Champions League

Michael Owen has made his Champions League semi-final predictions ahead of Manchester City v Real Madrid and Liverpool v Villarreal.

The Champions League semifinals begin as four teams remain in pursuit of continental glory. The action starts on Tuesday when Real Madrid head to Manchester ...

Match prediction: Manchester City 2, Real Madrid 1. His technical ability and speed should give the Real Madrid center-backs some serious trouble. I'll go with the guy who has to be on for Real to advance. He's had back-to-back hat tricks in the knockout stage and is playing out of his mind. Benzema, 34, is having far and away the best season of his career. The action kicks off on Tuesday when Real Madrid head to Manchester City for the first leg.

Villarreal boss Unai Emery said his team deserve to be in the semifinals of the Champions League ahead of Wednesday's clash with Liverpool.

"Anfield is special and the atmosphere is impressive, incredible," Villarreal midfielder Dani Parejo said. "I recognise the work done and the identity created by Klopp, which has since been further improved. "It's not by chance that we are here," Villarreal midfielder Dani Parejo said. "Any side that is in a Champions League semifinal is there because they deserve to be. They are the number one favourites to win this competition. They will feel like favourites, of course, but will have respect for us."

The resources Real Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool have at their disposal compared to the Spanish side are night and day and it's hard to see how they can ...

The fact City haven't won the Champions League under Guardiola is a slight concern too, it remains to be seen how much scar tissue remains from their defeat to Chelsea last year. Klopp's previous success in this competition can also give Liverpool an edge. There is not much separating Liverpool and City but on paper, they have a clear path to the final as long as they don't underestimate Villarreal. It's a toss-up between City and Liverpool just like it is in the Premier League title race, but Jurgen Klopp's men have a slight advantage given their draw with Villarreal as they have a seemingly easier route to the final. They might not have the same firepower as Liverpool and Man City but their pedigree in this tournament means they are not far behind them. The resources Real Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool have at their disposal compared to the Spanish side are night and day and it's hard to see how they can beat two of these three sides to go all the way.

Minute-by-minute report: Join Scott Murray for updates as the two European heavyweights go toe-to-toe at the Etihad.

Kick-off at the City of Manchester Stadium is at 8pm BST. It’s on! It’s the last time they met, so surely those are the most pertinent numbers of all. Then a taking of the knee ... and City get the ball rolling. It’s quite the sight, the sound, the atmosphere. They were humped 5-1 at Hamburg in 1980; lost 4-1 to Borussia Dortmund in 2013; and then there’s the famous 5-0 spanking handed out by Milan in 1989. Pep Guardiola emerges from the tunnel and shares a moment with Carlo Ancelotti. The mutual respect obvious as they embrace.

BT Sport is looking back at the best players to have played in the competition during its 30-year history, and have asked their most high-profile pundits to ...

who have BT pundits chosen in Champions League 'Immortals' XI? Former Spain midfield duo Xavi and Iniesta - both four-time winners at Barcelona - were largely chosen in midfield, with Cole the only one to omit the current boss of the Catalan giants in favour of four-time winner with Real Madrid Luka Modric. Meanwhile, former Chelsea and Liverpool star Joe Cole was the only one of the pundits to pick ex-Real Madrid and Spain shotstopper Iker Casillas, who has the second-most appearances of any player ever in the competition and who won it three different times.

Liverpool are two games away from the Champions League final, edging closer to more silverware and an even greater financial boost than the £85m plus that ...

Liverpool have a kit deal with Nike that is worth a flat £30m per year but where the Reds get 20 per cent of royalties on the sale of Liverpool/Nike merchandise, something that has the potential to be worth up to £70m, according to some industry analysts. Villarreal, in contrast, have a deal with Joma that was inked in January of this year and worth a reported £11.8m (€14m) plus add-ons over a seven-year period. So far in this season's Champions League Liverpool have earned the most of any team through prize money after winning all of their group games on their way to the last four. In comparison, according to figures presented on social media by football finance analyst Swiss Ramble, Villarreal spend some £234m less at £80m (€95m) than the Reds. That expenditure has, however, a higher wages to turnover ratio, with Liverpool's £314m spend 64.4 per cent of turnover of £487m, while Villarreal's stands at 76.5 per cent of their £104.5m (€124m) turnover. When local businessman Fernando Roig took control of the club in 1997 they were a second tier Spanish side with a proud but unspectacular history, spending much of their time having flitted between the third and fourth tier of the national game. Villarreal have had to take a different route in order to compete.

