Paris Saint-Germain moved a step closer to a first Champions League title by withstanding Arsenal’s early barrage to book a final date with Inter in Munich on May 31.
Goals in each half from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi made it 3-0 on aggregate before Bukayo Saka reduced the arrears.
Arsenal’s direct and aggressive start put PSG on the back foot in the opening stages and forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into smart saves but it was the hosts who went closest when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s shot slammed back off the post.
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And the failure to make the most of the impressive opening cost Arsenal dear when Ruiz’s shot from the edge of the box deflected off William Saliba and flew beyond David Raya in the 27th minute.
Donnarumma made another stunning save after the break to deny Saka before Raya kept Arsenal in the game by saving Vitinha’s woeful 69th-minute penalty — awarded after VAR intervened over a Myles Lewis-Skelly handball.
Within three minutes, Hakimi swept home from the edge of the box to make it 3-0 on aggregate, with Saka getting Arsenal on the scoresheet soon after. The forward then spurned a glorious chance to well and truly add to home nerves when he fired over.
But PSG held firm and that’s now four defeats in four two-legged semi-finals for Arteta as Arsenal manager.
The Athletic’s Jack Lang, Jordan Campbell and Mark Carey analyse the action from the Parc des Princes.
Are Arsenal becoming a nearly team?
Declan Rice said on Tuesday he believes Arsenal are close to winning major trophies and that, once they get over the line the first time, more will follow. He may be right but after their exit in Paris, this group has still to shake that monkey off their back.
The concern is that, in coming so close so often over the last three years, it could eventually take its toll psychologically.
Arsenal are on track to finish second in the Premier League three years running. Given Manchester City’s dominance until this season, cup competitions offered an alternative route to silverware but the exit in Paris is the second semi-final they have lost this season after the 4-0 aggregate loss to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.
They are one of the best sides in Europe and have been for three years but the same group of players will now have to regroup and re-motivate themselves after a fifth trophyless season.
Arteta’s team will end the season trophyless again (FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
It is harsh and oversimplistic to boil a team this good and consistent down to one column. Their progress has been great under Arteta but until they become winners, they will be regarded as nearly men.
Arteta said this week that it is about timing and, while he may be right that there has been an element of misfortune in some cases, they are surely too strong a side not to banish this tag soon.
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Saka’s late goal did end a run of six consecutive semi-final legs in all competitions in which Arsenal had failed to score, but one was never going to be enough at Parc des Princes and so it proved.
Jordan Campbell
Donnarumma stands tall… yet again
PSG goalkeeper Donnarumma was arguably the key figure in the first leg, making a string of jaw-dropping saves to preserve his clean sheet. Here, too, he kept goal as if his life depended on it, particularly during that early Arsenal aerial blitzkrieg.
Donnarumma showed good reflexes to deny Gabriel Martinelli after just four minutes, but that was nothing compared to his next stop, from Martin Odegaard. The midfielder could not have hit his half-volley from the edge of the box any better; the shot also went through a forest of legs, obscuring Donnarumma’s view until the very last. It looked a certain goal.
WHAT A SAVE!
Gianluigi Donnarumma makes a phenomenal stop to deny Martin Ødegaard, what a tie he’s having 👏
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/IG8Kv3hkXn
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 7, 2025
That Donnarumma was able to plunge down to his left and tip the ball wide was not just impressive. It was borderline miraculous, and yet another demonstration of his unique brilliance.
The second half was more of a mixed bag. There was a stretching, no-right-to-get-there save from Saka, but also an error that could easily have been costly: Donnarumma rushed from goal to claim a cross with the score at 2-1, got nowhere near it and was relieved to see Saka skew his shot wide.
That, too, is part of Donnarumma’s charm. He’s superb but he can also be a liability. The issue for Arsenal was that the balance of that equation was weighted firmly in PSG’s favour over the two legs.
Jack Lang
Arsenal failed to make most of positive start
Arsenal started so ferociously that, after saving the English side’s third big chance of the opening eight minutes, Donnarumma decided to sit on the floor and call for treatment.
You sensed that the Italian goalkeeper knew his team-mates needed a moment of respite, given the intense pressing they were suffocating under. When he got to his feet, the home support produced a huge cheer. It felt like they knew they had survived the worst, and that was the issue for Arsenal.
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Just as PSG scored within four minutes at the Emirates, you sensed that Arsenal simply had to capitalise when they were dominating in such an extreme manner.
PSG were being harassed into panicked clearances, Arsenal were finding Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka in isolated areas regularly and they had complete territorial control.
Declan Rice was inches away from converting a header at the back post, while Martinelli and Odegaard were both denied by Donnarumma.
Donnarumma saves from Martinelli in the opening stages (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Arteta said last week that no team at this level can dominate a side like PSG for a full 90 minutes. It was inevitable that they would swing the momentum at some point, and that is what happened as Kvaratskhelia produced a curling shot from nowhere that struck the post.
