Bayern Munich vs. Lyon make up the second UEFA Champions League semifinal. The winner of this match — scheduled for 20:00 local time Wednesday, Aug. 19, in Lisbon, Portugal, and 3 p.m. Eastern time in the United States — faces Paris Saint-Germain in the final on Aug. 23.
Lyon is the recent conqueror of Manchester City in their quarterfinal. Bayern, of course, annihilated and embarrassed Barcelona 8-2 in that quarter. Is this game a foregone conclusion? Bayern Munich looked like world-beaters against Barcelona can Lyon do anything to stop them? One thing this tournament has taught us is not to take things for granted. Lyon has dispatched amongst others, Juventus and Manchester City. Is Bayern next on the list?
This games promises to be great viewing. Where can you watch the game and what is the likely outcome?
Read on to find out!
How to watch Lyon vs. Bayern Munich from anywhere
Wednesday's game is available on in the United States, which is easy enough to come by. It runs $5.99 a month and has a free trial, so you effectively can catch this game for free, if you want.
But if you're going to be away from your home market for the game and still want to see one of France's best clubs go against one of Germany's best clubs, it's worth giving a VPN a shot.
A VPN can route all your network traffic through home country. So if you'd normally be watching from Germany but aren't actually in Germany, you can make it look like you're in Germany with a VPN. (And for all intents and purposes, it's like your computer is in Germany.) Or Spain, or the UK, or wherever. A VPN basically levels the playing field in that way.
But you want a VPN you can trust, because all of your network traffic — encrypted and unencrypted a like — will be going through it. Fortunately, some of the best are also some of the most affordable.
Where can you Lyon vs. Bayern in the United States
The game is on 3 p.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday, Aug. 19, on . It's available on just about any modern piece of hardware, including Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, gaming platforms, and on the web.
CBS All Access runs $5.99 a month if you don't mind commercials in most of its on-demand titles.
How to watch Lyon vs. Bayern if you're in the UK
You can watch the Lyon-Bayern semifinal anyway you want — so long as it's on BT Sport. The match is scheduled to begin at 20:00 UK time.
How to watch Lyon vs. Bayern if you're in Canada
If you're in Canada, the semifinal match between Lyon and Bayern is available . Game time is 3 p.m. Eastern.
The knockout stages so far
Lyon surprised many by defeating Italian Champions Juventus on the away goal rule after a scoreline of 2-2 on aggregate over the two legs. They then defeated Manchester City 3-1 with goals coming from Maxwel Cornet and two from substitute Moussa Dembele. Manchester City has now spent $1,227m since 2016 with its aim for Champions League success, and it still has not reached a semi-final. It will be interesting to see what happens at Manchester City this short close season. But take nothing away from Lyon. Houssem Aouar and Maxwel Cornet starred in midfield, and they took their chances created far better than Manchester City.
Bayern Munich smashed Chelsea in the second round 7-1 on aggregate in the second round and then bettered that total by beating no other than Barcelona in one game 8-2 in the quarter-finals. How they took Barcelona apart was bewildering. I knew there were issues defensively for Barcelona, but Bayern made them look like rookies.
Barcelona, similarly to Manchester City, has some serious questions to ask themselves this close season. Their recruitment strategy is not working; they have spent vast amounts of money with many not fitting in at the club. One such example is Philippe Coutinho. Barcelona paid $185m for the player from Liverpool. They then could not fit him into the system they wanted him to play. Coutinho looked disinterested in the games I watched, and finally, Barcelona loaned him out to Bayern Munich. Coutinho then scores two goals against Barcelona and an assist and plays a part in the demise of Barcelona at the quarter-final stage. It’s quite a story.
Some background on the teams
Lyon has no real injury concerns going into this tie. Keeper, Anthony Lopes has had a strong tournament and Jason Denayer in defence has looked a different player to the one who was at Manchester City, and was then bounced around clubs on loan including Sunderland in England and Glasgow Celtic in Scotland. Houssem Aouar is a player with real quality in the middle of the midfield, and on the left side of the midfield, Maxwel Cornet has similar attributes. Memphis Depay is a real threat, and they also have players who can come off the bench and score goals as Moussa Dembele showed in the quarter-finals.
Bayern Munich is steamrolling sides at the moment. The German Champions were majestic against Barcelona. Their two full-backs, Joshua Kimmich and Alphonso Davies, play like wingers and attack at every opportunity. When they attack, midfielders Thiago Alcantra and Leon Goretzka play a more withdrawn role being ready to fill in the spaces left if required; currently, this all flows beautifully. Thomas Muller against Barcelona was outstanding as well, but you could label pretty much the whole side with that description. It was such a good team performance. Can they back that up in the semi-final?
Prediction
I have gone against Lyon in the last two rounds, and they have proved me wrong each time. They are a fine side and how they only finished seventh in the French League is beyond me based on what we have seen in this competition. How though after the last two rounds can you go against Bayern Munich? Seven goals against Chelsea, eight goals against Barcelona they have been so impressive. I still think defensively they can be caught out, but they are such a force in possession and in attack. My scoreline prediction is:
Lyon 1 Bayern Munich 3
The UEFA Champions League final is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 23, from Lisbon. The game will be available on CBS All Access in the United States.
CBS All Access
