Only France and Germany are represented in the Champions League semifinals following Lyon’s stunning upset over Manchester City and Bayern Munich’s epic demolition of Barcelona in the quarterfinals. French giants Paris Saint-Germain are favored to advance to the Champions League Finals for the first time ever, and they will look to punch their ticket against upstarts Red Bull Leipzig. Lyon are out to continue their miracle run too when they face German juggernauts Bayern Munich in the second semifinal.
Champions League Semifinals Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Paris Saint-Germain -126
Red Bull Leipzig +324
Draw +302
Total 3
It looked like PSG were set to crash out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals once again last week. That would have been the eighth straight year that the perennial French champions made it to the knockout rounds of Europe’s greatest competition only to fail to make it to the final four. However, Marquinhos and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting both scored past the 90-minute mark to send all of Paris into uproarious jubilation, erasing a 1-0 deficit to Atalanta.
Now, PSG are significantly stronger as Kylian Mbappe returns to the staring eleven. Mbappe was injured in the Coupe de France final against Saint-Etienne three weeks ago, and he only came off the bench as a late substitute last week against Atalanta. Pairing him up top with Neymar makes this one of the most lethal attacks in the sport, and the play of Mauro Icardi and Ander Herrera has been outstanding. However, PSG will have to get it done without Keylor Navas, as he came off injured in the quarterfinals. Sergio Rico will replace him in net, and PSG are very happy that they agreed to Sevilla to extend his loan two months ago.
It’s been a wild last decade for Red Bull Leipzig. They were only founded 11 years ago, and now they have a chance to win the greatest club soccer competition in the world. They were underdogs against Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals without Timo Werner in the lineup, but their young back line earned plaudits for the way they handled Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata, and Joao Felix, leading to an upset victory.
The scouting department at RB Leipzig deserves all the accolades they receive. This club continues to improve annually despite selling off its top talent every summer, and it’s only a matter of time before their talented youth decide to stay put rather than venture elsewhere. A win over PSG would send them to their first Champions League Final, and that could lead to a sea change in the Bundesliga.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Bayern Munich -430
Olympique Lyonnais +1052
Draw +596
Total 3.5
Bayern Munich have dominated the Bundesliga over the last decade, and they certainly look like the best team in Europe at the moment. Their 8-2 thrashing of Barcelona led to the Blaugrana immediately firing Quique Setien, and this has been the most dominant team over the last two months. Bayern Munich beat Chelsea 7-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16, and Robert Lewandowski has now scored twice as many goals (14) in this year’s Champions League than any other player on a team still involved in the competition. Teammate Serge Gnabry has the second-most tallies with seven goals.
Interestingly, Bayern Munich are the only team in the semifinals that has even made it to the Champions League Final in the past. They have reached that stage 10 times, and Bayern have gone on to win it all on five occasions. Given their form, their pedigree, and their opponent, they are certainly the favorites per the soccer betting odds to win the Champions League at this stage.
Lyon have made a name for themselves as the giant killers of this competition. After an uninspiring Group Stage, they were heavy underdogs against Serie A giants Juventus, but they stunned the winners of the last eight scudettos on away goals in the Round of 16. They were even larger underdogs against Manchester City in the quarterfinals, but supersub Moussa Dembele scored a brace in the span of eight minutes to lift Lyon to a shocking win.
Once again, Lyon are massive underdogs, so bet against them at your own risk.
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