UEFA decided on Friday that Chelsea will face Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich will face Real Madrid in the Champions League Semifinals which will begin April 22. This decision will provide several top notch matches as both semifinals will be played twice. Probably the most exciting of these matches will be Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. With the 2013 Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo facing Franck Ribery and company, the match will surely produce great entertainment. Real Madrid has been in strong form lately while Bayern Munich has lost their last two Bundesliga matches. This match will truly be decided by the match fitness of Ronaldo who sustained a hamstring injury in the first leg of the Champions League Quarterfinals. However, Gareth Bale is sure to be a challenge for Bayern even if Ronaldo is not ready for the first leg of the match-up. Bayern will definitely still be a very tough opponent for the Spanish giants despite not being in the best form lately. The depth of Bayern's lineup will surely prove to challenge Real. This is a match-up that is overall very even, and will be decided by which team is in better form on the given day of both legs of the competition.
As for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid, there will also be another very tough battle to make it to the Champions League Finals in Lisbon. Chelsea survived the quarterfinals on the away goals rule, and will face the current league leaders in La Liga. However, the injury to Diego Costa in league play will surely affect Atletico should he be unable to return in time for the April 22 match. Chelsea will hope to continue to ride their recent wave of form as they head to Spain. Jose Mourinho's team selection will be interesting as always. One man that will likely see play time is in-form man Demba Ba, who scored a late goal to put Chelsea through to the Semifinals, and scored again in league play to help the Blues defeat Swansea and keep Chelsea in the race for the Premier League title. Despite Chelsea being in very good form as of late, Atletico has also been playing very strongly lately. Atletico defeated Barcelona 2-1 on aggregate to advance to the Semifinals. Barcelona is a much stronger opponent than Chelsea, but this match-up will likely play out very differently based on the style of play of both sides. This match-up will be a very close one, and could truly go either way.
With all four teams striving for a spot in the Champions League Finals in Lisbon, there will surely be a very heated environment. With all the teams also competing for their respective domestic titles as well, any of the four teams could easily be in contention to be crowned Champions of Europe.
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