The bright lights of the Emirates Stadium shine down on two Champions League hopefuls on Tuesday evening, when Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain collide in the first leg of their semi-final.
Neither side has managed to conquer the continent’s premier competition just yet, but one will earn a shot at glory against either Barcelona or Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena in late May.
Mikel Arteta‘s men enhanced their credentials with a stunning 5-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the last eight, whereas PSG survived a scare to conquer Aston Villa 5-4 over two legs.
Ahead of Tuesday’s tantalising reunion, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two clubs.
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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 5
Arsenal wins: 2
Draws: 3
PSG wins: 0
Either side of Mikel Arteta’s one-year spell in Paris in the 2001-02 campaign, Arsenal and PSG have met five times down the years in competitive matches, and the French giants are still waiting for their first victory over the North London giants.
Indeed, three of their previous five battles have ended in a share of the spoils, while the other two were won by Arsenal, who also demolished the French champions 5-1 in a 2018 pre-season friendly under ex-Parisiens head coach Unai Emery.
It was Luis Enrique who was in control of the PSG reins for their trip to the Emirates Stadium for an October 2024 league-phase encounter, but Arsenal were a class above the French outfit on the night, prevailing 2-0 as Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka got on the scoresheet.
Before the 2024-25 Champions League league edition, though, Arsenal and PSG’s most recent competitive showdowns came in the group stage of the 2016-17 edition, where a 2-2 draw at the Emirates was a tale of two own goals.
On that occasion, Arsene Wenger‘s men turned the tie on its head as Olivier Giroud‘s penalty and a Marco Verratti own goal cancelled out Edinson Cavani‘s opener, but Alex Iwobi then turned the ball past David Ospina to gift Emery’s PSG a share of the spoils.
Nothing could separate the two continental giants at the Parc des Princes earlier that season either, as Alexis Sanchez responded to Cavani’s first-minute goal on a day where both Giroud and Verratti were sent off in second-half injury time.
Arsenal and PSG also collided in the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup – a competition for Europe’s domestic cup winners – during the 1993-94 semi-finals, where their inaugural meeting in the first leg saw Ian Wright and David Ginola strike in a 1-1 draw.
However, two weeks later at the old Highbury Stadium, the late Kevin Campbell scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal advanced to the showpiece match, where they defeated Parma 1-0 for their first and only European trophy to date.
Winless in five games against Arsenal, PSG have actually faced the Gunners more times without winning than any other opponent in European competition, although Enrique has beaten five Spaniards he has faced as a manager in Xavi, Michel, Emery, Pep Guardiola and Imanol Alguacil.
Previous meetings
Oct 01, 2024: Arsenal 2-0 PSG (Champions League League Stage)
Nov 23, 2016: Arsenal 2-2 PSG (Champions League Group Stage)
Sep 13, 2016: PSG 1-1 Arsenal (Champions League Group Stage)
Apr 12, 1994: Arsenal 1-0 PSG (UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Semi-Finals Second Leg)
Mar 29, 1994: PSG 1-1 Arsenal (UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Semi-Finals First Leg)
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