{"id":247,"date":"2020-08-20T10:40:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T10:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/?p=247"},"modified":"2023-10-13T11:18:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T11:18:44","slug":"reviewing-the-champions-league-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/?p=247","title":{"rendered":"Reviewing the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Written by Jed Vine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<a id='UPeoUhByTPFd62sFD09mkw' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1267206116' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'UPeoUhByTPFd62sFD09mkw',sig:'69Bla_0Xtav4AJ0cwrlr1Up3QXxnFbs6rywHchzkVbA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1267206116',caption: false ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four teams became two as we near Sunday&#8217;s Champions League Final. But just how did the teams perform in their attempts to reach Europe&#8217;s biggest showpiece?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#1606e5\" class=\"has-inline-color\">PSG 3<\/span>&#8211;<span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">0 RB Leipzig<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<a id='Z8S8hNO9TXFfnZuTcZUsiA' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1267021400' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Z8S8hNO9TXFfnZuTcZUsiA',sig:'MSnltbaCnTM6x3SzO2W7zYkHE3AT1E1xfkqpVr1HgNQ=',w:'594px',h:'373px',items:'1267021400',caption: false ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PSG eased past Leipzig as they won a ticket to their first ever Champions League Final. Brilliant performances from all of their star-studded front three gave the Germans no chance of an upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neymar was at the heart of everything yet again, hitting the post early on before winning a free-kick in the 12&#8242; minute. The resulting set-piece saw Di Maria whip a wonderful cross into the danger area, and Marquinhos popped up to power a header into the top corner to score his second goal in two Champions League games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was another free-kick that so very nearly caught Leipzig out. From around 45 yards out, Neymar spotted Gulacsi out of position, and, with one step, curled a fantastic effort towards goal, hitting the base of the near post. Nearly a fantastic semi-final goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was Neymar who made the difference for the French side&#8217;s second. Gulacsi played an awful pass straight to Paredes, and his chipped ball found Neymar in behind the defence. The Brazilian proceeded to pull of a quite remarkable back heel volley that found Di Maria, who tucked away a simple finish. An absolutely stunning assist by Neymar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 56&#8242; minute saw PSG put the game safely to bed. Jordi Mukiele found himself on the ground after a slip, claiming a foul. Yet Di Maria played on, playing a cross into Juan Bernat, who was kept onside by Mukiele. Bernat glanced a header past the Hungarian goalkeeper, and the left-back got his second goal of the season (despite Neymar&#8217;s attempts to get a touch on the ball on the line).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A sublime showing from PSG, who never looked like losing the match. They will look forward to their first ever Champions League Final on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MOTM: <\/strong>Angel Di Maria<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#6b7175\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Lyon 0<\/span>&#8211;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">3 Bayern Munich<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<a id='L_nnfd_vTuNjNKWUvepxfw' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1267196068' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'L_nnfd_vTuNjNKWUvepxfw',sig:'Gq8Um8Z4N3hFuaQbgJ6da15Tigu8U5GXOeoiaAlmNK4=',w:'594px',h:'389px',items:'1267196068',caption: false ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bayern Munich followed up their unbelievable result against Barcelona with another win as they beat Lyon in relatively comfortable fashion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was actually Lyon who had the greater chances in the early stages, with Memphis Depay missing a one-on-one with Neuer and Toko-Ekambi hitting the base of the post. It appeared that Lyon knew how to counter-attack Bayern, yet these missed chances came back to bite them, as Bayern showed just how clinical they can be. Kimmich&#8217;s long ball found Serge Gnabry, and the winger was able to run past a few Lyon defenders with ease, before powering a left-footed strike into the top corner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was Gnabry who added Bayern&#8217;s second too, after Perisic&#8217;s cross found Lewandowski. Somehow, the Polish striker couldn&#8217;t tuck it away, but Gnabry was on hand to finish past the on-looking &#8216;keeper on the rebound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite their comfortable lead, Bayern never really looked up to their usual standards. This is, however, a real testament to just how good they are, as they held a big lead over the side who had knocked out Juventus and Manchester City whilst playing at less than 50%. Hansi Flick truly has made Bayern quite an unbelievable outfit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite a few missed chances, Lewandowski was never really going to be left out of the scoring. In the 88&#8242; minute, Kimmich whipped in a free-kick to the middle of the box, and the striker rose highest to head the ball past Lopes for Bayern&#8217;s third. It was his 55th(!) goal of the season, and his 15th in just 9 Champions League games. He has been by far the best number 9 in the world this year, and his incredible numbers match that statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bayern will face PSG on Sunday, and PSG will hope that the German side isn&#8217;t on top form, as, had Bayern played at full capacity against Lyon, it could&#8217;ve been a cricket score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What a mental team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MOTM:<\/strong> Serge Gnabry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Jed Vine Embed from Getty Images Four teams became two as we near Sunday&#8217;s Champions League Final. But just how did the teams perform in their attempts to reach Europe&#8217;s biggest showpiece? PSG 3&#8211;0 RB Leipzig Embed from Getty Images PSG eased past Leipzig as they won a ticket to their first ever [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[101,76,5,73,104,3,103,87,95,77,84,83,54,17,34,8],"class_list":["post-247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-football","tag-3-0","tag-bayern","tag-blog","tag-champions-league","tag-di-maria","tag-football","tag-gnabry","tag-leipzig","tag-lyon","tag-munich","tag-neymar","tag-psg","tag-report","tag-review","tag-semi-final","tag-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248,"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions\/248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jedvine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}