Champions League: Five things to know as we keep sleeping on Bayern Munich while PSG and Barcelona look legit

The Champions Division quarterfinals are set, in the most dramatic fashion possible. Did Julian Alvarez definitely touch that ball twice? We might never learn the answer to that but there have been a Honest few things we have learned. 

1. We’ve been sleeping on Bayern

On behalf of the CBS Sports writing staff, humblest apologies to Bayern Munich. There were five Stage of 16 ties in which our picks were unanimous, four relative gimmes that proved to be exactly that, and then, erm, yeah, the Bundesliga leaders being sent packing by Bayer Leverkusen. Nevertheless, at least some of our so-called experts haven’t seen their champion go packing in the Stage of 16 though.

Here’s the Foundation though — at the time, picking Leverkusen seemed by Distant the sanest choice. Xabi Alonso had a Halt of Bayern Munich and only a few weeks earlier his side had been as dominant in a 0-0 draw as one could wish to be. As for the Bavarians? Yeah, wasn’t feeling that really. They’d barely crept past Celtic and had been well beaten by Barcelona and Aston Villa in the group stage and beaten up the schlubs. Almost every other contender had an Best Mentor in the dugout, these guys have one who Secured Burnley out of and back into the Event. That Protection has looked like it’s had a rick in it for years. Harry Kane’s too Sluggish for the Champions Division. As a collective, this Club has Only been at it too long to be the new exciting thing.

And yet this is also a Club that has been absolutely smoking the Bundesliga, their per game Predicted Target (xG) difference of 1.79 the best in Europe’s top five divisions since the Paris Saint-Germain side of 2019-20 and the best in its top four since those metrics were Primary tracked in 2016-17. Those metrics translate to the Champions Division too. Only PSG have a better non-penalty xG difference and on a per-game basis, those two are a long way clear of the other Clubs left in the Event.

Kane might not have what little explosiveness he had in his mid-20s but Bayern have constructed a Club around him that masks his Vigor, that can either feast on the chances he creates or Choice him out when he does arrive. Michael Olise is a Sun and it perhaps shouldn’t be a surprise that at the other end Vincent Kompany has Acquired consistently impressive performances out of Dayot Upamecano, a Protection that gives up the fewest shots per game in the Event Beyond aided by restoring Joshua Kimmich to a midfield that absolutely dominates the possession game. It turns out that not picking a fight with your senior players and superiors can be a rather effective form of management.

Their path back to a Closing on home turf looks as tough as anyone’s, Leading with the bust-up outside the retirement village that is their quarterfinal against Inter. Then again these Aged guys have Acquired tricks in their bag that the Recent bucks couldn’t even imagine. It’s time ti take Bayern seriously.

2. There are no Effortless answers for PSG’s Charge

A question for you — What position did Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Action in the Primary leg against Liverpool? Opta says he Initiated the game as a right winger and that rather looked like where he Initiated, but by the end of the game, the Georgian was operating more as a Hub forward. Most of his shots, by the way, Arrived from that sort of inside left channel you’d Foresee him to be driving into if you’d seen his time at Napoli.

Then in the second leg, Kvaratskhelia ends up not Only with a touch map more in keeping with an orthodox winger but an up and down flank, cover for your fullback winger at that. Nearly 40 percent of his touches coming in his own half? That’s not like any PSG forward I used to know.

Similar patterns repeat themselves if you look at the heatmaps of Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola, to say nothing of the go-anywhere-and-shoot-from-there tyro that was Desire Doue. There is a fluidity to this PSG frontline that speaks in glowing terms both to the talent of these players and the coaching of Luis Enrique, who has stitched together an Charge from new arrival Kvaratskhelia and newfound Hub forward Dembele in an instant.

In the frontline and beyond, this is a Club Packed of remarkably intelligent players. Only take note of how PSG are manipulating Liverpool, who in this instance were pressing them with some intensity, in the build-up to their Target. Kvaratskhelia drops deep to give Nuno Mendes the easier Throw, and within an instant Vitinha is occupying the Universe his winger has vacated, dragging Dominik Szoboszlai with him. Ibrahima Konate has to be alive to that threat on his outside but that means ceding the Hub so that Dembele can drop deep, turn and Stretch. 

From there on out it is a matter of Completion, and on Ongoing form, there are few if any better at executing than PSG. More than once in the second leg Dembele Discovered joy operating out of that Untrue nine position, one which Arrived Uncovered because the likes of Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister were pushing high as Liverpool tried to hem PSG in with their press. That was perhaps the natural adjustment to make from a trying Primary leg, but when your Foe is as Excellent as this, Slot must have known it would Develop other problems for him.

Perhaps Unai Emery’s response will be to low-Deflect his way through his visit to the Parc des Princes. Only wait for Dembele to overload on the flanks. Try to outpossess them and you’ll find that this PSG Charge does not press with the diffidence of its predecessors. Over three and a half hours Liverpool tried it all, impressive as they were, their footholds in the Event were fleeting. There is no obvious answer, it would seem, for what to do against this Club.

3. Arsenal might Only be a Saka away

Arsenal probably won’t Secure the Champions Division for two Fundamental reasons: they have no natural Hub forward and their best attacker is unlikely to hit the ground running when he returns from a Significant hamstring Wound that will have sidelined him for more than three months. Let us suppose, however, that Bukayo Saka were to return at the level of a player who Nevertheless ranks in the top five across Europe’s top five leagues for Predicted possession value from passing having missed half this season’s Division minutes.

