Paris Saint-Germain have a second chance to win the Champions League at long last as they reached the final 3-1 on aggregate over Arsenal with a 2-1 home victory on Wednesday.
Fabián Ruiz fired the opener in the 27th minutes at the Parc des Princes. Achraf Hakimi curled the second in the 72nd for the French champions, who three minutes earlier had failed to convert a penalty from Vitinha.
Arsenal got a lifeline from Bukayo Saka in the 76th but it was too little to late for the Gunners who had wasted a trio of top chances in the opening minutes, and a final one from Saka in the 80th.
PSG lost their first final 2020 in Lisbon against Bayern Munich, and now hope to do better in Munich’s home stadium on May 31, when they face three-time champions Inter Milan, who won a semi-final tie for the ages 7-6 on aggregate against Barcelona the previous day.
“We have worked so hard for this moment, we’re very happy. We’ve worked hard to have this moment with our fans, our family and everyone who supported us. It was a difficult match and we’re very happy and proud to win,” Hakimi said.
It is the first French-Italian final since 1993 when Olympique Marseille beat AC Milan – also in Munich but then in the Olympic Stadium.
Qatari-owned PSG have long thirsted to win the European elite event for the first time. A treble is possible as PSG who have clinched the Ligue 1 title and are in the Coupe de France final under coach Luis Enrique – who already has a treble from 2015 while at Barca.
“He has done a fantastic job. He has created a team, worked hard behind the scenes, he’s a genius,” Hakimi said in praise of the coach.
The success run which saw Arsenal as third English scalp after Liverpool and Aston Villa, comes amid a new strategic approach a year after the departure of talisman Kylian Mbappe, and previous exits of superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Arsenal meanwhile failed to make the final for the second time 19 years after their debut there in 2006, when they lost against Barca.
They impressively beat title holders and record winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, but now see their season unravel late, having also lost the Premier League title race against Liverpool.
“We had a load of chances we couldn’t score. We had unbelievable chances, in another two games we may score five goals,” midfielder Declan Rice told streaming portal DAZN while also mentioning “unbelievable saves” from PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG star Ousmane Dembélé started on the bench after picking up a hamstring problem in the first leg where he had scored the winner, before coming on during the second half.
Arsenal were happy to have influential midfielder Thomas Partey back from suspension, and the Gunners had a flying start into their bid to overturn a home leg deficit for the first time in Europe.
Rice headed inches left three minutes into the game, a minute later Gabriel Martinelli was denied by Donnarumma, who made another super save in the seventh against Martin Odegaard’s blast.
PSG took a while to settle in but almost drew first blood in the 17th when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s curling shot from a distance hit the far right post, with David Raya well beaten.
PSG started to find spaces against Arsenal’s high defensive line, and Désiré Doué should have done better then aim right at Raya in the 23rd.
Ruiz then showed how it is done in the 27th when he chested an Arsenal clearance off a Vitinha free-kick from the left past a defender and smashed home for 1-0 with his left foot into the right corner.
Bradley Barcola should have made it 2-0 two minutes later on the counter, set up superbly by Kvaratskhelia but his rather tame shot parried by Raya.
Arsenal still enjoyed more possession which also did not change after the break, and PSG also had the towering Donnarumma who tipped a curling Saka shot aimed at the top left corner over and wide shortly after the hour.
Seconds later at the other end Hakimi’s shot took a deflection off Myles Lewis-Skelly and was saved by Raya. When the ball was out of play a little later referee Felix Zwayer was told to review the incident, and awarded a penalty because Hakimi’s shot had hit Lewis-Skelly’s arm.
But Vitinha’s tame spot kick into the right corner after a stuttering run-up was easily gathered by Raya.
The second did however come three minutes later when Hakimi superbly curled into the bottom right corner.
That seemed to settle the affair but Arsenal suddenly got hope in the 76th when Saka beat a defender to a deflected cross from Leandro Trossard and slotted home after running past Donnarumma.
It was almost 2-2 in the 80th when Saka fired a sharp cross from Riccardo Calafiori over the empty net, with Donnarumma beaten, but PSG held on and fireworks erupted around the stadium at the final whistle in celebration.
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