It's the Premier League versus La Liga as the Champions League gets down to the final four with both Manchester City and Liverpool in action across the ...

The app is available to download on mobile and tablet, as well as various streaming devices, games consoles and some select Smart TVs. How to live stream the UEFA Champions League online How to watch the UEFA Champions League on UK TV

Steve McManaman picks his all-time Champions League XI, his Immortals, as BT Sport looks back at the best players to grace the competition across its ...

All-English Champions League finals are a bit dull, arent they Planet Sport looks back at previous one-nation finals and finds the stats agree.

It was one of Liverpool's finest recent moments, from one of the worst recent finals." His miscued effort duly hit the post. Two years later as many as four per nation were allowed in. The attacking approach failed to pay dividends. At the other end, they took their opportunity when it was offered. What they said: "They have won the first silverware of Klopp's era with the greatest club trophy of all and the sixth European Cup in this club's glorious history, to at last fulfil the potential of this team and this whole season - even if the performance in this 2-0 win over an even poorer Tottenham Hotspur did not reflect either.

On Tuesday, Manchester City host Real Madrid. Then, the following night, Liverpool welcome Villarreal to Anfield. Here is a quick look at this week's best ...

With 8% ownership in UCL Fantasy, he can repeat the goal and clean sheet from Sunday’s Merseyside derby. However, a 19-point Fantasy Premier League (FPL) haul against Manchester United silenced any doubters and he’s backed to score against Villarreal. For Liverpool to reach their third final in five years, Salah needs to regain continental form. - Use Rate My Team throughout the season to guide your selections and transfers. On 39 club goals this season, Karim Benzema is putting himself as a contender for this year’s Ballon d’Or crown. This includes 13 clean sheets, 12 goal involvements and six double-digit hauls.

Carlo Ancelotti believes Real Madrid's record of 13 European Cup wins is a “positive burden” for his players as they face Manchester City in the Champions ...

Normally, if Real Madrid get to the final, there is more of a possibility to win it.” “I think the history that Real Madrid has in this competition counts for a lot, more for us than opponents,” Ancelotti said. Real last won the competition in 2018, sealing a third consecutive triumph, while Ancelotti was the head coach who guided the club to their 10th success in 2014.

Raheem Sterling has described the Champions League as a 'special' competition ahead of City's semi-final first leg against Real Madrid.

He said: “(Benzema is) a top player. To be playing at such a high level for such a long time is a remarkable thing. “It’s a special competition,” the winger said to the media in his pre-match press conference.

The critics say this must be the year Manchester City win the Champions League. The predictor says it's the most likely outcome with Liverpool not far ...

Their opponents shouldn’t expect the same. What that seems to be doing is giving their attackers some space on the occasion that they are attacking. Villarreal seem to know what they’re doing at this stage of knockout tournaments. One step at a time, and the Reds are at 85% to be playing at the Stade de France on 28 May. Unai Emery’s side held Bayern to 0.07 xG per shot over 180 minutes, while Julian Nagelsmann’s side settled for plenty of low-quality opportunities: They’ve had six or fewer high turnovers three times in the Champions League this season. They’ve had 10 or more in the remaining seven. Real Madrid have scored a goal from a high turnover in three straight games. Pep Guardiola’s side have allowed 24 shots on target in the entire competition. But the two Spanish teams they’ll face have just eliminated the last two European champions in Chelsea and Bayern Munich. It should be said their group contained an attacking-mad RB Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain, but the recent form is nonetheless encouraging. Sixteen of them only played six games.

Manchester City take on Real Madrid at the Etihad in the Champions League tonight.

But we have the desire to play against them and take on this incredible test and we want to improve. This is the motive to do my job.” Reaching the final [last year] is a good lesson for us and for the future it will be good.” “If we have to compete with history, we don’t have any chance. We want to be ourselves.” And ahead of the game, Guardiola said: “We have to be so precise against them.

Villarreal are thriving against Europe's elite with sights set on Champions League glory. Can they crack Liverpool next in semifinal bid?

