UCL talking points: Slot's bizarre choices, Bayern now favorites?

And then there were four. The UEFA Champions League quarterfinals wrapped up on Wednesday, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid delivering an all-time classic, while Arsenal secured the clean sheet they needed to hold Sporting CP at bay.

On Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain confirmed their supremacy over Arne Slot's wilting Liverpool, while Atlético Madrid got the better of Barcelona in their all-Spanish quarterfinal.

So, what to make of it all? ESPN FC writers Gab Marcotti, Sam Marsden, Julien Laurens and Sam Tighe are here to break down the action as it happened and look ahead to the semis.

**- After Champions League defeat, can Madrid's project be salvaged?

• VAR Review: Why was Liverpool denied a penalty?
• While other giants fire, Arteta's Arsenal continues to flicker**

Q1. Liverpool's European adventure ended with a whimper on Tuesday night, with several missed chances and a serious injury to Hugo Ekitike puncturing any pre-game hope of a famous comeback as PSG ran out 4-0 winners on aggregate. Slot tried some bold things -- Mohamed Salah on the bench, all summer signings bar the injured Geovanni Leoni starting together -- but did any of it work? Can this team pick itself up off the mat and seal a top-five Premier League finish?

Tighe: Last week in Paris, Slot galaxy-brained his team selection with a vague 5-2-1-2 formation that, for the most part, we haven't seen Liverpool ever play. It didn't stop PSG creating at will and scoring twice, while it threatened almost nothing in attack itself, registering just 0.17 xG. Just about anything would have counted as an improvement upon that and while yes, the Reds carried significantly more threat in the second leg at Anfield, questions once again must be asked of Slot's decisions.

Alexander Isak was a surprise starter, but he probably shouldn't have been. He registered just five(!) touches and completed two of three passes before being withdrawn at half-time. Before Tuesday, he, Ekitiké and Florian Wirtz had shared a paltry 88 minutes on the pitch together since the start of the season.

You're taking on the reigning European champions, who have quite obviously clicked into gear, chasing down a two-goal deficit, and you opt for a forward combination that is not only lacking in fitness, but is absolutely bereft of any sort of natural understanding and rhythm? It's hardly Captain Hindsight behaviour to suggest that someone like Salah might have been a better pick from the start here.

Laurens: Slot, what the hell? I won't lie, I was not familiar with your (bad) game. What was that again on Tuesday? It's one thing to get it wrong in the first leg, but to arguably do even worse in the second is even more ridiculous! It was also unacceptable: PSG were always going to be too strong for Liverpool over two games, but Slot made this tie even harder for his team.

Starting Isak will go down as one of the worst decisions a Liverpool manager has made in recent seasons. What on earth made Slot think this was a good idea? Isak isn't fit enough to play 10 minutes in a game of this calibre and importance, though it's not his fault; he just hasn't played for four months! And it's not just the Isak pick unfortunately. Milos Kerkez has not been good enough all season long and has never experienced anything of this magnitude, but he got the nod Tuesday while Andrew Robertson sat on the bench.

Jeremie Frimpong? A great idea again, but he was so out of his depth, he lasted 45 minutes. Salah on the bench? He is past his best and doesn't have much left in his legs with which to press but, on a night like this, he is the one who could have done something special. Rio Ngumoha is only 17, but considering he offers a spark and a proper threat, he would have helped. And why is Alexis Mac Allister still starting for this team when he has been washed all season?

Liverpool should have started the game like they started the second half. By then, though, it was too late.

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1:28

Laurens confirms Ekitike ruptured Achilles

Julien Laurens shares details of Hugo Ekitike's Achilles injury as he faces months on the sidelines.

Marcotti: Yeah, I didn't understand Slot's line-up either other than, somehow, thinking he'd get the element of surprise because nobody was expecting to see Isak? But if that was the case, it was rather silly since PSG aren't the sort of team that are going to necessarily adjust to what the opposition are doing, especially when they're 2-0 up after the first leg. He said after the game that Isak could last 45 minutes, and he didn't want to bring him on at half-time in case the game went into extra-time and then he'd have to take him off again. It was an odd thing to say, but the fact is he has to rely on what Isak tells him and the sports science guys tell him.

