Champions League: What should you remember from the quarter-finals?

With 32 goals scored in the quarters, the Champions League offered us a great spectacle. As the last four loom, we look back at the highlights, including qualifying for the Paris SG at the expense of Barça.

Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris SG. Here are the final representatives for the 2023-2024 edition of the Champions League. Two German clubs, one Spanish and one French. Everyone dreams of winning the trophy on Saturday 1 June at Wembley. A final to follow on CANAL+.

Paris, the rise

Knocked out in the round of 16 during the last two editions, this time Paris SG avoided bad luck on Catalan soil (1-4). The nightmare of the “Remontada” in 2017 seems forgotten, while many elements did not weigh in favor of the men of Luis Enrique, formerly of the Blaugrana house. They thus become the first French club to qualify for the next round after losing the first leg (2-3).

Also read: Paris succeeds in its Remontada in Barcelona and qualifies for the semi-finals

The teammates of Kylian Mbappé, author of a double at the end of the match (48 goals in total in C1), meet the Germans from Borussia Dortmund, who are already present in the group stage. The Parisians won at home (2-0), and then drew at Signal Iduna Park (1-1). With the benefit of getting the return, the capital club can fuel their hopes of reaching the final again, as they did four years ago. Enough to end the adventure of the French striker in apotheosis with a European coronation, before perhaps flying to Real Madrid.

Forever real

The Madrilenians will actually play their 12th semi-final in 14 years. Winner of a homeric duel against the defending champion Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium (1-1, 3-4 loss), Carlo Ancelotti’s players once again demonstrated their ability to resist the collective of Pep Guardiola and thus erased the debacle of the previous season (4 -0).

The 2022 European champions, well on their way to winning another Spanish league title with an eight-point lead over Barça, their weekend opponents, will challenge Bayern Munich for another shock that promises to fly sparks.

Bayern, the regular

Falling Arsenal in their cave in the Allianz Arena thanks to Joshua Kimmich (1-0), the Bavarian club used their experience from key moments to reach the semi-finals of C1 for the 13th time. A breath of fresh air after losing their German championship title, at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen. The end of 11 years of hegemony over the Rhine.

Thomas Tuchel’s men, whose departure at the end of the season has already been confirmed, will be able to rely on their best asset Harry Kane, the competition’s second top scorer with seven goals, to shake off the merengue troll. During their previous confrontation in 2018, the Germans were eliminated in the semi-finals (1-2, 2-2). There is no doubt that the six-time winner will want to buck the trend and win his ticket to London.

Dortmund, the outsider

Another German representative, Borussia, returns to the last four of the Champions League for the first time since 2013. That year, the Ruhr club, led by Jürgen Klopp, reached the final and lost to its Bavarian neighbor (2-1).

Victorious against Antoine Griezmann’s Atlético de Madrid (2-1, 4-2), the current 5th in the Bundesliga benefits from the unfailing support of its famous “yellow wall”. In addition, its attacking philosophy, embodied by Julian Brandt, could worry the future opponent, Paris SG, in an opposition that could resemble their clash in the group stage. If both teams had qualified for the final stage, only one will have the right to play in the final this time.