Champions League Semi-Finals: Symbols Collapse, Aspirations Tear the Sky

(Dan Tri) - Real Madrid, the icon of the Champions League, has collapsed incredibly against Arsenal. Now, the dream of winning the championship is approaching for Arsenal as well as other dreamers such as Barcelona, ​​Inter Milan and PSG.

UEFA Champions League semi-final fixtures

Arsenal - Paris Saint Germain (April 29 and May 7)

Barcelona vs Inter Milan (April 30 and May 6).

It is worth noting that among the four teams that have reached the Champions League semi-finals, two have never won the tournament: Arsenal and Paris Saint Germain (best result being runner-up). Meanwhile, the last time Barcelona won the title was 10 years ago. Inter Milan has also waited 15 years for this title.

That shows how much they desire to win the championship this season. When the "symbol of the Champions League" Real Madrid collapsed, the dream of winning the championship was divided equally among the four teams Arsenal, Paris Saint Germain (PSG), Barcelona and Inter Milan. The competition for the championship in the rest of the season promises to be extremely attractive.

Icons Fall, Children Are Not Innocent

To find the most determined and courageous team in the Champions League, many people probably won't have a hard time choosing Real Madrid. However, the images of Dani Carvajal grabbing Bukayo Saka by the neck or Antonio Rudiger stepping on Myles Lewis-Skelly all lead to the conclusion that the Spanish Royal team is truly helpless and can no longer keep calm.

Arsenal's victory over Real Madrid was paradoxical. Los Blancos, who are known for their tenacity, were easily defeated by Arsenal, who have little experience in the Champions League under coach Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal convincingly defeated Champions League "king" Real Madrid. The "Gunners" are gradually maturing under coach Mikel Arteta (Photo: Getty).

The Spanish are famous for the saying: "mucho ruido y pocas nueces", which refers to disappointment about something that is expected too much. The press in the land of bulls used this phrase to describe Real Madrid. After Mbappe, the Spanish Royal team was painted like a giant. However, after the loss to Arsenal, people thought that inside that giant was... empty.

Fate has chosen Arsenal to win the ticket to the next round. Perhaps, the "Gunners" fans never dreamed that Declan Rice would score 2 free kicks, even though in his entire career, he had never succeeded from the free kick spot. Or in the second leg, Bukayo Saka's mistake in missing a penalty was compensated by this player with the opening goal of the match.

"It's hard to be a normal person", that saying is true for Arsenal at this time. However, the great effort of the "Gunners" cannot be denied. They know when to retreat deep, when is the right time to press (put pressure) right on Real Madrid's field.

Declan Rice showed why he is so highly rated. In addition to scoring two free-kicks, Rice covered a large area in midfield. Likewise, Thomas Partey was both a quality sweeper and a quality ball-handler. The return leg stats showed the Ghanaian midfielder won four duels, cleared three, blocked three shots and completed 100% of his passes.

Two in-depth analyses by The Athletic and Telegraph both concluded that Arsenal have truly grown up, not been a child anymore. In particular, Arteta's system is well-built in both defense and attack. Apart from Saliba's mistake (leading to Vinicius' goal in the second leg), Arsenal have had almost no errors. ESPN's statistics show that Arsenal have gone 80 consecutive matches without conceding two or more goals since the match against Luton Town in December 2023.

Above all, Arsenal are worthy of being real title contenders. However, to prove that the club has truly matured, the "Gunners" need to be cool-headed in the decisive phase of the season.

PSG has no stars but is extremely scary

When Kylian Mbappe left Paris, many feared that PSG would collapse. However, at least up to this point, it has been a blessing in disguise for the French giants. Without a true star in the squad, PSG is even more terrifying.

If you don't really believe that, just watch the way PSG completely "suffocated" the strongest team in England, Liverpool, in the round of 16, especially the match at the Parc des Princes. That was a match that many people admitted that somehow, miraculously, The Kop was able to win with a score of 1-0. In that match, PSG shot 27 times (Liverpool only shot 2 times) but luck seemed to "sleep" on them.

In the second leg, coach Luis Enrique's team promptly returned with a 1-0 victory, before defeating Liverpool in the penalty shootout.

PSG has a higher team spirit after Mbappe left (Photo: Sky Sports).

PSG continued to dominate when they defeated the "phenomenon" Aston Villa with a score of 3-1 in the first leg. However, the subjectivity of many players almost made the Ligue 1 champions pay the price in the second leg. They led Aston Villa by 2 goals after only 27 minutes but lost 2-3 until the 57th minute. Suppose Aston Villa's strikers were sharper, perhaps PSG would have had to suffer.