Arsenal continued to dominate possession but they did not slice PSG open as easily and a couple of sloppy turnovers saw the hosts counter on Arsenal, missing two big chances of their own.
Myles Lewis-Skelly has been sublime since he broke into the team in December but this was the first game in which he has suffered. He was robbed on three occasions in the first half as his indecision on whether to drive with the ball or not played him into trouble.
But PSG produced the killer blow when Ruiz scored a volley from the edge of the box. A wicked deflection off Saliba made it an even more bitter blow.
WHAT. A. STRIKE. 🚀
Fabian Ruiz extends PSG’s aggregate lead over Arsenal to 2-0 with unbelievable power and technique 💥
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/HwAy0GspYS
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 7, 2025
And for U.S. readers
Fabián Ruiz with the SWEETEST strike for his first-ever UCL goal 😤 pic.twitter.com/GpEjA6la7B
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 7, 2025
Arsenal’s failure to convert their early dominance felt indicative of Arsenal’s season. So often they dominate but turning that into goals and trophies is what will define this team. Right now, that finishing touch continues to elude them.
Jordan Campbell
Luis Enrique’s team found a way
PSG have produced some of the most incisive attacking football in Europe this season. They are, at their best, a thrill to watch — and, you imagine, an absolute waking nightmare to defend against. This, though, was a night on which the rhythms were ever so slightly out of whack.
That can partly be explained by the absence of Ousmane Dembele from the starting XI. With their talisman only fit enough for a late cameo, PSG went for the classic three-winger formation — a fun idea but not that effective in practice, with none of Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue or Kvaratskhelia especially comfortable through the middle.
Kvaratskhelia played well and hit the post. Doue and Barcola, though, were oddly listless, both in their approach play and in their finishing. It left PSG looking decaffeinated in the final third, even when the midfield had wrested some control back from Arsenal.
Luis Enrique takes the acclaim from the PSG fans at full-time (FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
What will be pleasing for Luis Enrique is that his side found a way to get the job done anyway. This was a night for sturdy defending, for hard work, for cool heads. On all of those counts, PSG passed the test with flying colours. It wasn’t a buccaneering performance but it oozed maturity — and that should stand them in good stead in the final against Inter.
Jack Lang
A set-piece… problem
On the one hand, Arsenal have continued to be one of the strongest teams in Europe from attacking set pieces — creating innovative, choreographed routines that can often resemble a street dance troop.
But, look closely at their defensive set-piece numbers and it will make you wince. When controlling for the opportunity of set pieces faced in the Premier League, Arsenal’s 6.9 goals conceded per 100 opponent set pieces is good enough for… the worst in the league.
Sure, this was only the second set-piece goal they have conceded across their Champions League campaign, but when the margins are paper thin, you cannot afford to blink without getting punished.
PSG’s wide free kick was initially dealt with well by Thomas Partey who got first contact, but his header landed straight to Ruiz on the edge of the box. Martinelli was the nearest defender on the edge of the box, but his recovery run was not enough to stop Ruiz firing a volley past David Raya on the second phase. The fact Martinelli was sprinting to stop Ruiz was evidence enough that panic had already set in.
Ruiz fires in the opening goal (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
We can laud Arsenal’s attacking threat from dead-ball situations all we want, but it is important to look at both sides of the coin.
Mark Carey
Partey’s inspiration from Pulis?
Given the technical quality and blistering pace that PSG showed in the first leg, there was little point in Arsenal looking to go toe-to-toe with them at the Parc des Princes with delicate, possession-based attacking football.
Instead, they channelled Tony Pulis’s Stoke City from the late 2000s, with Thomas Partey launching the ball into the box whenever Arsenal had a throw-in from the attacking quarter of the pitch. Another form of a set piece, you might say, but it was notable just how often this tactic was used in Paris.
For context, there were 11 occasions when Arsenal hauled the ball into the box from such situations — that is more than any game in all competitions since Mikel Arteta arrived as manager. Having conceded via such means against Bournemouth last weekend, perhaps Arsenal’s manager liked what he saw.
The chaos that Partey’s throws caused should have resulted in at least one goal, with Martinelli and Odegaard denied by Donnarumma in the first half. Sadly for Arteta, Arsenal’s efforts did not quite pay off on the night but there was little doubt that their long-throw tactic had been cooked up since their first-leg meeting.
Mark Carey
What did Luis Enrique say?
We’ll bring you his words straight after the post-match press conference.
What did Mikel Arteta say?
We’ll bring you his words straight after the post-match press conference.
What next for PSG?
Saturday, May 10: Montpellier (away), Ligue 1, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
What next for Arsenal?
Sunday, May 11: Liverpool (away), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET
(Top photo: THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
