The Champions League enters its defining stage. In London, Arsenal and PSG will open on Tuesday the semifinals of the European contest with the first leg, where the English team, after eliminating Real Madrid, wants to demonstrate that it is a favorite to take the trophy. The match will begin at 16 at Emirates Stadium and will have the arbitration of Slovenian Slavko Vinčić.
Arsenal, directed by Mikel Arteta, will seek to conquer Europe for the first time in its history after a great campaign: it was third in the league phase, thrashed PSV in the round of 16 (9-3 global) and eliminated Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, with a 5-1 in the global with victories in both games. Without chances in the Premier League, the English team puts all its energies in the Champions League.
For its part, Luis Enrique’s PSG arrives with the envy of having consecrated Champion of Ligue 1 with several dates in advance. In the Champions, after a liga phase closure with three consecutive victories, he eliminated Brest (global 10-0), Liverpool by penalties and Aston Villa (5-4 global) to reach this instance.
The Emirates will be a true strength for the “gunners”, which will seek to take advantage in the first leg with figures such as Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard. On the other hand, the French team will bet on the strength of Gianluigi Donnarumma and the imbalance of Ousmane Dembélé and Willian Pacho.
This match already had a previous chapter in the current edition: in the League phase, Arsenal beat PSG 2-0 in London with goals from Havertz and Saka. Now, with much more at stake, both teams will go for the first step towards the grand final of May 31 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
In addition, in total they faced six times where the English team managed to impose itself three times, while the other three games ended in a draw, so the French team could never beat the “gunners.”
The rematch will be on Wednesday, May 7 at the Park of the Princes of Paris. The winner of the key will face Barcelona or Inter, protagonists of the other semifinal, which will start this Wednesday in Catalonia.