Yet he's the one, in the Yellow Submarine's words, ensuring that 'everyone of us, has all we need' for a Champions League semifinal against the six-time competition winners. He was told on arrival that his negative test hadn't been produced early enough to allow him access to the stadium where his team were on the verge of history. Then we have optimistic expectations but based on a lot of work." Win, lose, draw -- Emery immediately sensed that there was urgency, ambition and grit about the Yellow Submarine project. Villarreal were on a promotion mission that, by 1967, would see them wriggle their way back into the third division, and there's a lovely faded black-and-white photo of a fan banner held up by first-team players on the day which reads: "The Yellow Submarine is Advancing At Full Steam." Emery, a Basque-born footballer of workmanlike ability, is a good witness to what his boss has achieved. I experienced the final by myself because my kids were in Poland, my brother was in Poland; everyone was in Poland. I watched more or less alone because my wife finds it very tense. There's a presumption that because the club have only become world-known over the last sixteen or so years the nickname is a modern creation. Relegation, from which the club bounced back with rubber-ball speed, was the most painful experience for him across this magical quarter-century. But 2006, the last time the Yellow Submarine reached the Champions League semifinal, was the more brutally iconic image. Like his brother and sister-in-law, he is a billionaire. On the day when the Beatles' publicity machine for their Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby release went into overdrive, Villarreal were in Spanish football's fifth tier.

Manchester City host Real Madrid tonight as the Champions League semi-finals get underway.

Madrid, however, are quite the opponents. Where to watch Manchester City vs Real Madrid Manchester City vs Real Madrid live stream: How can I watch Champions League game live on TV in UK today?

City are without several key defenders for the first leg of their semi-final against Real Madrid.

“The people don’t believe the decisions you have to take,” the City manager lamented after revealing that fact last Friday. What may look like ‘over-thinking’ is sometimes actually the careful management of load, fatigue and niggling injury. Aké will only just be returning after his knock against Brighton. Dias’ start against Watford at the weekend was his first since early March and his recovery from a hamstring problem. The Real Madrid winger had struggled under the weight of expectation on his shoulders in seasons past but, this year, with 17 goals and 18 assists in all competitions, he has looked every inch the elite-level attacker that Madrilenos demand. After arriving in Manchester as a left-footed attacking playmaker six years ago, he has been retrained as a left back and is the squad’s only real utility player. As Real Madrid prepare to visit the Etihad for the first leg of a semi-final tie on Tuesday night, City will struggle to field the requisite 11 in their natural positions after a spate of injuries and suspensions has hit Guardiola’s back line. Joao Cancelo, meanwhile, is suspended for this first leg after picking up a yellow card during the Battle of the Metropolitano a fortnight ago.

Ahead of Tuesday's Champions League semi-final clash with Real Madrid, Manchester City are in unchartered territory. Of course, broadly speaking that isn't ...

It showed that while City and Guardiola will stick to their Cruyffian principles 99% of the time and play beautiful football, if circumstances dictate then they are capable of scrapping it out to get a result. At the first whiff of danger, they have tended to crumble. It is part of Champions League football and we learned in the last years these situations and are improving a lot. "You cannot expect to be 90 minutes attacking, you have to defend also and be aware we have to defend and suffer sometimes. After 135 minutes of patiently trying to break down Atletico Madrid over two legs, the Spaniards launched a ferocious attack that forced Pep Guardiola's side to abandon their usual game. Last season they expertly navigated the challenge of Paris Saint-Germain without ever really looking like they were in trouble.

The Champions League knockout phase has become a machine for generating stunning comebacks, as Barca's historic result redefined what is possible.

