Is this the year Paris Saint-Germain finally wins the Champions League, the trophy its fans and Qatari owners have craved for years?
Luis Enrique’s side earned a hard fought 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night, winning 3-1 on aggregate to reach the final for only the second time in club history.
After a tight first leg was decided by “small margins,” as Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta described it, PSG came back to the City of Light with a slender 1-0 lead to defend.
After weathering an early sustained period of Arsenal pressure, PSG took the lead on 27 minutes thanks to Fabián Ruiz’s stunning half-volley.
There was again little to separate the two sides on the night, but PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma proved to be the difference.
The Italian pulled off a couple of stunning saves in the first half to main PSG’s lead, the second from a Martin Ødegaard shot was particularly special and could rival Yann Sommer’s save from Lamine Yamal last night as the save of the tournament.
Les Parisiens managed the game well in the second half and kept Arsenal at arm’s length – but mostly Donnarumma’s arm. The 26-year-old pulled off his third stunning save of the night in the second half to keep out Bukayo Saka’s goal-bound effort.
David Raya then kept Arsenal’s hopes alive with a brilliant save from a questionable Vitinha penalty, which had been awarded for handball against Miles Lewis-Skelly after a VAR review.
But Achraf Hakimi pounced on PSG’s first chance from open play of the second half, curling a low effort into the bottom corner on 72 minutes after some soft Arsenal defending.
The Gunners responded quickly as Saka swept a loose ball into the net four minutes later to give the Londoners some hope.
And Saka should have set up a grand finale just moments later when Riccardo Calafiori’s low cross evaded Donnarumma, but the Arsenal forward somehow guided his effort over the crossbar with the entire goal at his mercy.
After the game, there was one person that both Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Declan Rice singled out for PSG’s win: Donnarumma.
Both said he was the “best player” across the tie. It’s hard to disagree.
