SAN JOSE, CALIF. — This season’s Champions League brought some fabulous stories, as well as a lot of upsets across Europe.

The UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League is the biggest club soccer competition in the world. This season, a lot has happened, from the unexpected teams’ outstanding performances to the best teams’ massive defeats throughout the competition.

The competition started out with 32 teams playing in eight groups of four teams, only two teams going through from each group to the next round. From there, it’s a two-leg knockout stage which means whoever a team plays, they face them in two games, one away and one home. The combined score from both games determines the team that moves on. Currently, it’s the semi-finals with Real Madrid and Bayern on one end and BVB Dortmund and PSG (Paris Saint-Germain). 

Looking back, the teams people expected to go through were Inter Milan, who reached the final last season, Manchester City, the reigning champions who were shockingly knocked out by Real Madrid. Arsenal, a team in hot form coming to a halt in this competition. Inter Milan, Italian champions knocked out by Atletico Madrid. Finally, Barcelona; a team coming back from recent struggles, ended up losing after blowing a strong lead against Paris Saint-Germain. 

Fans at Silver Creek High School watch along as the competition continues to heat up. Many fans favorites are Bayern or Madrid, well known for their success in the past, but a few want Dortmund to win, clearly the underdogs who fought their way through some of the best teams. “I really want PSG to win,” Jesse Cruz Larios, a student at SCHS says, “Mainly because of Mbappe.” 

With the semi-finals coming to an end soon, which team do you want to make it to the final and win?