Liverpool won the Premier League title again after five years, and Paris Saint-Germain has the opportunity to enter the Champions League final again after five years.
In the early morning of April 30th, Japan time, in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal 1-0 away from home, taking the lead in the two-leg match.
In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on April 9, Arsenal performed strongly at home and defeated the defending champion Real Madrid 3-0.
Arsenal's lineup was not complete in this game. Midfielder Thomas was suspended due to accumulated yellow cards. Merino, who played as a center forward, had to return to the midfield to fill the vacancy left by Thomas. Coach Arteta arranged for winger Trossard to play as a center forward.
Just 4 minutes into the game, PSG made a quick attack. Dembele passed the ball to the left, Kvaratskhelia passed it back, and Dembele used a precise shot to beat Arsenal goalkeeper Raya.
In the subsequent games, Arsenal was unable to equalize the score. The core of the offensive organization, Odegaard, was in poor form, but Arteta did not replace him with young player Nwaneri until the injury time, which missed the opportunity.
PSG used to have a "super striker combination" of Messi, Mbappe and Neymar, but its performance in the Champions League was not ideal. The main reason was that the three of them basically did not participate in defense, causing the team's offense and defense to be unbalanced.
Messi and Neymar left PSG first, and Mbappe joined Real Madrid on a free transfer last summer. PSG, which has no superstars, has made a splash in the Champions League this season, becoming a favorite to win the title with its outstanding performance in both offense and defense.
PSG had very bad luck in the Champions League this season, drawing strong opponents such as Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, and almost all the strong teams that might be encountered in each level.
Starting from the 0-2 loss to Arsenal in the second round away, Paris Saint-Germain only achieved 1 draw and 3 losses in 4 consecutive rounds, and the situation of advancing to the play-offs was precarious.
Coach Enrique led Paris Saint-Germain to rebound in time, winning 3-0 away from Salzburg, 4-2 at home against Manchester City, and 4-1 away from Stuttgart, and advanced to the play-offs for the top 16 tickets with a wave of three consecutive wins.
Since defeating Manchester City 4-2, Paris Saint-Germain has become a "Premier League killer". In the quarter-finals, Paris Saint-Germain eliminated this season's Premier League champion Liverpool. In the second leg away game, they beat Liverpool 1-0, and Dembele scored the only goal of the game.
In the quarter-finals, Paris Saint-Germain eliminated the Premier League powerhouse Aston Villa. Although Dembele did not score in both rounds, he contributed key assists. In this away game against Arsenal, Dembele seized the opportunity to score the only goal of the game.
Dembele once played for Barcelona with Messi. Although Dembele was very expensive at that time, he was a "sickly" player with a low attendance rate and a poor grasp of scoring opportunities in limited appearance opportunities.
After years of experience, Dembele finally fulfilled his talent. Messi left Paris Saint-Germain in July 2023, and Dembele joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in August 2023. He not only successfully filled the vacancy left by Messi, but his status this season is even better than Messi in Paris Saint-Germain.
Although Paris Saint-Germain won a small victory over Arsenal in the first round away from home, it is too early to be happy. Arsenal midfielder Thomas can return in the second round, and Arsenal can challenge Paris Saint-Germain away from home with a relatively complete lineup.
In the 2018-2019 Champions League quarter-finals, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Manchester United 2-0 in the first round away from home, and lost 1-3 in the second round at home, and was eliminated by Manchester United relying on the away goal advantage.
캡포탈 believes that the current Paris Saint-Germain is a Paris Saint-Germain without superstars, and they cannot be careless when they return to their home court in the second round.
Dembele was substituted in the 70th minute due to injury. When asked about his injury before boarding the team bus, he responded: "It will be fine." Paris Saint-Germain coach Enrique said after the game: "I don't know the details of Dembele's injury at the moment, and he will be examined tomorrow. His injury is relatively minor, but it remains to be seen whether he can play in the second leg. But we are a real team, and it would be great if Dembele can play; if he can't, we still have a strong team."
