What Each Side Must Do to Reach The Champions League Final

In what has been a fantastic year to date in the Champions League, we are now approaching the end as the first leg of the Champions League semifinals have both been completed.

On April 20, Inter Milan was able to erase an early deficit to beat the defending champions FC Barcelona by a 3-1 score at the San Siro, putting the Nerazzurri within 90 minutes of reaching the Champions League final.

And in the other matchup on April 21, Bayern Munich was able to pull off a 1-0 victory via the head of Arjen Robben despite being down to 10 men for most of the match.

Now with the first leg over, here is my take on what each of the four remaining sides must do to reach the Champions League final on May 22 in Madrid.

Inter Milan

Result of First Leg: Inter Milan 3 FC Barcelona 1

Key Players: Wesley Sneijder, Julio Cesar, Maicon and Samuel Eto'o.

Recap of First Leg: Inter Milan was able to turn the tables after being down 1-0 early due to a goal from Pedro, as Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito were able to give the Nerazzurri a 3-1 win.

And with that great match, Inter of course is moving in on making their first European final since 1972.

What Inter Milan need to do to reach the final: For Inter to reach the final, it will first need to make sure they play a very disciplined match and they must not allow Barcelona to get under their skin at all.

Also, that start in the Camp Nou for the second leg will be a major key for Inter, as a strong start in the Camp Nou will be a major benefit for the Nerazzurri.

And of course with that great start, Inter also will need to score a crucial away goal, which will force Barcelona to score at least three goals to tie up the score on aggregate.

But the biggest key probably will be Jose Mourinho, as "The Special One" knows that he must deliver in the exact situation that he was brought to the San Siro for—to obtain European success.

And after succeeding in making the Champions League final with Porto six years ago, now is the time for Mourinho to recreate this magic.

FC Barcelona

Result of First Leg: Inter Milan 3 FC Barcelona 1

Key Players: Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Victor Valdes and Xavi.

Recap of First Leg: After getting an early goal from Pedro to get them an all-to-important away goal, Barcelona now finds itself staring defeat square in the eyes down 3-1 on aggregate.

Late in the match, Dani Alves was accused of diving on a play in which it appeared that he fell down due to a challenge.

As a result of this, Alves was given a caution and Barcelona was not able to get that second consecutive Champions League title.

What Barcelona need to do to reach the final: For starters, Barcelona must get off to a strong star in the Camp Nou, as the crowd of 98,000 plus will provide an intimidating atmosphere for Inter to play in.

Also, it's time for the master to continue his great ways in the Camp Nou during the Champions League, as Lionel Messi must have a great game if Barcelona is to advance.

And now that they are without Carles Puyol in this match due to suspension, the importance of a strong defensive match must be escalated.

But it will also be up to Xavi here to continue to open up the field for his teammates, as that alone will probably be the biggest key to this match.

Bayern Munich

Result of First Leg: Bayern Munich 1 Lyon 0

Key Players: Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller and Ivica Olic.

Recap of First Leg: After getting past Fiorentina and Manchester United due to the away goal, Bayern Munich was able to scrape out a 1-0 win at the Allianz Arena in the first leg.

But despite Arjen Robben's 69th minute goal, Bayern will be without Franck Ribery due to a controversial Red Card the Frenchman received, which only added onto what was a terrible week for Ribery.

But now, Bayern find itself 90 minutes away from Bernabeu for the final, and Bayern does find itself in the driver's seat for this matchup.

What Bayern Munich must do to reach the final: The loss of Franck Ribery due to suspension will be a major loss for Bayern, so the first key is to just forget about him here in this matchup, which Bayern will definitely do.

But besides that, this is the time for Bayern Munich to show us it is capable of winning outside of the Allianz Arena in the knockout stage of the Champions League, something it hasn't done since their 5-0 dismantling of Sporting Libson last February.

And the way how that happens is by having a strong start, as a big start will be all that Bayern could need to advance onto their first Champions League final since 2001.

Lyon

Result of First Leg: Bayern Munich 1 Lyon 0

Key Players: Hugo Lloris, Lisandro Lopez, Cesar Delgado and Jean Makoun.

Recap of First Leg: After traveling to Munich via coach, Lyon did not have its greatest match of the season as they lost 1-0.

During the match, Lyon lost midfielder Jeremy Toulalan for the second leg due to the French midfielder getting his second Yellow Card in the match, but all in all, Lyon does not have all of the odds against them in their biggest match of the season.

What Lyon must do to reach the final: For starters, Lyon will have a major advantage before going out onto the pitch at the Stade de Gerland for this match as they are not playing any matches this weekend.

Meanwhile, Bayern will be playing Borussia Monchengladbach this weekend before traveling to Lyon for this match.

But of course in a match of this significance, it will be important for Lyon to get off to a strong start and make sure that Hugo Lloris gets as little work as possible during the first 30 minutes.

But if Lyon just remained disiplined and refuse to allow Bayern to control the match, Lyon will become the first French side since AS Monaco back in 2004 to reach the Champions League final.

Finally, these two great matchups that are coming up on Tuesday, April 27 and Wednesday, April 28, will both be fantastic and is a must watch for football fans across the globe.

By the middle of next week, we will know who will be playing in the Champions League final on May 22 in Madrid as a major chapter in this Champions League season will be coming to a close.