Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team must have felt a sense of déjà vu in the French side as they watched Paris Saint-Germain defeat Bayern Munich. They’ve seen it before.
PSG’s defeat of Bayern in the Champions League semi-finals was the same medicine Arsenal got a year ago. Just like in last season’s last-four clash at the Emirates, PSG came roaring back from home and took an early lead through Ousmane Dembele’s goal.
That year, PSG ultimately defeated Arsenal to win the Champions League. Arteta is now tasked with ensuring that history from last season does not repeat itself.
If Arsenal produced an incredible resilience to beat Atletico Madrid, Luis Enrique’s side produced a statement result. They turned up at Bayern Munich’s home – a venue they know well as it was the stadium where they won last season’s Champions League – and gave the German champions a soccer lesson.
Not only did they score on the first attack of the match, with a stylish left-wing break that looked rehearsed down to the blades of grass despite the biggest stage, but PSG backed it up with a near-flawless performance.
Ousmane Dembele put PSG ahead in just three minutes.
The play from the front lines speaks for itself. They have a Ballon d’Or winner in Ousmane Dembele and that night he showed Harry Kane what it takes to win such an award. On the other hand, Hviča Kvaratschelia and Desiree Douye look to be at an even higher level than what we saw last season.
However, it is the midfield that continues to grow. Fabian Ruiz, who is no longer guaranteed to be a starter this season given Warren Zaire-Emery’s form, ranked first for PSG in ball recoveries against Bayern. Joao Neves had the most tackles for them that night. His four tackles accounted for most of the seven games he won.
Meanwhile, in that steal, Vicinha showed his creative side and created the most chances among his teammates. There is a real balance in the middle of the park for PSG.
However, there was maturity even in the really tough environment away from Bayern. Of course, this was a bit of a quickie on PSG’s part, given that Zaire-Emery was brought in at right-back in place of the injured Achraf Hakimi.
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John Cross looks ahead to the Champions League final between Arsenal and PSG after Arsenal beat Bayern Munich in a thrilling 6-5 aggregate win
Although the start of the game was difficult, the 20-year-old midfielder quickly adapted to the game and finished the game with PSG’s best passing accuracy of the game.
When Nuno Mendes was picked early, many thought he was going to have a really tough night against Michael Oliseh. Winning his nine duels was not so, and Olise was mostly frustrated.
That maturity, with Marquinhos and Willian Pacho shutting out Kane for 94 minutes, was crucial in stopping a Bayern team that had scored at least three goals in their previous six games leading up to the Champions League semi-finals at the Allianz. The goal they scored through Kane was very unfair.
But perhaps the most mature performance came from Kvaratskheria, who showed off his credentials as the best winger in the world right now.
Hviča Kvaratschelia’s record against Bayern Munich
His running was a constant threat to Bayern’s defense. He attempted six dribbles and succeeded in all of them, setting up the decisive goal that broke through PSG and sealed the match. But the other side of the game wasn’t overlooked either.
His 11 duel wins were the most of any PSG player that night, and his six ball recoveries were bettered only by Fabian Ruiz.
Arteta and Arsenal are well aware of him as he is linked with a move to Arsenal this summer. But he would pause for a moment. PSG have scored 44 goals in this European campaign so far, one goal shy of breaking the Champions League record set by Barcelona in 2000. This is an unparalleled attack in which the front three lead the game.
However, regardless of the attacking fluency displayed by PSG, Arsenal can go into the Champions League final with great confidence.
It’s worth remembering that the Gunners are the only unbeaten team in this season’s Champions League, and their defense can match PSG’s attack, having kept nine clean sheets in 14 games in this competition. Arteta’s team could advance to the final as English champions.
Last season, PSG defeated Arsenal in the semi-finals, but the key player in those two games was Gianluigi Donnarumma, who left PSG to join Manchester City.
Arsenal and PSG faced each other in the Champions League semi-finals last season.
Many felt that Arsenal would have improved if PSG had another goalkeeper on their sticks. Now we have a chance to test that theory.
Then, at the end of May, to Budapest, where Europe’s best attack and best defense meet.
Considering it was a season in which many people debated whether style or content should go forward, it felt like a fitting finale to a frenetic season.
