Champions League Semifinal Leg 1 PREDICTIONS 👀

Here's the bracket, PSG Bayern on one side, Atletico Madrid against Arsenal on the other. We have gotten to this point, we're looking for our finalists and we're going to talk about Atletico Madrid against Arsenal first because I feel like a lot of people might think this is the boring matchup of the two and although it might not be the most attractive when you compare it to PSG Bayern, I think the numbers JD say that this game is less boring than you think. I'll tell you what stands out to me immediately Nico, I'm going to take the green room in terms of what we do in production right here to the screen. Wow, can you imagine 72 goals conceded already and Arsenal have had their question marks over their defensive stability over the last few months. So this right here I think could be the most open tie and the other one could be more of a tactical battle looking at greatness everywhere on the pitch. Sometimes this is just going to come down to pure mentality, pure heart. Two managers that maybe resemble each other and have similar ambitions and maybe the new school versus the old school. Let's see who gives it and goes. I do want to stay on this number right 72 and I want you guys to get involved here on the comments if you're watching on YouTube because 72 goals conceded is way too many goals and we're talking about Atletico Madrid being two games away from a Champions League final. Let's compare it to the team that last made the Champions League final for Atletico Madrid in 2016. That team in their entire season only conceded 31 goals and that's what's so crazy. I feel like we're still living off that Atleti reputation and what we've seen from Diego and especially in those moments of being you know steely and determined and more. This team doesn't reflect that. No they want to go forward. They scored over 100 goals already this year. They want to go and attack teams and I like what they do in the final third. The quality they have and of course you know the boy is back Julian Alvarez is now back to the question mark of can Arsenal handle the pressure because it's going to be jumping. Yeah that's what it is. It's more to me it's less about Atletico Madrid being defensive because this team is not good defensively. No they're not. They're really good up top and the Metropolitano is a cauldron but recently if you look at these games Atletico Madrid really hasn't been that great. There's losses to Barca in here but in the Copa del Rey they ended up getting into the final. Remember that they lost to Barca again in in Copa del Rey as well but it was a second leg so we can kind of count that as a win. They beat Barcelona as well here a shutout which was very important but I think the energy and the aura around Atletico Madrid is better or at least more hopeful than the results suggest. This hurts. Yeah this hurts a lot and maybe if Atletico Madrid use that as motivation they'll be up for the semi-final. I don't have any doubts about who Atletico Madrid is. Facts. I have doubts of whether if they can get over the line or not. I tell you what Atleti fans will be screaming at you right now. They'll be like but Nico think about how we've had to rotate during these last six weeks or so. How many squad players Diego Simeone has used and we haven't really had an opportunity to showcase our best foot forward. Now we've seen the doubts especially around Barrios now being up for this tie and Adamo Lukman is going to be now potentially out as well but this is a strong Atleti side and for the first time with a lot of rest a lot of management of that squad maybe he does believe. Maybe Chulo sees something that the rest of us don't see and he had circled this from a long time ago as this is the game. This is the moment where I can put my best foot forward and more importantly bring success because you know that's what he wants in his trophy cabinet. What does the oracle say? A battle between defensive beasts of yesteryear and this season's stalwarts. Atleti's fortress at the Metropolitano has yielded 20 wins in 25 games. Arsenal's attack has sputtered as of late. Cagey one new win shut out against Arsenal says the oracle. I'm not I'm not against that but let me tell you why because I think Arsenal have struggled especially with fluid e-creativity in the final third over the last few weeks and that has been a real staple point. The pace, the tempo, the intensity that they've used in the final third hasn't been there. It's almost been missing and what I spoke about before about the I feel like it could come down to it because every time I see Arsenal after 90 minutes what's the first thing they're doing? Here. Or collapsing on the floor. Exhausted. Celebrating. You're now about to go into the biggest fortress, the biggest mental test of the season. You don't need to be tired. You can't afford to be tired because up here relates to down there and everything else comes in between. It's gonna be it's gonna be a problem. Psychologically, physically these two games against Atletico Madrid are going to take a lot out of both Atletico Madrid and Arsenal but Atletico is that team that loves to go to war and even if they come back all disheartened then it they're up for it again. I got a question for you. What do you think about the fact that these two have met in the group stage and have a familiar flavor with each other? Does that have any bearing in terms of now we get to the knockout stage? No, I think Atletico Madrid doesn't matter what they do. They're gonna be up for it no matter what the president says. That game was at Arsenal that Atletico was different all the way back in when was that October whatever league stage and this Arsenal is also very different. All right let's talk about the other matchup Bayern against PSG. We know a lot about Bayern but let's focus on PSG and where they are in their Ligue 1 season. That is kind of coming down to the wire very