Juls is being a little hard on some of the other choices. If you're going to play this formation, you need width. You weren't going to get that with Robertson and Dominik Szoboszlai as your right backs. With Salah you're kinda doomed if you do, doomed if you don't. Start Ngumoha? Nice idea, but also kinda desperate.

Slot will get criticism and sure, he made them worse. But let's remember that he lost his biggest attacking threat, Ekitike, after half an hour to a serious injury. And let's not forget we've seen Liverpool be plenty bad when they play their "base formation" too -- or, at least, the lineup dreamt up by the recruitment guys, starting with Michael Edwards. You know, the 4-2-3-1 that was everywhere in the summer? The one without Szoboszlai and with Salah and Isak, plus Wirtz in the No. 10 hole? Slot is going to carry the can, but he is most definitely not the only responsible. It's just that the others who are responsible don't face the media before and after each and every game.

Marsden: As Gab says, Slot is not solely to blame, but after this season I will be surprised if he is still Liverpool coach. Liverpool have actually been trending down for over a year now. I think there's a case to be made that his first six months -- a fusion of his football with what Jurgen Klopp had left behind -- was the anomaly of Slot's time in charge at Anfield so far.

Of course, there's no shame in losing to the European champions, but look at how much has changed since PSG dumped Liverpool out on penalties last season. The Reds have fallen behind the continent's top teams and with games still to come against Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea, it's hard to see them making the top four in the Premier League. Luckily, the cushion of fifth also qualifying for the Champions League means I think whoever is in charge next season -- and I'd go all out for Xabi Alonso -- will inherit a team that has a spot in Europe's premier competition.

Q2. Meanwhile, in Spain, Barcelona's own valiant run ended in Madrid as Diego Simeone's side held their cool in the face of Lamine Yamal and a relentless press, getting the goal they needed after the visitors scored twice early on, and gritting it out for a famous win. That's now two cups in which Atleti have eliminated Barça this season: could they actually go on and win the UCL too? As for Barça, another red card -- their discipline stats are horrific -- and more recrimination. Will this team ever have the defense it deserves behind this all-world attack?

Laurens: The first leg between these two sides was box office. The second became Hollywood legend almost instantly despite the scenario being well-known in advance. Ultimately, we all knew how this would pan out and Atlético did what they had to do: rode their luck, conceded goals as expected, exploited Barcelona's high line and used Antoine Griezmann, the Metropolitano's little prince, to derail the Barça press and create trouble. The game had all of that and more.

I feel for Barcelona boss Hansi Flick because a lot of the things worked in his game plan: Ferran Torres and his mobility up front, Dani Olmo between the lines, Fermín López coming inside a lot, plus the role, movement and creativity we've come to expect from Yamal. Yet Flick was let down by Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski not being good enough, and by his press and defence not solid enough again. As we all know, the Catalans biggest strength -- their attacking style -- is also their biggest weakness.

For Atlético, they are not as defensive-minded as they used to be, but they're still so hard to play against. Simeone can also thank Ademola Lookman for having such a great impact on the team since arriving in January. However, as much as I would love Griezmann to leave the club on the highest high by finally winning the Champions League, I still think that they lack a little something to go all the way.

Marcotti: I'll just point out that yes, Atlético can do it again, because they have key players who have already won major European silverware. Matteo Ruggeri, Juan Musso and Ademola Lookman all started together for Atalanta when they road-graded media darlings Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final. (OK, I'm half-joking: Musso will make way for Jan Oblak and Ruggeri had a torrid time at first against that Yamal guy, only to do better after the break.) But yes, they have a shutdown keeper, they match up well against Arsenal and in a final, anything can happen.

As for Barcelona, at the risk of repeating myself, if you're going to play the high risk/high reward high line, you need to press effectively and almost never make a mistake up front (which they largely did) while being alert, quick and gifted at reading the game at the back (which they're not, especially with Pau Cubarsí out).

Could they still have won at 11 vs. 11? Sure. Could they have won even a man down with the chances they created? Of course. But when you play like this, the margin for error is very thin. I feel a bit for Flick, because Raphinha would have papered over a lot of those cracks and on the night, Flick got most of his decisions right. But credit Simeone too. Atleti's defending wasn't just heroic, foam-at-the-mouth stuff: it was intelligent and calculated.

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Robson: Barcelona only have themselves to blame for UCL exit vs. Atletico

Stewart Robson bemoans Barcelona's missed opportunities after they were eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid.

