Can the defending Champions Bayern Munich repeat their astonishing heroics of last year's semi final display vs Barcelona again?...........This time vs Ronaldo & Real Madrid?
Are Atletico Madrid as good or better than last year's underdogs Borussia Dortmund?....and can they beat the wily Jose Mourinho & his unpredictable Chelsea?
The answers are yes......and no!
The reason this year's semi finals are so hard to predict is not so much because of the key players but much more to do with arguably the four most admired master tacticians in the European football are leading the four semi finalists!
Guardiola, Mourinho & Ancelotti are all double Champions League winners & Simeone is arguably the most talented up & coming coach in Europe right now.
All four coaches are capable of reading the game well, changing tactics & are proven winners & all 4 are capable of changing the course of any game.
Having said that, not all four teams have reached the semi finals with their reputations intact:
Real Madrid were totally outplayed by Dortmund in parts of the first leg in Madrid & for most of the second leg defeat in Dortmund & can consider themselves lucky to have reached yet another semi final. And to make matters worse Ronaldo's injury may rule him out of the 1st semi final leg in Madrid.
Chelsea had to come back from a 3-1 first leg deficit & were minutes away from being eliminated by a PSG side missing their injured talisman Ibrahimovic in London.
Bayern on the other hand, whilst in control for most of both legs with their possession football, fell behind in both legs to a Manchester United side badly struggling at home & missing the injured Robin Van Persie. Bayern only managed to display their true prowess in the final 35 minutes of the 2nd leg & only after they fell behind 0-1 & were in danger of being eliminated (albeit for only 30 seconds before they equalised)
Atletico Madrid meanwhile go to the semi finals with their reputation enhanced & fully deserving their dark horse tag & a repeat of their encounter vs Bayern in a repeat of the 1974 European Cup final would be a huge sentimental final 40 years on. They are a team of very talented individuals none of whom acts as a superstar. everyone works for the team under the leadership of Simeone. In many ways Atletico deserve to be in the final.
And as for the final predictions?........
Should Atletico Madrid overcome Chelsea & make it to the final, it will be a triumph of footballing prowess over money.
Bayern would on the other hand surely welcome the chance to seek revenge for the gut wrenching penalty shootout defeat of the 2012 final vs Chelsea & to win the CL by beating all 4 EPL teams in the competition in the process.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid must believe it is time their investment on the likes of Ronaldo & Bale finally delivers them their record 10th crown!
....and as for Mourinho & Chelsea.........well you can never discount Mourinho & his teams......never!
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