recently they only just managed to create a little bit of cushion between them and Lens but if you look at the points per game somewhat similar goals scored it's less but goals conceded they've actually gotten better defensively in Ligue 1. When we've seen them though in the Champions League we have some questions and moments defensively but not in French football. No not in French football at all and I think the the meek shall inherit the earth as they say the crop has risen again and we saw the conversation around the fixtures and all the rest of it but it's actually a bigger conversation. Have you realized that they've actually shared the wealth there's actually been non-dominant scorer when you look at the top goal scorers from Ligue 1 again there's no player from PSG in this list and we're talking about only double figures really in there. Shout out to your boy Panascheli of course always in there. I know you gave him the flowers in the beginning but when you think about the quality that's throughout this squad when you think about the Barcolos, the Dueys, the Dembeles, the Cavaskelias there's nobody that has dominated in terms of from a scoring perspective. Not even here 11 goals right there's nobody in Ligue 1 from PSG has scored more than 11 goals so it remains the case this season by the end for the first time since 2010-2011 there's not going to be a PSG scorer in the first top six. Never mind winning the league and not having a top six scorer that in French football hasn't happened since the 2008-2009 season when Bordeaux won it and Marwan Shamak and Fernando Cavenaghi were their top goal scorers not even in the top six it's been a long it's rare that that happens. It's very rare that these type of things happen but I wonder whether or not that's favorable because of the share factor you know you can share the wealth and does that create more threats in terms of a lot more players having confidence? Yeah and I think it kind of helps Luis Enrique say whoever's gonna play is gonna be on it right Cavada came halfway through this 2024-2025 season and I think between Champions League and Ligue 1 he just had seven goals yeah and now his contribution throughout the entire season kind of has had Dembele share their wealth and Barcola share their wealth Due and Ramos are kind of in that same vicinity but they kind of have between these guys and I would say Due as well it's four superstars for three places really if you would like but it seems that PSG is okay with this type of model I would say something to you do you feel like I know last year was an anomaly and it was incredible to see what they did but do you think this is more of a fair reflection of what they did when they moved away from the superstars remember their conversation was about going young and distributing the qualities throughout the whole squad maybe this is a better reflection for where Paris find themselves now rather than this last year which was an incredible anomaly in terms of what they're able to do and I would even say from January to May the anomaly was Dembele so much so that he won a Ballon d'Or right I don't know if anybody's having a Ballon d'Or type of season obviously the World Cup is going to dictate that but because they shared it so much it has been sharing of the wealth now Oracle says Bayern 2 PSG 1 you know why because I can I can basically condense this whole thing with the Oracle and just tell you these are the three things you need to focus on right here talking about sharing the wealth when these three have a relationship that I haven't seen in world football for a long time they put fear into a lot of defense's hearts and when you have Kane, Alise and Diaz who have all rounding off in terms of fitness at the right time again being well managed by company I think Bayern really do demonstrate they might be the best team in this competition left right now you know Alise cutting in on the inside and Lucho on the far side just there just in case on the other side and Kane the way he's playing that's the best front three in football period is it not I mean we were just talking about PSG has a fluid front three because you can kind of plug and play between the four of them I don't know Bayern does look good I wouldn't disagree I think Bayern get through I don't know the result of this Oracle thinks Bayern is going to win in Paris but over the two legs if I had to pick one team I would pick Bayern can I put myself out there uh-huh I think they're going to send a statement because the team talk is very easy for Vincent Kompany you want to be the best you've got to beat the best and no matter what Paris Saint-Germain have been the standard because they're defending champions Bayern Munich in that changing room no doubt about it they believe they're the best team in the world this is your moment to go to the opposition on their floor on their pitch and remind them that we are now the new standard in this league and I genuinely believe you're going to see the best performance from Bayern Munich this season I'm so excited I can't wait all right the conversation continues guys so we want to hear what you guys have to say so keep those comments coming we'll shout you guys out throughout all of our coverage here on CBS Sports Colosso but let's combine the two teams between PSG and Bayern Munich because we're talking about potentially a dynasty for PSG that has kind of shown that they needed some change frankly from the goalkeeper position we didn't expect at the beginning of the season because it was supposed to be Chevalier but Safonov has come in and claimed that starting position incredible what he's done just a standard because we knew it was always going to be a question mark no matter what it was always big shoes to fill regardless but it was actually an open door and sometimes we have this conversation with goalkeepers and Luis Enrique will have a favorite I think about David Rayo at Arsenal