My FINAL Champions League Predictions!

Arsenal vs PSG, Inter Milan vs Barcelona. Two amazing semifinals with four amazing managers. They are all trying to fight to make it to the Champions League final and win the Champions League. It's very interesting to see that three of these teams finished in the top four of the league phase of the Champions League. That makes it seem like it's definitely been a success and the final team being PSG had actually defeated the team that finished first in the league phase in Liverpool. So they definitely deserve to be there. All four of these teams are definitely one of the best teams in Europe and so that makes this year's Champions League semifinal very exciting to watch. But who will win the Champions League? Well today I am giving you my final and full predictions for the Champions League semifinals and final. I'll tell you about each match, each team and I will let you know which players to actually look out for. And don't forget before we start, make sure you hit the like button if you love football. Leave a comment down below who you think will win the Champions League and make sure you subscribe for more. Before we get into the actual matchups, let's recap the quarterfinals quickly to get an understanding of the real team dynamics. Arsenal didn't just beat Real Madrid, they crushed them 5-1 on aggregate. A defensive solidity that makes them so tough to beat, especially when you've got players like are so good in their 1v1s. And then they have their offensive quality back with Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka returning to the football pitch and showing what they're made of. But the best performances and most surprising performances was definitely Declan Rice who completely dominated the Real Madrid midfield in both legs and Mikel Mourinho who played as the number nine and gave a Real number nine's performance. He scored a goal in the first leg and got two assists in the second leg. Both of his performances were incredible for a player who's so used to playing in the midfield. Then you have PSG, they play their own style, fun attacking and free-flowing football. The first leg was absolutely brilliant but the second leg not so much. I have to say they got very lucky because they were so close to levelling that tie and if it went level, Aston Villa would have had all of the momentum to win that game. But Nuno Mendes and Hakimi were absolutely outstanding in both legs and they will be so dangerous in this quarter-final. And then you have Vitinha and Donnarumma who truly stepped up in the late moments of the game to make sure PSG go through to the semi-finals. Then we have Barcelona who beat Borussia Dortmund but in the end they were actually extremely lucky. The first leg was a Hansi Flick masterclass, they won 4-0. The highline worked, Barcelona were creating chances for fun, Laminia Mou and Pedri were producing masterclasses in those games in terms of setting up their teammates so that they can flourish on the pitch. But the second leg, Borussia Dortmund were all over Barcelona and they will be worried by that second leg. They could have easily been 3 or 4 up in the first half alone which would have made the tie such a tricky tie. An old goal by Ben Sabani actually saved them because it ruined the momentum Borussia Dortmund were building. And then finally we have Inter Milan, they can defend so well but were up against an injury riddled by Munich and still conceded quite a few goals for a team who's meant to be defensively solid. But notable performances for them was definitely Lautaro Martinez who definitely quieted some of his doubters. He's a player who's always been doubted for stepping up in the big games but now Inter Milan had a big game against Bayern Munich and he stepped up in both legs, scoring in both legs. And then you have Bastoni, an incredible defender, so good at bringing the ball out and that's exactly what he produced in both legs against Bayern Munich. Now that you've seen how the four teams have got to the semi-finals, let's look at the actual match-ups against each other. First up we have Arsenal vs PSG. These two teams have already played once before and that was in the league phase. Arsenal won that game comfortably, they scored early on, dropped back, played a low block and PSG could not break them down. They scored a second goal on the counter-attack and ended up winning the game 2-0. But this is a new game and this is definitely a new PSG, things are different now. The Liverpool tie in the round of 16 definitely showed how good PSG can be. In both legs they were absolutely dominant against Liverpool. They struggled a little bit in the second leg but that first leg was a truly brilliant performance. Nuno Mendes and Ashraf Hakimi are playing like wingers, they are playing beautiful football. Then when you go into the midfield, João Neves has definitely grown into that role, whereas previously against Arsenal he had a bit of inexperience about him. And then when you go to the front line, they've added Kovac Skelia in January which has made a massive difference. Ousmane Dembele is playing like a Ballon d'Or candidate. And then when you have Desiree Dewey and Barcola, that PSG team is definitely very dangerous for Arsenal to come up against. The bad