The UEFA Champions League is probably the largest and most prestigious sporting event held in Europe, spanning many months of unbridled excitement as teams from various pools play off against each other. Now with the quarter-finals concluded and the winners moving on to the semi-finals, we look at their chances of playing in the finals and ultimately being crowned the champions of Europe.
The semi-finals begin on 26 April with a clash between Man City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium before facing off for the second leg on 4 May in the Spanish capital. Thereafter, we have Liverpool, who will battle Villarreal on 27 April in the first leg of the semi-finals before heading to El Madrigal on 3 May for the deciding match. In both cases, newly launched bookies for 2022 give the home team the advantage in the first leg of the semi-final confrontations.
Manchester City, the current Premier League champions held their own against Atletico Madrid by not conceding any goals to the Spanish Atletico in Madrid during the quarter-final playoffs, allowing them to join Liverpool, Villarreal and Real Madrid in this year’s semi-final playoffs. To reach the finals, Man City will first have to take on Real Madrid in the semi-finals, who have in the past dominated the UEFA Champions League and are therefore a force to be reckoned with. However, Pep Guardiola is making his ninth semi-final appearance, beating José Mourinho’s eighth and fielding Kevin De Bruyne, widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, is sure to play on top form again.
Jurgen Klopp’s boys from Liverpool secured their place in the semi-finals after playing Benfica to a draw of 3-3 this past Wednesday, pulling through based on aggregate points. Having won the EFL Cup in February this year, the Reds have shown that they have the drive and skill to take this to the final with a potential show off between themselves and Man City, but first, they must face off against Villarreal. Liverpool could very well secure their seventh Champions League trophy by fielding Mohamed Salah with a whopping 28 goals this season, Diogo Jota with 21 and Sadio Mane with 16, who between themselves have more than enough experience to beat Villarreal in the semi-final and face Real Madrid or Man City in the final clash.
The underdog in this year’s UEFA Champions League is quite possibly Villarreal, who subdued Bayern Munich and played them to a draw of 1-1 and thereby advancing on aggregate points to the semi-finals. Villarreal is definitely not the bookmaker’s favorite to win this year’s cup in Paris, however, they should not be counted out of the race as yet since they could achieve the upset of the year by pushing through to the finals. Unai Emery crowned as the “King of cups” by Jurgen Klopp, coach of Liverpool is not underestimating the Yellow Submarine, Villareal might be in for a tough game, but the odds are not insurmountable.
The giants of UCL, Real Madrid, have an unmatched record of winning 13 titles over the last few years, making them more than capable of beating Man City in this year’s UEFA Champions League semi-finals. It is rather surprising that their odds of winning the silverware are so much lower than Man City and Liverpool. During the quarter-final play-offs, Real Madrid scored a decisive 3-1 victory against Chelsea in their first meeting and then managed to move through to the semi-finals on aggregate points after losing 3-2 in their last clash. Carlo Ancelotti, who has won the Champions League/European Cup on three occasions, presents a strong side with Karim Benzema as frontman and Vinícius Júnior to back him up, anything is possible.
The bookies certainly favor Man City this year as one of the favorites to lift the silverware at the finals in Paris this year, with almost no difference in odds between them and Liverpool. The likely outcome for the finals this year would have these two British giants face off against each on 28 May at the Stade de France in Paris, with either one of them more than capable of being crowned UEFA Champions League winner of 2022, this will be the sporting event of the year and not to be missed.
Story by Eva Cooper
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AFP
