UCL Semis: Stats, Key Players And Who Can Win It?
Manchester City and Liverpool have joined Real Madrid and Villarreal in this season’s UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Form, stats, key players and why they can win it – UEFA.com assesses each semi-finalist.
Real Madrid and Villarreal made it through to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday with their last-four opponents confirmed as Manchester City and Liverpool respectively the following evening.
MANCESTER CITY
Why they can win it
Few teams are capable of dealing with City’s metronomic passing and relentless pressing. Their strength in depth is unrivalled across Europe, while their hunger for a maiden Champions League triumph remains as ferocious as ever. After all, they couldn’t have gone much closer in Porto last May.
Record v semifinal opponents Real Madrid: P6 W2 D2 L2 F7 A7
Uefa ranking: 2
European Cup best: runners-up (2020/21)
Last season: runners-up (L 0-1 v Chelsea)
Last semifinal: 2020/21 (W 4-1 agg v Paris)
This season
Record: W6 D2 L2 F24 A10
Top scorer: Riyad Mahrez (6)
Quarterfinals: 1-0 agg v Atlético
Round of 16: 5-0 agg v Sporting CP
Group A: winners
Campaign so far
Ominously for City’s rivals, there is still room for improvement. The Group A winners lost two of their three games away from home in the section – albeit narrowly – and only kept their first clean sheet of this season’s competition in their last-16 first-leg win in Lisbon. They have now kept four in a row after that narrow aggregate success against Atlético, which highlights how, on top of their much-lauded attacking qualities, they can defend with real resilience too.
How they play
City play the Guardiola way: a team set up in a highly fluid 4-3-3 who want to dominate the ball and beat teams with the speed of their passing and movement. They defend in a high block and press the opposition with intensity, looking to hurt them on lightning-fast turnovers. And last but not least they are blessed with fabulously gifted individuals like Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, who have such awareness, creativity and powers of execution.
Key player: Kevin De Bruyne
The 30-year-old schemer passed 250 appearances for the club last season and remains a talismanic figure in their midfield despite the riches around him. He endured something of a slow start to the campaign but looks to be returning to his best, making a habit of scoring in key games since the end of the group stage including his winning strike in the quarterfinals.
Coach: Pep Guardiola
One of the most decorated coaches in the game, the 51-year-old won this competition twice with Barcelona. He has scooped three league titles apiece at the helm of the Catalan club, Bayern and City.
Did you know?
Guardiola has now reached his ninth Champions League semifinal – surpassing the eight of old adversary José Mourinho.
REAL MADRID
Why they can win it
If they can turn that tie against Paris around, against all the odds, and then survive such an onslaught from holders Chelsea, nothing is beyond them. Karim Benzema is in the form of his life and with Vinicíus Júnior providing scintillating support, as well as the venerable Toni Kroos and Luka Modric pulling the strings, who would dare rule out the 13-time winners doing what they do best?
Record v semifinal opponents Man. City: P6 W2 D2 L2 F7 A7
Uefa ranking: 5
European Cup best: winners (1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1965/66, 1997/98, 1999/2000, 2001/02, 2013/14, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18)
Last season: semifinals (L 1-3 agg v Chelsea)
Last semifinal: 2020/21 (L 1-3 agg v Chelsea)
This season
Record: W7 D0 L3 F22 A9
Top scorer: Karim Benzema (12)
Quarterfinals: 5-4 agg v Chelsea
Round of 16: 3-2 agg v Paris
Group D: winners
Campaign so far
How is it possible to lose at home to Sheriff, and then reach the last four with a gargantuan performance against Paris followed by an epic tie against Chelsea? The route map helps explain. Madrid won nothing last season and, by their own admission, are desperate for trophies at home and in Europe this time round. The 5-0 away victory over Shakhtar reset Madrid’s GPS in the group stage. Defeat in Paris then did the same – leading to a different high-pressing approach which reaped further reward at Stamford Bridge.
How they play
Working within a 4-3-3 template, Madrid have a strong spine starting with Thibaut Courtois and running through centre-back Éder Militão to the experienced midfield trio of Casemiro, Modric and Kroos with all that technical quality, vision and experience. And then you get to the in-form Benzema up front – a master of the arts of centre-forward play. They also have the energy of increasingly influential younger players like Vinícius Júnior and Federico Valverde – as well as that intangible knowhow that gets them out of the tightest of spots.
Key player: Karim Benzema
Many people wondered where Real Madrid’s goals would come from when Cristiano Ronaldo left in 2018, but the France forward has more than stepped up to the plate to become the club’s talisman. He scored Madrid’s 1 000th European Cup goal against Shakhtar earlier this campaign then turned around their last-16 tie with Paris with a second-half hat-trick before striking the decisive blow in extra time against the Blues to make it four goals in the tie.
