The final four teams in the UEFA Champions League will this week take one more step for a place in the final of the competition when the first leg of what is a double-header semi final commences on Tuesday night with action kicking off Manchester.
Real Madrid winger, Vinicius Junior getting instructions from his teammate, Karim Benzema.
Manchester City against Real Madrid and Liverpool versus Villarreal are the two clashes coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively as the two English teams host their respective Spanish opposition in England before going to Spain for the return leg next week.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
Last year beaten finalist, Manchester City overcame Madrid’s city rivals Atletico in the last round to set up a semi final meeting with the record winners while the Spanish giants survive a second leg scare against City’s fellow English club, Chelsea.
The two will be meeting for a fourth different season in the competition after previous meeting in the group stages in 2012-13, semi final in 2015-16, and the round of 16 in 2019-20 seasons.
The total of six meetings has ended in two wins for either side and the other two games resulting in draws. It has always been a close affair between the two as no side has ever beaten the other by more than just a goal difference.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring the last time Real Madrid play away at Manchester City.
Heading into this tie, both side are in good form and even toping their respective leagues with Real needing only a point from their remaining five games to be confirmed Champions while City are just a point ahead of Liverpool with five games to go.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will be hoping to go one better this time after losing the last season’s final to Chelsea and the odds is in their favour against Carlo Ancelotti side, who have had a more difficult route to the semi final.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he is not sure whether the English duo of John Stones and Kyle Walker will be available but stressed all will be known by Tuesday morning.
Walker was substituted due to an ankle injury in the semi final second leg against Atletico while John Stones left the pitch in the 77th minute in the win against Brighton due to an injury.
For the visitors, almost everyone is in the squad as Ferland Mendy and Marcelo were the surprise inclusion despite speculations they could be out of the season due to injuries.
Eder Militao returns after missing the semi final second leg due to suspension while Eden Hazard is the only major absentee but that should be no miss for Los Blancos.
Liverpool vs Villarreal
Villarreal shocked Bayern Munich in the last minutes of the last round to reach the Champions League semi final for the first time since the 2005-06 season, where they were knocked out by an English team, Arsenal.
Liverpool host Unai Emery side at Anfield in the first leg before traveling to Spain for the decisive second leg.
The Reds know how dangerous their opponents are, learning from what happened to Bayern Munich in the last round while Villarreal have already lost their only travel to England this season, falling 2-1 to Manchester United in their group meeting.
The odds are in favour of Jürgen Klopp men but just as it was against Bayern Munich, before the Yellow Submarines come up with one of the biggest upset in the competition this season.
Liverpool have no injury issues and that has been one of their strength in the past few years. Their ability to keep almost everyone fit through the course of a season and except for last season.
Both Gérard Moreno and former Liverpool left-back, Albert Moreno are expected not to travel due to injuries, the former which will be a huge miss for El Submarino Amarillo but Unai Emery will hope to have him ready for the return leg in Spain.
Liverpool players celebrate with Daniel Sturridge after his goal against Villarreal in their Europa League meeting.
Both sides met in the Europa League semi final in 2016 with Liverpool winning the return leg 3-0 at home to seal a 3-1 aggregate win.
Villarreal will do a lot to avoid a repetition and even at that, it will be very unusual not to see Liverpool get a win at Anfield on Wednesday night.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
