The Champions League semi-finals commence with a capital cracker on Tuesday evening, as Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain scrap it out in the first leg of their last-four contest at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal are competing in the Champions League semi-finals for just the third time after 2005-06 and 2008-09, beating Villarreal in the former year and losing to Manchester United three seasons later.
The Gunners have avoided defeat in each of their last eight Champions League matches – winning seven and drawing one – their longest such sequence since going 12 unbeaten in the 2005-06 tournament.
Arteta’s men have scored 30 goals in their 12 Champions League games this season, the most ever for an Arsenal team in a single edition of the tournament.
Arsenal have gone unbeaten in 11 straight UCL home games since returning to the top tier of European football in 2023, last losing a Champions League match at the Emirates in 2017 against Bayern Munich.
The Gunners are on a 15-game scoring streak at home in the Champions League, last drawing a blank against Barcelona in February 2016.
They have also scored multiple goals in 12 of those 15 matches at the Emirates, including each of their last four against Real Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, Dinamo Zagreb and Monaco.
Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Monaco in December was their third successive home win over French clubs in the Champions League, during which time they have scored 11 goals and conceded none.
Across all competitions, Arsenal are unbeaten in 12 successive matches, scoring in all but one of those games – a 0-0 draw vs. Nottingham Forest in the Premier League in February.
However, the Gunners have drawn more Premier League games in which they have led than any other side this season (nine), most recently against Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
By setting up both goals against Real Madrid in the quarter-final second leg, Mikel Merino became just the second visiting player to provide multiple assists in a Champions League knockout game at the Bernabeu, after Dusan Tadic for Ajax in 2018-19.
PSG are making their fifth appearance in the Champions League semi-finals, but they have only progressed from one of their previous four, defeating RB Leipzig 3-0 in a one-legged match in 2019-20.
As a result, Les Parisiens are yet to prevail in a two-legged UCL semi-final, being knocked out in such circumstances by AC Milan in 1995, Manchester City in 2021 and Borussia Dortmund last year.
Furthermore, the French champions lost each of their six semi-final games across those previous two-legged ties, conceding nine goals and scoring just one in the process.
PSG are looking to eliminate an English team for the third round running, having bested Liverpool in the last 16 before sending Aston Villa packing in the quarter-finals.
After failing to score in three straight Champions League away games between May and November 2024, PSG have netted in each of their last five, racking up 13 strikes in total.
However, Enrique’s men have won just one of their last four matches in all competitions heading into Tuesday’s game, a narrow 2-1 success over Le Havre in Ligue 1.
PSG suffered their first defeat of the Ligue 1 season against Nice on Friday night, ending their hopes of becoming the first French top-flight team to complete an unbeaten campaign.
Les Parisiens have now failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last five matches, although they have scored in 11 straight games since a 1-0 first-leg loss to Liverpool in the last 16.
The visitors have also found the back of the net in each of their last 18 away fixtures across all competitions, last drawing a blank in a goalless draw with Auxerre in December.
PSG are also on the best-ever unbeaten away run in Europe’s top-five leagues, avoiding defeat in each of their last 39 Ligue 1 games on the road, eclipsing AC Milan’s 38-game unbeaten run away from home in Serie A from 1991 to 1993.
By setting up Fabian Ruiz against Nice on Friday, Ousmane Dembele registered his 200th career goal involvement across club and international matches, 107 of his own and 93 assists.
The Frenchman has amassed 44 involvements (32 goals and 12 assists) from 44 games this season, but he has failed to score in any of his last six appearances across the Champions League and Ligue 1.
Arsenal have avoided defeat in all of their previous five European games against PSG, winning two and drawing three of their former clashes with the French champions.
Indeed, PSG have faced Arsenal more times in European competition without ever winning than any other club.
Arteta masterminded a 2-0 win for Arsenal over PSG in this season’s Champions League league phase, thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.
The Gunners could become just the second English side to beat PSG twice in one Champions League campaign after Man City, who triumphed 2-1 away and 2-0 at home versus Les Parisiens in the 2020-21 semi-finals.
Excluding penalty shootout victories, PSG have lost five of their last six UCL away games against Premier League teams.
Arteta vs. Enrique will be just the third Champions League semi-final clash between two Spanish managers; Enrique (Barcelona) and Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich) faced off in the 2014-15 tournament, while the first instance was Carles Rexach (Barcelona) vs. Vicente del Bosque (Real Madrid) in 2001-02.
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