Champions League semi-final: Paris Saint Germain beats Arsenal at home

Paris Saint-Germain took an important step on their path to the 2025 Champions League final by defeating Arsenal 1-0 away, and they will now have to do something extraordinary in the Parisian capital.

At the Emirates Stadium, a stunning goal from Ousmane Dembélé in just the third minute and saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma gave the French side a commanding lead heading into the second leg.

Dembélé's goal froze the fans for a few seconds , which is how long it took for the London stadium to roar again. Years ago, it would have collapsed, but now it reacts with a different face to setbacks.

The attitude was there, but if it hadn't been for the saves from David Raya, who saved two magnificent saves from Kvaratskhelia and Doué, Arsenal could have lost the tie in half an hour.

As the minutes ticked by, Mikel Arteta's team improved and had the equalizer through Martinelli's studs, but Donnarumma's left hand put paid to their dream.

The Italian's first great save capped the first half, prompting a prescient comment from Wayne Rooney on television. " The worst is yet to come for Arsenal ," said the Manchester United legend.

And just out of the locker room, the Gunners equalized after a free kick from Declan Rice and a header from Mikel Merino. However, the celebration lasted only a few moments, until rumors spread through the stands that it was an offside.

After three minutes of review, VAR confirmed the offside position and Arsenal's balloon of hope suffered a significant puncture.

The second stab was inflicted by Donnarumma, with a sensational hand down to Leandro Trossard, even better than Martinelli's.

The Italian enjoyed another night of glory in London , just like four years ago when his saves gave Italy the Euro Cup against England at Wembley.

Without needing to go all out in search of a second goal, PSG controlled the tempo, maintained possession to stem Arsenal's effervescence, and held on to Donnarumma to secure a brilliant result ahead of the return leg at the Parc des Princes.

In the other semifinal series, Barcelona faces a new step in its quest for another title tomorrow, Wednesday, against the stumbling block of Inter Milan , in a duel between Europe's best attack and defense, with a score to settle.

Both teams arrive with different dynamics and a heavy load of matches . Hansi Flick's team is pumped up with adrenaline after the rush of winning the title, both because of how it happened and because of their opponent.

Simone Inzhagi's team is a little more deflated, after their main strength—defense—hasn't been at the level that has brought them this far in recent matches.

Barça has a big score to settle with Inter : a bad memory from 2010, with that semi-final clash between Pep Guardiola's team and Jose Mourinho's Inter, with a big prize: the final played at the Bernabeu.

But everything went wrong for the Catalans. From the chance of the sudden eruption of the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, which forced them to make the thousand-kilometer journey by bus and spend the night in Cannes.

That Inter won the treble, Mourinho went to Real Madrid and Guardiola's Barcelona won fourteen titles in four years , including three league titles, two Champions League titles and a sextuple.