Champions League: Winner of blockbuster PSG-Bayern sequel to face Arsenal or Atletico in final

Arena of entertainers

Munich was the scene of PSG's finest game last season against Inter to fulfill its Qatari owners' quest to become European champion for the first time. The Allianz Arena is also where six-time champion Bayern won all six home games in the Champions League this season, scoring 20 goals including four past Real Madrid in a quarterfinals, second-leg thriller three weeks ago. Munich is the only candidate to host the Champions League final again in 2028. UEFA should confirm that decision in September.

Atletico in England

Coach Diego Simeone takes his Atletico team to north London for a third game this season. Third time lucky? Atletico lost 4-0 at Arsenal in a league-phase game in October and survived a 3-2 loss at Tottenham in the second leg of the round of 16 that easily could have been a bigger margin. Atletico also started this Champions League campaign in England in September — and lost, 3-2 at Liverpool. It all adds up to five games lost by Atletico in its 15-game Champions League campaign so far, while Arsenal has the last remaining unbeaten record. Neither team has been European champion. It's 10 years since Atletico played in the last of its three finals, losing to Real Madrid, and 20 years since Arsenal lost its only final, against Barcelona.

Penalty debates

All four semifinalists were awarded, and scored, a penalty kick last week. A fifth was awarded to Arsenal but then overturned after the referee was sent to his pitchside monitor to review replays. Since the Video Assistant Referee system made its World Cup debut in 2018, the trend in top-tier games has been to award ever more spot-kicks. None of the five decisions last week was universally praised, and the two handball incidents showed how UEFA’s view differs to many coaches, players and fans. UEFA’s director of refereeing Roberto Rosetti has previously said “we don’t like soft penalties” and cautioned against “microscopic VAR interventions” — which seemed to be happening last week. For each handball, the ball first deflected from the body of, respectively, Bayern’s Alphonso Davies and Arsenal’s Ben White before contacting an arm which was not held tight to the side of their bodies. That is typically not a penalty in the English Premier League but almost certainly is in UEFA competitions. Rosetti plans to meet soon with refereeing officials from Europe’s main leagues to seek more clarity and consistency next season. \\\_ AP soccer: