After all the drama in the world in the return legs of the quarterfinal, well, in at least two, we’ve now entered the semifinals, where only the best of the best are left. Some may have expected Barcelona to go through, others may have expected Real Madrid, but our two pairs say otherwise. PSG – Bayern and Atlético – Arsenal are our two semifinalists. The former symbolising world-class attacking football, unpredictability, and flair, while the latter… defensive carnage, set-pieces, and conservative football nobody seems to like. Yet the beauty of football lies in the unknown, and nobody can say for certain that PSG-Bayern will be the better game or tie.

So without further ado, let’s get into our analysis and Sofascore Fantasy picks for the UCL Semifinal first legs!

PSG vs Bayern

This matchup may as well be the final because both PSG and Bayern are fascinating to watch, oozing dominance in all segments of the game. On one hand, we have Bayern, who wrapped up the Bundesliga last week, with an unfathomable 113 goals scored in 31 matches played so far. This weekend, they came back from a 3-0 Mainz lead, scoring four in the second half, speaking volumes of their character and professionalism, effectively having nothing to play for in the Bundesliga, except attempting to break some more records until the end of the season. Kompany’s Bayern side is a frightening team from head to toe, but we have to emphasize their attack, especially Kane and Olise. Currently, the third and fifth highest-rated players in the UCL, as the Englishman sits at a Sofascore Average Rating of 7.94 with 12 goals scored, while the Frenchman has a 7.65 Rating and 6 goals and 4 assists in 11 matches. They are simply as ruthless as it gets, but PSG will be their greatest test of the season, especially since they can holistically focus purely on the Champions League until the end of their club campaign.

On the other hand, we have a deadly but relatively unstable and unpredictable PSG side, portraying their very best in European football this season but seeming to slip up way too often in Ligue 1. The defending champions in both competitions sporadically always lose at least once per month in games they should be comfortably winning, falling to Lyon at home ten days ago, and at home to Monaco a month ago, away at Rennes, against Paris in the Cup, and so you get the gist. While in the Champions League, they look like their last-season selves, cruising past Liverpool and Chelsea like the two English giants are amateurs, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia really stepping up in the competition. PSG will have the support of the home fans in this first leg, which didn’t mean much for Real Madrid when Bayern travelled to Spain, and in all honesty, we see a similar outcome in Paris. Bayern’s consistency and class are too much to handle, and we see them taking back a lead to Munich, albeit a minimal one. Bayern victory via an Olise masterclass, no ground-breaking information here. Expect the expected.

Atlético Madrid vs Arsenal

After the glitz and glamour of Tuesday’s tie, we move on to the, to be diplomatically correct, ‘less-interesting’ matchup, where Simeone’s soldiers await Arteta’s army. The hosts are, in typical Atlético fashion, as chaotic and random as a team can be in terms of their results. Their form needs to be studied, as we have no idea how they got here. They have lost seven of their last nine matches, including a Copa del Rey final, a LaLiga fixture against Elche, a UCL fixture at home against Barcelona, which granted them this semifinal birth, a Madrid derby, and, most shockingly of all… to Tottenham… Their only two wins are against Barcelona away and against Athletic at home, only a few days ago. Nothing makes sense, but they won’t care, they won’t care even in the slightest. Atleti await Arsenal, and they have made it to the final fourth, looking to finally win their first Champions League title, which would grant Simeone immortal status amidst their fans. Julián Alvarez is by far their highest-rated player in the UCL with a Sofascore Average Rating of 7.64, with nine goals and four assists in 13 matches. What is fascinating about Alvarez is the fact that he has more goals in the Champions League than in LaLiga, only scoring eight in 29 appearances in Spain, effectively epitomising how random this team is. Nothing makes sense here, and absolutely nobody can predict how Atleti will run out on Wednesday night. We might see the side that destroyed Barcelona in the Copa del Rey or the side that consistently loses to Spanish minnows.

Arsenal is the very opposite of Simeone’s chaos and Atlético’s unpredictability. As a matter of fact, every Arsenal match seems to flow the same way and seems to be played in the same manner. Tight at the back, set-piece specialists with relatively low risk and uncertainty. Those are Arteta’s principles of the game. That’s how they got here, and that’s how they are still simultaneously fighting for the Premier League title, while also reaching the latter stages of the Champions League. Despite their typical April slip-up in the Premier League, when taking into account their entire season, they’ve done extremely well, especially in the first half of their campaign prior to the new year. Ebrechi Eze and Kai Havertz are both doubtful due to injuries, which may be significant handicaps for Arteta, but the core of their team is ready, and we see Declan Rice putting in a massive shift in Madrid. Soaking up the pressure, dictating the tempo of the game, going from box-to-box. Similarly to both of his performances against Real Madrid in last season’s UCL campaign. After all, Rice did gamble all his aura after mouthing “It’s not done” after Arsenal fell to Man City, so he is due for a big performance. Consequently, we see both travelling sides in these first legs taking home a narrow advantage.