European football is back for the first time since the death of the madcap, ill-thought out Super League as the Champions League returns
- The Champions League is back following the rise and fall of the European Super League.
- Real Madrid host Chelsea and PSG host Manchester City in first-leg of the semifinals.
- Three of the four semifinalists were part of the doomed breakaway tournament.
Europe's biggest club competition, awash with money, the biggest clubs, and the best players is back.
No, it's not the European Super League. It's the Champions League.
Normal service resumes on Tuesday night as the 2021 Champions League reaches the semifinal stage, returning for the first time since the rise and fall of the ill-fated European Super League.
Three of the dozen clubs that had agreed to take part in the controversial breakaway tournament - Chelsea, Manchester City, and Real Madrid - are in the last four.
Moneybags Paris Saint Germain, who ironically will be the neutral fans' favourite having chose not to sign up to the Super League, complete the line-up.
This year's Champions League has already been a conveyor belt of classic matches. In the last-16, PSG beat FC Barcelona 5-2; Borussia Dortmund beat Sevilla 5-4; and Porto eliminated Juventus on away goals following a jaw dropping 4-4 aggregate draw.
In the quarterfinals, PSG then triumphed over Bayern Munich in a six goal thriller, while Manchester City beat Dortmund 4-2.
With just five matches to go in this year's tournament - two sets of two-legged semis and a final - the competition is reaching fever pitch. Here's what you need to know about Europe's premier club tournament.
Real Madrid first host Chelsea on Tuesday
Having won four of the last seven Champions League titles, Real Madrid is the favourite to book its ticket to the final in Istanbul.
However, since former PSG manager Thomas Tuchel took charge of Chelsea in late January, the Blues have been formidable, losing just twice in 21 games.
Most impressively, the German's side have conceded just nine goals (though five of them came in one game against West Bromwich Albion) in that period, meaning Madrid will have to be at its best if it wants to break down Chelsea's blue wall.
Karim Benzema, who has scored 27 times in all competitions this term, will be Madrid's main threat. Elsewhere Madrid has been lackluster on the goal scoring front, with Vinicius Jr. and Marco Asensio sitting as the club's next top scorers with just six goals apiece.
Eden Hazard, who left Chelsea for Madrid in 2019, has scored just three in what has been another injury plagued season at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Manager Zinedine Zidane will be hoping the Belgian star, who is, without doubt, one of the best players in the world when fully fit, can finally make his mark on what will be his first game against Chelsea since leaving the club.
Manchester City then face PSG on Wednesday
Fresh off the back of winning the Carabao Cup on Sunday and just two wins away from clinching the English Premier League title - Manchester City will travel to the French capital full of confidence.
In PSG, however, Pep Guardiola's face another team brimming with swagger.
PSG has scored 15 goals in its last four games in France, five of which have come courtesy of the blistering Kylian Mbappe, who is Ligue 1's top scorer with 25 goals.
In the last round of the Champions League, Mauricio Pochettino's side also exorcised the demon of last year's final by knocking out Bayern Munich, against which Neymar was the star.
Guardiola is fully aware of the threat Mbappe and Neymar pose to his side, but insists the Parisians aren't just a two-trick pony.
"It's almost impossible to control them during the full 90 minutes," he said on Monday.
"We have to try to finish to review the team but the quality they have, not just Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappe - [Angel] Di Maria and [Julian] Draxler when they play, the quality of the players in [Leandro] Paredes, [Marco] Verratti with the personality they play."
Despite its wealth of attacking talent, PSG has kept just two clean sheets in its last 11 games in all competitions.
The return of captain Marquinhos is a big boost for Pochettino's side, however if City can exploit that weakness and grab itself an away goal, it will set the stage for a mouth watering second leg at the Etihad Stadium next week.