Four down, four to go!
As far as I was concerned, there was never any doubt which way this week’s Champions League ties would progress.
In fact, my three favourites for the competition all got through with an element of ease. Even in Real Madrid’s case, a 2-1 aggregate success over RB Leipzig, I never felt they were in any serious trouble of exiting.
Sure, some of the doubters would have told you before the second leg that Bayern Munich were on the verge of imploding, that it was last-chance saloon for the Bavarians, but this SBOTOP writer never saw it that way.
With England captain Harry Kane in their ranks, why would they not overturn a first leg deficit to Lazio.
His 32nd and 33rd goals of the campaign helped them in a big way, allied to another consummate European performance by Thomas Müller, and the more Bayern asserted themselves, the more Lazio began to look like the ninth‑best team in Serie A.
For Kane in Bavaria, read Kylian Mbappe in sweet Paris.
While I do not think PSG are genuine contenders to win the European crown they crave so much, you can never rule them out when they have Mbappe and so it proved once more.
His two superbly taken goals saw off Real Sociedad in the Basque country with a 2-1 success on the night, 4-1 on aggregate.
The France captain could not be more popular even in the French capital he will soon depart.
For he is the one man who has lived up to his star billing and displayed a level of consistency others at PSG have failed to deliver consistently in recent years – notably the Brazilian Neymar and then, much later, an aging Lionel Messi.
Neither of them were failures, of course – far from it.
But while their reputation nosedived somewhat, Mbappe’s importance continued to grow, as did his goal tally. He became the club’s record scorer last year, surpassing Edinson Cavani’s record in 54 fewer games.
One suspects he will continue to create Champions League 2024 highlights next season too when he joins Real Madrid, who should be some team when he arrives.
The Champions League 2024 betting odds make them one of the favourites for the competition again and, on nights like their second leg in the Bernabeu, you can see why.
Holding a slender lead thanks to Brahim Diaz’s first leg winner, there was an expectation on Real to demonstrate their quality and experience to see the job through on home turf.
They didn’t play well and gave away possession cheaply at times, yet did you ever doubt they would do what was required without overexerting themselves?
This was a professional job against the plucky Germans, who actually reached the semi-finals in 2020 but have since opted to sell many of their best players in successive summers.
Vinicius clipped in Jude Bellingham’s pass midway through the second period to extend their advantage and, although Leipzig levelled on the night moments later with a flicked Willi Orban header, they could not find another goal to force extra-time even though former Barcelona youngster Dani Olmo saw a looping header clip the top of the crossbar in the final seconds.
As for the reigning champions Manchester City, they are rightly the competition favourites.
Much will depend on the draw a week on Friday, although given they dispatched both Bayern and Real in style in the quarter and semi-finals, respectively, last season before seeing of Inter Milan, that argument arguably falls flat with some feeling City can conquer all before them once more.
The second leg was no exception against FC Copenhagen.
The Danes produced a spirit and character that much bigger clubs could learn from, but ultimately, they were no match for the all-round juggernaut managed by Pep Guardiola.
City could even afford to rest key men with a 3-1 advantage from the first leg.
This really was David versus Goliath without the same ending, as shown inside the opening nine minutes.
That’s all it took for Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez to find the net and increase City’s overall lead to 5-1.
There was time, naturally, for Erling Haaland to add his customary goal and go joint top of the tournament scoring charts alongside Kane and Mbappe as he netted his sixth of the campaign – and 29th in all competitions – when City scored a third before half-time after the visitors had pulled one back through one-time Southampton man Mohamed Elyounoussi.
Credit to Copenhagen, who were taking on the best side in world football right now.
Surely only Captains Fantastic Kane and Mbappe, or the kings of this competition Real, can stop them.
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