Predictions: Champions League semi-finals

And then there were four.

We have reached the semi-finals of this season's Champions League with four of European football's big hitters battling it out for a place in the showpiece occasion in Istanbul on 29th May.

Matchday FM pundit Chris Coughlin gives his thoughts ahead of the first legs to be played this week

REAL MADRID V CHELSEA - Tuesday 27th, 8pm

Chris Coughlin

If I'm brutally honest, on paper, this side doesn't excite me as much as you may feel it should.

These are two teams who, certainly in recent times, focus on keeping the ball out of the net rather than looking to strike at the other end.

That has been the case with Chelsea ever since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel although the appointment of the German appears to have been a masterstroke with the Blues firmly in control of the race for fourth spot in the Premier League & also into yet another FA Cup final as well as finding themselves in the final four of the Champions League.

Admittedly it wasn't their best performance of the season in the second leg defeat against Porto but the job had already been done with strikes from Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell a week earlier.

It was a similar story with Real Madrid as their 3-1 win against Liverpool at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano was ultimately enough to see the Spanish giants through to the final four once again. Real had to cope without both Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos for the whole tie although French World Cup winner Varane is available again after recovering from Coronavirus.

Domestically, Real are in the middle of one of the most exciting title races in La Liga for generations, with themselves, leaders Atletico, Barcelona and Sevilla separated by just three points. Chelsea fans will be hoping Zinedine Zidane's side have one eye on retaining their league crown.

It wouldn't surprise me if this game ended goalless, especially considering 0-0 has been the score in three of Real's last four games, but I'll edge towards Los Blancos to take an advantage to Stamford Bridge with their added experience on the continental stage.

Prediction: Real Madrid 1-0 Chelsea

PSG v MANCHESTER CITY - Tuesday 28th, 8pm

Chris Coughlin

We are guaranteed to have a team in the Champions League final who has never won Europe's biggest prize.

PSG are looking to make the final for a second year in a row after losing out to Bayern Munich in Lisbon last year while Manchester City are still yet to reach a Champions League final and had fallen at the quarter-finals for each of the last three seasons before overcoming Borussia Dortmund earlier this month.

That tie wasn't as straight forward as many predicted against a porous Dortmund defence. Phil Foden, who became only the fifth English player to score in both legs of a Champions League quarter-final, scored a 90th minute winner at the Etihad in the first leg before completing the comeback at the Signal Iduna Park after another promising English midfielder, Jude Bellingham, threatened to knock the favourites out.

City are just two wins away from securing their third Premier League title in four seasons, so Pep Guardiola can afford to focus solely on securing City's first European Cup and, remarkably, his first since leading Barcelona to glory at Wembley in 2011. Their confidence will also be boosted after securing their first trophy of the season - their seemingly annual collection of the EFL Cup on Sunday against Tottenham.

PSG, meanwhile, may well have been expecting to come into this game with European success being their only target for the remainder of the season. That couldn't be further from the truth right now.

The Parisians are second in Ligue 1 with just four games to go following Lille's stunning comeback victory against Lyon at the weekend and are only a point clear of Monaco in third. Mauricio Pochettino, Kylian Mbappe and co are in serious danger of missing out on the League title for just the second time in nine seasons.

There will be particular focus on the fitness of two of PSG's stars as well. Mbappe was forced off with an injury after scoring twice in their weekend win over Metz although he looks set to feature on Wednesday while there is also uncertainly over the availability of club captain Marquinhos.

I think this will be the more entertaining of the two ties and that will play into Manchester City's hands.

Prediction: PSG 1-2 Manchester City