PARIS — Treble-chasing Paris Saint-Germain will face Internazionale in the UEFA Champions League final on May 31 after Luis Enrique’s team sealed a 3-1 aggregate win against Arsenal in their semifinal tie at Parc des Princes.
Fabián Ruiz‘s first-half goal and Achraf Hakimi‘s strike in the second half, after Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had saved a Vitinha penalty, put PSG on course for the final in Munich before Bukayo Saka‘s 76th-minute goal gave the Gunners hope of a late fightback. But Saka then blew a golden chance to make it 2-2 on the night by shooting over from six yards with the goal at his mercy four minutes later.
PSG had goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to thank for keeping them ahead with two crucial saves from Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Ødegaard inside the opening 10 minutes.
But after winning last week’s first leg 1-0 at the Emirates, PSG did enough to cruise into their second Champions League final and the Ligue 1 champions, who face Reims in the Coupe de France final on May 24, could now seal a treble by winning their first Champions League later this month. — Mark Ogden
Kylian who? PSG prove team ethic is bigger than individuals
PSG are in the Champions League final, and their achievement shouldn’t be about Kylian Mbappé — but positively, it is.
Just 12 months ago, the French superstar was about to end his six-year stay at PSG to move to Real Madrid and boost his chances of realizing his dream of winning the Champions League. Mbappé was the last of PSG’s “galacticos” to quit Parc des Princes after Lionel Messi and Neymar had headed elsewhere after failing to deliver Champions League glory to the club.
But while Mbappé’s exit looked to signal the end of PSG’s hopes of conquering Europe, it actually triggered a new policy of building a team of young stars under Luis Enrique’s expert guidance as coach.
Without Mbappé, PSG made a difficult start to the Champions League league stage and looked destined for an early exit, but Luis Enrique’s team clicked into gear halfway through the season with Ousmane Dembélé inspiring the side and youngsters Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola also proving their importance, as had Khvicha Kvaratskhelia since his January arrival from Napoli.
In midfield, Vitinha, João Neves and Ruiz formed perhaps the best midfield unit in Europe, and full-backs Hakimi and Nuno Mendes became unbeatable in defense and unstoppable going forward.
And at the back, goalkeeper Donnarumma has been back to his world-class best while captain Marquinhos has dominated at center-back.
So while Mbappé is arguably still the world’s best forward, PSG haven’t missed him. They have become better without the 26-year-old and his departure has helped PSG move to within 90 minutes of winning the Champions League. — Ogden
Arsenal fail to shake nearly-men tag
Arsenal’s progress during Mikel Arteta’s five-and-a-half years is undeniable, but so is the existence of a brick wall they cannot break down: winning silverware.
Defeat in Paris condemned the Gunners to another trophyless season, their last major honor coming in the 2020 FA Cup final when Arteta was just a few months into the job.
This was supposed to be the year it all came together. That feeling was enhanced by Manchester City’s sudden drop-off and Jurgen Klopp’s departure at Liverpool, but instead the Gunners were unable to push the Reds in a one-sided title race and have fallen short in Europe once more, with their sole Champions League final appearance coming in 2006.
They reached the semifinals in this competition for the first time since 2009 — an achievement which will feel like another move in the right direction — but they have come up short once more when the prize was in sight.
Arteta will point to injured absentees, misfortune and the fine margins that went against them in this tie, but ultimately, there is a pattern that Arsenal cannot break. The final step is often the hardest and so it continues to prove. — James Olley
Youth emerges for PSG once again
The youngest team in the Champions League this season has reached the final. You can’t win anything with kids, they used to say.
PSG haven’t won anything yet, and they will face the oldest team in the competition in Inter. Experience will surely be a key in the final in Munich, and the Italians will have the advantage, but that was also the case in the Round of 16 against Liverpool, where Paris won the penalty shootout at Anfield as if they had been there before.
To see these young Parisians — a team with an average age of 24.7 against Arsenal on Wednesday — growing together this season under Luis Enrique has been special.
The manager likes to work with young players because they are malleable, disciplined, full of energy and intensity, which fits perfectly with his philosophy and style.
They are not perfect, but they learn quickly. Very quickly. Doué, Neves, Barcola, Vitinha, Mendes, Kvaratskhelia, and Willian Pacho are all 25 or under, and they took the Champions League by storm after a stuttering start to the campaign with just one win in their first four games of the league phase.
There was a time not that long ago that we thought they might not even make it to the playoffs. By running more than anyone else in the competition and being the team with the most high recoveries and pressures, they have shown that youth can take talent even further. — Julien Laurens
Semifinal record highlights striker need
Saka’s 76th-minute goal was Arsenal’s first in their last seven semifinal matches, including two Carabao Cup semifinals and the first leg of their 2021 Europa League clash with Villarreal.
Saka now has 10 goals in 18 Champions League games — Harry Kane (12) is the only Englishman to reach that milestone in fewer appearances — but even he could not mask the problem that has been staring Arsenal in the face for some time.
They need more in attack. Arsenal opted against signing a striker both last summer and in January. A center-forward alone isn’t the answer — Martín Zubimendi is set to arrive from Real Sociedad while they are also looking for another winger — and Arsenal need to show the same bravery in the transfer market as their players did in defeat to PSG.
That semifinal drought included two games against Newcastle United this season when Alexander Isak — a target who may prove beyond reach given Newcastle’s reluctance to let him leave — scored in both to show Arsenal what they are missing.
Going out of Europe in a tie of fine margins is another painful reminder of a lesson they must now heed. Declan Rice talked on Tuesday of Arsenal needing “magic moments” to win ties like this.
More magic is required. — Olley
2:35
Moreno: Arsenal were playing like Tony Pulis’ Stoke vs. PSG
Alejandro Moreno slams Arsenal for their dependence on set-pieces after their Champions League exit.
Kvaratskhelia’s signing proves to be a right one for PSG
Kvaratskhelia is a joy to watch, and part of it is that it feels as if he’s been transported from another era.
Socks down by his ankles, bohemian demeanor and a passion for the unpredictable and the creative, ideally with the ball at his feet. Some critics say the game is too robotic and structured. Kvaratskhelia is proof that you can have virtuoso soloists even in the best-drilled collective, like Luis Enrique’s PSG.
He’s achieved the unthinkable once, guiding Napoli to their first and only Serie A title without Diego Maradona (and becoming Kvaradona in the process).
Now he’s on the cusp of delivering PSG their first-ever Champions League crown. Not bad for a guy who spent the first six months of the 2024-25 season waiting for the phone to ring and wondering whether anyone would match the giant transfer valuation Napoli had slapped on him.
He didn’t seem an obvious fit for Luis Enrique’s new “collectivist” PSG either, given that he had free rein in Naples. But he took to the Parc des Princes and the team ethos with remarkable speed.
And, along the way, he’s proving more than a few people wrong. His Kvaradona days are behind him. He may well be on his way to becoming Kyliantskhelia. — Gabrielle Marcotti
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