Four suitors and a single champion: Barcelona, Inter, Arsenal and the PSG will be played between this week and next pass to the final of the Champions Leaguein semifinals without clear favorites, with teams that arrive in different dynamics.
Barça arrives at the first leg, on Wednesday at home, after having conquered on Saturday its 32nd title of the Copa del Reyalso defeating in the final the Real Madrid 3-2 in the lengthe. LaLiga leader with four points ahead of its maximum rival, those dirgrated by Hansi Flick They dream of closing the season with a triplet.
Something that your rival can no longer make, Inter, which last week He was eliminated with a 3-0 win in Semifinals of the Italian Cup by Milan. Suspicions that the team of Simone Inzaghi He is losing strength in this decisive section of the season they confirmed this Sunday, when the Nerazzurri He lost at home 1-0 against Rome, a second consecutive defeat in series A (1-0 against Bologna a week ago) that can cost you the title.
“We have to recover energy. We will go to Barcelona with much respect for that team, but without fear,” Inzaghi said Sunday. In the classification of series A, Inter lost the lead and now three points behind Naples.
Sunday was the third consecutive game in which the team of Lautaro Martínez He was unmarked, a bad omen before facing a Barcelona that, although he will not be able to count on his scorer Robert Lewandowskiinjured, is one of the most prolific teams in Europe this season. Before the decline of the Polish, they must be the Brazilian Raphinha y Ferran Torres Those who contribute the goals for Barcelona.
The end of the Canarinha is the second top scorer of the contest, with 12 goals, to only one of the Guinean striker of the Borussia Dortmund Serhou Guirassywhich can no longer mark this season since your team was eliminated.
Yes on Wednesday The faces will be seen two clubs that add 8 continental titlesfive for Barça (1992, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015) and three for Inter (1964, 1965 and 2010), a day before, in London, two clubs, PSG and Arsenal will be measured, who pursue the European dream, without having achieved it for now.
El PSG of Luis Enriquewho already won the title of Ligue 1, tarnished his impeccable trajectory in the domestic competition by losing Friday against Nice 3-1, the first defeat of the course. A defeat without consequences, except to prevent the PSG from becoming the first French club to close a campaign of Ligue 1 without defeats.
“The possibility of beating a more records was more a goal,” confessed the coach on Friday. “It could not be, but that does not alter at all our goal of continuing in the Champions.”
The European contest is the obsession of the French club since it was bought by a Catarí fund in 2011. After several years of disappointments and the passage of players such as Messi, Neymar, Mbappé and renowned technicians (Ancelotti, Pochettino, Tuchel), this season could be the good with a more discreet team, but that displays a spectacular and combinative game, as your coach wants.
The lost final against the Bayern Munich In 2020 he was so far the only one played by the PSG, which in that resembles Arsenal, who also played one and lost it, in 2006 against Barcelona.
The team of Alexis Mac Allister It may not start as a favorite, but in the rooms it already eliminated Real Madrid for a 5-1 win and in October he defeated PSG 2-0 on the second day of the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta Wait for the Emirates public to be decisive. “The spectators have to play with us every ball. Let’s play together on Tuesday and make it one of the most fantastic nights,” said the DT.
Arteta, who as a player went through the PSG, will face another Spanish on the bench, Luis Enrique. Both, with Barca past, expressed their mutual admiration.
A final curiosity. In a season in which the Champions released format, three of the semifinalists ended in the first four squares of the league (Barça, Inter and Arsenal) and the only one who was left out, the PSG, eliminated Liverpool, the best in the first phase.
Sign that the competition ended up rewarding the most regular teams.
With agency information