But each fall is a valuable experience for coach Luis Enrique and his team. As the Spanish strategist admitted: "Overconfidence almost killed PSG. This was a performance that was not at the level of the Champions League."

Midfielder Vitinha said the same thing: "PSG's loss of intensity cannot be repeated in the second leg." Meanwhile, striker Ousmane Dembele added: "We were wrong to think we were too good. When we were 2-0 up, we thought the game was over."

Even when they narrowly escaped death, PSG is still highly regarded. Although they no longer have a star player, PSG is more frightening because of their collective nature. President Nasser Al Khelaifi, who tried his best to keep Mbappe, once boldly declared to the press last November: "Now the star is the team. I cannot say who is the club's number one star."

Dembele, who has scored 7 goals in the Champions League this season, is the star to watch. However, the French striker did not score in both matches against Aston Villa. Instead, Doue, Kvaratskhelia, Mendes (2 goals), Hakimi were the ones to score. Since the start of the Champions League, the Paris team has had 11 different players score.

It is impossible to know where PSG's explosive point will appear. That makes this team more unpredictable with the total play style favored by coach Luis Enrique. However, the Paris team also revealed a fatal weakness, which is the ability to defend against set pieces. In the return match against Aston Villa, PSG struggled many times to defend against the opponent's crosses. Aston Villa's third goal also came from a set piece.

Coach Luis Enrique looked straight at the problem: "I don't think PSG were pressured in this way. We suffered too much. Every time Aston Villa put the ball into our penalty area, it was a contribution. We don't have good height and are not highly rated in terms of corner kick prevention."

PSG's weakness could be an interesting idea for Arsenal's assistant coach Nicolas Jover to study, but the Parisians will also look to overcome this weakness.

A new golden age in Catalonia

Coach Hansi Flick walked into the Barcelona dressing room after the match against Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park and saw disappointment on the faces of every player. Barcelona had lost 1-3 to Dortmund in the second leg but still reached the semi-finals with a 5-3 aggregate score. However, the humiliating defeat to Dortmund left many members of the team unhappy.

"The atmosphere in the dressing room was not very good. I had to encourage the players to cheer up because we reached the Champions League semi-finals. The whole team should have been celebrating," coach Hansi Flick confided in a press conference.

Barcelona are in a new golden age. They are ready to win the Champions League for the first time in 10 years (Photo: Barcelona).

Before the defeat to Dortmund, Barcelona had gone on a long journey with 24 consecutive unbeaten matches since the beginning of 2025. This is the 4th longest unbeaten streak in the club's history. No club has a longer unbeaten streak than Los Blaugrana in the top 5 European national championships (equal to Liverpool).

The defeat to Dortmund does not have much of an impact on Barcelona's chances of progressing, but the worry is that ending the unbeaten run could create a negative atmosphere within the club. "To be honest, we had a disappointing match. The whole team played below standard and was too sloppy," Jules Kounde told Movistar.

However, this is not the time to be gloomy. The race for La Liga and the Champions League is not waiting for coach Hansi Flick and his players. It is understandable why the German coach asked the players to celebrate even when they lost. Because they cannot be immersed in a match and forget about the battle.

At least, from a more positive perspective, the defeat to Dortmund was a necessary slap for Barcelona to look back at themselves after a long period of being drunk on victory. Veteran Lewandowski affirmed: "Hopefully many young Barcelona players will learn a useful lesson from this defeat. In a tournament like the Champions League, you don't have to prepare 90% or 95%, you have to always step onto the field with 100%".

The last time Los Blaugrana were in the Champions League quarter-finals was in 2019, where they were thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool in the second leg (leading 3-0 in the first leg) in a match that fans of the Catalan club will never forget.

The arrival of coach Hansi Flick has ushered in the era of revival that Barcelona has been waiting for. There, the glories of the past have returned one after another. They have many bright young stars such as Pedri, Pau Cubarsi, Gavi, Lamien Yamal, Fermin Lopez... Most of them are members of La Masia. Possessing a formidable trident in attack are Yamal, Raphinha, Lewandowski, just like Messi, Neymar, Suarez (or Messi, David Villa, Pedro) in the past.

This is an incredibly talented generation that Barcelona has spent decades searching for. The problem with this generation is not the skill of playing football but the inspiration. Coach Hansi Flick is a veteran strategist. He understands the role of mental stimulation for young players. For that reason, in the past few days, the German coach has always appeared with positive and stimulating statements.