when he decided to push out Aaron Ramsdale and said David Rayo is my number one no two ways about it I think he's left the door open for both of them to kind of prove themselves and you have to accept the fact that he stepped into it and this is very much his position at this moment to lose yeah definitely and it's incredible to me that that we're talking about Safronova is better than Neuer at this point again this is based on the SofaScore rating over the 2025-2006 Champions League who had the better competition and Neuer did have six errors leading to goals up until the filming of the show right obviously the second leg performance against Real Madrid after an incredible first leg performance I don't think helped him much he did have errors leading to goals in that match so just under but who would you take like still like a 40 year old Neuer over Safronov there's something to be said about experience in big moments and I know the errors leading to goals is definitely a huge question mark but at this moment I still would trust Neuer in those situations just because I've been there seen it and done it I've pretty much written the book he is the pinnacle in terms of goalkeepers of this last generation yes we know he's on the decline yes he's on the way out no two ways about it but at the same time he could still say or have a little bit of an influence on a game that I don't think Safronova would necessarily have just because he hasn't been there as of yet yeah I do think he is more error prone as you say at this point in his career Manuel Neuer but just take into consideration the first game against Real Madrid the first leg it was absolutely vintage Manuel Neuer I love him so much to me he's the best goalkeeper history 100% it's definitely in the conversation I know we're going to move to the right back and so I'm going to help the Paris Saint-Germain fans and just say I'm with you Hakimi needs to be in this team is there a question mark as to whether or not he should be we'll leave that up for debate but if we're talking about the best right backs in world football those that can really dominate and showcase what they can do I know we have to leave it open and sometimes we leave the oracle to put these question marks out here but Hakimi has to be in this position here surely Nico unfortunately per sofa score oh my god and their ratings by point 11 Stanisic just edges him out goals and assists he passes per game offensively I have no doubt that Hakimi is better than Stanisic but defensive contributions it's clear that that has helped him gain a better rating than Hakimi and I respect Stanisic for what he's done this year I really think he's improved and showcased what he can do especially in the biggest situations but let's just turn around and have this conversation opening honestly between us I think everybody's having the same conversation Hakimi we're talking about this guy right here he is incredible and watching him and Nuno Mendes on opposite wings I don't care about this you know why the defensive contributions might not be that high because they're maybe not defending that much yeah they're really impacting the game in the final third and that really showcases what he brings to a team on a completely different level so for once I'm going to rip up the sofa score rating I know Stanisic might go into the team but Hakimi has to be there there was if you were the manager who you choosing are you are you asking me I'm asking you all right so not Joseph Stanisic I would choose Hakimi but per the sofa score ratings it is Bayern Munich's right back and then the left winger now it's a better conversation for you Olise Kane so do you go for the triple threat but there's a player I know that you absolutely adore because he makes you go there's a hairs on your arm stand up and when is Kavarashkelia getting into the conversation or Lucho Diaz who would you have that's so difficult that's so difficult Kovara looks good there right now bro Kovara in the big moments especially you know like he comes up when he's finishing his clinical Luchito Diaz though almost unexpectedly so because Liverpool was getting rid of him and I don't think anybody expected this apart from Lucho again Lucho Diaz and Michael Olise are putting up Riemery and Robin numbers I never thought I would see that in a very similar energy a right footer cutting in from the left a left footer cutting in from the right they're contributing goals they're contributing assists at a world-class level and Kovara comes up clutching in in moments like in the champions league I'm so scared of Kovara if I was an opposition facing this guy I know that this guy's gonna score you get me perhaps he hasn't had the same opportunity to have the same amount of goals but my pick is Luchito clearly by 0.5 sofa score doesn't think so 0.5 0.05 we we haven't agreed with anything that the sofa score ratings have given us so far and I'd have to say to you I agree with you I will go with Lucho as well just because I know look something told me and I actually spoke to a Georgian athlete this week in the NBA he said to me never bet against a Georgian we're just built differently yeah and I see that in Kovara but at the same time I have to respect that front three and what they've done in world football this year Lucho has been sensational but the more important question is do you agree with this starting 11 right do you want to get involved what changes would you make maybe in the midfield there's some notable names that's missing from there I don't know man what do you think now taking a look back on it are you happy yeah no Pacho also that Pacho's rating is worse than Yonatan I don't know it's something worth considering and that's why you guys involved champions league is back and most importantly you guys need to be involved in the comments you know it's Nico and JD numbers don't lie hey 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