Champions League preview: Chelsea and Man City flying the flag for England

32 sides entered but now only four remain and once again, English sides dominate the Champions League as both Chelsea and Manchester City prepare to battle it out against two of Europe’s biggest names in PSG and Real Madrid. We take a look at the mouth-watering semi-finals…

Chelsea to frustrate Madrid?

Tuesday evening sees Chelsea travel to Spain as they prepare to face one of the biggest clubs in the world in Real Madrid as they battle it out for a place in the Champions League Final.

This will be the fourth European meeting between Chelsea and Real Madrid with both sides facing each other in the 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup final and the 1998 UEFA Super Cup final. Chelsea won both of these fixtures and they are 11/5 underdogs to do so once again on Tuesday. Hakim Ziyech has been directly involved in six goals in seven Champions League starts during the knockout stages and the Moroccan is priced at 19/5 to find the back of the net once again. Will Thomas Tuchel’s side continue their impressive European run?

Real Madrid will be looking to enact revenge on Chelsea considering how the European giants have faced Chelsea more often than any other side in all competitions without winning in their entire history, failing in all three matches. Although this may be the case, Real Madrid head into this fixture as the 29/20 favourites. Madrid have one of the best semi-final records with Los Blancos having won the first leg of nine of their last 10 Champions League knockout ties, but can they find a way past Chelsea’s incredibly strong defence this time round?

Man City to finally reach the final?

Manchester City travel to Paris on Wednesday evening as Pep Guardiola’s side look to kick on in Europe after winning their fourth consecutive League Cup title on Sunday afternoon.

The only previous time these two sides have met each other in the knockout stages of the Champions League was back in 2016 where Kevin De Bruyne scored the winner as Manchester City came out 3-2 victors. If you believe the Belgian will shine once again, he is 21/10 to score anytime in the Parc Des Princes.

Pep Guardiola has only beaten three other managers more often during his career than Mauricio Pochettino although the last time these two met in Europe, Pochettino came out on top in that magnificent Spurs victory in 2019.

PSG became just the third French team to reach the semi-finals of the European Cup in consecutive seasons after Saint Etienne and Marseille and they are 5/4 underdogs to qualify for the final this time round. If PSG were to reach the final, they would become only the ninth side to reach the Champions League final in consecutive seasons. They will be hoping that their main man in Neymar will lead them to glory once again this season. The Brazilian has either scored or assisted in each of his previous three Champions League semi-final appearances and he is 7/4 to find the net on Wednesday.

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