PARIS: Paris St Germain received a boost ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal with Ousmane Dembele passed fit as the French champions look to turn growing squad cohesion into a place in the final.

Dembele came off in the 70th minute of last week’s first leg in London, after scoring the only goal of the game in the fourth minute, prompting the coach to suggest after the match that there was “a doubt” over his chances of playing in the return match at the Parc des Princes.

He missed Saturday’s defeat against Strasbourg, the club’s second straight loss in Ligue 1 albeit with the league title already won, but resumed training at the start of the week.

“He’s been training with us for the last two days,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told a press conference on Tuesday. “You saw him today, a normal training session for him. He’ll be available tomorrow.”

The France international has been PSG’s star performer this season, scoring 33 goals in all competitions. Dembele’s goal against Arsenal was his eighth in nine Champions League appearances since the start of the year.

PSG defender Achraf Hakimi said he believes Dembele has recovered well.

“He really wants to play,” Hakimi said. “Ousmane is a different kind of player. He makes you want to go and watch the game in the stadium, he can change the course of a match at any moment, he’s a genius with the ball. We’re delighted to have him back.”

It is welcome news for a PSG side whose progress this season has been built less on individual brilliance and more on the kind of collective spirit and tactical maturity that has often eluded them in past European campaigns.

Luis Enrique, brought in to overhaul a team once shaped around marquee stars, has made no secret of his mission to build a unit capable of competing at the highest level.

“This season weve grown so much as a team,” he said. You have to be ready for any scenario and pay attention from start to finish. The target for the coming years is to keep improving the process,” he said when asked about last season’s semi-final loss to Borussia Dortmund.

That steady evolution was evident in the first leg in London where PSGs compact shape, aggressive pressing and controlled possession frustrated Arsenals attacking rhythm.

Hakimi said the team’s new-found identity had been key to their run.

“The key is to show our personality with and without the ball and press high,” Hakimi said. “Arsenal will need to feel that the Parc des Princes is our home.”

According to UEFA statistics, PSG have won 18 of the 19 ties in which they won a first leg away, while Arsenal have never overturned a home first leg defeat in European competition, losing all five ties. Enrique, however, isn’t counting on history ahead of the match at the Parc des Princes.

“We will have to be as good as last week, but while many expect the same kind of game, I guarantee you it will be completely different,” said Luis Enrique. “We’re bound to suffer because our opponents don’t have a favorable result,” Enrique told reporters. “We need to match our performance as closely as possible in the first leg to win the return leg and stay true to our ideas.”

Both teams are looking for a first Champions League title, and second final. PSG’s only Champions League final appearance ended in defeat by Bayern Munich in 2020, while Arsenal’s sole final was in 2006 when they lost to Barcelona in Paris.

PSG have already eliminated Premier League champions Liverpool in the last 16 and Aston Villa in the quarter-finals, after beating Manchester City in the group phase.

Arsenal are on the brink of becoming PSG’s latest English scalp this season after a disappointing first leg and their preparations for the second leg in Paris couldn’t have gone much worse as they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.

Second-placed Arsenal still need two wins from their last three league games to secure qualification for next season’s Champions League. But it is the current edition of the tournament that has Arsenal’s attention for now.

After finishing as Premier League runners-up to Manchester City for the previous two seasons, and without a trophy since winning the 2020 FA Cup, coach Mikel Arteta is desperate to turn Arsenal’s undoubted quality into the tangible reward of silverware.

“We are here to make history,” Arteta told reporters on Tuesday. “The result [from the first leg] brings a lot of clarity what both teams have to do, for us it’s even clearer. One win away from being in the final. Let’s do the talking on the pitch.”

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2025