Today the final spots in the UEFA Champions League Semi-Final were taken by Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich. Yesterday Real Madrid and Chelsea qualified in very exciting matches.
Here are my thoughts on the remaining 4 teams:
(in order of quality)
1. Bayern Munich
- Guardiola's team dominates possession and exerts full control over long stretches of matches by working hard to get the ball back within seconds of losing it. Manchester United tried to slow Bayern down by throwing the entire team behind the ball.
- United was able to take the lead in both legs, but Bayern was so resilient (or United was so mentally fragile, depending how you look at it) that Bayern equalized immediately.
- That Bayern was able to withstand the loss of their most defensive-minded midfielders (Schweinsteiger and Martinez) to win the tie was particularly impressive. But the remaining 3 teams will all pose a much bigger threat than United did (even Chelsea). United looks out of place at this level.
2. Atletico Madrid
- This year's "surprise" semifinalists are superior to their Galactico neighbors. Atletico dominated Barcelona at the Camp Nou, hitting the crossbar thee times after Koke scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the first 5 minutes.
- Atletico shouldn't be surprising anyone because they are first in La Liga. Koke and Diego Costa will probably start for Spain in the upcoming World Cup as well.
- Diego Simeone has built a real powerhouse club here. He might be on a few of the big clubs' wishlists this summer, but it will take a lot to convince Simeone to leave Atletico. Having played for Atletico for 6 seasons as a player, Simeone is enjoying his renaissance, and might not want to leave the club again any time soon.
3. Real Madrid
- Last night, Real was torn to shreds by Marco Reus. Reus scored 2 first half goals against Madrid to really scare the Galacticos, and if Henrik Mkhitaryan had scored instead of hitting the post after rounding Iker Casillas in the 2nd half, Madrid would have thrown away their 3-0 win in the first leg.
- Notably, Ronaldo was rested for last night's game. The Ballon d'Or winner clearly makes Madrid a better team. But not without controversy. Ronaldo has been jeered recently at the Bernabeau, as Madrid fans have grown tired of Ronaldo's selfishness. Some fans think Ronaldo puts his own numbers ahead of the club by failing to pass to teammates in better scoring positions and trying to shoot for goal himself instead.
- Madrid is currently 3rd in La Liga, and while they do have a very potent attack, the midfield and defense haven't been up to standard. Madrid looks beatable right now. Its hard to see how they could handle the Bayern or Atletico attacks. But Chelsea, that's another story.
4. Chelsea
- Chelsea was the only club to win their quarter-final via the away goals tie-braker. The away goal that won the tie was a penalty kick.
- The Blues caught a huge break in that PSG's best attacker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, was injured in the first leg. Without Ibrahimovic, PSG struggled to convert multiple chances to score away goals last night. Chelsea survived truly by the thinnest, and luckiest, of margins.
- Hazard was injured last night and might not be fit for the semi-finals. Chelsea cannot play Nemanja Matic, their next best player, in European competition. Chelsea's best striker is 33-year-old Samuel Eto'o. The players Chelsea has available simply aren't good enough to win this. Just like they weren't good enough in 2012 and...oh wait.
- But their manager is so fast! Jose Mourinho showed last night while he was sprinting down the touchline after Demba Ba's late winner that he is miles quicker than his captain and resident-racist: John Terry.
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