We have reached the penultimate round of the 2021/22 Champions League, and as things stand, it is incredibly hard to split the contenders.
As a new champion will be crowned this season between Villarreal, Manchester City, Liverpool, or Real Madrid
Tuesday, April 26th, 2022
Real Madrid @ Manchester City – 3PM ET
Real Madrid and Manchester City will meet in this first leg of the semifinals in Manchester. Real Madrid last reached a UEFA Champions League Final in 2017-18 where they defeated Liverpool. While Manchester City last reached a final last season where they were knocked off by defending champions Chelsea.
Real Madrid is the most decorated team in the history of the UEFA Champions League. As they have won a record 13 titles. Their most recent one came in 2017-2018 where they knocked off Liverpool. So far this season they are leading in La Liga and are currently on the cusp of clinching the league championship with a win or a Barcelona loss in their next game. Led by Karim Benzema, Real Madrid has already won the Supercopa, are about to win La Liga and can grab the treble with a champions league title. To get here they have beaten Paris Saint Germain and the defending champions Chelsea.
Manchester City is currently on top of the English Premier League. They are looking to make their second straight Champions League final this season and get the win this time after losing to Chelsea 1-0 last year. They will be looking to win their second straight English Premier League trophy this season. However, it won’t be as easy as last year as they will be locked in a race with Liverpool until the final day of the season. They have yet to win a trophy this season and if they can only win one, this one would have to be the most important one they could get. They have never won a UEFA Champions League. As for the result of this first leg I’m taking the two teams to draw.
Champions League Pick: Draw (+360)
Wednesday, April 27th, 2022
Villarreal @ Liverpool – 3PM ET
Villarreal and Liverpool will meet in this first leg of the semifinals in Spain. Liverpoo last reached a UEFA Champions League Final in 2018-19 where they defeated Tottenham to win the crown and become club champions of Europe. While Villarreal has never won or appeared in a Champions League final.
Villarreal is looking to make their first UEFA Champions League Final after they won their first trophy in Europe last year with their Europa League win. They aren’t having the best year inside of La Liga as they currently sit in seventh place and outside of European competition for next season. With five games remaining they still have a shot to get into the top two at the end of the season if everything goes their way. To get into this round they have beaten two of the biggest clubs in Europe in Juventus and Bayern Munich.
Liverpool has been on fire this year as they haven’t lost a matchup since December of 2021 as they are on a 26-match unbeaten run. Now they will be looking to get the first leg of these Champions League semifinal underway with a victory at home. They come into this one sitting in second place in the English Premier League only a single point behind Manchester City for the lead. They are still capable of winning all four major trophies this season as they have already won the English Football League Cup and they have the FA cup final soon against Chelsea. As for the result of this one I am expecting Liverpool to get a 1-0 win at home.
Champions League Pick: Liverpool (-350)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