Marsden: There were the same lines from Barça after defeat to Atlético. There was pride in the team's valiant attempt to comeback, hope that a team packed with talented youngsters will win the Champions League in the future, and several complaints about the refereeing. At some point, there needs to be some level of self-criticism. If Barça have had eight players sent off in all competitions this season, and one in each leg against Atlético, it's because they are constantly putting themselves in compromising situations.

Of course, as Gab says, this brings us to the high defensive line again. I think it can be OK to think that pushing the defence up so high is causing problems while believing that Flick's approach is the best one for this squad. Of course, it takes an effective press -- slightly derailed by the loss of Raphinha -- but also an organised backline. Look at the positioning of the back four for both Lookman's goal and the Eric García red card: they were staggered all over the place.

What I will say, and there are people who don't believe signing new defenders will instantly fix the problems, is that I would at least like to see Flick given more to work with. His center backs this season have been: Cubarsí, a 19-year-old from the academy; García, a versatile defender with obvious limitations: and Gerard Martín, a converted left-back plucked from Spain's third tier for the B team two years ago.

Flick's net spend is negative in his two years at Barça. Give him more options and depth and maybe they won't be eliminated by Internazionale or Atlético -- two teams they should, to use that old cliche of "on paper," have been beating over two legs in my opinion. Of course, it's not all bad. A second successive LALIGA title is set to follow in the coming weeks as Flick takes his trophy haul to five since being appointed in 2024.

Tighe: Self destruction turned out to be a bit of a theme of the quarterfinals overall, and no team illustrates that better than Barça. Two games in which they dominated, yet in both they saw red and fell apart as a result. Clearly, domination isn't enough. To survive these ties, you have to display incredible concentration and mental fortitude; it really isn't all about who has the better players, be that on paper or on the pitch.

Flick's Barça have thrilled for the last two seasons, but they've always had that self-destructive gene. As mentioned above, some of that is tactical, some of that is personnel-based, but it has once again mixed to form a deadly cocktail that's sent Barça packing.

Last season it felt wrong that the Blaugrana failed to reach the final, but this year? There's only so much sympathy you can extend.

Q3. Arsenal turned in the sporting equivalent of drying paint in getting past Sporting in unconvincing fashion ... unless of course you think their rock-solid defending is unconvincing. (It's not.) Can this cagey, stolid approach get them all the way, especially as they're facing Atlético next, the only team cagier than them left in this competition?

Laurens: Usually we would all agree that defence wins you titles. Most seasons, this proves true. And if it was the case again, then Arsenal could win this Champions League based on the fact that they are the best team in the world out of possession, the hardest working side and arguably the best defensively with two of the best center backs in world football. However, this season one of PSG or Bayern will be in the final and their attacking power is so huge that they would take down even the best defensive side in the world, like Arsenal. So the Gunners will need more to go all the way than what they showed in the two games against Sporting. That level of quality Arsenal displayed in the quarterfinal won't be enough, but the side that beat Bayern or Atlético and finished top of the league phase could do it if it ever comes back to life.

Tighe: Defences can win you titles but it has to be paired with some kind of attacking threat, right? Like, a little bit?

Arsenal don't even have a little bit. They've completely run aground, the confidence sucked from their play. It starts at the back, sometimes with David Raya but often with the center backs' distribution, and trickles all the way to the front.

Arteta has a reputation for being defensive so naturally he takes a lot of the flack, but I do think an overlooked part of this conversation has been just how incredibly injured they are. We haven't seen Bukayo Saka for weeks, Martin Ødegaard has barely played this season, Eberechi Eze started his first game for a month on Wednesday, and even players like Jurriën Timber are now missing.

Does Arteta want to use 16-year-old Max Dowman this much? Probably not. Does he want to have to throw a half-fit Kai Havertz in as much? I seriously doubt it. Will this clear up in time for them to handle a wily Atlético Madrid over two legs? Consider me unconvinced.

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Do Arsenal deserve to be favourites against Atlético Madrid?

ESPN FC's Kay Murray, Kasey Keller, Craig Burley & Jurgen Klinsmann look ahead to the UCL semifinal between Arsenal and Atlético Madrid.

