The Champions League Semi-Final Draw Is Set — Here Are the Four Possible Finals

The Champions League semi-final bracket is determined. Here is each possible final pairing and the specific route to Budapest for every remaining team.

The Champions League semi-final draw structure — established in advance as part of the competition's bracket format — has determined the specific pairings that the quarter-final results will produce. With the first legs completed and the second legs approaching, the semi-final picture is becoming clear.

Semi-final 1: the winner of PSG vs Liverpool will face the winner of Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich. This is the half of the bracket that contains the two previous Champions League winners in the current format (PSG won last season, Real Madrid have won 15 overall) and the two clubs with the largest global followings among the remaining eight. The potential matchups: PSG vs Real Madrid (a rematch of multiple previous Champions League encounters whose history is specifically dramatic), PSG vs Bayern (a reminder of the 2020 final that PSG narrowly won), Liverpool vs Real Madrid (a final rematch of both the 2018 and 2022 finals), or Liverpool vs Bayern (a tactical encounter between two of Europe's most sophisticated systems).

Semi-final 2: the winner of Barcelona vs Atlético Madrid will face the winner of Arsenal vs Sporting CP. Barcelona vs Arsenal would be among the most watched Champions League semi-finals in the competition's history — the aesthetic contrast between Barcelona's possession-based brilliance and Arsenal's pressing-based system is the specific football philosophy discussion that the match would provide. Atlético vs Arsenal would be the tactical masterclass whose specific qualities would challenge Arsenal's press against Simeone's counter-pressing efficiency.

For the final: the Budapest Puskás Aréna on May 30 hosts a competition that now looks likely to produce either the all-Spanish final (Barcelona or Atlético vs Real Madrid), the all-English angle (Arsenal vs Liverpool), or the classic European final (Real Madrid vs Arsenal) that would have the specific weight of history on one side and of the present on the other.