When he was still leading Bayern Munich, coach Hansi Flick once admitted that communication and inspiring players played an important role leading to success. Former student Jerome Boateng once revealed that his former coach at Bayern Munich was a sophisticated and professional person.

Perhaps, Hansi Flick's 20 years of experience as a sports shop manager has helped him a lot. The inspiration he has given to the younger generation of Barcelona players is bearing fruit. The new golden age at Camp Nou is just beginning and the Champions League title is a strong affirmation of Hansi Flick and his team.

Inter Milan is both modern and classic

Two years ago, Inzaghi's Inter Milan were very close to winning the Champions League. However, they were "killed" by an unstoppable shot from Man City's Rodri. Now, the "younger" Inzaghi is on the right track in the 2022/23 season.

Inter are even more formidable this season than they were two years ago. Partly because they have forged a solid defense to the maximum. While Barcelona have the best attack in the Champions League this season with 37 goals, Inter have the most solid defense. They have only conceded 5 goals in 12 matches (keeping a clean sheet in 8/12). Even in the entire classification period, Inter have only conceded 1 goal in 8 matches.

Inter is both classic Italian and very modern (Photo: Getty).

As The Athletic commented: "Inter have the typical Italian look". Indeed, they have a lot of "Italianness". They have a head coach (Inzaghi) and 6/11 players starting the match against Bayern Munich were born in the boot-shaped land.

Of the four semi-finalists, Inter have the fewest stars and the lowest squad value. However, they are feared for their classic Italian team taciturnity. Against Bayern Munich, the Nerazzurri happily accepted to play deep defense and accepted to use physical strength to block.

Inter have the highest aerial win rate of 59% in Europe's top five leagues, 3% higher than second-placed Bayern Munich. They have even turned their physical advantage into a "new weapon". Both of the Milanese team's goals in the second leg of their quarter-final against Bayern Munich came from set pieces.

Inzaghi's side are also the rare top European club to use a three-man defence with wing-backs. Their attacks on the flanks are more about off-the-ball movement than technical play. Last season, they made the fewest dribbles of any team in Europe's top five leagues.

Like typical Italian football, Inter rely heavily on counter-attacks, aiming to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. They are also the only team in the Champions League quarter-finals to still play with two strikers. Marcus Thuram’s backheel for Lautaro Martinez’s goal against Bayern Munich in the first leg was a classic combination.

However, alongside the traditional features, Inter also has a modern feel. Their midfield trio are players who are good at controlling and distributing the ball. Hakan Calhanoglu is essentially a "number 10" who is pulled back to play as a "number 6". Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who used to be a "number 10" with good scoring ability, is now pulled to play on the left.

Meanwhile, the most "workmanlike" player in Inter's midfield, Nicolo Barella, was the one who was pushed forward. He often took advantage of the space that the two strikers moved into to launch a surprise punch.

The way Inter players deploy and switch positions is also unlike any other club in Europe. The two wide centre-backs often carry the ball into the opposition half, while a midfielder drops back to hold the position. The distance between the three Inter centre-backs stretches the entire width of the pitch and is completely separate from each other. However, they are always alert in such situations. Inter rarely lose the ball and allow the opposition to counter-attack when the defenders are high up the pitch.

What is also unusual is that 37-year-old centre-back Francesco Acerbi is often present in the opposition half. There are even situations where he suddenly becomes a centre-forward. Acerbi did this twice in the return match against Bayern Munich.

Inter’s constant shifting of positions when in possession made it really difficult for opponents to find a man-marking solution. Even Thomas Muller, who is very strong in controlling space, was confused when he had to mark an opposition centre-back who suddenly appeared in between his two centre-backs.

Inter are certainly not perfect because the squad quality is not high, but they are the most formidable version since their last Champions League title in the 2009/10 season. That was also the season when "iron" Inter successfully stopped Barcelona in their golden age with Pep Guardiola in the semi-finals with the famous "park the bus" style of coach Mourinho.

The "Special One" has long since left Inter, but Inzaghi is an upgraded version of Mourinho. It's time for the Italian coach's talent to be recognized for bringing continuous success to the Nerazzurri.

Barcelona in 2025 are much more direct and agile than they were in 2010. But Inter are also changing and ready to fend off their opponents once again.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/ban-ket-champions-league-bieu-tuong-sup-do-khat-vong-xe-toac-bau-troi-20250417233518141.htm