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Associated Press
- April 18, 2025 11:09 am
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Four teams remain in the Champions League, each with a chance to lift the coveted European trophy. Arsenal face Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final of teams that have never won the iconic trophy. Barcelona and Inter have a combined eight European titles, but last triumphed ten and 15 years ago respectively.
When are the semifinals played?
Arsenal host Paris Saint-Germain on April 29 in London, where reigning champions Real Madrid lost 3-0 last week in the first leg of their quarter-final. PSG host the second leg on May 7 at the Parc des Princes, the venue for three finals, including the inaugural European Cup in 1956.
Five-time Champions League winners Barcelona play the first leg at home on April 30 at the 1992 Olympic Stadium. Inter play in front of their home fans in the return leg on May 6 at the San Siro.
The winners play in Munich on May 31 for the most coveted and hardest-to-win title at club level.
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta's side have been solid throughout the season, even when they have faced PSG and Inter in the league stage. Arsenal finished third with six wins - including a 2-0 win over PSG in London - and one draw. Their only defeat came at the hands of Inter, 1-0.
They comfortably advanced to the last 1 after a 8-7 first-leg win over PSV Eindhoven. Arsenal then cruised to a 1-3 home win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and completed the job in Madrid on Wednesday, winning 0-2.
Arsenal are second in the Premier League but far behind leaders Liverpool. So, their only chance to end the current season with a trophy is in the Champions League.
Paris Saint-Germain
PSG were in danger of being eliminated from the league stage, but their campaign took a huge turn in the penultimate round of the league stage. They overturned the result against Manchester City. From a 2-0 score, they won 4-2 against City.
For the knockout stage, PSG was joined by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli. Brest were demolished 10:0 in the play-offs and it was the Georgian who shone in the round of 1 against Liverpool. PSG and Liverpool won their away matches 0:XNUMX. Penalties at Anfield were decisive for further advancement, while Parisian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made two saves.
PSG's third visit to England this season was this week in a 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa. Donnarumma denied a fourth goal that would have sent the game into extra time. PSG advanced thanks to a 3-1 home win last week.
PSG has already won the Ligue 1 title. Now it hopes to win the Champions League, which it has not won even when led on the field by French star Kylian Mbappe.
Barcelona
Barcelona have won four of the five European titles over nine years, from 2006 to 2015. They were last led by Lionel Messi and have not advanced to the final since.
The team scored 28 goals in the league stage and added nine more in the knockout stage. Robert Lewandowski, still very dangerous at 36, scored 11 goals, one less than his teammate, Raphinha. Lamine Yamal, exceptionally good for his 17th year, had four goals and three assists.
Barcelona started their Champions League campaign under coach Hansi Flick with a defeat, losing 2-1 away to Monaco. But they have not been defeated in the league stage since then. They won 4-1 against Bayern Munich - the team with whom Flick won the Champions League in 2020, defeated Borussia Dortmund 3-2, and defeated Benfica 5-4.
In the knockout stage, Barcelona defeated Benfica twice more, and met Dortmund again in the quarter-finals. A 4-0 home win allowed the team the luxury of losing 3-1 in the return leg.
Barcelona, like Inter, must prepare for the semi-finals by maintaining first place in the league title race and fighting for the Cup trophy.
Whole
The strongest defense to break is that of the three-time European champions, with only one goal conceded during the league stage.
This started from the first leg, which was a repeat of the 2023 final. The 0-0 draw away to Manchester City was impressive in September, before the English champions' shine faded.
The 1-0 win streak came to an end after a 90-XNUMX away defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, with Nordi Mukiele's XNUMXth-minute goal the only one to beat goalkeeper Yann Sommer until Feyenoord converted a penalty in the second leg of the round of XNUMX.
Inter impressed with a 2-1 away win at Bayern last week in the first leg of their quarter-final. They responded quickly in the return leg after Harry Kane scored to give them a 1-0 lead at the San Siro. The score was equalised by Lautaro Martinez, Inter's star player who has eight Champions League goals.
Inter eliminated Barcelona in the semi-finals when they won the Champions League trophy in 2010.
