Four clubs. One trophy. Everything you need to know about the 2025/26 UCL semi-finals.

We've reached the business end of the greatest club competition on the planet. Four teams remain. One trophy. And honestly, this is about as good a set of semi-finalists as you could hope for.

A reigning champion. A reborn German giant. English football's most exciting project in years. And one of the most annoying, brilliant, infuriating managers in the history of the game doing exactly what he does best.

Let's get into it.

PSG — the defending champions

Paris did what no French club had ever done last May. Lifted the trophy, ended the Mbappé era, rebuilt entirely under Luis Enrique's vision, and somehow came back even better. That takes a special kind of institutional confidence.

The journey to the semis wasn't smooth. A league phase that finished 11th, only sneaking into the play-offs. They were beaten by both Bayern and Sporting CP in the autumn, drew games that felt like dropped points. Then something clicked. A rampant 8-2 aggregate demolition of Chelsea in the Round of 16, followed by a composed 4-0 over Liverpool in the quarters. The team that won it last year arrived just in time.

Marquinhos, still the beating heart of this defence at 31, anchors everything alongside the underrated Willian Pacho. Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi aren't really full-backs anymore — they're auxiliary midfielders and wingers who happen to start wide. Vitinha (injured for the first leg) and João Neves are the engine. And up front, Dembélé, Barcola, Doué and the extraordinary Khvicha Kvaratskhelia — the standout performer of the entire tournament so far.

Bayern — the team with a point to prove

Under Vincent Kompany — now in his second season — Bayern have rediscovered the devastating, high-octane football that defined their treble eras. They were eliminated in the quarters last year, finished outside the league phase top eight, and arrived at this campaign with something to settle. They've settled it emphatically.

A 10-2 aggregate steamrollering of Atalanta. Then a 6-4 epic against Real Madrid in the quarters — a tie that had absolutely everything. Bayern were behind. Bayern came back. Bayern were brilliant. The architect, of course, is Harry Kane — 16 goals in his last 15 UCL games, almost a goal a game in the competition. Michael Olise on the right is the most exciting wide player in European football right now. And Luis Díaz, somehow signed from Liverpool last summer, gives Kompany a different option on the left. With Musiala still recovering from a fibula fracture, Kane has carried the attacking burden — and carried it without complaint.

The bookies have made PSG narrow home favourites for the first leg, which feels about right. Parc des Princes is a difficult place to come, and Bayern — for all their brilliance — are better at home than away in Europe. Losing to Arsenal in London is the only blot on their 2025/26 record. With Bayern's injury list also starting to bite (eight first-team absences), expect the tie to be alive going into the Allianz second leg.

Arsenal — three years in the making

There is a version of this that ends in either triumph or therapy, depending on your emotional constitution. Arteta's side have been building toward this for three years. Two seasons ago, quarter-finals. Last year, semi-finals — eliminated by PSG. This year, they arrive with the most extraordinary record left in the competition: the only unbeaten team. Ten wins and two draws from twelve games. A perfect 8-0-0 league phase, the first side in UCL history to manage it.

The Viktor Gyökeres factor deserves a headline of its own. The Swedish striker, signed from Sporting last summer, is the missing piece this attack needed. Around him: Saka, one of the three or four best right wingers in world football right now; Martinelli, relentless on the left; Ødegaard pulling the strings. And the foundation — Saliba and Gabriel, arguably the best centre-back partnership in Europe. Raya outstanding. White and Timber elite at full-back. Arsenal average a goal conceded every other game in this competition.

One word of caution. The 1-0 aggregate against Sporting was tight. And Arteta's men have a habit of making ties more nervous than they need to be. Atlético will have noticed.

Atlético — Simeone, year fourteen

Diego Simeone has been managing Atlético since December 2011. Read that again. Two La Liga titles, two Europa Leagues, two Champions League finals — and yet, somehow, the biggest prize of all continues to elude him.

Simeone has spent a career finding ways to beat teams better than his. The discipline, the structure, the psychological fortitude, the transition football that punishes the smallest mistake. And this season, he has something he hasn't always had: goals from everywhere. Julián Álvarez has been extraordinary — three goals and two assists across two legs against Spurs in the Round of 16, fifteen UCL goals in his last nineteen appearances. Sørloth provides a different physical presence. And Griezmann, at 35, still reads games ten seconds before anyone else.

The route here was extraordinary too. 7-4 against Brugge. 7-5 against Tottenham. Then a 3-2 aggregate over Barcelona — who beat them at the Metropolitano in the second leg, but couldn't overturn the deficit from the Camp Nou. Simeone's team go to Wanda when they need to.

The PicksIQ verdict

Bayern (2.80) are the favourites and deserve to be. The scoring records are staggering — 4.3 goals per game, the best in the competition. Kane is in the form of his life. Olise and Díaz give them a width and directness almost no team can match. The journey past Real Madrid suggests they can handle the biggest occasions.

Arsenal (3.70) are the value. Unbeaten in the competition. A defence almost impossible to break down. A striker, in Gyökeres, who looks increasingly at home on the biggest stage. The bookmakers may be underestimating what a team with that record can do in knockout football.

PSG (3.80) are the wildcard. The defending champions. The most individually brilliant players in the competition. The 8-2 over Chelsea and 4-0 over Liverpool are the form of potential champions.

Atlético (8.50) are Simeone. That means anything is possible. It also means the football might occasionally make your eyes bleed. But in knockout ties, against any opponent, underestimating Diego Simeone is always, always a mistake.

Our dream final? Bayern vs Arsenal. A rematch of the quarter-final from two seasons ago, a tie Arteta's men lost 3-2 on aggregate but ran the Bavarians desperately close. Kane vs Gyökeres. Kimmich vs Ødegaard. The German machine vs the English project. Budapest in late May. We cannot think of anything better.

Odds correct at time of writing from Oddschecker — always check the latest before placing. Please gamble responsibly. BeGambleAware.org. 18+.