news for Arsenal is that Gabriel, who for me has been their best defender this season, is probably out of the game. And they've lost Thomas Pate, who stupidly got a yellow card against Real Madrid, which means he will miss the first leg. And that definitely weakens their midfield. The reason I say that is, the options that they have is to either move Luis Skelly into the midfield, which means that the left-back position gets weakened, or moving Mourinho from number nine to the midfield, who has been excellent in that number nine position. And all of these moves are risky because it affects the balance of this Arsenal team. And the worst part is that it might mean that Declan Rice might have to move into the defensive midfield position, which completely eradicates the freedom that he's had in the midfield against Real Madrid in those both legs. In terms of the match-ups though, PSG play free-flowing football. They are excellent on the counter-attack. However, Arsenal are the perfect anti-counter-attacking team. They are transition killers. When you have players like Declan Rice, Saliba and Julian Timber, you can stop the counter-attacks of Kovacic, Skelly, Desiree Dewey or even someone like Bradley Barcola quite easily. Just because of how strong they are in their 1v1s. But with Gabriel being out and Kiwio probably being the one to play there, and then on top of that having Thomas Partey out, Ousmane Dembele might find some free space in that right-half space, which could cause Arsenal some trouble. But overall, Arsenal are very strong defensively and they should be able to handle it. In my opinion, they currently have the best 1v1 lockdown full-back in Julian Timber in world football. He has been unbelievable this season. And then they have the best defensive midfielder to try and block counter-attacks in Declan Rice. The man can run. He covers so much blade of grass, it's ridiculous and he would definitely be key in this game. And then when you look at PSG's side, Bukayo Saka bullied Nuno Mendes in the game earlier, so he'll definitely have confidence. And I'm never, I will never trust Donnarumma or Marquinhos in big games because both of them can make a mistake at any point and at any time in a game. So I feel like Arsenal will be the stronger team here against PSG and over two legs, I feel like Mikel Arteta's men will make it to the final. Then we have Barcelona versus Inter Milan and this match is all about style of play and different styles coming up against each other. Let me explain. Barcelona love to attack. They play a high line and they push their defence so high up that they try to pressurise the opposition team to give them the ball back quickly. They try to win it back fast and they break on you very fast and cause so many issues to defences. But Inter Milan are the complete opposite. They defend deep. They give the other team space but only outside the box. Once you get close, their elite box defending will cause you issues and you won't be able to create high quality chances against them. So what happens when these two meet? It means that Barcelona will leave a lot of space in behind. That means players like Canelooglu or Barella could easily find Turama Martinez in behind and especially when you have someone like Bastoni at the back who can find any type of pass, it can cause a lot of trouble for Barcelona with Turama Martinez being so good on the shoulder of defences. In the lead up to these games though, the problem that Inter Milan will have is that they're actually fighting for the title and I know Barcelona are fighting for the title too but Inter Milan's squad is worse. They have less to rotate with especially if they want to win the Scudetto. So they might be tired when the game comes around which could affect them and the funny part is that even though both teams have excellent defences, Barcelona being so high up and Inter Milan being so deep, this game will actually have a lot of goals in it in my opinion just because of the way the two playing styles clash. I feel like this is a game is going to be about who will score more goals. Barcelona give away so many high quality chances. They don't give away low quality chances and they don't give away many chances but the ones they do give away are high quality and when you have players like Turama Martinez, more times than not that ball is hitting the back of the net and Inter Milan even though they play deep, they do give away small chances and when you have players like Yamau and Rafinha, they can easily break down that Inter Milan defence. I feel like though a massive factor in this game that people aren't taking into account is if Balde is not fit, that left-hand side for Barcelona is very weak and it's always unstable. Rafinha isn't allowed to move centrally like he would usually if Balde is fit because Balde would provide that width so a lot of this game depends on if Balde is actually fit or not because for me, he's definitely one of the best left-backs in the world already at such a young age. Personally, I really want Inter Milan to go all the way. They don't have the money that other teams have spent on transfers. They do a lot of free transfers and a lot of the reason why they are successful is because Simone Inzaghi is an unbelievable tactician and one