CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
The Champions league is finally upon us, two months and twenty-one days after the original date. PSG and Bayern are set to nuke it out at Lissabon's Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica and what a game we are in for.
PSG
Ici c'est Paris. What all football crazed Parisians will be chanting after full-time on Sunday night, if all goes to plan that is. It's been a long wait but PSG have finally reached the Champions League final for the first time in history, all the money spent and all the talent brought in was done for this sole purpose. Can they overcome the last hurdle and bring Champions League glory back to France?
Rocksolid form
Thomas Tuchel's men have won all games (8) since their return to play following lockdown including the Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, four friendlies and, naturally, their CL quarter and Semi-final's included. A fine haul indeed.
They managed an incredible last-gasp comeback against Atalanta in the quarters equalising in the 90th then winning it in the 93rd in a scintillating show of football at its finest. They then followed that up with an unwavering, dominant 3-0 victory over Leipzig in the semi's demonstrating the obvious gap in quality between the pair.
Defensive worries?
The frontline consisting of Neymar, Mbappé and Di Maria displayed how lethal they can be going forward, no matter who or what stands in front of them, that much is clear. However, PSG's defence did not impress as much and showcased their deficiencies against Atalanta, a side that are without a doubt one of Europes best attacking sides but still not really at Bayerns level which could spell trouble for the French.
Bayern München
The Bavarians have absolutely smashed all opponents on their way to the final, their 8-2 demolishing of Barcelona surely going down in folklore as one of the best, most dominant displays ever seen in the competitions history, period.
Steamroller
They also saw off Chelsea (7-1 aggregate) and Lyon (3-0) which has greatly contributed towards the Germans being tipped as rather heavy favourites come Sunday.
Hans-Dieter Flick was named as a temporary fix when the club fired Niko Kovac but when the positive results rolled in and never stopped coming he was given the roll permanently, and rightly so. He has managed to turn what looked like a frail, uninspired squad into absolute machines gobbling up all opposition, spitting them out and swatting them away as if they were divisions under them. No easy feat mind you.
Step up in quality
But much like PSG, the German's showed chinks in their armour, the main culprit being their defence. Had Lyon been a little more clinical in their finishing or simply had a little more luck, the semi-final could have potentially ended differently and given that they now face a totally different caliber of attacking players, the same mistakes will definitely generate goals this time around.
Betting tip
Given how both teams boast outlandish offensive quality but also lose concentration while defending i can see goals in this. The general rule of thumb is to be careful when betting on finals which have a tendency of being tight-knit, relatively low-scoring affairs but i feel this one is different which is why i will be backing Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals at 1.60 with Betway.
