Julius OkorieLa Liga and Ligue 1 giants, Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain, are eagerly awaiting their UEFA Champions League semi-finals opponents as last two semi-finalists emerge tonight.
The duo lost the second legs of their quarter-finals clashes against Dortmund and Aston Villa respectively on Tuesday night but progressed on aggregates following impressive run in the first leg. While Barcelona progressed on a 5-3 aggregate, despite losing the second leg 3-1 to Dortmund, PSG progressed on a slim 5-4 aggregate against Aston Villa.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelVilla’s ouster leaves only Arsenal as the only English team standing. Arsenal take on Real Madrid tonight in what promises to be action packed encounter.
The Gunners ran away with a 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg and will be hoping to consolidate and progress to the semi-finals with even a scoreless draw.
Can Real Madrid Make Surprise Comeback?
Wounded Real Madrid will be coming in full force as they attempt to make a very difficult comeback. Whether the Carlo Ancelotti tutored side can pull a surprise tonight is left to be seen, but looks more like a herculean task. The winner of this encounter will face PSG.
In the second, and final quarter-finals pairing tonight, Inter Milan with a 2-1 first leg advantage take on Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
The slim advantage makes tonight’s re-match a tough as a battle ready Bayern Munich stand a chance of turning the table. It does not however look easy for either team and it will be a case of survival of the fittest
Hosts, Inter Milan, enter the second leg unbeaten in 14 at San Siro in the competition, which after beating Bayern last week and ending their 22-game run on their own patch, is now the longest ongoing run in the Champions League.
READ ALSO:UEFA Champions League Q/Final Second Leg: It’s D-Day For Aston Villa, Dortmund
Another treble is in sight for Inter, and going 12 unbeaten across all competitions suggests it will take quite something to stop them at present, as Cagliari were no match for Inzaghi’s side at the weekend, in a 3-1 win for the Serie A leaders.
All Inter have to do is maintain that unbeaten run this midweek and they will be into the semi-finals, ahead of their Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against AC Milan next Wednesday.
The Nerazzurri have progressed from 21 of their previous 23 Champions League ties after winning the first leg, but one of those defeats did come last season, when they failed to capitalise on a dominant first-leg performance and were eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the last 16. It will certainly be painful to record a repeat of that disappointment tonight.
Bayern have also remarkably won all four of their away matches against Inter, three of which have come in the Champions League, and all without conceding a goal.
That is Inter’s longest losing streak at home to a single opponent in Europe, but unless Vincent Kompany can mastermind another, he will be under huge pressure in the Bayern dugout.
What Hope for Bayern Munich Tonight?
Bayern unfortunately will be without Jamal Musiala for the rest of the season, so Raphael Guerreiro could start as the number 10 again after impressing off the bench against Dortmund, even though Muller got the goal after being introduced from the bench last week.
Youngster Jonas Urbig will start again in goal, with Manuel Neuer’s potential return date being knocked back to the end of April at the earliest, and the visitors have plenty of absentees just in front, with Alphonso Davies, Dayot Upamecano and Hiroki Ito all injured at the back.
Serge Gnabry has put pressure on Leroy Sane for a starting berth after netting off the bench in the draw with Dortmund at the weekend, but it is likely Kompany will stick with the latter here, despite also having Kingsley Coman available.
Inter May be having the edge but it will be in their interest not to take anything for granted against a desperate, disappointed but hard fighting Bayern Munich.
If there is one person who is eager to see how the Inter against Bayern Munich pans out to night, it is veteran Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw. The actress who is not known to be a die-hard soccer fan surprisingly told her fans that tonight’s battle the best place to be, posting via@HenshawKate “San Siro stadium Milan is the place to be today.. The excitement is palpable….”
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
