.
Let’s not mention how Barcelona were mercilessly pummeled, bloodied, and bled 8:2. Even if someone saw a thrashing, nobody would have fathomed that high a scoreline. Funny enough, if more time had been added, more goals would have been added by Bayern who were very ruthless.
The semifinals of the competition is a Bundesliga vs Ligue 1 affair, although I can hardly say the fixtures are evenly poised. A PSG vs Bayern Munich and Lyon vs RB Leipzig encounter would have been fairer. Regardless, Bayern Munich have established themselves as overwhelming favorites for the trophy.
Paris Saint-Germain versus RB Leipzig will see two German managers face each other with Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann on opposite ends. The Ligue 1 champions are favorites on paper but RB Leipzig are a very tricky side. Even in the absence of the prolific Timo Werner who has joined Chelsea, they effectively dispatched Atletico Madrid.
PSG will have to be wary of the threat as they were just a few minutes away from elimination by Atalanta in the last round of the competition before mounting a comeback. They may not be a second time lucky against the Julian Nagelsmann-led side and we wait to see how this game pans out.
The game that appears one-sided is the one between Bayern Munich and Lyon. Any shock result in this game will be described as the proper giant-killing. Hansi Flick’s men are overwhelming favorites on paper and we wait to see how Rudi Garcia’s men respond.
Lyon have done two major giant-killings in this competition. They eliminated Juventus and also beat Manchester City 3:1 last weekend in a game where Pep Guardiola’s men were also overwhelming favorites.
The thing that will work for Bayern is that they do not underrate their opponents, so Lyon have to do away with the thought of being considered as underdogs by their German counterparts in this one.
Regardless. we’re looking forward to the next round although I reckon that the UCL trophy will end up in Germany, precisely at the Allianz Arena, or in France at the Parc des Princes.
Anything other than this means that a major giant-killing was done and won’t you just love football for its unpredictability at times? We wait to see how things pan out eventually with regards to the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League.