But that astonishing result at Camp Nou in 2017 accelerated the trend, to the point where we are now not as surprised by such events as we once were. Results were already trending toward more comebacks in the years immediately before Barca's Remontada, with five two-goal deficits overturned in the previous four seasons alone. And just last month, almost exactly five years to the day since Barca's heroics, Real Madrid staged their own Remontada against PSG as Karim Benzema's second-half hat trick saw the 13-time champions progress against all odds. But still, even then, habitual comeback victims PSG managed to get their own taste of a European reversal by beating Dortmund 2-0 in Paris to win their tie 3-2 in one of the last matches played before football across the continent ground to a halt. PSG itself and Borussia Dortmund's 4-0 win over Benfica after losing the first leg 1-0, which was happening at the very same time as history was being made in Catalonia, that's still 12 comebacks at a rate of 2.4 a year. PSG, when a Monaco side featuring Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho and Thomas Lemar overcame Manchester City 3-1, having lost 5-3 at the Etihad. In the past five years, it's happened three times, with Barca twice finding themselves on the receiving end after their amazing comeback. But it also proved that, when it comes to the Champions League, anything can happen. Given what has happened in the competition since, you wouldn't bet against one of this season's semifinalists staging a miraculous comeback of their own if required. Barca came into the second leg of their round-of-16 tie vs. This, after all, is a team that got knocked out of the Europa League the other week. When the Champions League semifinals begin this week, with Manchester City hosting Real Madrid on Tuesday and Villarreal travelling to Liverpool the following night, none of those clubs are likely to be taking inspiration from Barcelona. And why would they?

Jurgen Klopp's side take on Villarreal after Pep Guardiola's team host Real Madrid in first leg of semi-finals this week and there are record sums on offer ...

In a statement UEFA said: “10,000 of the tickets reserved for the fans of the two teams will be offered for free to reward the lifeblood of the game for their loyal support during the pandemic. The final will take place at the Stade de France on Saturday, 28 May with both finalists receiving an allocation of 20,000 and 12,000 more going to those who have applied via the ballot. The Premier League ’s top two face Villarreal and Real Madrid respectively in the first legs of their last four ties this week. The ticket sale and allocation process for the tickets reserved for the fans of the finalist teams will be organised by the clubs involved, including the allocation of the free tickets.” And the finalists get €15.5m (£13.1m) with €4.5m (£3.8m) for the champions According to a breakdown of prize money from football-coefficient, Jurgen Klopp’s side have made €89.1m to date with Pep Guardiola’s side earning €88.8m (£74.8m). Chelsea, who were knocked out in dramatic fashion by Real a fortnight ago, made €81.8m (£69m). Both finalists will receive €15.5m (£13.1m) with the champions getting an additional €4.5m (£3.8m).

Latest updates from the Man City versus Real Madrid semi-final first leg taking place at Etihad Stadium in England.

Man City 2-0 Real Madrid Man City 2-0 Real Madrid Man City 2-0 Real Madrid Man City 2-1 Real Madrid Man City 2-0 Real Madrid Man City 2-1 Real Madrid Man City 2-1 Real Madrid Man City 2-1 Real Madrid Man City 2-1 Real Madrid Man City 2-1 Real Madrid Man City 2-1 Real Madrid Man City 2-1 Real Madrid

Liverpool will be eyeing a spot in this season's Champions League final when Villarreal come to town on Wednesday night. Can the Spanish side pull off yet ...

You can add BT Sport to your package for only £15 a month (plus a £20 joining fee). You can cancel the subscription at any time. It brings coverage of football, rugby, cricket, UFC and more, plus access to BT Sport Ultra HD for 4K viewing. Enjoy the English Premier League, Champions League and more through the BT Sport app on smart TVs, mobiles, tablets, games consoles, Chromecast or through the BT Sport website. If you're hooked up specifically on the BT TV platform then it's also available in with Dolby Atmos sound. Even if you have subscribed to the relevant Liverpool vs Villarreal live stream rights holders, you won't be able to access them when outside your own country. For the Big Bundle, which includes all the Sky Sports too, it's £40 per month – more expensive, granted, but you'll never miss a match again. For the Champions League, you may wish to choose 'USA' for Paramount +. This UK-only pass gets you full access to all the BT Sport channels for a simple monthly fee. You can use it to watch on your mobile, tablet, laptop, TV, games console and more. Liverpool will be eyeing a spot in this season's Champions League final when Villarreal come to town on Wednesday night. Villarreal have already dumped Juventus and Bayern Munich out of this year's competition but a trip to Anfield represents their greatest challenge so far.

The Premier League's title challengers are in contention to win European football's prize but will have to overcome Spanish opposition to reach the final.

