Dreams of a maiden Champions League crown will be extinguished

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Dreams of a maiden Champions League crown will be extinguished for one of Paris Saint-Germain or Manchester City on Wednesday, as the two continental giants lock horns in the first leg of their semi-final at the Parc des Princes. Les Parisiens prevailed on away goals against reigning champions Bayern Munich to march to the final four, while Man City secured a 4-2 aggregate victory over Borussia Dortmund to end their recent quarter-final hoodoo. Both sides enjoyed successful domestic results at the weekend, although City’s was far more noteworthy, as they beat Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup final while PSG enjoyed a 3-1 Ligue 1 win over Metz.

Paris Saint-Germain should be full of confidence after knocking out holders Bayern Munich in the previous round to become the first French club since 1991 to reach consecutive European Cup/UEFA Champions League (UCL) semi-finals. We could now be in line for a fast-paced start to this one given that 1+ goal has been scored inside 40 minutes in each of PSG’s last eight UCL matches (1.75 goals on average).

Another positive for the home side is that they’ve never failed to score in consecutive UCL home games. The French champions are also in the midst of a good run of form after winning their previous four domestic matches, whilst intriguingly netting an average of 2.0 goals after the 60th minute across that period.

Visitors Manchester City have reached the semi-finals for the second time in their history, but are still looking for their maiden final appearance. They’re the only side still undefeated this UCL 2020/21 campaign (W9, D1) and are on the brink of making history as no English team has ever won 10+ games in a single UCL season under the current format (since 2003/04).

A stalemate is unlikely with City in town, as none of their previous 33 competitive outings have ended in a draw (W30, L3). Even if the ‘Citizens’ concede the opener here, don’t write them off, they’ve impressively emerged victorious in each of the previous three UCL away games in which their opponents scored first.

Date: 28/04/2021
Time: 22:00
Venue: Parc des Princes (Paris)
Pick for this match:
“Both teams to score YES” – @ 1.62 ( 1XBet )