In Lisbon, the stage is set for a new champion of Europe
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PSG face Atalanta challenge in first quarter-final tonight
LISBON: The Champions League moves to Lisbon this week for the start of the ‘final eight’ with the intriguing prospect of a new name on the trophy. All eight quarter-finalists are now camped in the Portuguese capital, where the business end of the tournament will be completed at breakneck speed—quarters, semis and the final, all in 12 days—an unprecedented solution to a season that was interrupted by the pandemic. The final will be played at Benfica’s Estadio da Luz on August 23. The ‘final eight’ will start at the same ground on Wednesday when Atalanta face PSG. Whoever wins that match will meet Leipzig or Atletico for a place in the final, while City or Lyon will meet Bayern or Barcelona in the other semi-final.
These are quarterfinals without the elite—with only two former winners remaining. And the draw has pitted Bayern Munich and Barcelona—both five-time champions—against each other in the quarterfinals on Friday. Just one of the remaining six teams—atletico—has even made it to a final before, losing to Real Madrid in 2016. Only two other quarterfinalists have reached semifinals: Paris Saintgermain and Manchester City, which plays Lyon on Saturday.
This is only the second appearance in the Champions League for Leipzig, which plays Atletico on Thursday, and the first time the Red Bull-backed German side
is in the knockout phase.
“It’s the biggest moment in the club’s history,” Leipzig sporting director Markus Krösche said. “It’s a hard competition.”
Manchester City and Paris Saint-germain both have reason to believe this will be the year they are rewarded for a decade of decadence fuelled by the immense wealth of their Gulfbased owners (see graphic for the financial gap between them and the other quarter-finalists).
Perhaps Atletico, back where they lost the 2014 final to Real, will at last go the extra step under Diego Simeone. Atalanta are the minnows and it would be a remarkable story if they won the trophy in their first appearance in the Champions League after the terrible suffering of their hometown Bergamo during the pandemic. Atalanta reached the final eight with an 8-4 aggregate victory over Valencia in the round of 16. The first leg took place on Feb. 19 in Milan and has been dubbed “Game Zero” because of the spread of the disease that followed both in northern Italy and in Spain.