Lisbon’s estadio do sport Lisboa e Benfica will host this Sunday’s Champions League final with a capacity of 66,642, the home of Benfica and former great Eusebio.  

Across the City, the estadio Jose Alvalade, home of cross-city rivals Sporting CP saw Bayern Munich ease into Sunday’s final with a routine win over Lyon. 

The French club had beaten both Juventus and Manchester City to get this far but the Bavarian giants were too strong as they ran away 3-0 with goals from Serge Gnabry (2) and, of course Robert Lewandowski finishing the scoring. 

This sets up a mouth watering event on Sunday, as French champions Paris-St Germain face the German champions Bayern Munich… France vs Germany, a battle as old as the continent of Europe itself. 

PSG will bring their superstars Neymar and Mbappe along with a new found team ethic, a dangerous combination as they hit form just in time. 

Meanwhile Bayern have their own world class talent with the likes of Gnabry, Lewandowski and Muller all in scintillating form…Lewandowski is on 55 goals so far this season, an extraordinary achievement.

One leg to stand on….

Thunderstorms rolled into the UK last weekend just as Europe’s elite footballers arrived in Lisbon, the host city for UEFAs revamped format of this season’s Champions League, dubbed “The Finals”.

UEFA had decided to remove the traditional home and away two legged ties with streamlined one legged ties held at neutral venues instead. 

The move was seen as a positive, to allow the European competition to finish in a safe and fair manner. Fans would be able to watch on TV, but of course as is the norm these days no fans are allowed in the stadiums. 

Managers and players alike have expressed their opinion prior to the tournament  with Pep Guardiola saying ” Everything can happen” and ” There is no second chance – you are in or you are out”, a statement that rang true as City would crash out to Lyon, unable to overturn the 3-1 defeat due to the new format.

Other coaches such as RB Leipzig’s Julien Naglesmann agreed that the new format gave his side a better chance when facing Europe’s elite, although after beating a stubborn Athletico Madrid in the QF, PSG were too strong as the French champions progressed to their first European final in 23 years.

How did it all go down… 

The new format has definitely made a good impression, with fans and many pundits alike enjoying the excitement and spectacle of what one-off games bring. 

We have seen a stunning last minute comeback from PSG against minnows Atalanta, a humiliating demolition of Barcelona by Bayern as well as underdogs RB Leipzig and Olympique Lyon making the semis’, despite coming up against European veteran’s Athletico Madrid and Pep Guarsiola’s Man City respectively.

Games have, in the most part been open with a willingness to attack, in contrast to the chess like games we sometimes get in the first legs, as neither side look to give anything away. 

BT Sport expert, ex pro and former England manager Glenn Hoddle said ” It makes things gung-ho and exciting. In knockout situations and a one-off like that you just want these champagne moments. We got 149 seconds of magical play and they’ve won the game” although he did concede  “I still like two legged affairs though”

Both formats have their pros and cons and admittedly UEFA will surely want to maintain their revenue streams by reverting back to type next year and continue with the traditional home and away fixtures…more games means more TV rights to sell surely?!?!

Other factors to consider, such as logistics and safety may prove difficult to overcome with Euro 2020 set to take place in the summer of 2021, as well as the continued uncertainty surrounding the global pandemic caused by COVID-19.

Despite the challenges moving forward, there has been a surge in positivity from fans , social media has been lighting up as fans voice their feelings… maybe for once UEFA got something right… maybe this could be the change European football has been craving… maybe just maybe football will get it right at first time of asking.

Written by Andy Jones