UEFA Semi Finals 2nd Leg Tips – May 16th, 17th 18th

I have to admit that I based my draw prediction last week on this game with the belief that Rafael Leao would play for Milan. The fact he didn’t was a massive loss for Milan as his pace and attacking threat would have caused so many more problems for Inter Milan. Thankfully for Milan he should be back for this game.

In the first leg, I felt Inter were very much the team in control of the game. The two early goals from Dzeko and Mkhitaryan put Inter in total control of the game and apart from a couple of hairy moments, they controlled the flow of the game well and if anything, probably will feel they could have added another goal to their two.

Milan were desperately poor and Giroud was so isolated that they were effectively playing with ten men for most of the game. Brahim Diaz was being bullied by the Inter midfield and defence and could not pull the strings and I just felt tactically, manager Stefano Pioli got things completely wrong.

Can he pull it out of the bag in the ‘away’ leg here? Well, Leao is due to return to the team from injury and I think he is their best attacking player by a mile and so I’m going to back him to score as Milan have to attack. But I think Inter will have far too much for them once again here andwhile I am not sure of the score here, I am backing Inter to reach the final, but Leao to score is my bet hereas if he doesn’t play, I should get my stake back.

The first leg produced an interesting game with both teams scoring their goals when the other team was on top in the game. Real’s goal in the first half came out of the blue and was down to a fine piece of individual skill from Vinicius Jr. But City hade their own star man in Kevin de Bruyne whose second half thunderbolt landed City a deserved draw.

I actually felt that after that goal, City would go on and win the game as they regained some control in that match at that point, but for once I felt Pep was a little conservative, perhaps mindful of what happened late on in this stadium last year, and the 1-1 draw does set up the second leg very nicely indeed.

At home, I would expect to see far more of Manchester City as an attacking threat and I can’t see the Real Madrid defence being able to manhandle Haaland in the way that they did in the Bernebeu. The big Norwegian is going to have a big say in this game I feel and I think he will be the catalyst that will eventually fire City to the win.

Real are so dangerous on the counter attack as we have seen against Chelsea and Liverpool, as well as City, in recent times, so I think they will score a goal, but I would expect City to score at least two goals in reply to land the win that will take them into their second Champions League final.

I did say to you last week that something strange happens to Sevilla in this tournament once they reach the latter stages. It’s a bit like when Doctor Banner turns into the Hulk, they kind of become invincible and after knocking Manchester United out of the tournament, I think they are now poised to do the same to Juventus after the 1-1 draw in Italy.

Don’t forget, Juventus’ equaliser came in the 97th minute of the game and from an unlikely source and while it will have been a blow for Sevilla to have lost that goal, they won’t be too concerned as they drew their first leg with Manchester United, before thrashing United 3-0 in a one-sided second leg game a week or so later.

They may not have things all their own way however. Juventus best form in the knockout phase has been away from home, where they have beaten Nantes 3-0, Freiburg 2-0 and then a strong Sporting Lisbon were held 1-1 at home. So Sevilla are going to have to do something nobody else has done if they are to progress and that is beat Juventus at home.

Given that, I do feel Sevilla will eventually be the team to go through, but I think it may take extra time or maybe even penalties to decide the winner, with the game finishing all-square after 90 minutes has been played.

For a large part of the first leg, AZ’sopportunistic finish to take the lead looked like it would be enough to get the better of a West Ham side that had been devoid of real attacking intent throughout the opening hour of the game.

However, as soon as Mathew Ryan caught Jarrod Bowen in the face to hand the Hammers a penalty, the game changed in an instant, especially after Said Benrahma slotted the penalty home expertly past the diving keeper.

Now West Ham really looked threatening and it was no surprise when Michail Antonio prodded home after the AZ defender could only block a goalbound header on the line, allowing the striker to prod the loose ball home.

If West Ham can play with that level of intensity in the second leg then they could win the game, but I think a more cautious approach is likely but even so, I am backing the Hammers to go through by claiming a draw in the Netherlands on Thursday night.