Marcotti: I'm not sure Atleti are cagier than Arsenal, so don't agree with the premise. The Gunners like a team that's built to win leagues (maybe), not so much Champions Leagues. Which is odd when you consider how different they were in Arteta's first two seasons. Injuries are part of it, but watching them line-up with four de facto central defenders (plus another one playing at center forward in Viktor Gyökeres) was eye opening.

We know they don't necessarily to play this way, but you can't flick a switch either. The semifinal first leg is in two weeks and it's not as if you can expect Saka, Ødegaard, Timber and Riccardo Calafiori to hit the ground running. Partly due to fitness issues partly because this whole team has been playing a different brand of football for a long time now. Two years ago, they were playing differently and Saka and Ødegaard were racking up record assist and goal totals.

But to quote Slim Charles: "The thing about the old days is... they the old days." You can't go back now. I think at this stage, if you're going to play the way they're currently playing (only better), and Havertz needs to start up front. Either that or you commit to attacking football and you chuck tons of balls at Gyökeres. Not to pick on him, because it's not entirely his fault, but Gyökeres had 14 touches against Sporting (two of them in the opposition box) and one shot. And you can't have two central defenders at fullback (if only to do something constructive out of the press). Either Timber or Calafiori/Myles Lewis-Skelly need to start. Ideally both.

Marsden: The problem is not so much Arsenal's approach, rather their form. They were utterly unconvincing against Sporting but will feel they have the favourable semifinal draw, avoiding PSG and Bayern. But I also don't think Atlético are cagier than Arsenal. I think the Gunners are the cagiest team left in the competition. Simeone's side don't always defend that well -- as they showed despite victories against Tottenham Hotspur and Barça -- but do have a real threat in attack through Julian Álvarez, Griezmann, Lookman and Giuliano Simeone.

More than their style, which could feasibly see them past Atlético, Arsenal's biggest problem is how poor they are playing at the moment. Knocked out of both domestic cups in the last month, losing to AFC Bournemouth in the league and with Manchester City chasing them down, where will their priorities lie in the coming weeks?

Atlético, meanwhile, have little to play for in LaLiga, with a top four spot effectively sealed, and will be all-in on the Champions League after this weekend's Copa del Rey final.

Q4. Say whatever you want about Bayern-Real Madrid. From the first minute and Manuel Neuer's senior moment, to Michael Olise's injury-time cherry on top, it was 90 minutes of chaos. What did you make of it?

Tighe: Last week, I expressed concern that while Bayern were clearly better than Madrid, they lacked the ability to control the game at points. But while I was screaming at them to slow things down and put their foot on the ball, the guy who actually matters -- manager Vincent Kompany -- seemed to be doing the opposite.

The second leg followed suit, and you know what? Things got really dicey for Bayern again. Neuer's horrific goalkeeping for the first two goals obviously did not help, but as I watched the ball ping back and forth, with Kylian Mbappé isolating the center backs and twisting them inside out, I accepted that the German giants were only interested in winning a genuine firefight.

In the end they did, although it took a red card to Eduardo Camavinga and a deflected Luis Díaz shot to finally see them off. This was a thrilling game that even matched up to what Atlético Madrid and Barcelona served up the night before, but it was also a very close shave for Harry Kane & Co.

Laurens: Real Madrid fans had a bit of a beef with Camavinga before this quarterfinal second leg. His recent performances had not been good enough, he made mistakes, and had cost his team goals in the last few weeks. But the sheer stupidity of this red card will forever mar his time at the club. His sending off for a silly second yellow card for time wasting and holding and kicking the ball away cost his team the game, the tie and a potential semifinal, final and title.

Up to his red card, the Merengues had been good with and without the ball. They were containing the Bayern forwards well despite a few mistakes and were a threat on transitions. They had exploited Neuer's errors and the German's high defensive line. They could have made the difference in extra time or before that even. At any time they could have scored but Camavinga ruined it all. Two minutes later, Diaz scored and then Michael Olise did the same. It's another defeat for Alvaro Arbeloa and another season, the second in a row for Real Madrid, without a trophy.

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Burley: Officials no excuse in Real Madrid's Champions League exit

Craig Burley slams Real Madrid's postmatch criticisms of the officiating in their Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.

