Champions League continues to thrill fans as final beacons

Aug 18, 2020

The clash between RB Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon kick-starts the semis on Tuesday night in Portugal.

Football fans can look forward to an exciting and unpredictable ending as the UEFA Champions League, semi-final ties are played on Tuesday and Wednesday on Supersport.

The clash between RB Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon kick-starts the semis on Tuesday night in Portugal.

Both teams won their quarterfinal ties in dramatic circumstances. Leipzig scored a late winner to defeat Atletico Madrid 2-1 - with Tyler Adams' deflected effort deciding the game in the 88th minute - while PSG left it even later to come from behind against Atalanta, with Marquinhos and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting netting in the 90th and 93rd minutes respectively to claim a stunning 2-1 victory.

The clash will pit two German coaches against one another: the rising star, Leipzig's Julian Nagelsmann, was once coached by Thomas Tuchel before injuries cut his career short and he became a scout for the current PSG manager.

"Games against Thomas are always very interesting because he has a very good idea of how to play football," Nagelsmann said.

 "I hope that I will also come up with a good idea against him and that my boys will perform as they did against Atletico; then we will play a very good game,"

The second semi-final is also a Bundesliga versus Ligue 1 clash at the  Estadio Jose Alvalade, as Olympique Lyon, face Bayern Munich.

Bayern put in an awe-inspiring performance in the quarters, annihilating Barcelona 8-2 to make a major statement of intent - if they weren't considered the tournament favourites before, they certainly are now!

Ominously, Bayern coach Hansi Flick refused to bask in the glory of their showing against Barca, instead insisting that only the next match matters.

"It is a win and we wanted to reach the semi-finals. Okay, it is impressive, we set a small marker but the experienced players know that the next game awaits and we will need the same performance,"

Lyon, meanwhile, are very much the dark horses after goals from Maxwel Cornet and Moussa Dembele (two) saw them shock Manchester City 3-1 in their quarterfinal. Manager Rudi Garcia is not setting any limits for his team as they head into the clash with the German heavyweights.

"We know who we are coming up against next," said Garcia.

 "We eliminated a Juventus and a Manchester City side who were some of the top contenders to win the Champions League.

"Bayern will be the same, but based on what the players have shown, logically we can still hope to get through another round and that is what we are going to prepare to do."

Since the return of football amid the COVID-19 pandemic fans have continued to enjoy live games on Supersport via DStv.

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