Pep Guardiola’s side are renowned for the quality of their football, but they demonstrated their grit and resilience to overcome Atletico in the previous round. David Alaba has been an inspired signing at the other end of the pitch. On each occasion, the trophy was won by a Spanish club, with Real Madrid defeating La Liga rivals Valencia 3-0 in 2000 and Barcelona overcoming 10-man Arsenal 2-1 in 2006.

Liverpool are timed served in Champions League semi-final appearances but that gives them no right to expect an easy ride against Villarreal.

Three semi-finals in five years also dilutes the uniqueness of the occasion but that must not be allowed to affect what needs to be a cauldron of an Anfield atmosphere that can frighten the wits out of Villarreal. His phenomenal conducting of the Kop's power after the Merseyside derby fires a warning that he is at the peak of his powers and Anfield must do the business one more time on Wednesday evening, while the goods times are here. After completing seven games out of nine in a mad April, Klopp's side are in the final of the FA Cup, a point behind Manchester City in the Premier League and on the cusp of a third European Cup final in five years. After achieving a French domestic silverware treble with Paris Saint-Germain in 2017/18, Emery took Arsenal to the 2018/19 Europa League final, where they were beaten by Chelsea. But he was back to gathering trophies last year with Villarreal. The Reds' defeat at the hands of Sevilla in the 2015/16 Europa League final after being a goal to the good was considered by many to be the catalyst of success under Jurgen Klopp that has produced wonders ever since. But before supporters start scouring travel apps for hotel deals and plotting a route across the English channel to France, a word of caution must be sounded.

European Royalty takes on the Nouveau Riche, 13 European Cup/Champions League wins vs zero. It's Real Madrid vs Manchester City with a place in the final up for ...

You’ll need access to BT Sport to watch Man City vs Real Madrid tonight. It’s Real Madrid vs Manchester City with a place in the final up for grabs. How to watch Man City vs Real Madrid. It’s the Champions League semi-final first leg and you won’t want to miss it.

Pep Guardiola's side held their nerve in a gruelling and fractious quarter-final tie against Atletico Madrid, with Kevin De Bruyne's goal in the first leg ...

Real Madrid are hunting down the equaliser with City still trying to get themselves a bigger margin of victory. 88 mins: Marco Asensio replaces Vinicius Jr for the final few minutes. 90+3 mins: Nacho is shown a yellow card right at the end of the match. This was yet another knockout tie when a Pep Guardiola team should have been out of sight, and yet another when Real Madrid should have been knocked out of the competition. There’ll be goals galore and City’s lead may be vital for them to progress. Our fans should be proud of us and the work we did. Over the 90 minutes it felt like we could have won by a better score. It had so many dominant stars, from Riyad Mahrez to Kevin De Bruyne, but there was still one that went beyond everyone. This was a Champions League classic that produced the most vintage modern storyline. It had that much in it, and could still have had more goals. Madrid twice seemed on the brink of being knocked out of the tournament, first by Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 and then Chelsea in the quarter-finals, but on both occasions the brilliance of Karim Benzema and Luka Modric somehow helped to haul Carlo Ancelotti’s side over the line. City will still come into the tie full of confidence, though, after a 5-1 thrashing of Watford at the weekend saw them maintain their one-point lead in the Premier League title race.

Predicted line-ups and team news ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League semi-final between Liverpool and Villarreal, as well as the confirmed starting ...

This means no player can miss the final by virtue of picking up three cautions which did not result in a red card. Predicted line-ups and team news ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League semi-final between Liverpool and Villarreal, as well as the confirmed starting XIs for Tuesday's game between Manchester City and Real Madrid. Champions League semi-finals: possible line-ups and team news

Both clubs' tendencies were on full display, leading to a seven-goal thriller and an open-ended set of potential outcomes entering the second leg.

We performed really well the first one, you have to do it the second one. Pep Guardiola had reacted with fury to the Mahrez miss, largely because he went for goal when he could have squared it to Foden who would have had an open goal, but that response showed that he knew the game was not won at 2–0, no matter how dominant City seemed. It missed opportunity after opportunity, although it won the shot count only 16–11 and the shots-on-target count only 6–5. Not for the first time in a big game in Guardiola’s career, it felt like an opportunity had been wasted; both league games against Liverpool this season went the same way. When it took on a more natural shape, City looked like much the better side. And that it lost only 4–3 to a Manchester City that threatened at times to outclass it said much for its remarkable stickability. Madrid for long spells simply couldn’t get out, while every turnover threatened to become an opportunity for the hosts.

