The Champions League semi-finals have come and gone, and as we now know who will be battling it out in Paris for the trophy and all the glory that comes with it, we must also reflect on what an amazing round of fixtures the semi-finals have been. With Real Madrid and Liverpool playing the role of experienced veterans of the latter stages of the competition, Manchester City and Villarreal brought their own unique experience of the tournament to their matches, and made for 4 incredibly exciting and dramatic games of football. Whatever the outcome of the final may be, if it’s anything like what we have just witnessed in the past few weeks, we are set for an instant classic.

This post continues our Champions League reviews, and will be continuing throughout the tournament and following every stage of the competition. In the piece, we will pick out the key headlines and talking points of the gameweek/round of fixtures, so if you spot something or want us to discuss a specific game/team/player/moment, let us know over on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog).

Enjoy.

Comeback Kings…

Real Madrid produced one of the most exhilarating ends to a football match that the Champions League has ever seen, but we will get to that shortly. The first-leg of the matchup with Manchester City, saw Madrid leave England trailing 4-3 to the Premier League leaders, and set up a mouth-watering return leg in Madrid. In the 7 goal thriller, City had seemed in control for the majority of the matchup, however Benzema played his usual role of netting in the Champions League to keep his side in contention.

The stats from the first-leg match summarised the overall feeling of the game, with City edging most statistics, with 60% possession, an xG of 2.7 (1.62 for Real Madrid), they had 16 shots with 6 being on target including hitting the woodwork. The key players of De Bruyne (1 goal 1 assist), Foden (1 goal) and Mahrez (1 assist) were all on form and more than played their part, however defensively the game was open and defenders on both sides perhaps would have left feeling they could have done better. Despite this, from a neutral perspective, we had the tie still very much in the balance, and as Real Madrid demonstrated in the quarter-finals, the 2nd leg at the Bernabéu is very much a tough ask for any side.

City went to Madrid and for the majority of the game held resolute, and when Mahrez struck in the 73rd minute to make it 1-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate, many fans were booking flights to Paris and thinking of excuses to get time off work. However from the 90th minute, Real Madrid, with the crowd on their side turned the entire game on it’s head. Brazilian substitute Rodrygo entered the field in the 68th minute just 5 before the City goal, however his introduction was the spark that got Madrid back into the game. Netting in the 90th minute and again in the 91st, he levelled the tie on aggregate, and suddenly from nowhere, we were heading to extra-time, with the Spanish champions looking like they couldn’t be stopped.

With many fans having already left when the tie seemed dead and buried, the videos of fans desperate to get back into the stadium for the extra 30 minute period will serve as a lesson to any fan leaving the stadium early. Meanwhile, back inside the stadium, we saw Carlo Ancelotti discussing key tactics on the sidelines with veteran pros Kroos and Marcelo, and his side continued their dominance in the extra 30 minutes. Just a few minutes into extra-time, Real Madrid were awarded a penalty after Dias brought down in-form striker Benzema, who then held his nerve from the spot to send the Bernabéu wild and his side through to the Champions League final. With one of the remarkable comebacks that the tournament and in this season Real Madrid have become synonymous with, the La Liga champions will return to the final of the tournament for the 17th time in the clubs’ history.

The statistics in the second-leg are now just history and may add to City’s misery, as they dominated possession once again (56%), they had 15 shots to Madrid’s 14, including 10 on target, but could only score one despite having several key chances to add another and end the tie inside 90 minutes, and had a higher pass %, however Pep will be left scratching his head once again to figure out why his side couldn’t get over the line.

Mentality Monsters…

Real Madrid will be repeating the 2018 Champions League final as they meet Liverpool in Paris later this month, after Klopp’s side continued their quest for the quadruple and European glory by beating Villarreal across both legs of their semi-final to make it to the clubs’ 10th European Cup final, and a 3rd for manager Jurgen Klopp. Although Real Madrid claimed the title in 2018, Liverpool will be feeling much more confident and hopeful to take the trophy this time around with a more experienced and consistently strong side to face Ancelotti’s men.

The semi-final matches against Villarreal were perhaps more challenging than many Liverpool fans had expected, as the Spanish underdogs put up a fight despite being obvious 2nd favourites. In the first-leg, with the Anfield crowd at it’s peak, they gave themselves a strong advantage as they claimed a 2-0 victory to take with them to Spain. In the 53rd minute, a Jordan Henderson cross was deflected by Estupinan into his own net to break the deadlock before Sadio Mane added a second just 2 minutes later.

