Sports Weekly all-media reporter Wang Qinbo
Finals coming early?
Bayern Munich has already won the Bundesliga title in advance, and it can be said that Paris Saint-Germain is only a short distance away from the French Ligue 1 title. These two teams are regarded as the two favorite teams to compete for the Champions League this season. This semi-final is even regarded by some public opinion as a final that is held in advance. This is true.
As the defending champion, Paris Saint-Germain has experienced many ups and downs this season, including goalkeeper changes and frequent injuries. However, head coach Enrique is full of confidence before the semi-finals. He declared: "There is no team that is better than us."
Paris strengthens its finishing capabilities
Relying on the rules set by the Ligue 1 League, Paris Saint-Germain applied to postpone the league between the two rounds in the 1/8 finals, and also applied in the quarter-finals. This move brought a considerable degree of convenience to the team.
Paris Saint-Germain has used up all the slots at the end of the season and has no way to apply for a postponement of the league between the two legs of the game against Bayern. However, Enrique has nothing to worry about. The league points advantage is sufficient, and there are at least two opponents in the remaining schedule who have nothing to ask for. This weekend's league match against Lorient, Paris will not have a problem even if it sends a second team.
Even in the league victory over Angers last weekend, Paris still sent a large number of substitute players. Marquinhos stayed in Paris to rest, and the main trio of forwards, namely Douai, Dembele and Kvaratzhelia, all sat on the bench. Paris easily won 3-0. After the game, Enrique concluded: "It was a trouble-free Saturday because we completed our tasks. Given the game time, weather conditions and the fact that we are about to face Bayern, this game could have become a difficult problem. But it also shows that we are fully prepared for the semi-finals!"
Paris Saint-Germain defeated Monaco in the knockout play-offs. At that time, its state was quite mediocre. However, after that, the team led by Enrique gradually entered a good situation in the Champions League. When facing the two Premier League teams, Chelsea and Liverpool, it showed an extremely strong fighting momentum. This highlights a prominent feature that Paris Saint-Germain did not show much in the first half of this season or even before last season's Champions League final: it has a strong ability to end the game. Even if there are many twists and turns during the game, Paris Saint-Germain can still win by scoring a sufficient number of goals. At the same time, Dembele, Douai and other players have fully recovered, and the integrity of the lineup also gives Enrique more confidence.
Berardo
Enrique has always been good at using players who are not often paid attention to. The team he leads will always make some adjustments to the main lineup from time to time throughout the season. Currently, Paris Saint-Germain has many doubts in the midfield. One of the key reasons is that Favian Ruiz has not been able to return to his best game state after a long absence. As for Vitinha, he has only just returned from injury before the start of this game. Zaire- Emery has made considerable progress this season, but if Achraf on the right is unable to play, then he will have to play as a right back. Coincidentally, Achraf was ill in the game against Angers.
A surprise player being introduced by Enrique recently is the Brazilian Berardo. This 22-year-old Brazilian player originally served as a central defender. However, in the last four rounds of Ligue 1 matches, he was adjusted to the midfield position, and the effect of this change was quite significant. In the game when Paris defeated Angers 3-0 on April 25, he once again left an impression on people. Deeply impressed, Enrique declared after the game against Angers: "Berardo was the best performer in the game and did almost everything right. We are happy that he can play in this position and reach a very high level. It is extremely rare to see a player improve every attack with one or two touches of the ball." I think he has a bright future at this position. "
Enrique actually compared Berardo with his disciple Busquets, saying, "Generally speaking, I am not happy to place a central defender in the midfield. However, Berardo is a different type of central defender. He is Brazilian and has many technical advantages. He is difficult to be pressed by opponents and can always improve the quality of every attack. We started thinking about this adjustment four games ago because Vitinha was not there at the time. He is more like Busquets than Vitinha."
French media believe that Berardo is gradually becoming an important member of Paris' midfield rotation system, forming a strong competition and complement with Vitinha, Neves, Favian Ruiz, and Zaire Emery. Such a change is even worthy of consideration by the Brazilian team headed by Ancelotti. Due to Casemiro's age, the Brazilian team's midfield is actually a bit weak. Tite did not dare to use the "Paris plan" of having Marquinhos play as a defensive midfielder during the 2018 World Cup. The Brazilian team has already experienced a lesson. Brazil deserves to have a surprise player in this World Cup.
Semi-finals for the Golden Ball
The Champions League match in which Dembele won the Ballon d'Or was the one last season. This year, although there is a World Cup, performance in the Champions League also plays a decisive role in the Ballon d'Or. According to the review of "Le Parisien", this game also occupies a very important position in considering the ownership of this year's Golden Globe Award.
As far as the French media is concerned, Modric led Croatia to the World Cup finals in 2018, and on the other hand won the Champions League with Real Madrid, and finally won the Ballon d'Or that year, with more votes than Ronaldo and the French national team's star Griezmann. Modric's award is worthy of his name. There was a situation in the French team where the votes were split among many people. Modric successfully "passed" all the World Cup champions.
"Le Parisien" feels that Dembele knows, Vitinha knows, Olise knows, and Kane also knows that just winning the Champions League is not enough. If they win the final in Budapest on May 30, it will only be part of the journey, but it is also a crucial step, because the most critical players in the Champions League winning team can basically enter the top three of the Ballon d'Or.
There is no doubt that winning the World Cup is a decisive event. Regarding this matchup between Paris and Bayern, if one of the teams wins the Champions League, and France, Portugal or England can reach the finals in the World Cup, then this will greatly increase the probability that the core players of the Champions League champion will enter the top two of the Ballon d'Or. If they eventually win the world championship, Vitinha or Kane (under the condition of winning the Champions League) will almost certainly win the Ballon d'Or.
"Le Parisien" also said that for the French players in the two teams, the situation is not that simple. If there is a double championship between the Champions League and the World Cup, the contribution of Dembele or Olise to the World Cup championship has yet to be evaluated, and it is not ruled out that the "third person" may completely reverse the situation: Mbappe. If France go far and Mbappe is top scorer and scores in a third successive World Cup final, Mbappe will surpass all contenders. Even if Mbappe's initial starting point in this year's selection is low, he lacked honors when he was at Real Madrid, and Real Madrid is still in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and has not made any progress, but if he plays a central role in winning the World Cup again, then this will have a profound impact on the judges' voting.
The same logic applies to Yamal. At the same time, there is another point, how can we forget Messi. If one of the two of them can play a decisive role in the World Cup final, it is very likely that a victory will completely change the voting pattern.