of the best tacticians in the game and seeing as though two years ago against Manchester City, even though they produced the masterclass of a final, they ended up losing to a rodri winner. I really want them to go all the way but in my opinion, Barcelona's quality and experience with Hansi Flick will be the reason Now, here we are. The final. Barcelona versus Arsenal. A repeat of the 2006 Champions League final but this time, the story could change. Arsenal are out for revenge. Barcelona are chasing their first Champions League without Lionel Messi being at the club. Barcelona definitely play the better football and are extremely risky but the Champions League suits defensive solidity and a team with more balance is definitely Arsenal rather than Barcelona. Arsenal also don't have a title race to think about so they won't be having to put out a full fledged line-up in the Premier League. They'll be able to rest their players especially knowing that Liverpool would have won the title by then whereas Barcelona have Real Madrid chasing them and as long as Real Madrid continue winning, Barcelona will have to keep on trying to win their La Liga games which could cause an issue for the final. Barcelona would definitely need Yamal to be on top against Lewis Kelly because that is a match-up they need to be winning and I feel like that's a match-up that doesn't suit Lewis Kelly. Lamine Yamal is a tricky customer and don't get me wrong, Lewis Kelly is an incredible full-back but with Yamal, it's so difficult to know whether he's going inside or outside that I feel like he will win that match-up and it's no disgrace to Lewis Kelly because he has been excellent this season and anyone who goes up against Yamal will definitely struggle. Rafinha on that left-hand side cutting inside into that number 10 position might find a bit of space with Thomas Partey not being as good as he used to be defensively and Gabriel being out might be a massive issue for Arsenal too. Then you look at the midfield, Pedri is definitely someone who can go toe-to-toe with Declan Rice and probably only one of the few midfielders in the world who can and when you have Frenkie de Jong alongside him, that midfield becomes very solid. So for as strong as Arsenal are in that midfield, Barcelona are definitely a team who can match them in the midfield as long as Pedri is fit because once he's out of that team, that Barcelona midfield definitely becomes weaker. Barcelona's main worries though when looking at the Arsenal team is whether Saka can find space in behind Baude who loves to push up and when Saka is 1v1 against the centre-back and he cuts inside, more times than not that ball is hitting the back of the net. Martinelli is massive compared to Koundé on that left-hand side and it's definitely a tactic Arteta can think of. It's clearing the ball from Raya, making sure Martinelli wins his aerial duels from which Arsenal can build upon. So there's definitely ways Arsenal can hurt Barcelona but I feel like overall in terms of the matchups, I think Barcelona are one up against Arsenal. In their 1v1s, they're just that little bit stronger. That level of intensity Arsenal have is incredible but what Barcelona can produce on an individual talent basis and Champions League is about what an individual can produce. Yamal and Rafinha are definitely more magical than what Saka or Martinelli are and for me, Yamal is definitely going to be the difference maker in this game. His level of creativity is a joke and the only way Arsenal can actually match them is if Odegaard steps up but from what we've seen in recent months, I don't think Odegaard is the player to step up this season at least. I feel like next season he will improve but overall, I'm going with the Barcelona victory. It's going to be a repeat of the 06 final with Barcelona deservedly winning the Champions League. These are of course just my predictions and if there's anything that we've learned in the last week of European football is that football is an extremely unpredictable sport. Who would have thought Real Madrid's Blackmagic would run out against Arsenal or that Aston Villa would come so close to doing a remontada against PSG or even just look at that Manchester United game. They were literally 4-2 down and came back 5-4 in the last eight minutes of extra time and won the game to get to the Europa League semi-finals. So anything is possible especially when you get to the semi-final phase but I do feel like this is exactly what will happen. Barcelona get to the final, they win the Champions League for the first time without Lionel Messi and Hansi Flick finally gets the praise that he deserves because everyone tries to call that Bayern Munich run lucky. Him being in the right moment at Bayern Munich but then what he's doing at this Barcelona team is an absolute joke especially if he can somehow do the treble. I hope you like this breakdown and preview of how I feel like the Champions League semi-final and final will go. Like I said let me know down below what you guys think. Who will win the Champions League in your opinion? Who do you think is the favourite and what players should we be watching out for? But before you leave don't forget to like and subscribe for more. Hit the notification bell for more videos like this.