Villarreal would have hoped to keep the score to a minimum and take a result and some optimism back to their stadium for the second-leg, which arguably they achieved, as despite the 2 goal deficit, it could have been much worse for Emery’s side. Liverpool were statistically dominant, with the Spanish opponents sitting back and trying to contain the force of Liverpool’s attacking talent, as they had done against Bayern in the previous round. Many criticised Unai Emery’s tactics to play so defensively, however with Liverpool proving to be such a threat when the opponents defence is open even slightly, and so I would say his tactics were the correct choice despite the result as it gave his side a glimmer of hope. Liverpool dominated the ball (73% possession), they have 19 shots to Villarreal’s 1 and had an xG of 1.64 to 0.12 for their visitors. With almost 3x as many passes, and dominating across the board, they will have been irritated not to properly put the tie to bed, however they got the job done on the night and went to Spain full of confidence.

The return fixture showed the exact game plan many had expected from Villarreal, and was so close to creating a major upset. The Spanish side came out of the blocks flying in the first 45, and went in at half-time 2-0 up and truly dominating the game. Many fans, pundits and neutrals were left scratching their heads at the break as to what they had just witnessed and also figuring out what Klopp’s side needed to do to in order to get back into the game.

The second half arrival of Luis Diaz changed the tie back into the favour of Klopp’s side as he has done on several occasions since he joined the side, and he was highly influential in helping his side regain their foothold in the game. Netting the second of Liverpool’s 3 second half strikes, they had put the game to bed and although Villarreal deserve plenty of respect for their efforts, the English side proved too strong on the night and showed this monster mentality that Klopp has spoken about previously.

Statistically, this matchup was much more evenly matched, with possession being split 44% – 56% to Liverpool, both sides played a more open game, with 6 shots for Villarreal to Liverpool’s 15 and both had a similar number of passes.

The game against Real Madrid will potentially be the culmination of Liverpool’s quadruple efforts, as they may either be playing for their 4th trophy of the campaign, or could be consolidating on their earlier Carabao Cup success. In what could be one of the biggest nights in English and European football, both sides will feel full of confidence given their semi-final successes, and with both sides in-form, we could see a highly entertaining matchup in this years’ final. Who will win is truly anyone’s guess at this point, but we can’t wait to find out.

Elsewhere…

As the Champions League takes the headlines on Tuesday/Wednesday, the Thursday night European offerings have been arguably as entertaining, with some big results coming in the last 4 of both the Europa League and the debut season of the Europa Conference League.

In the Europa League, we will be seeing Rangers taking on German side Eintracht Frankfurt, as both potential underdogs got past their tricky fixtures in slightly different ways, however it will set up a highly entertaining spectacle in the final.

Rangers went away to Leipzig, who had been strong favourites to win the tournament, and left with defeat in a 1-0 loss, however the return to Glasgow was a truly remarkable occasion and a historic night in the clubs’ history. Inside the first half an hour, Rangers had taken a 2-0 lead to put them ahead on aggregate, with Tavernier and Kamara giving their side the advantage. In-form striker Nkunku got his side on level terms in the 71st minute, until the final stages when John Lundstram made it 3-1 on the night, 3-2 on aggregate and saw the Scottish side through to the final of the Europa League and give them the opportunity to end their 50 year European trophy drought.

They will face off against another German side in the final, as Eintracht Frankfurt got past West Ham in both legs of their semi-final, as they left the London stadium 2-1 up in the first-leg, and although the Hammers’ faithful travelled to Germany in the second leg in their droves, their support was perhaps outdone by the loyal German side and the game was out of their reach when Borre put his side 1-0 up and 3-1 ahead on aggregate. West Ham made things even more difficult for themselves as Aaron Cresswell was sent off following a VAR review inside 20 minutes, meaning their task had to be done with just 10 men on the pitch, and despite their valiant efforts, the German side took advantage and held out for the victory and set up an evenly matched final in the Europa League, in which both sides will go going all-out for the win.

In the debut season of the Conference League, we will see Mourinho’s Roma side taking on Feyenoord in the final, as both sides got past tricky semi-final matchups to secure their place in the final and be competing for the inaugural title. Roma went into their second leg level with Leicester City, and back in Rome they secured their final spot thanks to a goal from Tammy Abraham which secured their victory. Meanwhile, Feyenoord played out a 0-0 in the second leg after their much more attacking first leg 3-2 victory. The Dutch side sit some way off the title spot in the Eredivisie, however they will feel confident in claiming silverware as they face off with Jose’s side. Despite the scepticism of the trophy earlier in the season, it has been a great addition to the European footballing calendar, and if anybody is to question the importance of the trophy, just look at the crowds in the semi-finals and it will show quite how important this trophy will be to both teams.