It was only yesterday when Manchester City lifted their first-ever Champions League title. On April 16, Manchester City took on Real Madrid for the third year in a row. Madrid looked super solid all over the park, be it the defense, attack, or midfield. After the addition of Jude Bellingham to the team in the early summer, the team looked ready to defeat any team in the Champions League. But soon the team was struck with 3 ACL tears within their defense in the first month of this season. But still, they managed to play a good season. One could argue they are lucky as they have not faced any of the heavyweight teams yet, but, one of their crucial players looks to make a return to the team after an ACL tear, making this team, which was already flying without key players, and of course a star striker, even better. I think it is likely that Real Madrid will make it through to the semi-finals.
On the other hand, a famous rivalry will be taking place in London and Munich as Bayern takes on Arsenal. In the Bundesliga, Bayern seems to be getting destroyed by practically everyone who takes on them, while Arsenal are sitting top of the table in the premier league as they are part of a 3 team title race. In their previous encounters, Arsenal scored 3 goals against Bayern as opposed to Bayern scoring 15 against Arsenal. So, despite Bayern’s terrible domestic form, their European pedigree will help them get past Arsenal to play Madrid in the Semi-Finals.
The other side of the bracket is very interesting. Some great matchups and all teams on their day stand a great chance at playing in the final. Barcelona and PSG take on each other for the second time in 3 years, as both return to Quarters for the first time in 3 years. While Barca has players out injured, PSG only made it this far because of Mbappe. The over-reliance on him makes their chances questionable hence Barcelona seems to have an edge.
In the other tie between Dortmund and Atletico, it is a bad matchup. But, Atletico turns up when they have a chance to play a Champions League final. Atletico will not dominate but they will get better over the 180 minutes of football. So, my semi-final prediction on this side of the bracket is an all-Spanish semifinal with Barcelona taking on Atletico. Barcelona has already beaten Atletico twice this season, which is a repetition of the 2015-16 season where Atleti lost both league matches, yet got the better of Barca in the Champions League. It is hard to believe the case will be different. Atletico will just get the job done as they will be headed to Wembley for a June 1 final.
Real Madrid in a Champions League semi-final, especially after beating the undoubted favorites, will get a comfortable score over 180 and take the second spot in Wembley. This will make the June 1 final in Wembley will be an all-Spanish final. This will also be a Madrid Derby, indicating the return of the big ears to Spain for the 20th time and the 15th time to the city of Madrid. Over the years, Real have struggled elsewhere but not in a Champions League final. I see this to be the case this year as Jude Bellingham will score the only goal to win the Wembley Champions League 2024 for Real Madrid, earning the club their 15th title.