Soccer on TV: FC Barcelona squares off against Bayern Munich - Los Angeles Times
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Soccer on TV: FC Barcelona squares off against Bayern Munich

Barcelona's Gerard Pique, center, gestures during a training session at the Luz stadium.
Barcelona’s Gerard Pique, center, gestures during a training session in Lisbon, Portugal, on Thursday.
(Manu Fernandez / Associated Press)
By Kevin Baxter
Staff WriterFollow
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The COVID-19 pandemic forced UEFA to compress the knockout rounds of the Champions League, with the quarterfinals and semifinals being played as elimination games in Portugal instead of as two-leg home-and-away playoff games. Germany’s Red Bull Leipzig and France’s Paris-Saint Germain already have their tickets to next week’s semifinals. This weekend four teams have a chance to join them.

Friday: Barcelona should be happy with the new format. In the last two seasons it took three-goal leads into the second leg of a two-game playoff only to lose. But this year’s draw was not kind, matching the Spanish runner-up with eight-time German champion Bayern Munich (TUDN, Univision, noon PT), which hasn’t lost in any competition in 27 matches dating to December.

Saturday: Despite its recent domestic success, Manchester City has made it as far as the Champions League semifinals just once, in 2016. A win over French club Lyon (TUDN, Univision noon PT) would get it back there and keep alive City’s hope of qualifying for its first European final.

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Kevin Baxter

Kevin Baxter writes about soccer and hockey for the Los Angeles Times. He has covered seven World Cups, four Olympic Games, six World Series and a Super Bowl and has contributed to three Pulitzer Prize-winning series at The Times and Miami Herald. An essay he wrote in fifth grade was voted best in the class. He has a cool dog.

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