Arsenal face a trip to the French capital next week with a one-goal deficit after losing at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Just like the tie against Real Madrid in the quarter-final, the Emirates crowd created a raucous atmosphere before kick-off for their side’s first Champions League semi-final in 16 years. But Ousmane Dembele put PSG in front after four minutes to quieten the home support with his 25th goal in 2025.
PSG were dominant for much for the first half and had chances in the second to add to their tally, while Arsenal had a goal disallowed for offside after Mikel Merino headed in a Declan Rice free kick. The VAR intervention added to the home support’s displeasure at some of the officials’ calls during the game. PSG had a shout for a penalty themselves when Jurrien Timber had his arm across Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the area.
Arsenal had more chances in the second half, with Leandro Trossard going close after Merino’s disallowed strike, but a great performance in goal from Gianluigi Donnarumma kept them at bay.
The second leg takes place at PSG’s Parc de Princes on May 7. Inter face Barcelona on Wednesday in the other semi-final.
Stuart James, Art de Roche and Liam Tharme break down the action.
Where does this leave Arsenal?
The simple answer is needing to produce a performance in Paris similar to the one that PSG delivered at Anfield, when the French club recovered from losing 1-0 at home to Liverpool in the first leg to triumph on penalties in the second leg of their last-16 tie.
That’s not beyond Arsenal — this is a team that eliminated Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in the previous round — but they will have to play with much more conviction than they did in the opening half an hour at the Emirates. They must also show the sort of creativity and imagination in their attacking play that was lacking for long periods on a night when they ran out of ideas and Mikel Arteta struggled to contain his frustration on the touchline.
Sure, Donnarumma made a couple of excellent saves, in particular the moment in the second half when the Italian superbly tipped Trossard’s angled drive around the post, but ultimately Arsenal struggled to break down and penetrate an excellent PSG side, who were disciplined defensively and always a threat going forward.
The tie is far from over — it might have been had Bradley Barcola not dragged an excellent chance wide with less than 10 minutes remaining, or if Goncalo Ramos’s shot a few moments later had been a couple of inches lower. But that feels like little comfort for Arsenal right now.
Stuart James
How Dembele’s roaming role disorientated Arsenal
Where was Dembele playing? Everywhere.
At one point in the opening 45 minutes he ended up in the left-back position, and on another occasion he was an auxiliary No 6, playing the role of double pivot just outside the PSG penalty area.
Nominally a false nine, Dembele looked like Luis Enrique had given him not just the licence to roam but the total freedom of the pitch.
His early goal was a case in point and highlighted the problems it causes when a central attacker (on paper) drops deep in build up to receive. The last thing Arsenal’s centre-backs wanted to do was follow Dembele all over the pitch and be pulled out of position. As for the Arsenal midfield, they already had their hands full with Joao Neves, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz.
Actually, it’s easy to say that Dembele was everywhere. In fact, he was in the right place at the right time over and again, whether spinning in behind and sprinting onto a lovely pass from Neves, or knowing when to hold his run to receive a cut-back from Kvaratskhelia, all of which highlights his intelligence as a footballer.
Indeed, from Arsenal’s point of view, marking Kylian Mbappe in the quarter-final was a lot more straightforward in comparison.
Stuart James
Have we seen that early PSG goal before?
Dembele had 32 goals and 11 assists this season before this evening, and in the Champions League, a major part of that was down to him playing more centrally.
Arsenal were given a warning of how Dembele could punish teams when dropping into midfield to receive the ball when he scored against Liverpool earlier in the competition.
That evening he took the ball on the half-turn, spread it to Bradley Barcola on the right wing and made the box to finish the move (see below).
On Tuesday night, it took just four minutes for him to receive the ball in similar circumstances, left alone in the centre circle.
Able to pick his head up and drive this time around, he decided to attack the left flank instead of the right.
Kvaratskhelia put Timber on the back foot and Rice was drawn towards the ball by the PSG midfield’s opposite movements, and Arsenal were punished.
The balance of the midfield suffered without Thomas Partey to provide structure at the base. PSG went on to dominate second balls that fell in midfield areas as the game progressed and Rice was not able to be the midfielder he has been in recent weeks, either.
Art de Roche
How Donnarumma made the difference
Watch Donnarumma in Ligue 1 and he can often look like the final element PSG need to upgrade in order to complete themselves collectively. His distribution is limited, particularly under pressure, and for a goalkeeper of his stature he does not defend his box aerially as well as David Raya.
The Champions League is a different prospect, though. PSG are going to face shots on their goal and need a match-winning shot-stopper between the posts.
Donnarumma made penalty saves in the shootout win at Anfield in the round of 16, made big stops away to Aston Villa in the quarter-final (including a particularly outstanding save from a Youri Tielemans header), and stood firm when PSG needed him at the Emirates.
Late in the first half, he read Gabriel Martinelli’s far-post curler and pushed it wide after the winger had raced in-behind Marquinhos. From an almost identical position in the box in the second-half, Trossard tried a rifled left-foot finish across Donnarumma. He kept that out too.
This was the third time in Europe this season that Donnarumma had made five saves in a Champions League match (also away to Aston Villa and at home to Manchester City). With six clean sheets, it’s the most times PSG have shut opponents out in a European campaign since 2019-20 (seven).
Liam Tharme
Arsenal’s fine-margin free kicks
Arsenal thought they had levelled through Merino from a Rice free kick, but can count themselves unlucky at the Spaniard being caught offside.
Their routine for wide free kicks since the 2023-24 season has been centred around players starting in offside positions, running back onside and then attacking the box.
Martin Odegaard and Rice both assisted Gabriel from similar free kicks that year, and the Norwegian even assisted Jakub Kiwior with one in their 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.
While there may be some surprise at Arsenal not being caught offside from these situations earlier in the season, these are not overly controllable situations.
They occur in a matter of seconds and there is no telling if you will be lucky enough to have a defender keep you onside or not. On this occasion, they did not have that luck, but that does not mean the routine should be deemed too risky to take.
It has worked for them numerous times in the last two seasons, and was inches away from working tonight. Set pieces are one of their biggest assets and they cannot be discouraged from being creative because of one offside flag — even if it came in a match as big as this.
Art de Roche
What did Mikel Arteta say?
Speaking to Amazon Prime after the match, Arteta said: “Disappointed with the result. We put so much into the game. We struggled first 10-15 minutes to get momentum and dominance. Their goal was an individual moment. That is the difference at this level. I am disappointed not to get a draw at least.
“The goal was a great timing, those are the small margins. Like the Martinelli chance with the great save. Trossard was the same. That is the margin and the level for this semi-final.
“It is half-time and we have a big chance to be in the final.”
What next for Arsenal?
Saturday, May 3: Bournemouth (Home), Premier League, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
