La Liga and European competition: an exciting week

The Champions League and Europa League finalists will be decided this week and two of the four candidates to win the Spanish League will be left behind: Atlético de Madrid, Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC.

The second leg of the Champions League semi-final between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain takes place on Tuesday 4 May. Pep Guardiola's players start as favourites after their 2-1 win in Paris. But Mbappé, Neymar, Di Maria, Verrati and company will be ahead. City would be making a big mistake if they change the way they play and wait for PSG. Pochettino's side have no choice but to go out and score from the start.

They need a 0-2 lead to win the tie. They will have to play a perfect game and not make the mistakes of the first leg, where first Keylor Navas let an incomprehensible ball through and then, from a free-kick, the defence opened up, leaving the perfect space for Mahrez to score the second goal. All PSG's good work was ruined by two avoidable moves.

Criticism on Neymar and Mbappé has been fierce this week. Neymar has declared “I'm on the front line and I'll be the first warrior to go into battle for the team".

The second duel to see which team will be in Istanbul will take place on Wednesday 5 in London. Chelsea-Real Madrid. An open match. The 1-1 first leg result leaves no clear favourite, although the English team, having scored in Madrid, will not need to risk more than necessary. Real Madrid were clearly outplayed in the first half, but Tuchel's side failed to convert their chances. In the second half of the first leg, Real Madrid were better composed and thanks to a great Benzema, they left the tie open. It will be a back and forth game where the London players will force a very high tempo and pressure all over the pitch. Real Madrid are still waiting for several injured players. Varane is doubtful, Mendy is out injured, Kroos was already at 50% in Madrid, Valverde is out with coronavirus and Carvajal is injured. Ramos is available again and Hazard seems to be getting back to form. Let's hope so for the madridistas. A year ago against City Zidane started the Belgian and the striker was not up to the task. They played with ten.

In any case, two exciting Champions League duels to find out which two teams will be playing in the final in Istanbul on 29 May.

On Thursday 6, Arsenal-Villareal will be the most interesting duel after the 2-1 in Spain following a controversial penalty in Arsenal's favour. The yellow team was superior to the London team, but in the second leg Arteta's team will be playing for the whole season. Another thrilling match. The other semi-final is not very exciting after Manchester United's 6-2 win over Roma. The question will be which team will join United in the Europa League final on 26 May in Gdansk.

Meanwhile, there will be a crucial clash in Spain's La Liga on Saturday. FC Barcelona take on leaders Atletico Madrid. Simeone's side are two points clear of both Koeman and Zidane's side. A win for Atletico would knock Barcelona out of contention and a Barcelona victory would put them top of the table and be a huge morale boost for Atletico, who would have squandered a big lead.

On Sunday, after the hangover from the Champions League match, Madrid will face Sevilla. Great credit to the Andalusian side. If Madrid were to lose, they would be taking a very important step backwards with four games to go. Let's see if their Champions League game takes its toll on them. Lopetegui will play a very physical game as the league is his only objective.

A football week of high quality and emotion, from 4 to 9 May. Five matches that will decide a season.