UEFA Champions League Semifinal Predictions Including PSG vs Arsenal

Both teams have been in a position to rest and focus on the semifinals, as Arsenal’s slim hopes for a Premier League title were finally extinguished by Liverpool on the weekend, while PSG has already wrapped up the title in France by a huge margin.

PSG fought off a comeback effort from Aston Villa in the quarterfinals and face yet another Premier League side as they are back in England for the semifinals. Arsenal vanquished the Galacticos of Real Madrid with two victories where Declan Rice and friends ran rampant on the Spanish champions.

Arsenal have been playing without a formal striker for some time now, but they have made it work, while a dynamic and youthful PSG squad is exercising the demons of the super teams that failed to win the Champions League in years before. PSG have beaten two Premier League sides in a row, as the league Champions Liverpool fell to them in the round of 16, but Arsenal will take some confidence from their decisive win over PSG in the league phase of this tournament last year.

The loss to Aston Villa in the second leg, gives Arsenal a playbook to get off to a lead before the tie goes to Paris. Ousmane Dembele will need to find some goal scoring form if PSG is going to win the Champions League, a backline of veteran Marquinhos from Brazil with Willian Pacho from Ecuador is a strong one, Arsenal have 3 or 4 first choice XI players who will not be in the lineup. I don’t expect PSG to run rampant in London, but coming away with a draw would be a success, does Arsenal’s magic continue? Prediction: 2-2 Draw

Inter Milan at Barcelona (Wednesday in Barcelona)

This weekend saw a huge contrast in result for these historic clubs, Inter Milan first lost the Italian Cup against heated city rivals AC Milan in a blowout defeat, and then a loss to Roma in the Serie A saw Napoli take a decisive lead in the race for the domestic league title, as Napoli are now heavy favorites to finish the season as the points leaders.

Inter Milan will be without Marcus Thuram, dealing with fatigue and slow in transition, they have failed to score against teams that are far from worldbeaters defensively. Inter is a great side defensively but going into Barcelona feels ominous in this moment.

Facing their own severe fatigue, Barcelona lifted the Spanish cup with yet another El Clasico victory this season, as Jules Kounde scored in extra time to thwart Real Madrid’s comeback effort in the second half of the Copa Del Rey final. A young side that Hansi Flick has molded into cup winners, Barcelona fans are riding high with both La Liga and a Champions League title still in frame.

Barcelona did struggle against Dortmund in the last Champions League outing, but they went into that game with a significant lead and only had to avoid bottling the victory. Inter Milan are a disciplined side, something they showed all tournament and against Bayern Munich. The wear and tear is completely exposed on Inter Milan at this point though, and they don’t have many depth options.

Barcelona’s changes have still worked out this tournament with Ferran Torres stepping up and scoring on the weekend for example even while Robert Lewandowski wasn’t fit. Benjamin Pavard may be out for Inter, as they will try to keep Barcelona’s scoring machine under control. Full of energy and confidence, look for Barcelona to start well to reduce the pressure of a trip to San Siro, even if Lautaro Martinez can find the back of the net for his side. Prediction: 4-1 Barcelona