LONDON - Ousmane Dembélé defeated Arsenal in a first-leg victory in the 1-0 semifinal on Tuesday, giving Paris Saint-Germain a vital Champions League advantage on Tuesday.
Dembélé hurt PSG through Lim's foot in the second half and now has 45 goals in 45 games this season, his strike here brings Luis Enrique's strong favorite to the Munich final.
But as both Bradley Barcola and Gonçalo Ramos lacked a clear chance to score a second in the last five minutes, PSG took Arsenal off the hook to ensure the Premier League could head to Paris in hopes of a second leg comeback.
The Gunners' second half Mikel Merino's goal was ruled out in offside and saw PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma make a significant savings from Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard to deny home goals.
Despite the slight advantage of PSG, their failure to score a second goal means they are still alive in the second leg. - - Mark Ogden
Merino has had much more work to fill Arsenal’s center in the center after the injury after the season ended with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
However, Thomas Partey's suspension forced Merino to play his orthodox midfield role as Trossard played in the middle, with his best moment forcing Donnarumma, an 11-minute second half, to make a great save.
Dembélé achieved his goal brilliantly, finding the net through David Raya's left-handed post and marking him as one of the best in Europe with this clinical performance. In fact, there is a case that believes that he is the best in Europe: Dembélé's 25th goal is the most players in the top five European leagues of all competitions in 2025.
Arsenal's decision not to make a deal for the striker last summer or to be more dynamic in January - when Aston Villa turned down Ollie Watkins' bid - arguably an explanation of why they were decisive in challenging Liverpool's decision to challenge the Premier League title.
They are 90 minutes away from Europe facing the same argument. - James Olley
Paris Saint-Germain may be able to issue a late request for the Premier League trophy after defeating the fourth English-speaking team this season.
Luis Enrique's side has beaten City, Liverpool and Aston Villa in the semifinals, despite October's 2-0 defeat in the UAE match in a 2-0 win with the Gunners in a conference in the league phase.
However, PSG made changes to the loss, but, through Dembélé's fourth-minute goal, he took an early lead and then stuck to his own advantage to win a 1-0 first-leg victory. But when Arsenal prepares to head for the second leg to Paris on May 7, nothing is lost.
Although City and Villa had good support in Princes, Liverpool won 1-0 in the French capital with a 16-round win, but lost at home and was fined at Anfield.
Arsenal now has to win the newly crowned Premier League title in Paris, a team that loves to beat the British side. - Ogden
When you think of the teams that have won the Barcelona Champions League over the past decade, you automatically envision Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Pep Guardiola.
But while Guardiola brought Barca to Champions League glory in 2009 and 2011, Luis Enrique's side earned high notes by defeating Juventus in the 2015 Berlin final, their styles were as much as Guardiola had.
Luis Enrique's team was more devastating than Guardiola's, who added Neymar and Luis Suárez to the frontline, but there's no doubt that the manager of PSG didn't get the plaud foot Guardiola got.
With PSG, however, he is making it clear to the club owner that one of the most exciting teams in the world must be built on his terms, even if that means no superstars like Messi, Neymar and Kyrian Mbappe.
Luis Enrique is confident in youth and technology, and PSG is now a compelling and effective team in the sport of world football. If he coaches PSG to their first Champions League title next month, he should stand out from Guardiola's shadow once and for all. - Ogden
Arsenal beat Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, with many sub-pictures, the most prominent of which is whether Bukayo Saka is ready to join the elite wingers in Europe, who often compete for Ballon d'Or. Saka surpassed Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo in both games, where he faced Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who ignited the fourth semifinal in six seasons.
The first half was not a game. Kvaratskhelia did not do much of an opponent's action - making Jurriën Timber look like a very ordinary defender - his assistance to Dembélé's opener was just one of several occasions where he threatened to wreak havoc on Arsenal's right.
Saka had just four touches in the opening 20 minutes, with more involvement in the infield as the first half was played, and Arsenal began to wake himself up when Arsenal was at its most influential.
However, Saka couldn't influence the game as much as he wanted, and he was one of several Arsenal players - along with the unusually quiet Martin Ødegaard (Martinødegaard), who will need to improve their own skills in Paris next week. - Orly
Blaming it for damage or class-building decisions last summer (or both) but Arsenal lacks the option to choose this game, which PSG is exposed here.
Visitors introduced Bradley Barcola (45 million euros signed from Lyon in 2023) and Gonçalo Ramos - an 80 million euro acquisition from Benfica - the Gunners have four academy graduates on the bench. Granted, those including Ethan Nwaneri, 18, enjoyed a breakthrough season, but he sat with Raheem Sterling, whose loan from Chelsea was a disaster. Kieran Tierney, who will join the Celtic free transfer this summer, and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who can make the transfer at the end of the season.
At the time, Arteta chose to introduce Ben White into the wood until it was thrown to Nwaneri during downtime. Arsenal still has a chance to change this tie, but the result will enhance the feeling that the lack of squad depth may prove their undoing.
Partey will return to the second leg after winning a single game, and his appearance is undeniably missed, most notably when Nuno Mendes' excellent infield pass leads to Dembélé's carved Arsenal open through the midfield. - Orly