UEFA: 24-year reign of England, Spain laid to rest

No Spanish or English club could make it to the semis of the UEFA Champions League this year. Europe›s most prestigious competition has turned out to be a story not many could have predicted. Now that we are 5 games away from crowing the European champions, let›s have a look at why no matter what, it will be historic. After a long time, 2 sides from France and 2 sides from Germany will contest in the semifinal. We could very well witness an allGerman or an all-French final.

The quarter-finals were action-packed. Although shorter than the usual 2 legged encounters, we witnessed 20 goals in 4 games. Well, half of those came in that 8-2 humiliation that Barcelona faced at the hands of Bayern Munich, which has put the future of many in Barcelona in doubt, including Lionel Messi who as per some floating reports, could well be on his way out of the club.

For Bayern, it will be disappointing if they do not go all the way from here, having completely decimated Chelsea and Barcelona on their road to the semi-final with the only expected threat now being from the French giants Paris Saint German (PSG).

 PSG too hasn›t had an easy run till the semifinals, facing a promising Atlanta side in the quarter-finals and downing Dortmund in the round of 16 fixture. Neymar has stepped up for them this year and they would be hoping that the most expensive player in the world helps get them to their 1st ever Champions league title.

The first semi-final will be played between RB Leipzig and Paris late Tuesday night. Mbappe is now completely fit and incidentally, this will be the first time these two teams face each other in a competitive game. What a stage to do that! Both these sides are chasing history as it would be the first time they would play the Champions League final. French young sensation Kylian Mbappe is fit to play for the French champions, while Leipzig did not disappoint despite losing star striker Timo Werner to Chelsea in the Summer Transfer window.

Bayern will be facing a stiff challenge from Lyon who will be fired up after defeating Manchester City 3-1. Bayern is simply the World›s most in-form collective, with every player enjoying a fair share in their massive wins. Lewandowski is expected to lead their charge against Lyon and add to his insane 54 goals already scored this season. It›s a shame that the Balon D›or award had to be canceled because there isn›t really much doubt on who would have won it. As Manchester United legend put it, Lewandowski should start a petition to have that award uncancelled.

We are all set for a thrilling end to a unique Champions League season. With Germany looking to reinstate European Dominance and France defending theirs established in the World Cup last year, we await a historic end to a historic Coronavirus-delayed Uefa Champions league season.