Champions League semifinals kick off with Real Madrid facing Bayern Munich; Rose Lavelle returns for Gotham

Happy UEFA Champions League semifinals week! While the last four teams standing in the competition undergo their final preparations for this week's big matches, it's far from the only big story in the jam-packed soccer landscape. I'm Pardeep Cattry with an update to kick off your week in style.

📺 Footy fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Monday, April 29
🇪🇸 La Liga: Barcelona vs. Valencia, 3 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+

Tuesday, April 30
🇪🇺 UCL: Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid, 3 p.m. ➡️ CBS, Paramount+
🌍 CCC: Pachuca vs. America, 9:15 p.m. ➡️ FS1

⚽ The Forward Line

🔴 All or nothing for Bayern Munich

The Champions League semifinals kick off with a bang on Tuesday as Bayern Munich host the new tournament favorites Real Madrid, who have somehow jumped over every hurdle that has been thrust their way this season, including the Manchester City team they ousted in the quarterfinals.

Considering Real Madrid's nearly unstoppable form in domestic and continental play and Bayern's underwhelming performances this season, some might argue that a victory for the soon-to-be La Liga champions is a foregone conclusion. As Raphael Honigstein notes, though, Bayern program their seasons around Champions League success and the chance to cap off an otherwise forgettable season with the biggest trophy available to them could be an awfully enticing opportunity.

• Honigstein: "The fact that they have no other domestic trophies to show this year has only made the Champions League bigger but the Champions League is big enough in its own right. It's the trophy that fires Bayern [up], the one competition that really is at the very top of their agenda. They're building a team every year to win the Champions League, not to win the Bundesliga because, again, that is being seen as a given, a natural state of affairs. The fact that Leverkusen have taken away their crown, I think, has obviously spurred Bayern on to focus even more on the Champions League and I think in the long run, it's a good thing because we saw Bayern when the [Borussia] Dortmund of Jurgen Klopp suddenly rose to provide a real challenge."

Bayern can likely lean on Harry Kane to do some of the heavy lifting in the midst of his impressive first season at the club, in which he has 42 goals in 42 Games. It might also require some defensive resolve that resembles their second leg quarterfinal victory over Arsenal, though a matchup against Real Madrid's star-studded attack will be a different task entirely. That is especially the case considering Bayern's weakness has been their defense all season long -- in Bundesliga play this season, they have already matched the 38 goals against they posted a year ago with three Games to go while in the Champions League, they have let in nine goals in seven Games.

While Real Madrid have their own point to prove, the pressure to perform in this tie is arguably on Bayern in what could be a pair of season-defining matches.

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🌹 Welcome back, Rose Lavelle

NJ/NY Gotham FC's super team era may be on pause while they deal with injuries, but the reigning NWSL champions got a major boost on Sunday when Rose Lavelle made her long-awaited debut for the club and scored a last-gasp equalizer in their 1-1 draw with Racing Louisville.

The midfielder has been on the sidelines since the U.S. women's national team's Concacaf W Gold Cup triumph in March with a lower leg injury and was on a 15 minute limit for her first Game back, but the promise that she brings as one of the Game's most exciting attacking midfielders. Only two attacking players on either team had more touches than she did with 16, while only one bettered her 11 passes during that stretch. She also led the players for shots with three during her substitute appearance, including the 97th minute equalizer.

Lavelle said post-match that she felt "a little rusty," but was happy to finally be on the pitch with her new team.

• Lavelle: "It was fun. It's a fun group to play with, a lot of really technical players so I feel we can find a lot of joy on the ball, which is fun. I think obviously, we hope to be a little more clinical in the final third, finish chances, get more chances, create more chances but it was a fun game to start out and it's a really fun group to be a part of and play with."

Her attacking output is much needed at Gotham, who are bottom of the NWSL for goals scored with just three in five games and rank within the league's bottom five for shots, shots on goal and expected goals. The team opted not to sound the alarm on Sunday at this early stage of the season, with Lynn Williams instead highlighting some progress they have already made in 2024. They took 19 shots against Louisville, more than they have in any other game this season, but put just four on target, posting their lowest shots on goal percentage since a loss at the North Carolina Courage in which they did not put a single one of their 15 attempts on frame.

• Williams: "I think that if you look at the past games versus this game, we are getting in and around the box and it's just finding those opportunities, being patient and then finding the window. Before, we weren't getting any shots and now this game, we're getting shots. It's just when are we taking them. … Speaking for myself, some of my shots were crazy or just no oomph behind them so at least we're finding that moment, so I think it's just building off of that. The hardest piece is scoring in soccer."

Lavelle now has the chance to do something she was unable to do for last year's Women's World Cup -- build some real fitness ahead of the Olympics. Gotham have 11 games remaining until the NWSL takes a break for the Paris Games, offering enough time for the team to ease her back into the mix early in the season. Lavelle is likely still a favorite to be named to the USWNT's Olympics squad but will face plenty of competition in that attacking midfield position on an 18-person roster. The multitalented Jaedyn Shaw excelled as a 10 during this month's SheBelieves Cup, while Catarina Macario is now getting consistent minutes under her belt after nearly two years out with an ACL injury.

Long story short, the continuously uber-competitive race to compete for the USWNT just got a little harder on Sunday night.

🔗  Top Stories

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Premier League title race: Manchester City and Arsenal kept it close but held serve in the race to win the Premier League, while Liverpool suffered another setback -- and saw a feud play out in public.

🇫🇷 PSG on top: Paris Saint-Germain won Ligue 1 for a 12th time over the weekend, marking an important accomplishment for Luis Enrique in his first season as the manager.

🔴 Slot's on his way: With Arne Slot inching closer and closer to being named Jurgen Klopp's successor at Liverpool, here's what you need to know about the manager as he wraps up an impressive spell with Feyenoord.

🇺🇸 NWSL power rankings: The Portland Thorns are rising up the ranks in the latest edition of the NWSL power rankings, while North Carolina Courage hang onto top spot.

🦩 Messi does it again: Lionel Messi scored in Inter Miami's 4-1 win over the New England Revolution and became the first MLS player to have multiple goal contributions in five straight games.

🇪🇺 UWCL red card: Rules analyst Christina Unkel breaks down the controversial red card given to Chelsea's Kadeisha Buchanan during the team's 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the UWCL semifinals.

💰  The Back Line

💵 Best bets

• UEFA Champions League: Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
  💰 THE PICK: Harry Kane to score (+150) -- Things have only selectively gone right for Bayern this season, but there has been one thing they have consistently been able to count on all season long -- a goal (or several) from Harry Kane. He's scored 42 goals in 42 games during his first season in Munich  and so even if things go poorly for them on Tuesday, he should be good for at least a goal for their troubles.
• UEFA Champions League: finalists

💰 THE PICK: Bayern Munich to reach the final (+130) -- The fact that Real Madrid are the heavy oddsmakers' favorites in this semifinal comes as little surprise, but Bayern do have some tools to showcase in this tie. Kane is obviously the team's biggest selling point but their second leg win over Arsenal in the quarterfinals demonstrated that they have a defensive resolve, even if they have been reluctant to put that on display this season. It might be enough to get an upset over an imperfect Real Madrid -- or at least enough for a friendly wager.

📺 What's on CBS Sports Golazo Network

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