Champions League semi-finals Betting Odds and Predictions
The semi-finals of the Champions League surprisingly take place without the participation of teams from England, Spain, and Italy. Instead, there will be two comparisons between the German Bundesliga and the French Ligue 1 on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the final round in Lisbon.
While the respective champions with FC Bayern Munich and Paris St. Germain were among the favorites from the start and were no surprise among the last four, only a few experts were likely to have expected RB Leipzig and Olympique Lyon at this point in the competition. But both Leipzig and Lyon managed to prevail in the quarterfinals against the predominantly stronger competition from Atletico Madrid and Manchester City.
Against the champions from the other country, Leipzig and Lyon are now again in a more or less clear outsider role. Nonetheless, we take a closer look at the two games and give our assessment of whether there is another surprise in there.
RB Leipzig vs Paris St. Germain Betting Odds and Predictions
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2020
After the summer break of several weeks and only one test match against VfL Wolfsburg (1: 1), it was not clear what level of performance RB Leipzig was when the quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid kicked off. Against the Colchoneros, who certainly did not have their best day, the team of coach Julian Nagelsmann presented themselves to the point but fit and ultimately earned the advancement. Of course, the deflected winning goal by Tyler Adams shortly before the end was a bit happy and yet the deserved reward for having consistently believed in success. Even when many observers expected after Atletico’s equalization that Leipzig would no longer be able to hold back, the Red Bulls did not give up but made an attempt, which was ultimately crowned with success, to pull the game on their side. Coach Nagelsmann then made it clear that he was aiming for the really big coup, for which the entire squad is available except for the long-term injured Ibrahima Konate.
Also late in the semi-finals was Paris St. Germain, who was about to end against Atalanta Bergamo until the final minute. Late goals by Marquinhos and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting prevented another early failure, which would inevitably have been followed by discussions about coach Thomas Tuchel. With the 2-1 win against Bergamo, which was not undeserved due to the pressure exerted in the second half, PSG kept the chance of the fourth title of the season. After Ligue 1 was canceled, Paris has crowned champions as the clear leader of the table, before the finals in Coupe de France (1-0 against AS St. Etienne) and the League Cup (6: 5 nE against Olympique Lyon) were won after a forced break of over four months. As against Bergamo, these two finals were only partially convincing. After all, Coach Tuchel now has one more service provider on board compared to the quarter-finals with Angel di Maria after serving a yellow card. Also, Kylian Mbappe, who initially remained on the bench against Bergamo after recovering from an ankle injury, should start again. But there is a question mark behind the ailing goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
With di Maria, Mbappe, and above all Neymar, Paris has an offensive that is second to none. The French are not a defensive bulwark, but the enormous quality in the front rows makes PSG the favorites against Leipzig from our point of view.
Betting Prediction: Paris wins
Betting Odds: 1.77
Olympique Lyon vs FC Bayern Munich Betting Odds and Predictions
Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Olympique Lyon undoubtedly caused an even bigger surprise than Leipzig against Atletico with their 3-1 win over Manchester City, after Juventus Turin (1-0 at home, 1-2 away) had previously been unexpectedly eliminated thanks to the away goal regulation. Against Man City, Lyon convinced with a disciplined performance on the defensive as well as a fast and straightforward game forward, which was crowned by three goals. The team of coach Rudi Garcia, who only finished seventh in Ligue 1 and lost the League Cup final against PSG on penalties after the long break, thus preserved their last remaining chance at international football in the new season. For that, of course, OL would have to win the Champions League, which would be an even bigger sensation than the semi-finals. But nothing is impossible, especially since Coach Garcia can bring up the same team for the third time in a row. Moussa Dembele, who advanced to match-winner against Man City with two Joker goals, is threatened with the bank again.
After a rather mixed start to the season and the change of coach from Niko Kovac to Hans-Dieter Flick in November, FC Bayern Munich has been the measure of all things again since mid-December – currently apparently also across Europe. Bayern has won 26 of the last 27 competitive games, with only one draw against RB Leipzig. It’s impressive that the Flick-Elf scored at least twice in 23 of these 27 games. Twelve goals in the two most recent Champions League games against Chelsea (4: 1) and now against FC Barcelona (8: 2) even allow the conclusion that Bayern is even stronger than before after the summer break of several weeks. In terms of personnel, there is naturally little reason for changes after an 8-2 win against Barcelona. Benjamin Pavard, who was set as a right-back, who is training again after recovering from a ligament injury, must, therefore, be back in line as well as Kingsley Coman, who is currently lagging behind Ivan Perisic on the attacking left.
The roles in the run-up to the game Lyon against Bayern are distributed. We agree with this point of view and do not believe that OL can knock another favorite out of the competition. The people of Munich are currently in too good shape for that.
Betting Prediction: Bayern make it to the final
Betting Odds: 1.22