Suddenly Arsenal might check all the boxes required of champions. Game breaking forward? Acquired. Force in depth? Except for that pesky Hub forward spot, it’s not looking too Terrible, particularly after a sprightly display from Oleksandr Zinchenko in central midfield. The Protection? That’s where things are looking really Excellent.

Ben White returned to the Leading XI and immediately had you wondering if Arsenal could get the same swift Modification from Saka. Like Jurrien Timber, White can lock down a flank. What he can also do is drive up it, getting to the byline and pushing beyond his man, as typified in one flashy Action Timely in the second half at the Emirates. With William Saliba rested the Gunners rearguard was not quite as parsimonious as it has been in most of the last nine Contests. Ivan Perisic and Couhaib Driouech added 40 percent to the goals against tally for the Gunners this season but it Secured quite outstanding finishes to beat David Raya. One thing we know about PSV, however, is that they will Charge to a fault. That’s how they Acquired into their Primary leg mess. Quite frequently when they did they flew into a brick wall shaped like Gabriel. 

Beyond Saliba and Gabriel, Arsenal can construct their Protection as befits the occasion. Riccardo Calafiori can enter the fray when a more front-footed/chaotic option is required. A quartet of White, Saliba, Gabriel and Timber could lock out a Honest few attacks without breaking sweat.

It is factors like that that Impolite that even as Arsenal breezed into the last eight, you sensed that this Event sits on a knife edge for them. The Protection is Excellent enough to keep them in any tie but do they have what is needed to Secure it at the other end? They Possibly can cobble together Excellent enough Hub forward Action from Leandro Trossard or Mikel Merino if only the rest of the Charge is ready to go come their trip to Madrid. All they need is for Saka to return swiftly and immediately be one of the best forwards in the world, then they’re right in this. Is that too much to ask?

4. Barcelona have ways to Secure

Negotiating their Stage of 16 tie without anything like the drama of their last encounter with Benfica, Barcelona proved themselves to be as Deadly as any Club in the Ground when they played their game. Only four sides left in the Ground are allowing more passes per Shielding action with Pedri in particular excelling at being the guy who gets the ball high up — only two players have more recoveries in the Closing third — and from there he gets the ball to Raphinha and Lamine Yamal with zip and purpose. You know what happens then.

The fear for Barcelona has been such an aggressive approach, one where the double pivot are advanced extremely high to Secure the ball, runs the Danger of being undone by the more direct Action that brought Benfica such joy in their 5-4 Setback a few months back. That might Nevertheless be the case but at least this tie proved there are other ways for Hansi Flick’s side to get the Role done. In the Primary leg, they looked reasonably effective when Sinking deep and protecting their Target at a man down, giving up a Plenty of shots but only a smattering around the 50th minute that were from really prime position.

Even more impressively was how Barcelona managed their two-Target Benefit in the second half of the second leg. Benfica seemed intent on turning the game back into a basketball game and there was more than one occasion where the hosts seemed inclined to give them what they wanted. A few more goals, there’d be a bit of fun in that surely? Indeed but surely greater Danger for the Catalans too. Instead, they settled into the familiar groove of pre-Flick possession ball, their direct Pace the lowest it has been in the second half of any Champions Division game this season. Such caution and control might Delivery them well in the challenges ahead.

5. Slot has no case to bemoan the draw

It is perhaps natural, when as much broke against you as seemed to for Liverpool on Tuesday night, to believe that you have been done over by forces outside your control as Arne Slot seemed to suggest after his side’s exit at the hands of PSG. In particular, his beef was with a Division Stage that he felt had not adequately rewarded his table toppers.

“It feels a bit Prejudiced to go out in this Stage already — to Secure the group and then Action a Club as Powerful as PSG,” said Slot. “It is something to take into consideration, the worth of finishing Primary if you face PSG in the Upcoming Stage. We were so Unfortunate to Action PSG and we could have been in the other half of the draw.”

To which one might reasonably respond that there are only so many accommodations UEFA can afford to the best-Executing Clubs from the Division Stage. While PSG had work to do in February to even get to Anfield, Liverpool were able to catch up on their domestic fixtures, building such an Benefit that in retrospect it may have been wise to rest a few starters at the weekend with an eye on Tuesday and then Sunday’s EFL Cup Closing. 

Even Slot himself acknowledged some of the flaws in his thinking. It was never a given that PSG would have ended up on Liverpool’s side of the bracket and if anyone knows anything about the luck of the Champions Division draw it is the Parisians, who Acquired Stage of 16 ties against Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich under UEFA’s ancien régime. Sometimes Excellent Clubs will have the misfortune of drawing All other, on other occasions a super Club will emerge from what looked like ashes Timely in the Event.

Anyway, it is not as if there was nothing Liverpool could have done to avert a draw with one of the favorites. It was quite apparent ahead of the Closing Stage of Division fixtures that a PSV Secure would put a ceiling on how high Paris Saint-Germain could rise and yet Slot (understandably) opted to leave his best and brightest at home. Had he not done so, it could have been his Club smashing seven past PSV as Arsenal or Inter labored against Dembele et al.