Either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain will take a giant step towards that elusive first Champions League title on Tuesday evening, when Mikel Arteta and Luis Enrique butt heads in the first leg of their semi-final battle at the Emirates.
It has not been for the want of trying for both capital clubs, but European stardom remains the one box they are yet to tick, having each had their hearts broken in the final 14 years apart; the Gunners in 2006 and PSG in 2020.
However, as Arteta’s men annihilated Real Madrid to progress to the final four, and PSG took down Liverpool and Aston Villa in quick succession, either could consider themselves worthy winners of the iconic trophy next month, where Barcelona or Inter Milan will lie in wait in Munich.
Ahead of Tuesday’s mouthwatering first leg, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at Arsenal and PSG’s previous performances in Champions League semi-finals since the tournament’s rebranding in 1992.
Arsenal Champions League semi-final history
2008-09: Arsenal 1-4 Manchester United
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After the Paris pain of 2006, where Barcelona fought back to best 10-man Arsenal in the Champions League final, Arsene Wenger‘s desire to finally bring European glory to the North London masses burned brighter than ever.
Theo Walcott‘s astonishing Anfield run in 2007-08 had Arsenal within a whisker of the last four, only for Liverpool to turn the tide late on, but the Gunners would be present in the semi-finals once again in 2009, where defending champions Manchester United stood in their way.
Old Trafford was the venue for the first leg, where Red Devils cult hero John O’Shea struck what proved to be the only goal of the contest, one in which Arsenal could not breach Edwin van der Sar‘s net in the days of precious away goals.
Sir Alex Ferguson‘s side could and maybe should have taken more than a 1-0 lead to the Emirates, but the Scot would get one over his long-time adversary Wenger once again in North London, masterminding a 3-1 second-leg win thanks to one of the tournament’s most unforgettable goals.
Indeed, Manuel Almunia was no match for a 40-yard free-kick fire bolt from Cristiano Ronaldo, who notched another for himself on the evening, as did Park Ji-sung before an inconsequential Robin Van Persie penalty late on.
2005-06: Arsenal 1-0 Villarreal
As Arsenal’s Premier League powers waned in the 2005-06 season – where they only made the top four thanks to Tottenham Hotspur’s alleged run-in with contaminated lasagne – they enhanced their Champions League credentials extraordinarily.
Dogged defending was the name of the game for Wenger’s Arsenal, who did not concede a single goal against either Real Madrid or Juventus in the earlier knockout rounds before a date with Villarreal, who soon fell victim to the Gunners’ staunch rearguard action too.
In the last-ever Champions League game to be played at Highbury, Kolo Toure scrambled home the decisive goal in a 1-0 first-leg win, one that Villarreal seemed destined to replicate when they were awarded a last-minute penalty in the return fixture.
Up stepped Juan Roman Riquelme to send the semi-final to extra time, but Jens Lehmann was equal to the Argentine’s effort, springing to his left and denying the Yellow Submarine playmaker from 12 yards.
Subsequent Villarreal efforts were also in vain as a Lehmann-inspired Arsenal advanced to the Champions League final, but the German then went from hero to zero in Paris, becoming the first man to be sent off in a UCL final as Wenger’s 10 men failed to keep Barcelona at bay.
PSG Champions League semi-final history
2023-24: PSG 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
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Lionel Messi and Neymar may have been long gone, but with Kylian Mbappe still fighting the good fight for PSG, the UEFA script was written for the Frenchman to finally propel Les Parisiens to continental supremacy in 2023-24.
After serving Barcelona a dose of their own remontada medicine in the quarter-finals, PSG may have been considered favourites to send Borussia Dortmund packing in the next round, only for BVB to channel Arsenal circa 05-06.
Mbappe and co were stunted by a Mats Hummels-inspired backline on both occasions, as Edin Terzic‘s Dortmund triumphed 1-0 in the first leg thanks to a Niclas Fullkrug effort, before Hummels silenced the Parc des Princes.
Mbappe’s yearning to win the Champions League with Les Parisiens did not extend to triggering the one-year option in his contract, but a penny for his thoughts while he watches his erstwhile club from his Madrid home.
2020-21: PSG 1-4 Manchester City
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Bidding to go one better than the previous year, when former flame Kingsley Coman won the Champions League for Bayern Munich at PSG’s expense, Mauricio Pochettino‘s Parisiens came up against Manchester City in the 2020-21 final four.
The French giants had already taken down Barcelona and holders Bayern en route to the final four – thus avenging their 2020 heartache – and their Mancunian mission started on the right foot when Marquinhos drew first blood in the first leg at home.
However, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez quickly turned the tide in Paris, before the latter repeated his Parc des Princes trick in the Etihad return fixture, as Pochettino experienced the unhappiest of returns to English soil.
If failing to win the Champions League was not already a fireable offence, losing the Ligue 1 title to Lille certainly was, and PSG fans could not forget 2020-21 quickly enough.
2019-20: PSG 3-0 RB Leipzig*
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* One-legged semi-final due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The first and currently only occasion where PSG actually managed to prevail in a Champions League semi-final match, Thomas Tuchel‘s team tore underdogs RB Leipzig to shreds in a one-legged showdown in 2020.
Delayed by several months while the coronavirus wreaked havoc across the globe, PSG had scored two 90+ minute goals against Atalanta BC in the quarter-finals before battling Leipzig, where the manner of their victory was much more straightforward.
Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria and Juan Bernat put Les Parisiens out of sight before the 60-minute mark, after which PSG sought to overcome a Bayern side who had denied them an all-French final with Lyon.
In the end, however, PSG’s crestfallen troops walked past the Champions League trophy, as would Tuchel have done if he could; the German memorably sported crutches and a protective brace in the behind-closed-doors final after sustaining a serious foot injury in training.
1994-95: PSG 0-3 AC Milan
Long before the days of PSG becoming one of the financial powerhouses of global football, Les Parisiens contested their first Champions League semi-final in 1994-95, famously taking down Barcelona to earn a two-legged battle with AC Milan.
Led by the legendary George Weah and David Ginola, PSG had a Milanese mountain to climb in the second leg of their 1994-95 semi-final, having suffered an agonising 1-0 first-leg loss at home due to an injury-time strike from Zvonimir Boban.
The comeback tasked proved far too arduous for Les Parisiens in the end, as a Dejan Savicevic double at San Siro saw Milan surge into the final, only for the Rossoneri to be taken down by Louis van Gaal‘s iconic Ajax side.
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