Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino (centre) celebrates scoring the team’s third goal during the quarter-final first leg match against Real Madrid at the Emirates on April 8. — AFP
FOUR teams are left in the Champions League and each has a quest for a rare European title.
Arsenal take on newly crowned French champions Paris St Germain in a semi-final between teams who have never lifted the iconic trophy.
Barcelona and Inter Milan have a combined eight European titles yet the most recent were 10 and 15 years ago, respectively.
Here’s what to know about the upcoming matches and the four semi-finalists:
Arsenal host Paris St Germain tomorrow in north London, where defending champions Real Madrid lost by a stunning 3-0 last week in the first leg of the quarter-finals.
PSG host the return game on May 7 at Parc des Princes, which has hosted three finals including the inaugural European Cup in 1956.
Five-time champions Barcelona hosts the first leg on Wednesday at the 1992 Olympics stadium.
Inter host the second leg on May 6 at San Siro.
Barcelona’s Gavi in action against Borussia Dortmund during the quarter-final second leg match at Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, on April 15. — Reuters
The winners head to Munich on May 31 for the final of the most coveted and toughest title to win in club football.
Coach Mikel Arteta’s team have been solid all season, including facing PSG and Inter in the first half of the eight-game league programme.
Arsenal finished third in the new phase with six wins – including 2-0 against PSG in London – and one draw. Their only loss was at Inter 1-0.
It easily overcame PSV Eindhoven in the last 16 after a 7-1 rout in the first leg.
Arsenal then stunned many with a 3-0 win at home against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and finished the job on Wednesday with a controlled 2-1 win at Madrid.
Arsenal are second in the Premier League but far behind leaders Liverpool, so the Champions League is the only realistic chance they have left to win a title this season.
PSG were at risk of being eliminated in the league phase but their campaign turned in the penultimate round when they bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to hand Manchester City a devastating 4-2 loss.
Crucially, new signing from Napoli Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was added for the knockout rounds.
Brest were demolished 10-0 in the playoffs and the Georgia winger was scintillating in the last 16 against Liverpool.
PSG and Liverpool traded 1-0 wins on the road, and a penalty shootout at Anfield was decided by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s two saves.
Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski (second from left) reacts as Dortmund’s Algerian defender Ramy Bensebaini (left) scores an own goal past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. — AFP
PSG’s third visit to England this season was this week’s 3-2 loss at Aston Villa.
Donnarumma’s saves kept out a fourth goal that would have forced extra time. PSG advanced thanks to a 3-1 win at home last week.
PSG have already clinched Ligue 1. They now hope to achieve what they failed to accomplish when France star Kylian Mbappe led the team: Winning the Champions League.
However, Ousmane Dembele’s goals are drying up for PSG at just the wrong moment.
Dembele hasn’t scored in the past three Ligue 1 games and has netted only once in the past five Champions League matches. His last goal in either competition was in mid-March.
Although Dembele did score twice in the French Cup semi-final, that was against second-tier Dunkerque and he hasn’t looked at his sharpest in recent weeks.
It’s a far cry from earlier in the season, when he netted two straight Ligue 1 hattricks and scored in 10 straight games to establish himself as the team’s leading player following Mbappe’s off-season departure to Real.
Real Madrid’s Endrick (centre) in action with Arsenal’s Jakub Kiwior (left) during the second leg. — Reuters
France’s media has been speculating about Dembele’s mood since the return leg of the quarter-final against Aston Villa when Dembele appeared to reproach some of his teammates for easing up after leading 2-0 in the return leg to move 5-1 up overall, and there was reportedly little celebrating in the dressing room after the game.
PSG coach Luis Enrique must decide whether to start Dembele or keep him rested for the encounter with Arsenal.
Barcelona won four of their five European titles in a nine-year spell from 2006-15, mostly inspired by Lionel Messi, and have not been back to the final since.
The team scored 28 goals in the league phase and added nine more in four knockout games.
Robert Lewandowski, still prolific at age 36, has 11 goals and trails teammate Raphinha with 12.
Lamine Yamal, outrageously good aged just 17, has four goals and three assists.
Barcelona started with a blip in their first Champions League game under coach Hansi Flick, losing at Monaco 2-1, then romped unbeaten through the rest of the league phase: 4-1 against Bayern – which Flick led to the 2020 title – 3-2 at Borussia Dortmund, and a wild 5-4 at Benfica.
Paris St Germain’s Marquinhos and his goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in action with Aston Villa’s Marcus Rashford. — Reuters
In the knockout rounds, Barcelona beat Benfica two more times, then met Dortmund again in the quarter-finals. A 4-0 win at home allowed the luxury of losing the return 3-1.
Barcelona, like Inter, must balance preparing for the semi-finals with staying top in a tight domestic title race and chasing the domestic cup.
The hardest defence to breach, with just one goal conceded in the league phase by the three-time European champions.
The tone was set in the opening game, a rematch of the 2023 final.
A 0-0 draw at Man City was impressive in September before the English champions’ aura collapsed.
A series of 1-0 wins was broken up by losing by the same score at Bayer Leverkusen, on a 90th-minute goal by Nordi Mukiele.
It was the only one to beat Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer until Feyenoord scored a penalty in the second leg of the last 16.
Inter Milan’s Francesco Acerbi and Yann Sommer celebrate after the match as Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller looks dejected in the quarter-final second leg at the San Siro on April 16. — Reuters
Inter impressed in winning at Bayern 2-1 last week in the first leg of the quarter-finals, then responded quickly when Harry Kane tied the scores early in the second half at San Siro.
The lead was restored by Lautaro Martinez, Inter’s talisman with eight Champions League goals.
However, Inter’s current run in the Serie A have been worrying.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi admitted his team are feeling the strain of a demanding season after their 3-0 defeat to AC Milan in the Italian Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.
With the Serie A and Champions League titles still on the line, Inzaghi said he is worried after a second straight defeat following Sunday’s 1-0 league loss to Bologna, but urged his players to overcome the setbacks.
“Of course (I’m worried). We’re not used to losing two in a row,” Inzaghi told SportMediaset.
Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the quarter-final second leg match against Bayern Munich. — AP
“We need to analyse both defeats the right way. We didn’t deserve to lose in Bologna, and tonight we ran out of energy in the second half.
“We have to keep going. There’s both physical and mental fatigue. We need to be stronger than all of that.
“This journey has brought us a lot of joy, but also some disappointments, like tonight. We should’ve done better.”
Inter beat Barcelona in the semis when last winning the Champions League in 2010. – AP