City and Real Madrid produced a Champions League semi-final few who witnessed it will ever forget.

Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-3 in Champions League thriller but may be left to regret not winning by a bigger margin after dominating first leg of ...

A pulsating semi-final first leg ends with Manchester City holding a narrow lead ahead of Bernabeu return next week.

Plus: Karim Benzema delivers yet another decisive Champions League performance, showing why Real Madrids hopes rest on his shoulders.

It's not easy in the semi-final of the Champions League to shoot a penalty like this." Then, with Madrid's hopes of qualification fading, he produced a sublime Panenka penalty for his ninth Champions League knock-out goal this year. "I always have it in my head that if you don't take a penalty, you will never miss a penalty," he said afterwards. You can tell his emotions are overly heightened when it comes to Manchester City and winning the Champions League. Play for free, entries by 7:45. Against Lyon in 2020, Guardiola decided to play Rodri and Fernandinho and his side were eliminated. If Real Madrid are to produce a memorable comeback against Manchester City and then go on to win a 14th Champions League title - and Benzema's fifth - then they will need him to keep being at his best. Manchester City continue their quest for the Premier League title with a trip to Leeds on Saturday evening at 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports. City hold a one-point lead over Liverpool, who visit Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime. His manager Carlo Ancelotti added: "I think he changed because the last two penalties were not good. The striker marked his 600th appearance for Real Madrid with yet another fine display to bring up his 13th and 14th Champions League goals of the season - and further strengthen his case for the Ballon d'Or. He set up City's second goal with a diagonal cross for Gabriel Jesus from City's left flank and, had it not been for the profligacy of his team-mates, he would have ended the game with more than one assist to his name in addition to his goal. Yes, Real haven't managed to progress through a semi-final in this competition when losing the first-leg but no team shoot themselves in the foot like Manchester City do when the going gets tough in the Champions League.

Villarreal boss Unai Emery has discussed his team ahead of their Champions League semi-final clash against Liverpool at Anfield.

We will try to surf the wave of experience we started accumulating last season.” However, having experienced three defeats at Anfield in his time as Arsenal boss, Emery believes Liverpool will provide the toughest challenge that his side have faced to date. “That’s not present any more but every team who is in the semi-final deserves it, we know they will respect us.

Nick Hennion of The Action Network provides a preview + best bet for Wednesday's Champions League semifinal between Liverpool and Villarreal.

Add in Liverpool’s defensive numbers in the Champions League and I don’t believe Villarreal are capable of grabbing more than a single goal. Plus, for as strong as Liverpool’s attack has played in the Champions League, I would expect some tired legs here. At the same time, though, Villarreal’s attack has proven somewhat reliable of late. The 2019 UCL winners have created 19.5 expected goals through 10 fixtures, the second-highest mark amongst the four semi-finalists. That came in the second leg against Benfica with the tie virtually wrapped up. Hosts Liverpool, which knocked out Benfica in the quarterfinals, are sizable favorites for the opener.

Liverpool have not won a knockout game in the Champions League at Anfield for three years.

We need to be on top of our game, I need to be on top of my game before and after the game as well. Unai Emery and his Yellow Submarine will surface on the banks of the Mersey with a collection of players who can best be described as Premier League cast-offs. But perhaps it is their manager, Emery, who best symbolises the wanton wastefulness of England's football culture. "I spoke with Klopp a few days ago, he told me that the decision to play Liverpool-Atletico was a criminal act and I think he's right," the then Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti later said. A Parliamentary report would later state that at least 37 people died from the coronavirus because of the decision to allow that fixture to go ahead. Klopp, though, has always been acutely aware of the Anfield factor on European nights.

Villarreal manager Unai Emery admits they have lost the element of surprise going into their Champions League semi-final first leg against Liverpool at ...

Villarreal manager Unai Emery admits they have lost the element of surprise against Liverpool Villarreal manager Unai Emery admits they have lost the element of surprise going into their Champions League semi-final first leg against Liverpool at Anfield. - Unai Emery admits his side have lost the element of surprise going into the tie