Coach: Carlo Ancelotti
The manager who steered Madrid to ‘La Décima’ in 2014 returned last summer for a second stint in charge. He is one of just three coaches to have won the European Cup/Champions League on three occasions.
Did you know?
Madrid are in the European Cup semifinals for the 31st time, 11 more than any other club. They have won four of their last six ties at this stage.
LIVERPOOL
Why they can win it
The similarity to the 2018/19 Champions League-winning campaign is that domestically Liverpool are chasing a rampant Manchester City, and it seems that having such an objective always brings the best out of Jürgen Klopp’s team. When they hit top form, and everything works in devastating harmony, it’s hard to see anyone coping with them. If you add in the Anfield factor, anything is possible.
Record v semifinal opponents Villarreal: P2 W1 D0 L1 F3 A1
Uefa ranking: 3
European Cup best: winners (1976/77, 1977/78, 1980/81, 1983/84, 2004/05, 2018/19)
Last season: quarterfinals (L 1-3 agg v Real Madrid)
Last semifinal: 2018/19 (W 4-3 agg v Barcelona)
This season
Record: W8 D1 L1 F25 A11
Top scorer: Mohamed Salah (8)
Quarterfinals: 6-4 agg v Benfica
Round of 16: 2-1 agg v Inter
Group B: winners
Campaign so far
Liverpool have faced stiff competition – indeed, of their opponents so far, only Atlético have never won the competition. This makes it even more impressive that they sport a near-perfect record: ten games and just one loss in the second leg against Inter. In fact, it was only the Nerazzurri who consistently troubled Klopp’s side, but like any great team they found a way to win.
How they play
Klopp rarely deviates from his tried and tested 4-3-3 formation – a system that has served the Reds wonderfully well since the German’s arrival in 2015. Their high-intensity pressing has been refined in recent seasons – with a little help from smart acquisitions such as Diogo Jota and Luis Díaz – but it remains just as effective. At their best, they are arguably Europe’s finest side.
Key player: Mohamed Salah
The Egypt forward has been the face of this Liverpool side since arriving from Roma in 2017. A star at Basle, he first landed in England with Chelsea in 2014 but has proved a major talent on Merseyside, his pace, intelligence and finishing helping him bag 33 Champions League goals for the club.
Coach: Jürgen Klopp
Liverpool boss since 2015, Klopp guided the Reds to continental glory in 2018/19 and to their first English title in 30 years the next season. A striker turned defender at Mainz, he lifted two Bundesliga titles with Dortmund before heading to Anfield.
Did you know?
Liverpool have been European champions six times – more than any other English team. That is as many titles as Bayern, with Milan and Real Madrid the only clubs to have won more.
VILLARREAL
Why they can win it
The Yellow Submarine might not be fancied by many, yet they showed exactly what they’re made of when they won the Uefa Europa League last season. When you throw in the fact they’ve already knocked out Juventus and Bayern, no less, anything is possible now they are in only their second ever Champions League semifinal.
Record v semifinal opponents Liverpool: Liverpool P2 W1 D0 L1 F1 A3
Uefa ranking: 18
European Cup best: semifinals (2005/06, 2021/22)
Last season: Europa League winners (1-1, W11-10p v Man. United)
Last semifinal: 2005/06 (L 0-1 agg v Arsenal)
This season
Record: W5 D3 L2 F18 A11
Top scorer: Arnaut Danjuma (6)
Quarterfinals: 2-1 agg v Bayern
Round of 16: 4-1 agg v Juventus
Group F: runners-up
Campaign so far
Profligate in the group stage, giant-slayers in the knockouts. Unai Emery’s side desperately missed the injured Gerard Moreno for much of the campaign, but you have to give them credit for getting this far with their talismanic goalscorer reduced to a cameo role for large parts. Their build-up play deserved far more than to scrape out of their group, and knocking out Juve in the last 16 and Bayern in the quarterfinals is a warning to the rest of Europe.
How they play
In a rigid 4-4-2, with Emery prioritising a solid and well-drilled team. Raúl Albiol leads a back line which lays the foundation for a side that has mastered the art of inviting their opponents on to them before transitioning quickly from defence into attack. The pace of players such as Arnaut Danjuma and distribution of the likes of Daniel Parejo and Giovani Lo Celso are key.
Key player: Arnaut Danjuma
A summer arrival from the English second tier might not have had fans overly excited, but the Dutchman has been a revelation in both domestic and European football for Villarreal, troubling defences with his skill, pace and directness – and his eye for goal.
Coach: Unai Emery
The former Almería and Valencia coach made the Europa League his own with a hat-trick of successes at Sevilla. Led Paris to the treble in 2017/18 and Arsenal to a European final a year later, before joining Villarreal in summer 2020 – and promptly winning the Europa League again.