LONDON: Paris St Germain produced a performance with coach Luis Enrique’s stamp all over it on Tuesday as they eked out a slender 1-0 advantage over Arsenal to take back home for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.

The Qatari-owned French club have never won the Champions League despite massive spending down the years on the likes of Kylian Mbappe and South American duo Lionel Messi and Neymar.

With those having all moved on, the current PSG team, while still possessing many outstanding individuals such as Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, can roll its sleeves up and graft.

Dembele scored a superb team goal in the fourth minute but after that it was PSG’s resilience and calmness under Arsenal pressure that stood out, with Portuguese midfielder Vitinha leading by example with an outstanding display.

Even when Arsenal did penetrate PSG’s rock-solid defence, their keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma stood tall to protect his side’s lead.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, brought in last summer to provide more unpredictability on the wing, was instrumental in the win.

His assist for Dembele’s goal was a product of both sharp movement and awareness, but equally valuable was his defensive discipline dropping in to support his full back and thwarting Arsenals attempts to overload the flank.

“It is about the team above all. It is a great result and it was a great collective performance. We showed the desire we have to get to the final,” said playmaker Vitinha.

Arsenal, who are second in the Premier League, struggled to find space in a congested final third.

Danger men Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka were largely contained while their attempts to play through midfield were repeatedly stifled by Fabian Ruiz, Joao Neves and Vitinha.

“I want to underline the work of 14 or 15 players tonight,” Spaniard Luis Enrique, who took charge in 2023, told reporters. “Some shone more than others and we needed a titan in goal, but they all showed they had the mindset that was required.

“We saw wonderful work, both individually and as a team. Defensively, we had the attackers working hard, midfielders getting forward and everyone getting back to defend when needed. You can’t play a team like Arsenal without that.”

The omens are now looking favourable for PSG who have grown into a formidable force since losing to Arsenal 2-0 in the league stage in October and needing a playoff to reach the last-16.

They had lost all six legs of their previous three two-legged Champions League semi-finals and had never beaten Arsenal before in five previous attempts.

Plenty of work remains to be done against an Arsenal side who Luis Enrique says can change history in a moment, but PSG will start heavy favourites to complete the job and reach the final for the second time in their history next Wednesday, a year after they lost to Borussia Dortmund in the last four.

They have won 18 of the 19 ties when they recorded a first-leg away victory, but Luis Enrique, whose side have already wrapped up the Ligue 1 title, said nothing was in the bag.

“Mission accomplished this evening … but our sole objective is to win the second leg at home as well,” insisted Luis Enrique, who won the Champions League as coach of Barcelona in 2015.

“With Arsenal, we cannot let our guard down and be complacent. This is a team who can completely rewrite history in one second and we’ll be back to square one. They’ll have nothing to lose and the second leg will be very tough.”

ARTETA HOPEFUL

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal were playing in their first semi-final since losing to Manchester United in 2009 and are bidding to reach the final for only the second time, having lost in 2006 to Barcelona.

After their Premier League title challenge faded, failure to overturn the deficit next week will leave Arsenal still without a trophy since they won the FA Cup in 2020.

Arteta urged his side to produce a “special” fightback at the Parc des Princes next week.

“We’re at halftime. Halftime and my message will be exactly the same as it was against Real Madrid after we won 3-0 at home,” Arteta, who spent a short spell on loan at PSG during his playing career, told reporters.

“We have to go to Paris and win the game. We are more than capable of doing it. I saw two very good teams, but the margins are so small. They had efficiency in front of the goal.

“The keeper as well made a difference to see the result that we’ve seen tonight. You want to be in the Champions League final, you have to do something special, and we’re going to have to do something special in Paris.”

Arsenal failed to score in a home Champions League game for the first time since a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in the last 16 in 2016.

It was also their first defeat at the Emirates in 18 European matches.

But the north Londoners will have Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey back from suspension for the second leg, which will allow Declan Rice to play a more attacking role.

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is convinced Arsenal can defy the odds and win the tournament for the first time.

“We showed from the 25th minute of the first half that we can win against any team. We have showed in the season we can win away games too, so we’ll go to Paris next week trying to win,” he said. “We have to approach the game the same way. We played well, we put them on the back foot and hurt them. Let’s go next week in Paris.”

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2025