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PSG defeats Arsenal to earn spot in Champions League final
Paris Saint-Germain celebrate at full time during the UEFA Champions League, Semi-finals, 2nd leg football match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal FC on 7 May 2025 at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France. IPA

Paris Saint-Germain defeats Arsenal to earn spot in Champions League final

Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal 2-1 (3-1 on aggregate) on Wednesday to seal its place in the 2024-25 Champions League final.

PSG will battle Inter Milan for the trophy on Saturday, May 31, in Munich, Germany. This is PSG's second appearance in a Champions League final after losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich behind closed doors in the heat of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.

PSG had the most difficult Champions League draw of all 36 competing teams. It faced Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City in the "league" phase and battled through Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal (again) in the knockout rounds. 

After years of trading on superstar cachet—Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé all lined up for PSG in the early 2020s—PSG earned its spot in this final on the strength of its young, internally-developed talent. Players like Portuguese defender Nuno Mendes, Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi and French winger Desire Doue may not carry the same infamy as their galactico predecessors, but collectively they deliver a much more powerful punch.

While the game wound up being something of a PSG clinic, it began firmly in Arsenal's control. The Gunners owned the opening 15 minutes and pushed PSG deep into its own half, launching attack after attack at goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. He made a series of spectacular saves to keep the game scoreless. As the game clicked closer to halftime, the sense in the stadium was that Arsenal had done everything right except put the ball in the back of the net.

That profligacy came back to bite Arsenal before the halftime whistle blew. A poorly-cleared PSG corner fell to Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz, and he blasted a volley into Arsenal's net to open the scoring. Set-piece defending has dogged Arsenal in all competitions this season: in the Premier League, it's conceded a higher percentage of set-piece goals than any other team. 

Ruiz's goal—his first in European competition—took the wind out of Arsenal's sails. The game shifted in PSG's favor, with full-backs Mendes and Hakimi breaking free and creating more attacks for their teammates. It was Hakimi who wound up sealing the game for PSG; he took advantage of an Arsenal turnover right at the edge of the box and scored a beautiful goal to settle things.

Arsenal did fight back, though. Goalkeeper David Raya saved a Vitinha penalty in the 69th minute to keep the game from spiraling out of control. (It was, admittedly, a terribly taken penalty, but Raya did well to judge it correctly.) Bukayo Saka, Arsenal's wise-beyond-his-years 23-year-old talisman, snatched a goal back for the Gunners a few minutes later. Their efforts helped keep the game competitive, but PSG's dominance was never really threatened. They cruised through to the final whistle without further incident.

PSG's win is massive for its Spanish coach, Luis Enrique. It was Enrique who pushed PSG away from its galactico player model; it was Enrique's job on the line if that push didn't pay off. He was right all along. PSG's young, hungry team has become an unlikely favorite for neutrals around the world. It's exceedingly rare to see a state-owned enterprise like PSG garner support in this manner, but Enrique's pragmatic, development-driven approach made it happen.

PSG will face Inter Milan in the Champions League final on Saturday, May 31. The two teams have never met in European competition in their 55 years of shared history. On the basis of these semifinals, though, PSG will enter the match as the favorite. Its cool-headed defeat of Arsenal was the work of a champion.

Alyssa Clang

Alyssa is a Boston-born Californian with a passion for global sport. She can yell about misplaced soccer passes in five languages and rattle off the turns of Silverstone in her sleep. You can find her dormant Twitter account at @alyssaclang, but honestly, you’re probably better off finding her here

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