Marcotti: Once you strip the entertainment aside (and, yes, this was hugely entertaining) to me, these two legs are more about Bayern's fragility than anything else. I don't see how you can go 2-0 up away from home early in the second half and NOT manage the game. We talked about this on the show and Juls said "it's not the Kompany way." Well, it's the winning way. Managing leads doesn't mean being hyper-defensive. It means keeping the ball and picking your spots and they have the ballers to do it. Instead, Real Madrid made it into an end-to-end slugfest and, while it's a credit to Bayern that they overcame this, it should never have been this close in my view. I'm nit-picking here, of course, it's just that this team is so good (and, as we've seen, so mentally tough) I hate seeing them hurt themselves.

As for Real Madrid, Arbeloa did what he knows how to do: ride the pride of the crest and the history and the superstars. That only gets you so far. I think the challenge when you juxtapose nights like these with some of their Liga performances is that fans start to think players can play like this all the time and when they don't against random Mallorcas and Osasunas, it's because they're lazy and don't care about the shirt. That's the toxicity the club need to overcome at this stage. And it won't be with Arbeloa.

Marsden: It will be interesting to see where Real Madrid go from here as they face up to another trophy-less season. The little chance Arbeloa had of staying on beyond the summer has surely disappeared with this loss. And yet somehow, as is so often the case with Madrid, however poor they are domestically, they were still in this tie until the very end. Perhaps on this occasion it says more about Bayern's management of the tie than Madrid's European heroics, but they still put up more of a fight than many expected.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for Mbappé. After finally getting his move to Madrid, he saw former club PSG go on and win the Champions League last season. Now he may have to watch them win it again. Back in Madrid, questions will stretch beyond Arbeloa's future, with the debate likely to be re-opened about how to get all the team's stars, including Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham, into the same side.

Q5. OK, so we know the four semifinalists and who's playing whom. Which two will reach the final, and who's winning it all from here?

Marsden: I have said PSG, even playing with their foot off the gas in the league phase, and I am sticking with them. The French champions are going to become back-to-back European champions, beating Atlético in the final.

Laurens: Since Bayern came to Paris in the league phase and gave PSG a lesson in pressing and efficiency (winning 2-1), I have always thought that they were the only team that could stop the Parisians from winning another Champions League. Luis Enrique's side are back to their best, which was not the case when they lost to the Bavarians, but I still think that Bayern might have too much going forward for PSG. However, I have to back my team and my boys so the heart is saying PSG back in the final, but the head says Bayern.

On the cagey side of the bracket, I still think that Arsenal have a slight advantage against Atlético. Back in the league phase, they battered them 4-0 and they are still capable of doing it again even if lately they are not playing as well as the last time these two teams met.

And then, for only the third time in the last 40 years or so, a team will win back-to-back Champions Leagues. PSG will join Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan and Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid (who did it three times in a row!).

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Klinsmann: Kane is the player Bayern need to win the Champions League

Jürgen Klinsmann is full of praise for Harry Kane's leadership skills on the pitch as Bayern Munich progress to the UCL semifinals.

Marcotti: Assuming teams aren't going to radically change or improve in the next couple weeks, I'm going Atlético vs. Bayern in the final. I think legs and fitness matter at this stage of the season. Atlético Madrid have nothing to play for domestically (after Saturday's Copa del Rey final, that is), whereas Arsenal -- unless they destroy Man City in the Premier League "title decider" on Sunday -- are likely to be stuck in a title race that's going down to the wire. That takes a ton out of you, and I think some of their plodding performances we've seen are down to that.

As for the other semifinal, Bayern and PSG have pretty much wrapped things up domestically, so that's less of a factor. I think it's close, but I'm leaning Bayern based on the fact that winning back-to-back Champions League titles is extremely rare, based on the fact that while neither keeper is flawless, I trust Neuer more than Matvej Safonov, based on set pieces and based on Harry Kane. That said ... who am I kidding? Anything can happen, especially the way Bayern play.

Tighe: I'm already excited for PSG vs Bayern. It's going to be magnificent not only because of the immense quality of football that beckons, but because the game feels like a genuine coin-flip. If pushed, I'll pick PSG to edge it, largely because they can control sections of games better (with possession) than Bayern can, and I think that could count for a lot.

Meanwhile, Atlético vs,. Arsenal could very well suck the life out of all of us. Will the Gunners have snapped out of this offensive anemic trance by then? Can they handle the occasion at the Metropolitano? As things stand I'd argue not; they're heading in the wrong direction.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who wins that game. They'll lose to PSG (or Bayern) in the final.